Louder AAA
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] ... "
Can you remember the first track you recorded?
"In Bloom, I think. We immediately knew that the big room sounded good. It was just a room with linoleum tiles, but when you put your kick drum in the middle of the room and hit it, it sounded good. There was deep resonance to the room that you just don't get [anywhere else]. Sound City was never designed acoustically - it just sounded great. So we put the drums in the middle of the room. Krist set up his bass amp in a closet down the hall, Kurt's amp was in a doorway, and we did a take or two of In Bloom and listened back to it. It was the first time I'd ever heard Nirvana sound like that. It didn't sound like [1989 debut] Bleach, it didn't sound like the [1990] Sliver single, or the Peel Sessions. We were just like, 'Oh my God, that sounds huge!' With Butch Vig at the Neve console, it blew us away. After that take, we knew the album was going to sound good."
What were those 16 days like?
"I hardly remember! We stayed at this crappy apartment complex called Oakwood. It was right off the highway, next to the Hollywood Hills and filled with child actors, guys and high-priced escorts; there was a hot tub where people would meet – it wasn't a pleasant place. We just wanted to record. We started playing each day at 10am and Kurt sang all of his scratch vocals as if they were real takes. But if you're going to do that for six hours, you're going to blow your voice out."
I was 22 and didn't have a credit card or a bank account. I lived hand-to-mouth and it was fun.
Dave Grohl
Did you have any kind of inkling that something big may be about to happen?
"I was 22 and didn't have a credit card or a bank account. I lived hand-to-mouth and it was fun. I just remember before that, I knew what was going to happen every day. Like I'd have to sell something so I could eat, or we'd get in our shitty van and go play a gig. Or when this is all done, I'm going to have to go back to the furniture warehouse and beg for my job back. I knew those things were going to happen. [But] when we started making Nevermind, I suddenly didn't know what was going to happen next. Even though none of us expected what happened to happen, suddenly there was this chance that maybe it could. All of our friends were listening to the songs and going, 'You guys are going to be huge: It's a sweet thing to say, but at the time Michael Jackson was huge; Whitney Houston was huge; Michael Bolton was huge. Poison were huge! There was no place for us in that. To us, huge meant Sonic Youth; they played to 1,000 [people] a night. It was exciting."
Were you satisfied with the way Nevermind sounded?
"Yeah. I really wanted it to be good, so at night I'd listen to the rough mixes on cassette, but all I could hear was my inconsistency. I couldn't see the bigger picture. I was so focused on playing really well and there were times when I wondered whether [the drums] were good enough. But when I heard the rough mix of Breed, I thought, 'Damn, this is fuckin' good!' It was a good feeling. After we'd finished recording, we had a vacation and then went on tour with Dinosaur Jr.. That's when things started really picking up."
