Johannesburg - The recording of Nirvana’s groundbreaking Nevermind is not only an album that changed a generation of music, but part of a rich history that goes as far back as the 1970s.
This story is told in Sound City, a documentary written and directed by David Grohl. The documentary centres on a manky studio, Sound City in downtown LA, with a legendary Neve console, where Nirvana recorded Nevermind.
However, this studio is responsible for some of the best albums in rock history. Everyone from Tom Petty to Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Rage Against the Machine, Trent Reznor, Queens of the Stone Age, Metallica and Fleetwood Mac all recorded in that studio on that console. And most of them are part of the documentary because when David Grohl says jump, rock ‘n’ roll says how high?
Producers who worked in the studio and who are interviewed include Butch Vig and Rick Rubin.
What was interesting about the studio is that once the Neve console was purchased in 1973 the studio was never updated until it closed down in 2011.
Grohl then bought the Neve console and relocated to his studio. But he took it a step further. He invited musicians, including Stevie Nicks, Trent Reznor and Tom Petty, to record an album with him which has been released worldwide along with the documentary.
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Refuge was recorded in that studio.
There is a fascinating scene where Jimmy Iovine, the industry’s most powerful man, is recording the track with the Heartbreakers and he comes across as the man he allegedly turned out to be: a rude bully.
“Listening to Tom Petty talk about how they had to record that song 50 times just to get that one take right was very interesting,” said Matthew Fink. “I also try to capture that live sound of a band in the studio.”
Fink is one of South Africa’s top rock producers having worked with Shadowclub, Jim Neversink, Laurie Levine and the Black Hotels among others.
“I worked on a similar console in M5 at SABC where we recorded the first Black Hotels album, Films From the First Century.”
Fink said that after watching Sound City he walked away with a new respect for Dave Grohl.
“I am not a Foo Fighters fan but he is preserving history as it is such an important studio,” Fink said.
“He has turned it into a live museum.
“All the kids think they are so clever nowadays because mom and dad have bought them Pro Tools. But with that console they pointed a microphone and turned it up loud.”
The documentary goes through the four decades of the console with one of the themes being the changing role of producers of the that time.
Other memorable scenes include Butch Vig relaying the beautiful story of how Nirvana’s Lithium was recorded. (Yo! And we forget just how beautiful Kurt Cobain was.)
In fact it gives great insight into the recording of Nevermind.
Frank Black admits that the studio became the centre of his life.
When David Grohl purchases the console in the second part of the doccie he says: “I wasn’t gonna bubble rap it. I was gonna f***ing use it. A lot.”
During the recording of the album there is a mind-blowing scene with Trent Reznor on keyboards, Queens of the Stone Age’s Josh Hommes on bass and David Grohl on drums.
All through the history of the studio, the owners never once did the actual studio up.
“Yes it was tacky,” agrees Fink. “But there was a sense of rock ’n roll. Everything worked. You got a great sound but it was gritty. Maybe that was reflected in the records which came out of there. The energy of those bands stayed in those carpeted walls. So you walk in there and it’s like wow.”
It’s a lesson in rock ’n roll history. It’s technical at times but is certainly made for the music lover. It surely is one of the best and most important documentaries about music ever made. And with the narration by Dave Grohl as well as his amusing eccentricities there is never a dull moment.
It is evident from the documentary that one of the reasons why the man is so respected is not only because of his ample talent, but because he has never forgotten why he became a musician – for the honesty and passion of music.
Dave Grohl ends off by asking a pertinent question: “How do we keep music to sound like people?”