Sound City

About

In 2011 Dave Grohl was informed that the legendary recording studio Sound City, birthplace of many a hit record including 1991's Nevermind by Nirvana, was ceasing operations. Deemed to be no longer commercially viable against rising costs the studio was set to shut down, with large amounts of recording equipment set to be sold off. That included the one-of-a-kind Neve 8028 recording console, the esteemed board through which all of those records had been produced.

Despite already having a similar Neve desk as Studio 606 Dave could not resist the opportunity to bring the Sound City board to his studio, and so began the final part of the story of Sound City. That was a story that Dave also felt had to be told to the world, and so the idea of an encyclopedic documentary on the studio

Produced by Dave himself, the film explores the history of the studio in great detail from its beginnings in the late 1960s, it's 1980s heyday, Nirvana's visit in 1991 and the slow demise that leads to its 2011 ending. It's at that point the film continues the story of the board in its new home at Studio 606, with Dave electing to christen the board with an all-star recording session.

The film sees numerous stars arriving at the studio to record tracks for the companion soundtrack including Pat Smear, Krist Novoselic, Stevie Nicks, Josh Homme, Trent Reznor and Paul McCartney.

Sound City got its word premiere at South By Southwest 2013, with wider public release coming shortly afterwards.