Imagine a non-descript, office building with too few windows. A place where you would never want your office to be located. Nothing interesting could possibly be happening inside. But what if inside that building magic was created daily. Just like at Charlie Sheen’s house, except this magic was something we all shared in after the party ended. A building like that exists. Within it, once existed a city of sound, aptly named Sound City – as in Sound City Studios, where some of rock’s greatest albums were recorded. A place that provides the inspiration for the best movie released thus far in 2013.
When the members of Nirvana (Kurt Cobain, Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl) arrived in Los Angeles in May 1991, for the Nevermind sessions, they never expected to roll into the parking lot of a former factory, the heavy stench of beer in the air. The “factory” happened to be Sound City Studios, and the sickeningly-sweet beer smell a constant reminder of the Budweiser brewery down the street. Had they been a more established band at the time, and had not just suffered a backlash against their previously released album Bleach, no one would have blamed them for climbing back into their van and heading back to Seattle. Instead, the band members discovered that three factors made this a transcendent place to record: the people, the classic Neve 8028 analog soundboard and the unrivaled sound produced in the studio. For Grohl, Nirvana’s drummer, his love affair with Sound City began as soon as the sound from his drum kit reverberated in the room. Drums never sounded like that anywhere else.
Grohl has long since moved on to front Foo Fighters. When he heard in 2011 that
Sound City had finally succumbed to the Digital Age and was closing, he was galvanized to immortalize the studio on celluloid. He also purchased the Neve soundboard and reassembled it in the great room of his house. The Neve 8028, assembled piece by piece at Sound City in 1973, cost $72,000, twice the cost of the average US house. Now in Grohl’s house, the board was used to mix the new music available on the Sound City soundtrack.
But it’s the people, those artists/producers who recorded at Sun City and the indefatigable employees behind the scenes, whom Grohl truly wishes to immortalize. We are shown how a recording studio is born, struggles, makes a leap of faith, prospers beyond imagination, flounders on and off, is reinvigorated and then dies a cold, hard death. We learn that Rick Springfield actually can rock, and that original owner Joe Gottfried became Springfield’s surrogate father. We watch Springfield break down as he recounts breaking Gottfried’s heart with his impetuous decision to leave Sound City. We discover why artists regularly fell under the spell of the tough, sharp-minded and beautiful office managers Shivaun O’Brien and Paula Salvatore. We are mesmerized by musicians – disarmingly humble, engaging and earnest in each others’ presence – going through the methodical process of creating new music. And we gain new appreciation for Paul McCartney, who shows the young cats how to growl, howl and kick ass with his 4-string cigar box guitar and slide.
This is superior film-making by Grohl, one the world’s top drummers, guitar-wielding leader of a mega-band and a regular sort of fellow who gives back to his art at least as much as he receives.
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For More Information Visit:
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http://www.movieweb.com/movie/sound-city
http://www.soundcitymovie.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2306745/combined
