On the eve of the release of Dave Grohl's 2013 documentary Sound City, this writer headed to Los Angeles to find more about his well-crafted love letter to an old recording desk and studio where it lived.
At Studio 606 in Northridge, his own recording complex 10 miles northwest of Hollywood's hustle and sun-cracked pavements, we find Dave sitting back in the control room, nursing a big coffee. He beams his toothy grin and offers a firm handshake. It's only then we notice the big oil painting portrait of the studio boss keeping a watchful eye on the Neve 8028 itself, one of the stars of the film.
One moment in music history was recorded on this hulking piece of technology: Nirvana's Nevermind.
This writer quizzed Grohl on all sorts that day, but as Nevermind was completed on May 28, 1991, here's how 16 days in that studio changed his life – and alternative rock – forever.
When you set off from seattle to make Nevermind, what were your expectations of the Sound City studio?
"We basically slept in a van when we went on tour, so we weren't used to top-of-the- line shit! Sound City was kinda run-down and was a perfect match for us. We rehearsed all the songs [for Nevermind] in a fucking barn! Kurt [Cobain] and I lived in an apartment full of turtle shit and cigarette butts. But when we got there, we were surprised, because we were coming to Los Angeles, the music industry capital of the world. I'd thought the place would've been a little cleaner, but the cool contrast was that the platinum records on the walls were legendary: Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers [1979'S Damn The Torpedoes], Fleetwood Mac [their 1975 self-titled album] and Dio [1983's Holy Diver] ... "
