Sound City (2013) - full transcript

Okay, you ready? Yep.

We're rolling.

1, 2, 3, 4.

We were just kids... with nothing
to lose and nowhere to call home.

But we had these songs...

And we had these dreams.

So we threw it all in the back

of an old van and just started driving.

Our destination - Sound City.

Watching the world through a
windshield, there's no looking back.

We left everything behind.



When you're young, you're not
afraid of what comes next.

You're excited by it.

We were driving a van that could
break down at any moment...

Going on tours that could be

canceled at any moment...

And playing music with people

who could disappear at any moment.

We had no idea that the next 16 days
were gonna change our world forever.

But I remember pulling into the
parking lot and thinking, "Really?

This is Sound City?"

You know, it's weird, like,
when you walk into Sound City,

you either love it or you hate it.

Looks kind of dumpy.

It's a shit-hole.



Everything was secondhand.

It was something of a time
warp, I think, or something.

Brown shag carpet on the
wall - that's the kind of thing

that you would do to your van.

It was like, "Well, the place
is already kind of trashed, so

anything goes, you know?"

It was dirty.
Didn't really feel like I wanted

to sit on any of the furniture.

You could record there and
not come back for 15 years and

walk in, and it's the exact same

as the last time you were there.

The parking lot used to

flood, and it used to make a

wave that came up the hallway of
Sound City.

Sound City was like, you
know, you could put your

cigarette out on the floor.

A bottle of Jack Daniel's got
spilled all over the carpet.

"Who cares? It's Sound City.
Who cares?"

I always say, you could, you
know, piss in the corner and

nobody would complain.

It was just a little more

fucked-up than I thought it

should be.

But walking down the hallway and

seeing all of those platinum

records on the wall...

Tom Petty.

Fleetwood Mac.

Rick Springfield.

Neil Young, man.

Cheap Trick.

The Chili Peppers.

Rob Halford.

Pat Benatar.

Kansas.

Guns n' Roses.

Nine Inch Nails.

Nevermind.

♪ Hot-blooded

Foreigner.

Slayer.

Ratt.

Johnny Cash.

Carl Perkins.

Metallica.

R.E.O. Speedwagon.

♪ Time for me to fight

Michael McDonald.

Mick Fleetwood.

Buckingham Nicks.

♪ Like a rainbow in the

dark ♪

Stevie Nicks.

Masters of Reality.

Frank Black.

Brisbane.

Rick Rubin.

Kyuss.

Weezer.

Dude, how many fucking amazing
albums have been made there?

Vincent Price, Telly Savalas.

We would record anything.

Anybody would walk in the door
that could pay the bill.

Tom is this big, tall, lanky,

gomer-y kind of guy that just
fell off the turnip truck.

He wants you to think that,

anyway.

First time I was ever walked
in a recording studio.

First time I'd ever even seen one.

♪ Southern man

I was with a west Virginia
holding company that was

buying little businesses.

Joe Gottfried and another guy
had started Sound City in 1969.

He was actually the vocalist for

the U.S. Army.

When he was in the army, he was

stationed at a hotel in

Manhattan.

A friend of his, Joe Leahy, who
was a big-band leader and had

done music for CBS, and they

were the two main guys in the

studio when I came in, in 1970.

Keith Olsen was the

chief engineer.

The only reason why the
studio business survived was

because the building ownership

was Tom, and Tom would not

foreclose on them.

They were about one week away

from being closed by the IRS.

They owed taxes.

It was kind of chaos, to be

honest with you.

But there was an opportunity to
get into the entertainment

business.

This is Beatle land, formerly
known as Britain, where an

epidemic called "Beatlemania"

has seized the teenage

population, especially female.

The big pot at the end of the

rainbow is signing an ex-Beatle.

We'd have had a zillion dollars,

you know?

Hi-fi and stereo equipment

created an industry with an

annual income today of
$2.5 billion.

Somebody at Sound City came

up with this idea - "We could

start a record company".

So that was my goal, to

produce some records and have a

hit record and make a lot of

money.

That was the whole reason we

bought it.

Sound City - it was funky.
It was in the Valley, but we

only used the Valley to get to

Hollywood.

The Valley was just this flat

expanse of too many houses

already.

You know, so it was, like, kind

of not happening at all.

Neil Young pulled in fast in

a very old car, smoke billowing

out of every window.

Behind him was two L.A.P.D.

officers, guns drawn.

You know?

Okay, move over to the rear

of the car.

Place your hands on the trunk.

I attracted police a lot

because of the cars that I was

driving.

And I didn't have a license, you

know, because I was Canadian.

I wasn't even supposed to be

there.

About five minutes later,

they just got in their cars and

drove off.

I made the record in my

house.

Most of it, I did in my house.

And then we went to Sound City

with Briggs, my producer, and we

put down a piano song called

"Birds" there.

Then, we did the vocals, and

then they sounded so good that I

said, "Well, hell, let's just

sing everything".

So it's really a hybrid record.

♪ I can love

♪ I can really love
♪ I can really love

My dad and Joe were partners
in crime. They were very close.

They were thick as thieves.

Tom was, like, the business

guy and stuff like that, but Joe

was the heart of it all, really.

Sweetest guy in the universe.

Absolutely one of the nicest,

truest people I've ever known.

He wasn't a guy in a suit who
was counting money and just

trying to rip off as many

musicians as he could.

That wasn't his thing.

He loved the fact that bands

were coming in and making great

records there.

Joe was always, like, positive, more
optimistic. Always, "The next big thing's

gonna be out there".

Joe gave me time to learn and

to hone what I do.

He was quite a guy.

When we bought the studio, we

were struggling for a year or

two, and we could see we

couldn't just get the premier

acts.

You needed state-of-the-art

equipment to get the top acts

with the top budgets.

So it was my goal to do that.

This guy, Rupert Neve,
designed these next-generation consoles.

I had flown to England, and I

saw one once, and they were like

this, you know, built like a

brick shit house.

He was, you know, a genius

engineer.

There's only four like this in

the world, and this is the only

one that was custom-ordered from

the factory by Keith.

There is something about
the Neve sound

that my ear has always been attuned to.

They're mathematically crisp

and very, very good.

They're just very solid.

It's like a tank or something.

The Neve thing is - there
just weren't that many made,

because they're so handmade.

This Neve board that you talk about,

you know, this is not my world.

Engineers have to spend, like,
hours on the

kick-drum sound.

Please, I would rather have a

blood transfusion.

But I do remember that there was

something different about the

sound of this board.

And then of course, everybody -

"Oh, my god, it's a Neve board,"

I'll never forget them saying.

A recording console is like

the center of the spaceship.

If you're gonna fly to Mars, you

got to have something with all

the master controls.

It looks like, you know, the

Enterprise on steroids, from a

long time ago.

A desk that's like a giant
stereo, except instead of doing

bass, middle, and treble, it's,

like, you can do that on each

drum, you know, each mike, each

thing.

All the microphones in the

studio are routed into that

console.

From there, you can change E.Q.,

add effects, change the levels.

And that goes into the tape

machine, where it's recorded.

This board, if you put a
fader up and turn the mike pre

up, and somebody hits a tom-tom

or a snare drum, it sounds

great.

It sounds wide-open. It sounds huge.
If you turn the mike pre up too

loud and it distorts, it still

sounds great.

That's analog.

It's how it sounds.

Especially Neve's, you know.
I mean, everything is just better.

The human voice sounds better.

When you got harmonies going

together, they kind of meld

together.

♪ You come on with a come-on ♪
♪ You don't fight fair

The Neve console really

embellishes things in the

context of rock 'n' roll.

It's good on drums.

It's good on bass.

It's good on guitars.

It's the facilitator.

It's a pretty badass console.

♪ Hit me with your best

shot ♪

It's unlike any other Neve

console that I have ever worked

on, and I've been lucky enough

to work on a ton of them now.

It would always be the

greatest-sounding desk I've ever

tracked on.

There is a large number of
modules about which look the

same, but which are marginally

different.

The circuit was a microphone
amplifier circuit.

Cross-talk between circuits and

between buses was absolutely

paramount.

The way that transformer behaves
with DC flowing in it can vary

according to the material of the

core and the gapping of the

core.

If those things are properly

controlled, you get a very sweet

sound.

Rupert Neve is a fucking

genius.

At the time, that Neve
console cost $76,000.

To give you an example, I'd just

bought a house in Toluca Lake,

and I paid $38,000 for the

house.

My wife would've killed me if

she'd known I was doing that.

I thought, "If this place ever

goes under, that's the thing

that will pay all the debts".

The first track we cut on

this was "Crying in the Night"

with Buckingham Nicks.

Very first thing done on that

was that session.

That's how it started.

♪ She was that kind of lady

♪ Times were hard, whoa

We signed them to a

production deal.

They write their own songs.

So all we'd provide would be the

studio, the engineer, and the

tape.

Tom Skeeter and Joe Gottfried
were almost like parental figures to us.

But Keith's the one who got us

out to Sound City.

♪ Crying in the night

♪ She's back in town

When we first moved to L.A., we

didn't have a place.

We stayed at Keith's house.

They're starving and they're

broke.

Lindsey was painting, and Stevie

was cleaning Keith Olsen's

house.

I'd walk through with my

broom, and, you know, Keith

would go, like, "That's the

maid".

And I'd be like...

"I'm not gonna be the maid for

long, just so you know.

Just so y'all know".

♪ But she'll leave you

♪ Cryin' in the night

♪ She will leave you

♪ Cryin' in the night, whoa

It was obvious that Lindsey
and Stevie were really special.

Buckingham Nicks came out in

'73 to great critical acclaim

and then got dropped by Polydor.

The record label dropped

them, so they didn't have a

record deal.

So they were just hanging around

here.

♪ She's a come-on lady

It was like our home.

It was like our home away from

home.

I was living in
Laurel Canyon, and I went to the

country store, which is exactly

the same now.

And someone I vaguely knew
was there.

He said, "Well, what are you up to?"

I said, "Well, I'm actually in
town to find a studio and cost

it out and see if we can afford it".

And he goes, "I'm just the guy".

This rock 'n' roll guy came
to us one day, and he said, "You

know, I hang out with all these

rock bands, and I go to the

clubs and all that.

If I can bring a band in here,

will you give me 10%?"

We said, "All day long.

Bring them in".

Mick Fleetwood came in to see

the studio.

I played him a couple of

tracks from Stevie and Lindsey.

Stevie and I were in

studio "B", in the back.

And I took a break, and I

wandered out.

And I hear our song,

"Frozen Love," coming out of

studio "A".

I open the door, and here's this 6'6"
guy just - just grooving on the solo.

And I'm going, "Who is that?"

I met Lindsey literally in

passing.

And I went off,

not even thinking anything other than,

"I've heard some good music that
was made in the studio that I'm

gonna use".

We made a deal to do

Fleetwood Mac's next album at

Sound City.

Joe was thrilled - "God, we're

gonna make our payments!"

Everything was good.

Fleetwood Mac had had

a few albums with Peter Green in

England that had been

successful.

Then after Peter left,

Bob Welch, who then joined the

band, was more of a jazz

guitarist.

Mick called me.

"Bob Welch just left the band".

I phoned Keith Olsen.

I said, "You know the tape that

you played?

Tell me, we're looking for a

guitar player".

And Keith's like, "Well,

there is a problem there,

because you will never get him

without taking her".

He's gonna have to take my

girlfriend, too.

And that was the beginning of

it.

We joined the band the first
day of 1975.

And then we go straight to

Sound City.

The first days in the studio

were just amazing.

Really exciting, completely

fresh, because Christine,

John McVie, and myself came from

a whole different sensibility

musically, really.

♪ Rhiannon rings like a bell
through the night ♪

♪ And wouldn't you love to love

her ♪

John McVie said to me, "You
know, we're a blues band.

This is really far away from the

blues".

And I said, "I know, but it's a

lot closer to the bank".

♪ All your life you've never

seen a woman taken by the wind ♪

It became pretty clear right

away how this all fit together.

And that isn't just musically.

It's just as people.

Something is translated, and

it is real and it is profound.

Just, in truth, out of

necessity.

It's powerful.

It's like true love.

Absolutely.

But what if that Neve board

hadn't have been there?

The main reason it was

important was so that we got a

fantastic drum track.

It's the drum sound.

Let's start there, 'cause it's

something we all love.

The drums and the feel of a song
are like the heartbeat of the song.

It can be the backbone of the

song.

It can be the foundation of the

song.

So that's the first thing you

do.

You set up your kit, and you

start putting up your

microphones.

A room like this has a really

nice decay.

So, you put mikes around the

room to capture that.

You put close mikes on the

drums.

You have all of those
individual mikes spread over a

number of tracks - 16 tracks or

12 tracks.

So then you can bring the faders
up or down and balance those tracks.

Once you get a good drum take,
then it's like, "Oh, okay, great.

Now we got the beginning of a

song.

Now we can actually start

putting more shit on it".

♪ With the lights out, it's

less dangerous ♪

♪ Here we are now, entertain

us ♪

♪ I feel stupid

The way to pick studios is

through blind-testing drums,

because you can record the

guitars pretty much anywhere,

and they could sound pretty much

like your guitars.

But drums really change from

room to room.

That room shouldn't, on

paper, be a great drum room,

because it's like a big old

square room.

Sound City was a Vox factory
in the '60s, I guess.

They built Vox amps there,

and then they built the
"A" control room in '64.

It's one of those spaces that

just randomly, haphazardly

turned out to be fantastic to

record a drum set in.

That room is the space.

It's, like, what happens between

the notes, what you're playing.

There's a sound that's pretty

magical.

Every room has their sweet

spot for that sound, you know?

This, I think, has always been

Sound City's real sweet spot.

And the freaky thing is,

no one designed it.

A lot of people claim they did.

But no.

It's just luck.

Luck and magic.

Not meant to be.

And you can't control those

things.

Selfishly, the drum sound was

probably why we went there.

I confess.

♪ 'Cause when the lovin'

starts and the lights go down ♪

♪ There's not another living

soul around ♪

None of it is planned.

Sound City was welcoming, and we

knew that we had a home there.

It's a church.

By the luck of whatever, I have

the ability to open that door.

♪ Say that you love me

From that Fleetwood Mac

album, then we'd get Santana and

Grateful Dead.

Once you have big hits like
that, that was huge.

♪ Dancin' in the streets

♪ Dancin', dancin', dancin'

The first real Heartbreakers jam
to just feel each other out

was at Sound City.

The studio was fine, but we

just didn't have our shit

together.

We weren't ready.

We didn't have the songs.

We didn't know how to play

that well.

This is how you make a

record.

It was cruel, 'cause it

sounded so real.

And you'd go into the control

room, and they'd crank up the

speakers, and you go, "Man, I

just - I suck".

I think the vocal mike is

just a little bit loud.

That no-frills, no effects,

no place to hide - everything

coming out of an amp or

everything coming right out of a

speaker or right off a

microphone - that approach,

that was Sound City.

By our third album, we wanted
to get, you know,

somebody that could make
a good-sounding record.

So we hired Jimmy lovine.

He'd been a recording

engineer, and he'd worked with

Lennon and with Springsteen.

And they were recording live

tracks.

They weren't overdubbing a ton of
stuff. You had to learn how to play,

and you'd go in and play it.

I hired Jimmy as an engineer to do
"Damn the Torpedoes" there,

but he showed up with an

engineer without telling me.

He manipulated his way into

being the producer of the

record, along with me.

Jimmy is brilliant. I mean,
he now owns the music business.

When we showed up with Jimmy

at Sound City, he was just

horrified.

Just horrified, like, "What is

this place?"

And the first thing he said to

me is, "I don't know that we can

make a record in here".

Somebody should firebomb this

fucking place.

I said, "Yeah, I think you'll

be surprised".

We tracked live, and we

didn't edit from take to take.

So we had to get it right from

top to bottom.

When you're tracking live,

pressure's on the drummer

big-time.

Until you get that,

you've got nothing.

I just thought I should play

straight.

Throw it where the shaker's

trying to go.

Whoa!

It was emotional.

But, at the same time, I mean,
we all wanted to learn.

"Refugee," we played like

150 damn times or something.

You're trying to get

lightning in a bottle.

That was great.

Yeah, I'm still not

comfortable for some reason.

I'm not quite on my thing here.

I think we should do one

more and listen.

Okay.

Then, you go back and play

the damn song again.

♪ You don't have to live like

a refugee ♪

♪ You don't have to live like
a refugee ♪

It might look easy, but if

you're trying to go for

greatness - and a lot of times

you're gonna fall short, and you

got to live with that, that

night - it's brutal, you know,

on your soul.

God damn you!

You're driving me crazy!

You are gonna drive me fucking

crazy!

♪ Ohhhh

It's a tough room.

You know, music really isn't

supposed to be perfect.

It's all about people relating

to each other and doing

something that's really from the

soul.

You know, it must come from the

soul.

♪ Oh! Oh! Oh!

Tom was great. You know,
his whole approach - low-key.

He'd come in like it was his own

garage studio.

Paula - she was kind of like the
field general. You know?

She was in the front lines, you

know?

Paula - she's great.

She was just unflappable.

You know, just nothing bothered

her.

Paula, I think, took over from

Jemima when Jemima left.

Jemima Eddy, aunt Jemima, had

this assistant who was a little

girl named Barbie who ended up

being Rick Springfield's wife.

She actually was answering

phones when she was, you know,

16, 17, getting hit on by all

the bands, of course.

And then, after Jemima, there

was Paula.

I took one look at her, and I
was totally in love.

She was smoking-hot and as sweet

as can be.

♪ Do you know where your

woman is tonight? ♪

Think about it.

Paula Salvatore, italiano.

Yeah, italiana, italiana.

Every musician that went in

there thought that Paula was in

love with them.

I think.

Or maybe it was just me.

But I don't think so.

Do you remember Paula?

Yeah, I do, actually.

The girl that ran the studio?

Paula - dark-haired girl?

Curly?

I was "Paula at Sound City".
That was my last name for years.

Paula was, like, a one-woman

audience, you know?

♪ Do you know where your

woman is tonight? ♪

Whenever we'd get a mix or

whenever there'd be a

performance that I was really

proud of, I'd always go and say,

"Paula, come on.

Check this out.

Check out what we just did".

Paula would say, "I really

like this one," you know?

That could lift my whole day,

because I knew she didn't have

to say that and that she heard

music all day long.

But it made me think, like,

"Well, wow.

Maybe this one's good".

Paula sang on the first
Masters record, actually, yeah.

She and a friend did some backup

vocals on it.

A lot of girl backup singers
ended up, like, working and

being secretaries in studios.

When you need a backup singer,
just, you know, call the front desk,

and there's one sitting

there.

That was my dream, to play

music.

And I didn't get that.

You know, and before I knew it,

I was kind of in the thick of it.

It's totally attitude.

"I want to do this.

I'll do whatever it takes.

And I'm here".

It's a training ground.

You know, six months driving a

car, and then six months being

the night phone-answering guy.

And when someone above you quit

or got promoted or moved on,

then everybody moved up a step.

I hired Nick 'cause he could
make guac. Very important, you know.

I did.

I made guacamole all the time.

As a runner, I would go in
there, you know, and empty the

ashtrays and dust the console

and vacuum.

And that's when I started to

learn the board.

We had runners that became

engineers.

Then, they became producers.

Lot of people that hung around

here became really successful in
the record business.

You know, recording - it's a

different art form.

♪ Down on South Street,
Philadelphia ♪

When we came to Sound City,
the producer, Gary Lublow, would

say, "No, man, slow it down so

they can hear the fuckin' song".

We'd say, "This is punk rock!

We don't slow anything down!"

You know?

♪ I don't care about you
♪ Fuck you

You're getting 50 seconds'
worth of music with the same

amount of fucking notes, 'cause

we play them faster.

♪ I saw a man that was sleeping

in puke ♪

♪ And a man with no legs

fallin' down Fifth Street ♪

♪ Tryin' to get something to

eat ♪

♪ I don't care about you

♪ Oh, no

One of the greatest punk-rock
albums - they made The Record

at Sound City.

That sound comes out of his

face, man.

That's actually his voice.

♪ I don't care about you

Gary Lublow had been the

producer on the

R.E.O. Speedwagon record.

But what he wound up being was

the engineer who fought with me

every day.

I became a producer by
default, because nobody knew

what a producer was.

The old definition of
"producer" was more watching the

budget, scheduling musicians,

scheduling studio time.

That's not what they did at

Sound City.

A producer works with the

songs.

♪ You don't know how it feels

to be me ♪

A producer says, "Hey, I

think this could be better.

I think that could be better.

I think that's amazing.

Why can't the rest of it be as

great as that?"

That's not easy to do.

Everything I try to do is

from a fan's perspective.

I can listen and go, "Hmm, this

part really speaks to me.

This part doesn't speak to me so

much".

It sounds like you're aiming a

little lower today than you

should be.

What balls, you know, to tell

rock stars that they got

nothing.

♪ But let me get to the

point ♪

♪ Let's roll another joint

I like to push it during the

songs, you know?

Like, I'll hit the guitar and,

like, mess it up.

I want it to be on fire.

Working with Ross was intense
as shit.

We did 12 songs the first night
we were there.

And the whole time, he is

throwing potted plants at us.

I grabbed one of the candles,

and I threw it against the wall

as hard as I can.

Wax went across his face, and

he's like, "Aaaaah!"

Screaming into the floor.

It was so good.

♪ You don't know how it

feels ♪

The way I love the term

"producer" - it's someone that

puts, you know, a cake dish over

the bat phone, you know?

They protect you from the
outside world, and they help you

actualize the sounds in your

head.

Producer's job is really

easy.

He's the vehicle to get the

artists' creativity onto tape in

a way that is accessible to your

marketplace.

♪ To be me

What you have to do is get

the listener to claim what

you've done as theirs.

A girlfriend - an
ex-girlfriend - it's always an

ex-girlfriend - hooked me up

with this guy that knew Joe at

Sound City.

And he said, "Joe's looking for

artists to sign".

I think we signed him, like,

in the middle '70s.

Joe's office was under the

car ramp that took the cars up

to the parking lot on the roof.

I actually thought

about not signing because of

that.

♪ Love is all right tonight

He was turned down by RCA for
about five years.

I got into the studio when

the paying clients had bailed.

You know, "Tom Petty just

canceled.

We got studio 'A' for four

hours".

Joe took Rick Springfield

under his wing, and he kind of

developed him.

Got him acting lessons.

Got him an apartment.

Got him some little car.

Got him the "General Hospital"

thing that started his career.

Here's Bobbie, one of our
best nurses.

Bobbie Spencer, this is

Noah Drake.

How are you?

I'm very happy to see you

again.

The first steady money I'd actually
seen in my life was 500 bucks a week.

That was the first regular money

I'd ever had.

Joe came to me and asked me

to do these couple of songs.

Keith Olsen picked

"Jessie's Girl" out of the demos

they gave him.

I didn't get why he picked it.

I thought there were stronger

songs.

Rick didn't think I knew what

I was talking about.

♪ Well, Jessie is a friend

♪ And, oh, he's been a good

friend of mine ♪

Keith didn't like my guitar

playing, so he had Neil Geraldo

play guitar on "Jessie's Girl"

and bass.

Being a record producer,

there's a time when you have to

say, "It would really be good

for your career if you let this

go that way".

Keith never liked my guitar

playing.

He's a prick.

Patricia had just finished

the "Crimes of Passion" record

at Sound City.

Then I just met him one day,
and that was - we just did it.

I mean, I probably knew him for

15 minutes before we did the

song.

He had this pit terrier, so
he would bring the dog into the

studio, and he goes, watch this.

And he'll throw it a basketball.

And it would take the basketball

and go pghh!

And, you know, puncture it with

his teeth.

With my dog, Ron, the sound

guys would get this laser light

and run it up and down the walls

of studio "B".

And he'd take chunks out of the

wall, and put holes in all the

walls.

So, we get ready to do the

take.

All of a sudden, the dog comes

into the studio, sits down, puts

his nose right in my crotch.

It's like, if I screw up, he's

gonna bite me.

What the hell is going on here?

♪ And she's watching him with

those eyes ♪

I made it through the take.

Might have even been the one we

used.

It was pretty funny.

Never moved.

He sat right there.

It was fantastic.

♪ You know, I wish that I had

Jessie's girl ♪

♪ I wish that I had Jessie's

girl ♪

We signed a lot of acts.

Every one you signed, you

thought, "This is gonna be the

big one".

You know, "This is gonna be it".

I was the only one that

really finally paid off for him,

you know?

Nominated for best male rock
vocal performance, singing about

Jessie's girl, is

Mr. Rick Springfield!

The first check we got from RCA
was over a million dollars.

It's mind-blowing.

I think Joe had pretty good

karma, and this magic studio

sprung up out of this ass-ugly

complex in Van Nuys.

And all these people just

started coming.

It was amazing.

All during the '80s, we were
booked solid. You listen to one of these

stations where they played

rock 'n' roll, 7 or 8 out of the

10 songs were recorded at

Sound City.

Describe Hollywood in the

'80s.

Hollywood in the '80s -
I don't remember.

It was all, like, you know, the hair
bands. It was all the makeup, all the

pretty boys, you know.

♪ 'Cause I'm a wanted man

I was wondering who ever used
the board after us if they had a

burning sensation the next

morning.

Then they'd know we were there.

♪ Some kind, some kind

of friend you turned out to be ♪

I only did one record at

Sound City.

It was more family than any

studio I've ever been to.

You know, "family" might be a

bit heavy, but it was a warm

feeling between us and the

people that worked there.

Dio, "Holy Diver".

Yeah, you know that record.

♪ Stand up and shout

♪ Let it out

♪ Stand up and shout

Paula was Italian.

That's an in.

Ronnie and I are Italian, so we
got on with her great, and they

just let us do whatever we wanted.

It was so cool.

We were having such a good time

at Sound City, almost like it

was a hang, and we just had to

play.

I think it was a lucky thing,

I think, for all of us.

I met Barbara there - I met her

for the first time in front of

that board.

♪ Baby's got the cold feet

♪ Oh, baby, stay

♪ We got all night

I have a lot of stuff that

formed me in that place, in

Sound City.

You know, you're in your 20s

and you don't realize that this

might not last forever.

♪... On my knees tonight

♪ Tonight

You don't know what's coming

after.

Considering its quality and

size, the compact disc most

certainly will become a part of

our lives in the future.

It's all based on something

called "digital sound," an

innovative technique that uses

lasers.

We've been sold a bill of goods
about digital being so great.

"You can duplicate it forever,

and you never lose anything".

The industry is behind it
unanimously. 11 companies,

from Mitsubishi

to Sony, have all agreed on

using the same compact disc and

the same equipment.

Everybody thought that was

great.

But the thing that was wrong was

they'd already lost everything

when they did that.

It plays, theoretically,

pure, perfect sound forever.

In the beginning, when they

created the algorithms that

decide how music is recorded

into the digital domain, there's

a mistake in it.

So, of course, you can duplicate

this.

You know, it was kind of a

mirage.

The official company

spokesman, Mr. Spock,

Leonard Nimoy.

The sound is great.

We've been using it on the

Enterprise for decades.

It's about time it got to

earth.

Everything changed.

You had a lot of things coming

at you at once.

The techno side of it...

This guy named Roger Linn,

who is a friend of ours, I

remember Tom and I once went

over to his house, and

Jim Keltner was there.

And there were all these wires

and gadgets out on the desk.

Roger was tinkering.

"What are you doing?"

He goes, "I'm building a drum

machine".

All the drum samples
were my own drums.

You had to be a drummer to
sample drum sounds in those days.

♪ Hey

I got really, really good at

it, and I really loved it.

And it's just a tool.

It's just another way to make

music.

♪ Don't come around here no

more ♪

Digital was in its infancy.

In the '80s, everybody was

trying to be state-of-the-art.

People were saying, "You only

have 24 faders, and we want 32,

64.

We want 72".

Whoop-de-doo.

♪ Getting stronger

♪ Don't come around here no

more ♪

Keith Olsen left Sound City

and built a studio right next

door.

That was the weirdest thing, you

know?

You'd go out in the parking lot,

there'd be Keith Olsen.

I did this thing with

Rick Springfield.

I told Joe Gottfried, "I want

you to build me a studio.

And I will give you the specs,

and I'll put in the gear".

He told me one day, "You got

to see this studio I built".

You know, and so I go in, and

he's got a board with one fader.

And I said, "Well, what do you

do with that?"

He goes, "That's all I need".

You know, "It's all in the

computer".

He goes, "Wait till you hear

what I'm doing".

You know, and I thought, "Well,

I don't give a fuck".

♪ Hey

I want some shit to play with.

You know, I want to turn knobs,

and I can't trust this.

Keith Olsen clearly had a lot

to do with making Sound City

what it is.

But then, if you went to his

studio next door, it was nothing

like Sound City.

It was the precursor to the

digital studio.

That was an interesting time

in music, where sequencers were

starting to come out.

Now you can record audio
into the computer. Wow.

We could manipulate it in ways we
never could've done on tape before.

And then you can think about

stuff in different ways.

It was a whole new world.

♪ Here I go again on my own

♪ Going down the only road I've
ever known ♪

♪ But here I go again

In the '80s, everything was a
lot more digital.

Things started to get more
processed.

Everything started sounding

really overproduced, with a

cannon-shot snare.

♪ Here I go-o-o-o-o

Sound City couldn't keep up.

Joe was way over his head,

and not just with the studio.

At that time, we made a lot

of mistakes.

We'd spent a lot of money

chasing other acts.

And then, one day, Rick decided

he wanted to go with the

younger, better manager, in his

opinion.

I was kind of talked into

switching managers.

And, um, I didn't do it very

well.

It was supposed to be that

Joe was like Colonel Parker, and

Rick was Elvis, you know?

That's the way we all thought

about it, you know?

Rick Springfield made some

money for Joe and stuff, but Joe

became like a second father to

him.

Rick was his baby.

This guy talked me into, you

know, dumping Joe.

And there was a lot of untruths

told, you know?

Joe was completely shattered

when it happened.

It shattered me, too, but not

personal like it did to him.

It was really a bad day for

him, you know?

That happened, then drum

machines and all that stuff.

And, you know, synthesizers and

stuff like that started taking

over.

It just got a little haywire.

By the late '80s, Sound City,

it just couldn't compete.

I guess there was a time when

studios got nicer and nicer.

Like, some studios had hot tubs.

But, at Sound City, you just

wanted to work and get the hell

out of there.

It was not a place you wanted to

spend time.

And it seemed like it would've

been so easy to clean it up.

But just no one took it upon

themselves to do that.

♪ Aaaaaaaaaah

I got up, after nine years at

Sound City, $29,000 for the

year, no health insurance.

Joe took it away.

He couldn't afford it.

And then when Joe wouldn't give

me my second week vacation,

that's when I said, "I'm

leaving".

By the time I got to

Sound City, it was really dying.

We had a tech who was dealing

drugs, receptionist who wanted

to hang out with Keith Olsen

more than be at the studio.

So I got rid of her.

I remember Keith telling me

I was wasting my time and the

studio would be closed in

six months.

I told him to go fuck himself

and get out.

I took the last 200 bucks out of

my checking account and bought

paint, and we painted the walls.

Sound City was dead.

It was dead.

To be honest, I don't even
remember how the fuck we picked

Sound City.

It's a gritty place, but we
were used to living on the edge,

so it's just like - it was
roomy.

It was comfortable.

I think it was like 600 bucks a day.
16 days in the studio, and then

accommodations.

I think maybe $60k was the

budget for the whole record.

We had these songs, and we

busted them out.

We had a pretty good idea of

what we wanted to do.

♪ He's the one who likes

all our pretty songs ♪

As much as we loved noise and

we loved crazy-ass punk-rock

shit, we wanted to be a good

band.

We loved The Beatles.

♪ Don't know what it means

One of the craziest songs

that we recorded was "Lithium".

For whatever reason, the band

and Dave kept speeding up.

Not subtly, but a lot.

It would start out a certain

tempo and then keep going faster

and faster.

Racing along, basically.

I said, "Dave, have you ever

played with a click track

before?"

My heart just went crack!

Aaaah!

I was fucking - I just felt

like someone had stabbed me in

the fucking brain.

When you're a drummer, you don't

want anyone to ask you to play

to a click track, you know?

That human feel is what gives a

player their personality.

Some drummers don't really

know how to play to something

that's keeping them in line like

a click track.

♪ I'm so happy 'cause

today I found my friends ♪

Lo and behold, the first

take, man, he locked in like

he'd played to a click a

thousand times.

And I think we got the song,

like, the first or second take.

♪ Yea-ea-ea-h-h

♪ Yea-ea-h yea-ea-ea-h-h

And then, when I listened to

it, I'm like, "Well, now it

sounds like the fucking chorus

is slowing down.

It's okay to speed up a little,

isn't it?"

♪ Yea-ea-h
♪ Yea-ea-ea-h-h

I remember, every night, we'd
bring a cassette back from

Sound City to the Oakwood

apartments, where we were

staying, and listen to what we

had done that day.

Those imperfections, that's

cool.

And it makes it sound like

people.

And Kurt was entirely about

performance.

To us, it was most important

that there was an honesty and

truth to what we were doing.

♪ I don't care

♪ I don't care
♪ I don't care

♪ I don't care
♪ I don't care if it's old

The music came through the

speakers in a way that was

primal.

You could hear the sweat in the

tracks.

You could hear Kurt's vocal

cords.

♪ If you have, if you need

Looking back at Sound City, I

realize so much of that record

is about performance.

When we tried to record

"Something in the Way," the band

tried to record it live in the

big tracking room, and it was

just too, kind of, big and

bombastic-sounding.

That song had to be right

because it was such a delicate,

fragile composition.

♪ Underneath the bridge

♪ The tarp has sprung a leak

Kurt came into the control

room, and he started playing

the song.

He laid in front of the Neve on

this couch, and I turned off the

fans and the phones and

everything, and he played the

song just barely mumbling,

barely singing, and barely

playing that 5-string guitar.

♪ And the drippings from the

ceiling ♪

You had to focus on making it

correct and the way it should

be, which isn't necessarily

perfect.

It just feels right.

♪ Something in the way

♪ Mmm-mmm

That was when I first saw a

computer used with music,

because it was so hard to play

to that guitar.

I couldn't really figure out

how to get the performances

locked together without trying

to do crazy edits with him.

Somebody had told me about this

new digital machine.

So, this technician brought

in a computer and a screen, and

it was like the - it was

basically like Pro Tools or

something.

♪ Mmm-mmm

It was archaic.

It was incredibly slow.

You can't do what you can these

days in Pro Tools.

You had this "render" button,

and it would take like two

hours.

We used to call it

"Slow Tools," 'cause it just

used to just slow everything

down.

And then, when you finally

listened to it, if you didn't

like it, you had to hit "undo"

and try another one and hit

"render" again.

It would take, like, another

two hours.

The computer was such a pain

in the butt.

It's just like, this will

just - this is a gimmicky

thing.

Good thing we have tape.

This will never take off".

When I hear

"Smells Like Teen Spirit" on the

radio, I remember those really

simple moments of being in the

studio.

And those 15 days or 16 days,

whatever it was, that board -

totally changed my life.

Nirvana!

Nirvana!

Nirvana!
Nirvana!

♪ Here we are now

♪ Entertain us

Sound City would not have

survived if it was not for that

record.

You know?

Nobody had ever heard of

Nirvana, but it went right up to

number one.

We knew right after that we'd

get a lot of business.

♪ A denial

It was like Fleetwood Mac all

over again.

Joe was always really good

to me.

There was a plaque that he had

brought over to me when

"Nevermind" hit number one.

And we hung it on the wall, and

it was just a couple weeks later

that Joe actually passed away.

He was absolutely a beautiful
person, so absolutely a doll of a guy.

And I didn't - I didn't treat

him very well.

You know, with the separation.

And, um...

So I'm really glad we made up,

you know, before he died.

It was a sad day.
He helped a lot of people do a

lot of things in their career.

I remember coming back to
Sound City.

I hadn't been there in a while.

And the record had gotten big.

And they sent them a platinum

record.

I remember opening the door and

seeing that.

And it was such a huge moment

for me.

I was just like...

Because I remembered walking in

there for the first time and

seeing all of those other

records.

To me, Sound City represents

some sort of integrity like a

truth, which is very human.

Actual people doing this thing

that inspired millions and

millions of fans all over the

place to do the same thing.

That September, the phones

just blew up.

I mean, you come in the morning,

there'd be, like, 50 messages.

It's like this tidal wave of

interest, and it was a

no-brainer - Sound City.

We chose Sound City because
"Nevermind" was recorded there.

I had never been in a studio

before.

There was a lot of time spent,

like, cutting a tape at an angle

and taping it together.

It just, to me, seemed crazy. Like,
that didn't make any sense to me.

♪ Killing in the name of

We did our record at

Sound City like a live show.

We brought monitors in, and

we invited a bunch of our

friends down.

I think we got half the record

in that one night.

♪ Killing in the name of

Things got a lot more raw and

down-to-earth again.

I had started to get into

simplification and analog tape

and vintage equipment and that

kind of thing.

And so, obviously, all roads led

to a place like Sound City.

It became the center of my life.

♪ I had a date for the 11th hour ♪

♪ Ohhhhhhhh

All the Catholics stuff, that was
all live to two-track, no overdubs.

After making records in the '80s

and working towards perfection

and click tracks, and all this

kind of stuff, suddenly to just

do, like, rocking out and have

it recorded, and it's all done,

it just felt really right.

♪ Well, who needs that now?

♪ Ah, who needs that now?

I kept working there pretty

much into the '90s with Rick.

All they kept on saying about

was, "Ah, there's no Paula.

This is really weird".

And I was just, like, "You know,

seriously?"

Shivaun was great.

She didn't take no shit off

nobody.

♪ Yeah

♪ You wreck me, baby

♪ Yeah, you break me in two

Then, right after that, Rick did

a record with Johnny Cash.

He was the coolest guy in the

world, and he was really humble.

He was sick during the making of

that record, and there were

times where we would have to
take breaks, but he loved

recording.

He loved being an artist.

♪ Too cold to start a fire

♪ I'm burnin' diesel, burnin'
dinosaur bones ♪

We kept on calling him
"Mr. Cash," and he would get upset.

He said, "No, call me Johnny".

So we all started calling him

"Mr. Cash" behind his back.

Johnny wanted to play with

a band, and he picked us, which

was totally off the map for me.

It was never like

The Heartbreakers playing their

normal stuff, because, for each

song, everybody would pick up

different instruments.

♪ Gonna break my rusty cage

♪ And run

One of my greatest nights was

when Carl Perkins came down.

I was the runner, and I'll
never forget sitting at the

front desk at Sound City and

Tom Petty and Carl Perkins and

John Fogerty walked in, and it

was just like...

"Wow".

♪ Come on, go with me, babe

♪ Come on, go with me, girl

Tom Petty never loses his

cool, and he walked out of the

control room totally calm, and

he just, like, slammed his hands

down on the table and goes,

"It's Carl fucking Perkins.

Can you believe it?"

Good ol' Sound City came

through for us again.

Other rooms in other studios

all around town started to shift

because more and more people
started to use Pro Tools.

Everybody just jumped on this

bandwagon of, you know,

"Everything's got to be

digital" - digital consoles,

digital tape machines.

I mean, they hadn't decorated

since 1974.

They sure as shit weren't gonna

spend 20 grand on a fucking

Pro Tools rig, you know?

When you came to work at

Sound City, you knew what you

were getting.

It was a tape-based studio.

At some point, it became

cultural - "We're against

that".

Starts from the runner all the

way up to all the engineers and

the studio manager.

They were just against it.

Like, digital sucks.

You know, bring them in the

room and mike them up and just

let tape roll.

♪ Well, I've got a secret I

cannot say ♪

♪ Blame all the movement to give

it away ♪

That's what Queens was all
about. We were not only analog.

It needed to be live.

It needed to be something you

could be proud of that you had

done, you know?

It was just what you had to do
if you were a real musician.

♪ Whatever you do

♪ Don't tell anyone

Sound City was a place where

real men went to make records.

It wasn't gonna be easy.

But, you know, all good things

take an effort.

And make a mark on the tape.

And that is gonna be where I'm

gonna cut.

When you have to record on

tape, it's pretty difficult to

manipulate the sound.

We do the same thing there.

You have to really focus,

one, on how it sounds going in,

and then, two, the performance

has to be amazing.

Okay.

Part of making it in the

record business back in the old

days was that there was

something you could do and

nobody else could do that.

Pro Tools has enabled people -

any average, ordinary person -

to achieve those sorts of

results now.

To do that same thing with

Pro Tools - there we go,

done - it's really that simple.

When Pro Tools came in, it

freaked me out when I realized

that you could drag music onto

the grid and make it sound

perfect.

The good thing about the

digital technology is if

somebody makes a mistake, like

the bass player hits a wrong

note or something, you might be

able to fix it much easier than

we used to.

The not-so-great is, it's

kind of enabled people that have

no business being in a band or

the music industry to become

stars.

I heard some young guy in a

band say, "Well, you don't have

to practice anymore.

You know, you just slice it up
in the machine," meaning the

computer, "and it comes out

perfectly".

Somebody like Andrés Segovia,

you know, who played the guitar

beautifully.

There's no machine is gonna do

that.

I am not a Pro Tools fan.

But Trent and Atticus, they
really use it as a tool, and a

real creative tool.

I never went into the kind of
fear of, "It's cheating".

I never use samplers as a way to

sound like the real thing.

It was really amazing, 'cause
here's a thing that can record

sound like tape, but you can

fuck with it in million
different ways.

It's just a wildly inspiring
tool, really.

♪ I believe I can see the

future ♪

I like to record it in analog

at the highest level and listen

to it that way.

But that's not what's happening

on the street.

That's not where our audience

is.

You want them to live their

lives the way they want to live

it.

I think it makes a lot of

independent music right now

possible.

It's one of the reasons why

we're able to make records for a

couple hundred bucks.

I think one of the big tape

manufacturers went out of

business, so that really pushed

everybody into the digital world

and the Pro Tools world.

The days of moving into the

studio and writing your record

and recording your record and

mixing your record, those days

are gone now.

They used to have $200,000,

$300,000 $400,000 budgets to do

an album.

Now the money is just not there

the way it used to be.

Budgets were so small, we'd

be tracking late five days,

10 days.

It was always last-minute,

"Can you work this afternoon?"

or whatever.

So...

In the end, it was a little

hard to swallow.

You know, we started selling off

the gear in studio "B", 'cause

the studio was way behind on

bills.

♪ Lover, there will be

another one ♪

♪ Who'll hover over you

beneath the sun ♪

Most of the great studios

have gone out of business, and a

lot of what you hear on the

radio was made on people's

laptops.

I think Pro Tools just really

was, to a lot of people, was the

death knell.

It always was an insider

place - always.

But it could not survive against

Pro Tools.

You know, the internet's cool

for some stuff, but, like many

things, there's no bookstore,

there's no music store, and

there's no Sound City.

♪ And show you the way to

go ♪

♪ It's over

♪ It's over

I had heard that Sound City

was about to close.

Someone said, "You should call

Shivaun".

And I talked to Shivaun, and she

was in tears, man.

It was - it was heavy.

Sound City was my home.

And, basically, after all those

years - after 19 years, laid

off, no severance pay, no

medical, nothing.

Shivaun was like - she was

like a mom to me, you know?

I - I left my mom.

My mom was in Tennessee and then

I was out here, and Shivaun was

so cool, man.

I love her so much.

♪ Shadow on the things you

know ♪

Sorry.

♪ Feathers fall around you

Yes, it's been hard.

It still - I try to move on,

but it's - it's hard.

♪ It's over

♪ It's over

♪ Ooh, ooh

Looking back, I was just a
kid when I walked into

Sound City, and that board is

the reason I'm here right now.

I'd do anything for it.

This big room and that Neve

console is what got us all the

big rock 'n' roll bands.

We're digging out all this

stuff, and I never dreamed, in a

million years, I could find

this.

Here's the original order for

the Neve console.

Oh, my god.

Really?

Wow!

And whose signature - is that

Rupert Neve's signature?

Who's that?

I'm gonna give that to you if

you'd like it.

Tom, thank you so much, man.

You're welcome.

Historic document, there.

It really is.

Thank you very much, my friend.

Thank you.

Tom, that's great, man.

Wow!

That Neve console, we sold to

Dave, and that's how all this

all started.

All right. Let's do this.

To me, it's, like - it's a
living, breathing piece of the

music that we've made.

It's just as instrumental as any

instrument that's run through

it.

It's the sound of the records

that were made at Sound City.

This thing is a piece of

rock 'n' roll history.

I thought that board would

just go straight to the

Rock 'n' Roll hall of fame.

I thought no one was gonna get

that board.

I think they knew, like, I
wasn't just gonna bubble-wrap it

and stick it in a warehouse.

I was gonna fucking use it...
A lot.

Trying to pull it through a

window.

I spent so much time sitting

over here, playing with these

things.

Well, was it still sitting

there, Dave?

Yeah, you know, it had been

working.

So, the first thing I really

wanted to do was invite everyone

back to make this new record.

Giving that old board this new

life with new music.

Telling the story of Sound City

is one thing.

Plugging in and actually putting

it through the board and putting

it on a 2-inch reel?

That's what I'm talking about.

♪ They don't talk much about
it ♪

♪ It goes back so many years

♪ All the times we almost didn't

make it ♪

♪ We stayed clear

♪ We walked through the
darkness ♪

♪ And made a pact not to dance

with the devil ♪

♪ Even when the devil seemed to

have a heart ♪

♪ He said we'd never be sorry

♪ For what we've done

♪ And we never allowed the devil

to come to the party ♪

I messed up.

It's amazing.

Want to do another?

Sure.

You want to take it up

through verse one and verse two,

up to that first chorus?

Yeah.

What we're hoping to do on

this album is to catch a little

bit of that vibe that was

captured when all those classic

records were made at Sound City.

We'll try to put some of that

into this album.

♪... Sorry

♪ For what we've done

♪ And we never allowed the devil

to come to the party ♪

♪ You can't fix this

♪ You lost a friend

♪ Hearts breaking

♪ Right and left

Fuckin' "A".

That girl can sing.

Any input from the foos?

Just go.

I'm not - just do what you do.

I am kind of radical, you

know.

♪ Never dance with the devil

♪ Keep running, yeah

There's a reason why these

people have achieved these

things that they've achieved.

You can hear it. You can see it.

♪ Don't ever dance with the

devil ♪

♪ He will burn you dow-ow-n

♪ You can't fix this

That's rad. Sounds rad.

And I get to do my snake

dance.

I'm just feeling very wonderful

to be in your studio with this

board and know that this board

was the first place that we did

"Buckingham Nicks".

"15458 Cabrito Road, Van Nuys,

California".

This is a letter that I wrote to

my mom and dad and my brother in

the middle of the making of

"Buckingham Nicks".

"Dear mom and dad and Chris,

Well, here I am once again at

the famous Sound City recording

studio".

"Sound City, Inc. "

Ta-da!

"I'm getting very tired of

sitting around listening to

12 hours of music per day.

Oh, well.

I know it will pay off in the

end.

It will all be worth it.

I hope that all of my little

family is doing fine and not

working too hard.

Moving right along, I just want

to say that I certainly do miss

you all and wish you could be

here to hear some of this stuff.

Lindsey may go down in history

as one of the greats in guitar

playing.

It really is quite amazing.

Well, no more news as of yet.

So much love to you all, and

hold good thoughts about this

thing.

I love you. Stevie".

I think it really is a
testament to how many people

actually did love Sound City and

do love that Neve console and

want to be part of history.

I was bragging to everybody.
"Guess who I'm calling tonight?

Rick fucking Springfield".

I've always just been a big
believer in the power of the song.

To me, the highest I ever feel

is in the middle of writing a

song that I think I've hooked

into something, you know?

I had an idea.

I don't know if it would work.

But would you want to try

something?

So, if we played over the riff,

it goes...

That'd be really cool.
Let's try it from the top and

see how that sounds.

Yeah. I think it's a great part.

It's got "Rick Springfield"

written all over it.

It's awesome.

I love it.

It's got that stress rock.

I like that.

I just want to go hang out in

the studio.

I just like the process.

I love doing things on the fly

and in the studio...

I'm just trying to think what

would be nice to - if we - to

get back into that section.

...And just kind of play

arrangements in a repetitive

fashion over and over and over

until some little change

happened.

What did you just do?

You did something kind of cool.

"D", "A".

A little happy accident or

whatever, and it's like,

everyone, "Oh, what was that

that just happened?"

That's part of the arrangement

now.

Oh, that'd be so great, and

then right out of there, you

just fucking go, "Aah!"

It's the perfect pair of

pants.

It really is.

But the good thing about

learning while you're recording,

what you sometimes accidentally

get is something good if you

don't have any idea what you're

doing.

And the sense of discovery,

like, is a big part of it.

Everybody gets it all at

once, and that's the first time

you ever played it, and it's got

everything new for the first

time.

It's like your first anything.

And that's the cherry of all

time.

What if we tried doing the

Rick part as a pre-chorus?

Yes! Ha!

That's so good!

'Cause then it goes into the

chorus.

That's awesome!

Better be good now, Pat.

I know.

2.

♪ I can't say that I like her
manner ♪

♪ I can't say that I like her

face ♪

♪ I'm carved up on a silver

platter ♪

♪ Serve warm

♪ She's a real head case

♪ I won't wait for an

invitation ♪

♪ I can't stand for the

sacrifice ♪

♪ I won't die as an unknown

soldier ♪

♪ I won't even try

We came in, we practiced the

song, played it a few times -

kind of a bunch of times - and

we did it live.

How special was that?

♪ Just like the man that

never was ♪

♪ Just like

♪ Just like the man that never

was ♪

♪ Just like the man that never

was ♪

All the elements of it - the
playing, the writing - it's

something that will pull you out

of bed every morning and make

you resist going to bed at

night, 'cause you want to keep

working on it.

Music's been that for me.

♪ I am the man that never was

Great. Thanks.

There's darkness in you, boy.

Oh, yeah, a lot of darkness

in me.

It's dark and so cool, man.

I've spent a lot of time in

front of that board.

Thanks, Dave.

It's a great enabler.

Great, man.

Anybody that's been to

Sound City knows exactly why I'm

making this record.

They get it.

I have an idea.

Why don't we just start it

Lee Ving style where you go...

1, 2, 3, 4! 1, 2, 3, 4!

Oh, I'm on it!

1, 2, 3, 4! 1, 2, 3, 4!

♪ Your wife is calling
♪ Tell her I'm not here

♪ Your wife is calling

♪ Just having one beer

♪ Your wife is calling

♪ Da uber frau ♪

♪ Your wife is calling
♪ Be home in half an hour

♪ Your wife is calling

♪ You say something, dear?

♪ Your wife is calling

♪ Just having more beer

♪ Your wife is calling

♪ You've not to fear

♪ Your wife is calling

♪ Lift your voice, sing for

beer ♪

In the studio, you're trying
to boost your own performance

from the energy that you're

feeding from in your partners.

♪ Your wife is calling

You can't do that if you're

standing there alone.

♪ Your wife is calling
♪ Your wife is calling

♪ Your wife is calling

♪ Your wife is calling
♪ Your wife is calling

Fuck, yeah.

It's a conversation, and that's

a musical relationship that I

think everybody searches for.

I think the downside these days
is thinking that, "I can do this

all on my own".

Yes, you can do this all on your

own, but you'll be a much

happier human being to do it

with other human beings, and I

can guarantee you that.

How would you define "feel"?

Feel is - is just a part of
who you are.

It just comes from where you -

where you're coming from.

It's just the way your heart

beats, you know?

Everybody's heart beats a little
different.

Everybody's got a little

different feel.

"Feel" doesn't mean you're in

time.

You know, 'cause something might

have a really out-of-time kind

of feel.

It might be gloriously out of

tune and just be awesome.

It's a chemistry - something
that happens between people.

Feel is not something that you
learn in a book.

Feel is something that you find

as a musician.

It's like when you take in a

breath, your body swells up.

When you exhale, it collapses a

bit, and sometimes music does

that so subtle.

But feel is being human.

No two musicians are the same,
even if we're playing the same song.

No two musicians do it the same

way.

It's so hard to be understood

in life, and that's why, when

you meet someone where you

understand each other at that

moment, you sort of want to hold

on to it, you know?

When someone has great feel,

whether it's a drummer or a

guitar player, it kind of makes

you fall in love with their

personality.

You realize what a beautiful

person they are, you know?

There's a lot of people
growing up now that won't do

studio time and have never

touched a compressor that's the

one that's being emulated as the

picture on their plug-in on

their laptop.

They're missing out on

something.

You know?

Trent is using technology as
an instrument, not as a crutch.

He doesn't need it.

He's one of the most brilliant

people I've ever met in my

entire life.

He's the person that could

inspire the digital end of this

conversation.

Hey, you guys, no fucking way

with the smoke machine.

There's no fucking

way that's gonna go down.

I'll take the smoke machine

in here.

My grandma pushed me into

piano.

I remember, when I was 5, I

started taking classical

lessons.

I liked it, and I felt I was

good at it.

I knew, in life, I was supposed

to make music.

Feels like a need a

differentiator there - a cool

bass part.

The sound I have is not right.
That's not helping things at the moment.

I could do better than that.

Are you hearing something you

want to try with the bass here?

You're not stepping on my toes.

I practiced long and hard and
studied and learned how to play

an instrument that provided me a

foundation where I can base

everything I think of in terms

of where it sits on the piano.

I sort of liked that, at one

point, it kind of got there, and

then it backed off.

It can kind of brood and be

really simple and empty and sort

of kind of like lift the curtain

on it, and it can expand.

All right, can I just say

that that is fucking awesome?

That, right there, sounds so

fucking beautiful.

I really like the sound of these

three things together.

I think it sounds really cool.

Okay, then let's keep doing

it that way.

This whole thing should just

sunrise.

It would make it beautiful,

you know?

It sort of, like, evolves until

it hits this point and maybe

goes zoom!

When I'm writing music today,

rarely do I sit down and think,

"Oh, this should resolve to that

suspended... "

You know, I don't think of that

shit.

But, subconsciously, I know I

do.

And just when you've sold that

enough, that's the time to

change to an ending and sort of

like let it rip a little bit.

You know what I mean?

I like having that foundation in

there, and that's a very

un-punk-rock thing to say.

But understanding an instrument
and thinking about it and

learning that skill has been

invaluable to me.

Ah.

That was pretty good.

Sounded pretty good to me,

too.

I've found now, as processors

have gotten faster and

programmers have gotten

smarter...

...There's some pretty music

tools that are showing up in the

digital world.

Yeah, take me to the top of

the drop.

The tools are better.
You know, tools are much better

today than they were five years

ago - certainly, 30 years ago.

Now that everyone is empowered

with these tools to create

stuff, has there been a lot more

great shit coming out?

Not really.

You still have to have something

to do with those tools.

Rad.

Yeah, just, you know...

You should really try to have

something to say.

It all started with this idea

that I wanted to tell the story

of the board.

The conversation became

something much bigger.

Like, in this age of technology,

where you can simulate or

manipulate anything, how do we

retain that human element?

How do we keep music to sound

like people - that feeling that

I got when I was young - "Oh,

I can do that, too"?

Let's go do it.

My musical foundation was

The Beatles.

Everything I know about playing

guitar and song structure,

composition, all of it, it all

started with The Beatles.

I like the chandelier, too, man.

It's a nice touch.

Um, so, we don't know what

we're doing...

...so we can just do

anything.

Just - yeah.

I think he knows how you feel
when you play with him. I don't know.

I can't really describe it.

I drop from the most nervous

I've ever been down to like,

"Oh, this is - okay".

Yeah!

Yeah.

♪ Mama

♪ Won't you set me free?

♪ Mama

♪ Let me be

About halfway through the
session, I kind of looked over

at Krist when we were playing,

and we were going for it.

And you know, Krist was moving

the way he used to move, and you

were getting into it...

...and I was playing.

And I thought, "Oh, my god!

This is like Nirvana!"

And then, "Wait.

Paul McCartney is here?"

This is the best way to make
records, when you get people in

a room together and you don't

know what's gonna happen.

You just hit "record" and keep

your fingers crossed that it's

gonna explode.

♪ Mama!

The limitations of this - it
forces you to make decisions

based on what's most important

to translating that song.

If we start...

♪ Gah gah gah gah
♪ Gah gah gah

One of the things, I think,

that makes good music is some

sort of restriction.

And then you want to go to

the - should we - and then go

into the...

And that's where 24-track

mentality comes in.

You commit to what it is.

With Pro Tools, you can always

come back to it, or you can

change it or you can add to it,

to try and make it work.

You know?

'Cause you're not being forced

to make choices - creative

ones.

Maybe then go to the...

♪ "A"

♪ We don't know what's gonna

come on top of this ♪

♪ But something is

♪ That, we'll find out later

♪ And then go to the riff

♪ Breakdown

Like the intro.

I think you should go to that

"A" maybe one more time.

It's such a lift.

Yeah.

After staying in that "D" for

so long, it just has such a

great impact when it goes up

there, and it's so quick.

It's just four times through.

If this mike was in the

room

so it's live.

That's all right.

Do it. Make it simple.

Make it fast.

Don't overthink it.

Let it, like, come straight out

of you, and do it.

♪ Dear mama

♪ Set me free

♪ Oh, mama

♪ Let me be

♪ Oh, mama

♪ Watch me run

♪ Mama

♪ I wanna have some fun

♪ Whoo ooh-ooh-ooh ooh ooh

♪ Whoo ooh-ooh-ooh ooh ooh

♪ Well, mama

♪ Don't let me down

♪ Mama

♪ Wanna go to town

♪ Yeah

Magical.

You didn't even know what the

hell you were doing, but it's

genius.

Exactly.

That's my autobiography.

"I didn't know what the hell

I was doing".

"I wasn't thinking: The

Krist Novoselic story".

"What was I thinking?"

"I wasn't thinking".

There's a lift.

Yeah.

It would be nice if this

would sort of...

Yeah.

"Ah".

Maybe even if it came after the

lift.

♪ Ah

You let the lift happen.

And then take it further with a

chord - vocal chord.

Yeah.

♪ Ah

Whatever it is.

♪ Ah

Who sings? You do?

Me and you.

Krist?

No.

No. I'm just checking.

How long do you want to

be here?

Are you double-parked?

Just checking.

So, let's just try it, and then

you tell us what's wrong with

it.

Yeah, let's tell

Paul McCartney what to do.

♪ Ahhhh

♪ Ahhhh

Sounds pretty cool.

Should we do it in the other

section, too?

Okay.

Why can't it always be this

easy?

It is.

♪ Yeah-eah

♪ Whoo-ooh-ooh

♪ Ahhh

♪ If you want to take a ride,

you got to cut me some slack ♪

♪ Don't get me wrong

♪ I might not come back

Getting a chance to play

music with the person that is

the reason why I'm a musician,

and recording through the board

that's the reason why I'm here

today, it was a huge full-circle

moment for me.

I think it's really
important - and it's a lesson I

didn't learn until in my late

teens - is that whatever bands

that you love, go find out what

bands they love and what bands

turn them on.

And then you really start

getting into the human aspect of

it, because the further back you

go in time, the less technology

you had and, consequently, the

better records that you had.

There's this incredible library
of music, thank god, that is still there.

♪ Ahhh

♪ If you want to take a ride,
you got to cut me some slack ♪

♪ Don't get me wrong

♪ I might not come back

♪ Whoo ooh-ooh-ooh ooh ooh

♪ Whoo ooh-ooh-ooh ooh ooh

Be true to yourself and make
the music that you love.

Go out and play.

Turn people on to your music.

Spread it yourself.

Don't think it happens any other

way.

♪ Let me be

Let's rock, let's play, let's

record, let's play it back.

"Wait till you hear this".
I can't wait to get in my car to hear it.

I'm gonna play it for my friend.

I'm making a copy.

I'm gonna blast for fucking

10 hours, and I'm gonna listen

to it.

♪ Mama, ma-ma-mama watch me

go ♪

♪ Mama, watch me rock

♪ Wanna have some fun

♪ Just wanna have some fun

♪ Yeah, set me free

♪ Set me free

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah

♪ Ohhhhhh, yeah

♪ Whoo

What was the name of your
first band? The Icy Blues.

It was called Bloodfest.

Yeah! Good name.

My first band was called

Fury, and we were a Kiss cover

band.

Which was your favorite?

My favorite Kiss record?

Yeah.

Oh, I - I could never

choose.

What was your first band?

My first band was Autocracy.

Huh?

A band called The Senders.

The Pixies.

The Pixies was your first

band?

Absolutely.

No band before that?

No.

Really?

Yeah.

Wow.

I'd been in practically every

other kind of band - blues

bands, punk-rock bands, standard

rock 'n' roll bands, top-40

bands, jazz-rock fusion bands.

In New York, I had a band called

Daybreak.

Did you have a band?

Had a band.

What was the band?

The Pricks.

Made sense to me, too.

Okay, so, coming up on the

right, you know, we have the

Budweiser brewery, which...

on a good night...

smells like someone burping

right in your face.

The thing that was cool about

the brewery is, like, every band

that came there always wanted to

go take the tour.

So they would always go over

there and come back with cases

of Budweiser and then sit around

and get hammered all the rest of

the night.

But that smell - I'll never

forget that smell when the front

doors of Sound City were open on

a good, windy day.

The smell of hops would just

fill the whole building.

It was just, "Ew, what is that?"

Beer smells like poop.

You know, apparently, Budweiser

smells like poops.

And the funny thing I

remember, when Gladys Knight and

The Pips were there, and they

walked out and they went,

"Whoo-whee! Is that you?"

You know, they were, like,

kidding each other about it.

But it was pretty strong -

pretty...

See? Smell it.

Hmm.

There you go. You got it.

Gonna be a good night.

♪ Heard a song on the radio

just after school ♪

♪ Back from the '80s,

before Reagan was cool ♪

♪ The band wore leather, and the

boys were lookin' so pretty ♪

♪ They rocked all the clubs

down on Sunset ♪

♪ Doin' all those things

that we try to forget ♪

♪ When they screamed out there,

the guitars sounded so pretty ♪

♪ If it sounds as good in your

room as it does in your car ♪

♪ You're on your way

to be a rock 'n' roll star ♪

♪ It's a good thing to say,

"Hey, boys, you're gonna go

far ♪

♪ I wanna play a song,

everyone sing along ♪

♪ Standin' on the stage

with the lights turned on ♪

♪ Wearin' those trends

with all my friends ♪

♪ Rockin' all night

like it'll never end ♪

♪ With all our dreams

hangin' on one little ditty ♪

♪ Yeah, we got it on 2-inch tape

down at Sound City ♪

♪ I wanna play a song,

everyone sing along ♪

♪ Standin' on the stage

with the lights turned on ♪

♪ Wearin' those trends

with all my friends ♪

♪ Rockin' all night

like it'll never end ♪

♪ I wanna play a song,

everyone sing along ♪

♪ Standin' on the stage

with the lights turned on ♪

♪ Wearin' those trends

with all my friends ♪

♪ Rockin' all night

like it'll never end ♪

♪ All those epic songs

with a phrase so witty ♪

♪ There's always room for two to

a car that offers no pity ♪

♪ All our dreams

hangin' on one little ditty ♪

♪ Yeah, we got it on 2-inch tape

down at Sound City ♪

♪ Oh, yeah

♪ Got it on 2-inch tape

down at Sound City ♪

♪ Whoo-hoo-hoo

♪ Got it on 2-inch tape

down at Sound City ♪

♪ Yeah, yeah, yeah

♪ We got it on 2-inch tape

down at Sound City ♪

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Originally published 02/05/2013
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