0:00:02 > 0:00:08This programme contains strong language.
0:01:33 > 0:01:35TUNES GUITAR
0:01:49 > 0:01:52- OK, are you ready?- Yep.
0:01:54 > 0:01:56We're rolling.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59One, two, three, four.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03INSTRUMENTAL
0:02:15 > 0:02:22We were just kids with nothing to lose and nowhere to call home.
0:02:25 > 0:02:31But we had these songs and we had these dreams.
0:02:32 > 0:02:37We threw it all in the back of an old van and just started driving.
0:02:41 > 0:02:44Our destination - Sound City.
0:03:06 > 0:03:10Watching the world through a windshield there's no looking back.
0:03:11 > 0:03:14We have left everything behind.
0:03:23 > 0:03:26When you're young you're not afraid of what comes next.
0:03:28 > 0:03:30You're excited by it.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44We were driving a van that could break down at any moment.
0:03:46 > 0:03:48Going on tours that could be cancelled at any moment.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56And playing music with people who could disappear at any moment.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14We had no idea that the next 16 days were going to change our world forever.
0:04:20 > 0:04:25But I remember pulling into the parking lot and thinking, "Really?
0:04:27 > 0:04:29"This is Sound City?"
0:04:34 > 0:04:35It is weird.
0:04:35 > 0:04:38When you walk into Sound City you either love it or you hate it.
0:04:40 > 0:04:42Looks kind of dumpy.
0:04:42 > 0:04:43It's a shithole.
0:04:43 > 0:04:45Everything was second-hand.
0:04:45 > 0:04:48It was something of a time warp I think. Or something.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56Brown shag carpet on the wall.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59That's the kind of thing that you would do to your van.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02It was like, the place is already kind of trashed,
0:05:02 > 0:05:04so anything goes.
0:05:04 > 0:05:05It was dirty.
0:05:05 > 0:05:08Didn't really feel like I wanted to sit on any of the furniture.
0:05:08 > 0:05:10You could record there and not
0:05:10 > 0:05:12come back for 15 years and walk in
0:05:12 > 0:05:14and it's the exact same as
0:05:14 > 0:05:15the last time you were there.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18The parking lot used to flood
0:05:18 > 0:05:19and it used to make a wave that
0:05:19 > 0:05:21came up the hallway of Sound City.
0:05:24 > 0:05:26Sound City was like you could
0:05:26 > 0:05:28put your cigarette out on the floor.
0:05:28 > 0:05:31And a bottle of Jack Daniels would spill all over the carpet.
0:05:31 > 0:05:33Who cares? It's Sound City. Who cares?
0:05:34 > 0:05:37I would say you could piss in the corner and nobody would complain.
0:05:41 > 0:05:48It was just a little more fucked up than I thought it should be.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50But walking down the hallway
0:05:50 > 0:05:53and seeing all of those platinum records on the wall...
0:05:56 > 0:05:58- Tom Petty.- Fleetwood Mac.
0:05:58 > 0:05:59# Don't stop... #
0:05:59 > 0:06:01- Rick Springfield.- Rick Springfield.
0:06:01 > 0:06:03# I wish that I had Jessie's girl... #
0:06:03 > 0:06:06- Neil Young, man.- Cheap Trick.
0:06:06 > 0:06:08# They just seem a little weird... #
0:06:08 > 0:06:12- The Chilli Peppers.- Rob Halford. - Pat Benatar.
0:06:12 > 0:06:14- Kansas.- Guns n' Roses.
0:06:14 > 0:06:15- Nine Inch Nails.- Nevermind.
0:06:19 > 0:06:25- Foreigner.- Slayer.- Ratt.- Johnny Cash.- Carl Perkins.- Metallica.
0:06:25 > 0:06:27REO Speedwagon.
0:06:27 > 0:06:29# Time for me to fly... #
0:06:29 > 0:06:32- Michael McDonald.- Mick Fleetwood. - Buckingham Nicks.
0:06:36 > 0:06:39- Steve Nicks. - Masters Of Reality.- Frank Black.
0:06:39 > 0:06:43- Wolfsbane.- Rick Rubin.- Kyuss. Weezer.
0:06:43 > 0:06:47Dude, how many fucking amazing albums have been made there?
0:06:52 > 0:06:57Vincent Price. Telly Savalas. We would record anything.
0:06:57 > 0:07:01Anybody who walked in the door and could pay the bill.
0:07:05 > 0:07:08Tom is this big, tall, lanky kind of guy that just
0:07:08 > 0:07:11fell off the turnip truck.
0:07:11 > 0:07:13He wanted you to think that anyway.
0:07:13 > 0:07:16First time I'd ever want into a recording studio
0:07:16 > 0:07:19and first time I'd ever even seen one.
0:07:21 > 0:07:26I was with a West Virginia holding company that was buying little businesses.
0:07:26 > 0:07:31Joe Gottfried and another guy had started Sound City in 1969.
0:07:31 > 0:07:34He was actually the vocalist for the US Army.
0:07:36 > 0:07:40When he was in the Army he was stationed at a hotel in Manhattan.
0:07:41 > 0:07:45A friend of his, Joe Leahy, who was a big band leader and had done
0:07:45 > 0:07:50music for CBS, they were the two main guys in the studio
0:07:50 > 0:07:52when I came in in 1970.
0:07:52 > 0:07:54Keith Olsen was the chief engineer.
0:07:54 > 0:07:58The only reason why the studio business survived was because
0:07:58 > 0:08:04the building ownership was Tom and Tom would not foreclose on it.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07They were about one week away from being closed by the IRS.
0:08:07 > 0:08:11They owed taxes. It was kind of chaos to be honest with you.
0:08:11 > 0:08:16But there was an opportunity to get into the entertainment business.
0:08:18 > 0:08:22ARCHIVE VOICEOVER: 'This is Beatle land, formerly known as Britain where an epidemic
0:08:22 > 0:08:27'called Beatlemania has seized the teenage population, especially female.'
0:08:29 > 0:08:32The big pot at the end of the rainbow is signing the next Beatles.
0:08:32 > 0:08:35We'd have had a zillion dollars.
0:08:35 > 0:08:39- ARCHIVE VOICEOVER:- 'Hi-fi and stereo equipment created an industry with an annual
0:08:39 > 0:08:42'income today of 2.5 billion.'
0:08:43 > 0:08:46Somebody at Sound City came up with this idea.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48We could start a record company.
0:08:50 > 0:08:53That was my goal, to produce records, and have a hit record.
0:08:53 > 0:08:58And make a lot of money. That was the whole reason we bought it.
0:09:02 > 0:09:06Sound City, it was funky. It was in The Valley.
0:09:06 > 0:09:08We only used The Valley to get to Hollywood.
0:09:08 > 0:09:12The Valley was just this flat expanse of too many houses already.
0:09:12 > 0:09:15It was kind of like not happening at all
0:09:15 > 0:09:19Neil Young pulled in fast in a very old car,
0:09:19 > 0:09:23smoke billowing out of every window.
0:09:23 > 0:09:29Behind him was two LAPD officers, guns drawn, you know.
0:09:31 > 0:09:34Move over to the rear of the car. Place your hands on the trunk.
0:09:34 > 0:09:38I attracted police a lot because of the cars that I was driving.
0:09:38 > 0:09:41And I didn't have a licence because I was a Canadian
0:09:41 > 0:09:44and I wasn't even supposed to be there.
0:09:44 > 0:09:50Five minutes later they just got in their cars and drove off.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59I made the record in my house. Most of it I did in my house.
0:09:59 > 0:10:03Then we went to Sound City with Briggs my producer
0:10:03 > 0:10:07and we put down a piano song called Birds there.
0:10:07 > 0:10:08Then we did the vocals.
0:10:08 > 0:10:12Then they sounded so good that I said, "Well, let's just sing everything."
0:10:12 > 0:10:14So it's really a hybrid record.
0:10:14 > 0:10:18# I can love
0:10:18 > 0:10:23# I can really love I can really love... #
0:10:23 > 0:10:26My dad and Joe were partners in crime. They were very close.
0:10:26 > 0:10:28They were thick as thieves.
0:10:28 > 0:10:30Tom was like the business guy and stuff like that,
0:10:30 > 0:10:35- but Joe was the heart of it all really.- Sweetest guy in the universe.
0:10:35 > 0:10:40Absolutely one of the nicest, truest people I've ever known.
0:10:40 > 0:10:42He wasn't a guy in a suit who was counting money
0:10:42 > 0:10:45and just trying to rip off as many musicians as he could.
0:10:45 > 0:10:47That wasn't his thing.
0:10:47 > 0:10:49He loved the fact that bands were coming in
0:10:49 > 0:10:52and making great records there.
0:10:52 > 0:10:55Joe was always positive, more optimistic,
0:10:55 > 0:10:57always, "The next big thing is going to be out there."
0:11:00 > 0:11:05Joe gave me time to learn and to hone what I do. He was quite a guy.
0:11:09 > 0:11:13When we bought the studio we were struggling for a year
0:11:13 > 0:11:16or two and we could see we couldn't just get the premier acts.
0:11:16 > 0:11:21You needed state-of-the-art equipment to get the top acts with the top budgets.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23It was my goal to do that.
0:11:28 > 0:11:33This guy Rupert Neve designed these next-generation consoles. I had
0:11:33 > 0:11:36flown to England and I saw one once and they were like this,
0:11:36 > 0:11:40built like a brick shithouse.
0:11:41 > 0:11:43He was a genius engineer.
0:11:44 > 0:11:48There's only four like this in the world and this is the only one that
0:11:48 > 0:11:50was custom ordered from the factory by Keith.
0:11:54 > 0:11:58There's just something about the Neve sound that my ear
0:11:58 > 0:12:00has always been attuned to.
0:12:00 > 0:12:03They are mathematically crisp and very, very good.
0:12:03 > 0:12:07They're just very solid. It's like a tank or something.
0:12:07 > 0:12:11The Neve thing is there just weren't that many made
0:12:11 > 0:12:13because they are so handmade.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16This Neve board that you talk about. This is not my world.
0:12:16 > 0:12:20Engineers have to spend like hours on the kick drum sound.
0:12:20 > 0:12:24Please, I would rather have a blood transfusion.
0:12:24 > 0:12:26But I do remember there was something
0:12:26 > 0:12:28different about the sound of this board
0:12:28 > 0:12:31and then of course everybody was, "Oh, my God it's a Neve board."
0:12:31 > 0:12:33I'll never forget them saying it.
0:12:36 > 0:12:40A recording console is like the centre of the spaceship.
0:12:40 > 0:12:43If you're going to fly to Mars you've got to have something with all
0:12:43 > 0:12:45the master controls.
0:12:46 > 0:12:48It looks like, you know,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51the Enterprise on steroids from a long time ago.
0:12:51 > 0:12:55A desk is like giant stereo except instead of doing bass, middle
0:12:55 > 0:13:00and treble, it's like you can do that on each drum, each mic, each thing.
0:13:00 > 0:13:06All the microphones in the studio are routed into that console.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10From there you can change EQ, add effects,
0:13:10 > 0:13:17change the levels and that goes into the tape machine where it's recorded.
0:13:17 > 0:13:20DRUMS THUD
0:13:20 > 0:13:24This board, if you put a fader up and turned the mic pre up
0:13:24 > 0:13:30and somebody hits a tom-tom or a snare drum it sounds great.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35It sounds wide open. It sounds huge.
0:13:35 > 0:13:38If you turn the mic pre up too loud
0:13:38 > 0:13:41and it distorts it still sounds great.
0:13:43 > 0:13:46That's analogue. That's how it sounds.
0:13:50 > 0:13:51Especially Neves.
0:13:51 > 0:13:54Everything is just better.
0:13:54 > 0:13:55The human voice sounds better.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00When you've got harmonies going together they kind of meld together.
0:14:00 > 0:14:04# You come on with a come on You don't fight fair... #
0:14:04 > 0:14:09The Neve console really embellishes things in the context of rock 'n' roll.
0:14:09 > 0:14:12It's good on drums. It's good on bass. It's good on guitars.
0:14:12 > 0:14:15- It's the facilitator. - It's a pretty bad ass console.
0:14:15 > 0:14:18# Hit me with your best shot... #
0:14:18 > 0:14:22It's unlike any other Neve console that I have ever worked on
0:14:22 > 0:14:25and I've been lucky enough to work on a ton of them now.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29It would always be the greatest sounding desk I have ever tracked on.
0:14:33 > 0:14:35There is a large number of modules
0:14:35 > 0:14:37about which look the same,
0:14:37 > 0:14:40but which are marginally different.
0:14:40 > 0:14:44The circuit was a microphone amplifier circuit.
0:14:44 > 0:14:46- RUPERT NEVE:- Crosstalk between circuits
0:14:46 > 0:14:49and between busses was absolutely paramount.
0:14:49 > 0:14:54The way that transformer behaves with DC flowing in it can vary
0:14:54 > 0:15:00according to the material of the core and the gapping of the core.
0:15:00 > 0:15:06If those things are properly controlled you get a very sweet sound.
0:15:13 > 0:15:16Rupert Neve is a fucking genius.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23At the time that Neve console cost 76,000.
0:15:26 > 0:15:29To give you an example I'd just bought a house in Toluca Lake
0:15:29 > 0:15:32and I paid 38,000 for the house.
0:15:32 > 0:15:37My wife would have killed me if she'd known I was doing that.
0:15:40 > 0:15:43I thought, "If this place ever goes under that's the thing that will
0:15:43 > 0:15:45"pay all the debts."
0:15:47 > 0:15:51The first track we cut on this was Crying In The Night with
0:15:51 > 0:15:57Buckingham Nicks. Very first thing cut on that was that session.
0:15:59 > 0:16:00That's how it started.
0:16:02 > 0:16:07# She was that kind of lady
0:16:07 > 0:16:12# Times were hard Whoa... #
0:16:12 > 0:16:14We signed them to a production deal.
0:16:14 > 0:16:16They write their own songs
0:16:16 > 0:16:21so all we would provide would be the studio, the engineer and the tape.
0:16:21 > 0:16:25Tom Skeeter and Joe Gottfried were almost like parental figures
0:16:25 > 0:16:31to us, but Keith's the one who got us out to Sound City.
0:16:31 > 0:16:34# She's back in town... #
0:16:34 > 0:16:37When we first moved to LA we didn't have a place.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39We stayed at Keith's house.
0:16:39 > 0:16:41They are starving and they're broke.
0:16:41 > 0:16:45Lindsey was painting and Stevie was cleaning Keith Olsen's house.
0:16:45 > 0:16:48I'd walk through with my broom
0:16:48 > 0:16:53and Keith would go, "That's the maid." And I'd be like, "I'm not
0:16:53 > 0:16:58"going to be the maid for long, just so you know. Just so you all know."
0:16:58 > 0:17:02# But she'll leave you crying in the night
0:17:02 > 0:17:07# She will leave you crying in the night... #
0:17:07 > 0:17:12It was obvious that Lindsey and Stevie were really special.
0:17:12 > 0:17:16Buckingham Nicks came out in '73 to great critical acclaim and then
0:17:16 > 0:17:18got dropped by Polydor
0:17:18 > 0:17:22The record label dropped them so they didn't have a record deal
0:17:22 > 0:17:24so they were just hanging around here.
0:17:24 > 0:17:29- # She's a come on lady...- #
0:17:29 > 0:17:32It was like our home. It was like our home away from home.
0:17:39 > 0:17:42I was living in Laurel Canyon
0:17:42 > 0:17:44and I went to the country store,
0:17:44 > 0:17:47which is exactly the same now,
0:17:47 > 0:17:50and someone I vaguely knew was there.
0:17:50 > 0:17:52He said, "Well, what are you up to?"
0:17:52 > 0:17:53I said, "I'm actually in town
0:17:53 > 0:17:56"to find a studio and cost it out
0:17:56 > 0:17:58"and see if we can afford it,"
0:17:58 > 0:18:01and he goes, "I'm just the guy!"
0:18:01 > 0:18:04This rock'n'roll guy came to us one day and he said,
0:18:04 > 0:18:07"You know, I hang out with all these rock bands
0:18:07 > 0:18:10"and I go to the clubs and all that. If I can bring a band in here,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13"you give me 10%."
0:18:13 > 0:18:15We said, all day long, bring 'em in.
0:18:17 > 0:18:21Mick Fleetwood came in to see the studio.
0:18:21 > 0:18:24I played him a couple of tracks from Stevie and Lindsey.
0:18:30 > 0:18:34Stevie and I were in Studio B in the back
0:18:34 > 0:18:37and I took a break and I wandered out
0:18:37 > 0:18:41and I hear our song Frozen Love coming out of Studio A.
0:18:41 > 0:18:44I open the door
0:18:44 > 0:18:47and here's this 6' 6" guy just...
0:18:47 > 0:18:49HE TAPS HIS FOOT
0:18:49 > 0:18:50..just grooving on the solo
0:18:50 > 0:18:53and I'm going, "Who is that?"
0:18:57 > 0:19:00I met Lindsey literally in passing
0:19:00 > 0:19:01and I went off
0:19:01 > 0:19:05not even thinking anything other than
0:19:05 > 0:19:09I've heard some good music that was made in the studio I'm going to use.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11We made a deal -
0:19:11 > 0:19:15to do Fleetwood Mac's next album at Sound City.
0:19:15 > 0:19:19Joe was thrilled - "God, we're going to make our payment" -
0:19:19 > 0:19:20everything was good.
0:19:20 > 0:19:24Fleetwood Mac had had a few albums with Peter Green in England
0:19:24 > 0:19:27that had been successful. Then, after Peter left,
0:19:27 > 0:19:31Bob Welch, who then joined the band, was more of a jazz guitarist.
0:19:31 > 0:19:35Mick called me. He said, "Bob Welch just left the band."
0:19:35 > 0:19:39I phoned Keith Olsen. I said, "You know the tape
0:19:39 > 0:19:45"that you played? Tell me, we're looking for a guitar player."
0:19:45 > 0:19:49And Keith's like, "Well, there is a problem there
0:19:49 > 0:19:54"because you will never get him without taking her."
0:19:54 > 0:19:57He's going to have to take my girlfriend too.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59And that was the beginning of it.
0:19:59 > 0:20:03# Love... #
0:20:06 > 0:20:11We joined the band the first day of 1975.
0:20:11 > 0:20:14And then we go straight to Sound City.
0:20:14 > 0:20:18The first days in the studio were just amazing.
0:20:20 > 0:20:24Really exciting, completely fresh,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28because Christine, John, McVie and myself
0:20:28 > 0:20:32came from a whole different sensibility, musically, really.
0:20:32 > 0:20:36# Rhiannon rings like a bell through the night
0:20:36 > 0:20:39# And wouldn't you love to love her? #
0:20:39 > 0:20:42John McVie said to me, "We're a blues band.
0:20:42 > 0:20:46"This is really far away from the blues." And I said,
0:20:46 > 0:20:48"I know but it's a lot closer to the bank."
0:20:48 > 0:20:51# ..All your life you've never seen
0:20:51 > 0:20:54# Woman taken by the wind... #
0:20:54 > 0:20:57It became pretty clear right away
0:20:57 > 0:20:59how this all fitted together
0:20:59 > 0:21:01and that isn't just musically.
0:21:01 > 0:21:03It's just as people.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06Something is translated
0:21:06 > 0:21:08and it is real
0:21:08 > 0:21:12and it is profound just, in truth, out of necessity.
0:21:12 > 0:21:14It's powerful.
0:21:14 > 0:21:16- It's like true love.- Absolutely.
0:21:16 > 0:21:22But what if that Neve board hadn't had been there?
0:21:22 > 0:21:24The main reason it was important was
0:21:24 > 0:21:27so that we got a fantastic drum track.
0:21:27 > 0:21:30HE CHUCKLES It...um...
0:21:30 > 0:21:36The drum sound, let's start there, because it's something we all love.
0:22:03 > 0:22:08The drums and the feel of a song are like the heartbeat of the song.
0:22:08 > 0:22:10It can be the backbone of the song,
0:22:10 > 0:22:12it can be the foundation of the song.
0:22:16 > 0:22:19So, that's the first thing you do.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26You set up your kit and you start putting up your microphones.
0:22:26 > 0:22:29A room like this has a really nice decay.
0:22:32 > 0:22:36So you put mikes around the room to capture that.
0:22:36 > 0:22:39You put close mikes on the drums.
0:22:39 > 0:22:42You have all of those individual mikes spread over
0:22:42 > 0:22:43a number of tracks,
0:22:43 > 0:22:4616 tracks or 12 tracks.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50So then you can bring the faders up or down and balance those tracks.
0:22:56 > 0:22:59Once you get a good drum take,
0:22:59 > 0:23:01it's like, "Oh, OK, great, now we've got the beginning of a song.
0:23:01 > 0:23:04"Now we can actually start putting more shit on it."
0:23:17 > 0:23:22The way to pick studios is through blind-testing drums
0:23:22 > 0:23:24because you can record the guitars
0:23:24 > 0:23:27pretty much anywhere to sound pretty much like your guitars.
0:23:27 > 0:23:30But drums really change from room to room.
0:23:30 > 0:23:34That room shouldn't, on paper,
0:23:34 > 0:23:36be a great drum room
0:23:36 > 0:23:38because it's a big old square room.
0:23:41 > 0:23:46Sound City was a Vox factory in the '60s, I guess.
0:23:46 > 0:23:47They built Vox amps there
0:23:47 > 0:23:50and then they built the A Control Room in '64.
0:23:50 > 0:23:54It's one of those spaces that just randomly, haphazardly
0:23:54 > 0:23:58turned out to be fantastic to record a drum set in.
0:23:58 > 0:23:59That room is the space.
0:23:59 > 0:24:02It's like what happens between the notes,
0:24:02 > 0:24:05what you're playing, there's a sound that's pretty magical.
0:24:05 > 0:24:10Every room has their sweet spot for that sound, you know?
0:24:10 > 0:24:14This, I think, has always been Sound City's real sweet spot.
0:24:14 > 0:24:16And the freaky thing is, no-one designed it.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19A lot of people claim they did, but no.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21It's just luck.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23Luck and magic.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25Not meant to be.
0:24:25 > 0:24:27And you can't control those things.
0:24:27 > 0:24:31Selfishly, the drum sound was probably why we went there!
0:24:31 > 0:24:33I confess!
0:24:33 > 0:24:38# Cos when the loving starts and the lights go down
0:24:38 > 0:24:41# And there's not another living soul around... #
0:24:41 > 0:24:44None of it is planned.
0:24:44 > 0:24:46Sound City was welcoming
0:24:46 > 0:24:49and we knew that we had a home there.
0:24:49 > 0:24:51It's a church.
0:24:51 > 0:24:55By the luck of whatever, I had the ability to open that door.
0:24:55 > 0:24:59# ..And you say that you love me... #
0:24:59 > 0:25:01From that Fleetwood Mac album,
0:25:01 > 0:25:05then it would get Santana and Grateful Dead.
0:25:05 > 0:25:10Once you have big hits like that, that was huge!
0:25:10 > 0:25:12# Dancing in the streets
0:25:12 > 0:25:14# Dancing... #
0:25:14 > 0:25:16RADIO CHANNELS CHANGE RAPIDLY
0:25:48 > 0:25:50The first real
0:25:50 > 0:25:52Heartbreakers jam
0:25:52 > 0:25:55to just feel each other out was at Sound City.
0:25:57 > 0:25:59The studio was fine
0:25:59 > 0:26:02but we just didn't have our shit together. We weren't ready.
0:26:02 > 0:26:05We didn't have the songs, we didn't even know how to play that well.
0:26:05 > 0:26:07Is this how you make records?
0:26:07 > 0:26:09It was cruel because it sounded so real
0:26:09 > 0:26:11and you'd go into the control room,
0:26:11 > 0:26:13they'd crank up through those speakers and you'd go,
0:26:13 > 0:26:15"Man, I suck!"
0:26:16 > 0:26:19The vocal mike is just a little bit loud.
0:26:19 > 0:26:22It had no frills, no effects,
0:26:22 > 0:26:24no place to hide.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27Everything coming out of an amp
0:26:27 > 0:26:30or everything coming right out of a speaker or right off a microphone,
0:26:30 > 0:26:33that approach, that was Sound City.
0:26:35 > 0:26:38By our third album,
0:26:38 > 0:26:42we wanted to get somebody who that could make a good-sounding record
0:26:42 > 0:26:43so we hired Jimmy Iovine.
0:26:43 > 0:26:45He'd been a recording engineer
0:26:45 > 0:26:48and he'd worked with Lennon and Springsteen
0:26:48 > 0:26:50and they were recording live tracks.
0:26:50 > 0:26:52They weren't overdubbing a ton of stuff.
0:26:52 > 0:26:56I mean, you had to learn how to play and you'd go in and play it.
0:26:56 > 0:26:58I hired Jimmy as an engineer
0:26:58 > 0:27:01to do Damn The Torpedoes
0:27:01 > 0:27:04but he showed up with an engineer
0:27:04 > 0:27:06without telling me!
0:27:07 > 0:27:11He manipulated his way into being the producer of the record
0:27:11 > 0:27:12along with me.
0:27:12 > 0:27:14Jimmy is brilliant.
0:27:14 > 0:27:16I mean, he now owns the music business.
0:27:18 > 0:27:21When we turned up with Jimmy at Sound City,
0:27:21 > 0:27:24he was just horrified.
0:27:24 > 0:27:27Just horrified! Like, "What IS this place?"
0:27:27 > 0:27:29The first thing he said to me was,
0:27:29 > 0:27:32"I don't know that we can make a record in here."
0:27:32 > 0:27:35Somebody should fire-bomb this fucking place.
0:27:35 > 0:27:39I said, "Yeah, I think you'll be surprised."
0:27:42 > 0:27:45We tracked live and we didn't edit from take to take,
0:27:45 > 0:27:48so we had to get it right from top to bottom.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51When you're tracking live, pressure's on the drummer big time.
0:27:51 > 0:27:54Until you get that, you got nothing.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57I just thought he should play straight.
0:28:01 > 0:28:03GROANING
0:28:03 > 0:28:07It was emotional but, at the same time, we all wanted to learn.
0:28:09 > 0:28:13Refugee we played, like, 150 damn times, or something.
0:28:13 > 0:28:17You're trying to get lightning in a bottle.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20- Yeah, that was great.- I'm still not comfortable, for some reason.
0:28:20 > 0:28:22I'm not quite on my thing here.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24- I think we should do one more and listen.- OK.
0:28:24 > 0:28:27Then you go back and play the damn song AGAIN.
0:28:27 > 0:28:31# You don't have to live like a refugee
0:28:31 > 0:28:35# Don't have to live like a refugee... #
0:28:35 > 0:28:37It might look easy
0:28:37 > 0:28:39but if you're trying to go for greatness,
0:28:39 > 0:28:43a lot of times you're going to fall short and you've got to live with that that night.
0:28:43 > 0:28:46'It's brutal, you know, on your soul.'
0:28:46 > 0:28:48Goddamn!
0:28:48 > 0:28:52You are about to drive me fucking crazy.
0:28:57 > 0:28:58It's a tough room.
0:28:58 > 0:29:02You know, music really isn't supposed to be perfect.
0:29:02 > 0:29:07It's all about people relating to each other,
0:29:07 > 0:29:12and doing something that's really from the soul, you know?
0:29:12 > 0:29:14It must come from the soul.
0:29:18 > 0:29:21Tom was great, you know?
0:29:21 > 0:29:23His whole approach - low key.
0:29:23 > 0:29:25He'd come in like it was
0:29:25 > 0:29:27his own garage studio.
0:29:27 > 0:29:32Paula, she was kind of like the field general.
0:29:32 > 0:29:35You know? She was in the front line.
0:29:35 > 0:29:37Paula, she's great.
0:29:37 > 0:29:39She was just unflappable, you know?
0:29:39 > 0:29:42Nothing bothered her.
0:29:42 > 0:29:43Paula, I think,
0:29:43 > 0:29:45took over from Jemima when Jemima left.
0:29:45 > 0:29:47Jemima Eddy,
0:29:47 > 0:29:50and Jemima had this assistant
0:29:50 > 0:29:53who was a little girl named Barbie,
0:29:53 > 0:29:57who ended up being Rick Stringfield's wife.
0:29:57 > 0:30:02She actually was answering phones when she was 16, 17,
0:30:02 > 0:30:06getting hit on by all the bands, of course.
0:30:06 > 0:30:09And then after Jemima there was Paula.
0:30:11 > 0:30:12I took one look at her
0:30:12 > 0:30:13and I was totally in love.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15She was smoking-hot
0:30:15 > 0:30:17and as sweet as can be.
0:30:17 > 0:30:22# You know where your woman is tonight
0:30:22 > 0:30:25# Think about it... #
0:30:25 > 0:30:28Paula Salvatore, Italiano. Yeah,
0:30:28 > 0:30:31Italiana. Italiana.
0:30:31 > 0:30:34Every musician that went in thought that Paula was in love with them.
0:30:34 > 0:30:37I think! Or maybe it was just me. But I don't think so.
0:30:37 > 0:30:40- Do you remember Paula? - Yeah, I do, actually.
0:30:40 > 0:30:42The girl that ran the studio.
0:30:42 > 0:30:44Dark-haired girl?
0:30:44 > 0:30:45Curly?
0:30:45 > 0:30:50Well, I was "Paula at Sound City". That was my last name for years.
0:30:50 > 0:30:52Paula was like a one-woman audience.
0:30:52 > 0:30:59# ..You know where your woman is tonight... #
0:30:59 > 0:31:02Whenever we'd get a mix or there'd be a performance that
0:31:02 > 0:31:04I was really proud of, I'd always say,
0:31:04 > 0:31:06"Paula, check out what we just did!"
0:31:06 > 0:31:09Paula would say, "I really like this," you know?
0:31:09 > 0:31:12That could lift my whole day
0:31:12 > 0:31:14because I knew she didn't HAVE to say that
0:31:14 > 0:31:17and that she heard music all day long
0:31:17 > 0:31:21but it made me think, "Wow, maybe this one's good!"
0:31:22 > 0:31:26Paula sang on the first Masters record, yeah.
0:31:26 > 0:31:28She and her friend did some back-up vocals on it.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36A lot of girl back-up singers ended up
0:31:36 > 0:31:39working and being secretaries in studios.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42"We need a back-up singer." "Just call the front desk,"
0:31:42 > 0:31:44and there's one sitting there.
0:31:44 > 0:31:47That was my dream, to play music, and I didn't get that
0:31:47 > 0:31:50and before I knew it I was kind of in the thick of it.
0:31:52 > 0:31:54It's totally attitude.
0:31:54 > 0:31:57"I want to do this, I'll do whatever it takes and I'm here."
0:31:57 > 0:32:00It's a training ground, you know?
0:32:00 > 0:32:04Six months driving a car and then six months being the night phone.
0:32:04 > 0:32:07When someone above you quit or got promoted or moved on,
0:32:07 > 0:32:10then everybody moved up a step.
0:32:10 > 0:32:14I hired Nick because he could make guac. Very important, yeah.
0:32:14 > 0:32:17I did. I made guacamole all the time.
0:32:17 > 0:32:22As a runner, I would go in there, you know, empty the ashtrays
0:32:22 > 0:32:24and dust the console and vacuum
0:32:24 > 0:32:28and that's when I started to learn the board.
0:32:28 > 0:32:32We had runners that became engineers and then they became producers.
0:32:32 > 0:32:34A lot of people that hung around here
0:32:34 > 0:32:39became really successful in the record business.
0:32:42 > 0:32:46You know, recording, it's a different art form.
0:32:46 > 0:32:47HE CHUCKLES
0:32:53 > 0:32:55When we came to Sound City,
0:32:55 > 0:32:58the producer Gary Lubow said, "No, man, slow it down
0:32:58 > 0:33:00"so they can hear the fucking song."
0:33:00 > 0:33:04"This is punk rock - we don't slow anything down!"
0:33:04 > 0:33:06# I don't care about you
0:33:06 > 0:33:09# Fuck you! #
0:33:09 > 0:33:12You're getting 50 seconds' worth of music but the same amount
0:33:12 > 0:33:14of fucking notes because we play 'em faster!
0:33:14 > 0:33:16# ..Some man who was sleeping in puke
0:33:16 > 0:33:18# And a man with no legs crawling down 5th Street
0:33:18 > 0:33:20# Trying to get something to eat
0:33:20 > 0:33:23# Oh, I don't care about you
0:33:23 > 0:33:24# Oh, no! ##
0:33:24 > 0:33:27One of the greatest punk rock albums.
0:33:27 > 0:33:30They made their record at Sound City.
0:33:30 > 0:33:33That sounds comes out of his face, man. That's actually his voice.
0:33:33 > 0:33:39# ..I don't care about you... #
0:33:39 > 0:33:43Gary Lubow had been the producer on the REO Speedwagon record,
0:33:43 > 0:33:48but what he wound up being was the engineer
0:33:48 > 0:33:50who fought with me every day.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57I became a producer by default
0:33:57 > 0:34:00because nobody knew what a producer was.
0:34:02 > 0:34:05The old definition of "producer"
0:34:05 > 0:34:06was more watching the budget,
0:34:06 > 0:34:08scheduling musicians, scheduling studio time.
0:34:08 > 0:34:12That's not what they did at Sound City.
0:34:12 > 0:34:14A producer works with the songs.
0:34:14 > 0:34:17# You don't know how it feels
0:34:17 > 0:34:21# To be me... #
0:34:21 > 0:34:24A producer says, "Hey, I think this could be better,
0:34:24 > 0:34:26"that could be better. I think that's amazing.
0:34:26 > 0:34:28"Why can't the rest of it be as great as that?"
0:34:28 > 0:34:30That's not easy to do.
0:34:30 > 0:34:32Everything I try to do is from a fan's perspective.
0:34:32 > 0:34:37I can listen and go, "Hmm, this part really speaks to me. This part doesn't speak to me so much."
0:34:37 > 0:34:41It sounds like you're aiming a little lower today than you should be.
0:34:41 > 0:34:42What balls, you know?
0:34:42 > 0:34:46To tell rock stars that they got nothing.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49# Well, let me get to the point
0:34:49 > 0:34:53# Let's roll another joint... #
0:34:53 > 0:34:55I like to push it during the songs.
0:34:55 > 0:34:57Oh, hit the guitar and mess it up!
0:34:57 > 0:34:59I want it to be on fire.
0:34:59 > 0:35:03Working with Ross was as intense as shit.
0:35:03 > 0:35:06We did 12 songs the first night we were there
0:35:06 > 0:35:08and the whole time,
0:35:08 > 0:35:10he is throwing potted plants at us.
0:35:10 > 0:35:14I grabbed one of the candles and I threw it against the wall
0:35:14 > 0:35:16as hard as I can, whacked someone across his face.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18He's like, "Wah!"
0:35:18 > 0:35:21Screaming into the floor. It was so good.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25# ..You don't know how it feels... #
0:35:25 > 0:35:28The way I love the term producer is someone
0:35:28 > 0:35:30that puts a cake dish over the bat phone,
0:35:30 > 0:35:33you know, they protect you from the outside world.
0:35:33 > 0:35:35And they help you actualise the sounds in your head.
0:35:35 > 0:35:38The producer's job is really easy.
0:35:38 > 0:35:44He is the vehicle to get the artist's creativity on the tape
0:35:44 > 0:35:47in a way that is accessible to your marketplace.
0:35:47 > 0:35:52# To be me... #
0:35:52 > 0:35:56What you have to do is get the listener to claim what you
0:35:56 > 0:35:58have done as theirs.
0:36:09 > 0:36:12A girlfriend, an ex-girlfriend, it's always an ex-girlfriend,
0:36:12 > 0:36:15hooked me up with this guy that knew Joe at Sound City.
0:36:15 > 0:36:18He said that Joe is looking for artists to sign.
0:36:18 > 0:36:22I think we signed him in the middle '70s.
0:36:22 > 0:36:27Joe's office was under the car ramp that took the cars
0:36:27 > 0:36:31up to the parking lot on the roof.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34I actually thought about not signing because of that!
0:36:34 > 0:36:39# Love is alright tonight... #
0:36:41 > 0:36:45He was turned down by RCA for about five years.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48I had gone into the studio when the paying clients had bailed.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52"Tom Petty just cancelled, we have got Studio A for four hours."
0:36:52 > 0:36:56Joe took Rick Springfield under his wing and he kind of developed him.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59Got him acting lessons, got him an apartment, got him some
0:36:59 > 0:37:02little car, got him the General Hospital thing
0:37:02 > 0:37:04that started his career.
0:37:09 > 0:37:11Bobbie Spencer, this is Noah Drake.
0:37:11 > 0:37:14- How are you? - I am very happy to see you again.
0:37:14 > 0:37:16It was the first steady money I'd actually seen in my life,
0:37:16 > 0:37:20was 500 bucks a week. That was the first regular money I had ever had.
0:37:20 > 0:37:24Joe came to me and asked me to do these couple of songs.
0:37:26 > 0:37:30Keith Olsen picked Jessie's Girl out of the demos that we gave him.
0:37:30 > 0:37:33I didn't get why he picked it, I thought there were stronger songs.
0:37:33 > 0:37:35Rick didn't think I knew what I was talking about.
0:37:35 > 0:37:38# Well, Jessie is a friend
0:37:38 > 0:37:43# And, Lord, he's been a good friend of mine... #
0:37:43 > 0:37:46Keith didn't like my guitar playing so he had Neil Giraldo
0:37:46 > 0:37:48play guitar on Jessie's Girl, and bass.
0:37:48 > 0:37:53Being a record producer, there is a time when you have to say,
0:37:53 > 0:37:59"It would really be good for your career if you let this go that way."
0:37:59 > 0:38:01Keith never liked my guitar playing, the prick!
0:38:03 > 0:38:06Patricia and I had just finished the Crimes Of Passion
0:38:06 > 0:38:10record at Sound City. Then I just met him one day and we just did it.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13I mean, I probably knew him for 15 minutes before we did the song.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19He had this pit terrier, so he would bring the dog into the studio.
0:38:19 > 0:38:21He goes, "Watch this." He'd throw in a basketball
0:38:21 > 0:38:24and it would take the basketball and go... It punctured it with its teeth.
0:38:24 > 0:38:27My dog, Ron, the sound guys would get this razor light
0:38:27 > 0:38:30and run it up and down the walls of Studio B and he would take
0:38:30 > 0:38:33chunks out of the wall, there were holes in all of the wall.
0:38:34 > 0:38:36So we get ready to do the take.
0:38:36 > 0:38:39All of a sudden the dog comes into the studio,
0:38:39 > 0:38:41sits down, puts his nose right in my crotch.
0:38:41 > 0:38:44I was like, if I screw up it he's going to bite me, what the
0:38:44 > 0:38:46hell is going on?!
0:38:49 > 0:38:51And I made it through the take,
0:38:51 > 0:38:53and might have even been the one we used, it was pretty good.
0:38:53 > 0:38:57He never moved, he sat right there. It was fantastic.
0:38:57 > 0:39:01# You know I wish that I had Jessie's girl
0:39:01 > 0:39:05# I wish that I had Jessie's girl... #
0:39:05 > 0:39:07We signed a lot of acts.
0:39:07 > 0:39:08Every one you signed you thought,
0:39:08 > 0:39:11this is going to be the big one, this is going to be it.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15I was the only one that really finally paid off for him.
0:39:15 > 0:39:18Nominated for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance,
0:39:18 > 0:39:22singing about Jessie's Girl, it's Mr Rick Springfield!
0:39:22 > 0:39:25APPLAUSE
0:39:26 > 0:39:31The first cheque we got from RCA was over 1 million.
0:39:37 > 0:39:38It's mind-blowing.
0:39:38 > 0:39:42I think Joe had pretty good karma and this magic studio
0:39:42 > 0:39:46sprung up out of this ass-ugly complex in Van Nuys.
0:39:46 > 0:39:50And all these people just started coming. It was amazing.
0:39:56 > 0:39:59All during the '80s, we were booked solid.
0:39:59 > 0:40:01You listen to one of these stations where they play rock'n'roll,
0:40:01 > 0:40:06seven or eight out of the ten songs were recorded at Sound City.
0:40:11 > 0:40:13Describe Hollywood in the '80s.
0:40:13 > 0:40:15Hollywood in the '80s?
0:40:15 > 0:40:17I don't remember!
0:40:20 > 0:40:23It was all like, you know, the hair bands, it was all the make-up,
0:40:23 > 0:40:25all the pretty boys, you know.
0:40:28 > 0:40:31# Cos I'm a wanted man... #
0:40:31 > 0:40:34I was wondering whoever used the board after us,
0:40:34 > 0:40:38if they had a burning sensation the next morning.
0:40:38 > 0:40:40Then they'd know we were there!
0:40:40 > 0:40:43# Some kind, some kind of friend
0:40:43 > 0:40:45# You turned out to be... #
0:40:45 > 0:40:48I only did one record at Sound City.
0:40:48 > 0:40:52It was more family than any studio I had ever been to.
0:40:52 > 0:40:55You know, family might be a bit heavy
0:40:55 > 0:40:59but it was a warm feeling between us and the people that worked there.
0:41:00 > 0:41:03Dio, Holy Diver, yeah, you know that record.
0:41:06 > 0:41:08# Stand up and shout
0:41:08 > 0:41:12# Let it out Stand up and shout... #
0:41:12 > 0:41:16Paula was Italian. That's an in.
0:41:16 > 0:41:19Lonnie and I are Italian so we got on with her great
0:41:19 > 0:41:23and they just let us do whatever we wanted. It was so cool.
0:41:23 > 0:41:25We were having such a good time at Sound City,
0:41:25 > 0:41:29almost like it was a hang, and we just had to play.
0:41:33 > 0:41:35I think it was a lucky thing for all of us.
0:41:35 > 0:41:40I met Barbara there for the first time, in front of that board.
0:41:41 > 0:41:45# Oh, baby, stay we got all night... #
0:41:45 > 0:41:49I have a lot of stuff that formed me in that place, in Sound City.
0:41:49 > 0:41:51You know, you're in your 20s
0:41:51 > 0:41:55and you don't realise that this might not last for ever.
0:42:01 > 0:42:03You don't know what is coming after.
0:42:05 > 0:42:09Considering its quality and size, the compact disc most
0:42:09 > 0:42:12certainly will become a part of our lives in the future.
0:42:12 > 0:42:16It is all based on something called digital sound.
0:42:16 > 0:42:19An innovative technique that uses lasers.
0:42:19 > 0:42:22We have been sold a bill of goods about digital being so great.
0:42:22 > 0:42:25You can duplicate it for ever and never lose anything.
0:42:25 > 0:42:27The industry is behind it unanimously.
0:42:27 > 0:42:2911 companies, from Mitsubishi to Sony,
0:42:29 > 0:42:33have all agreed on using the same compact disc and the same equipment.
0:42:33 > 0:42:36Everybody thought that was great but the thing that was wrong
0:42:36 > 0:42:39was that they had already lost everything when they did that.
0:42:39 > 0:42:43It plays theoretically pure perfect sound for ever.
0:42:43 > 0:42:47In the beginning when they created the algorithms to decide how
0:42:47 > 0:42:51music is recorded into the digital domain, there is a mistake in it.
0:42:51 > 0:42:56So of course you can duplicate this, it was kind of a mirage.
0:42:56 > 0:42:59The official company spokesman, Mr Spock, Leonard Nimoy.
0:42:59 > 0:43:01The sound is great,
0:43:01 > 0:43:04we have been using it on the Enterprise for decades.
0:43:04 > 0:43:06It is about time it got to Earth.
0:43:09 > 0:43:12Everything changed. You had a lot of things coming at you at once.
0:43:12 > 0:43:14The techno side of it.
0:43:14 > 0:43:17This guy named Roger Linn, who is a friend of ours.
0:43:17 > 0:43:20I remember Tom and I once went over to his house
0:43:20 > 0:43:22and Jim Keltner was there.
0:43:22 > 0:43:25And there are all these wires and gadgets on the desk.
0:43:25 > 0:43:27Roger was tinkering with them. "What are you doing?"
0:43:27 > 0:43:29He goes, "I'm building a drum machine."
0:43:29 > 0:43:31All the drum samples were my own drums.
0:43:31 > 0:43:34You had to be a drummer to sample drum sounds in those days.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36# Hey!... #
0:43:39 > 0:43:42I got really, really good at it and I really loved it.
0:43:42 > 0:43:47It is just a tool, it is just another way to make music.
0:43:47 > 0:43:52# Don't come around here no more... #
0:43:52 > 0:43:55Digital was in its infancy.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59In the '80s, everybody was trying to be state-of-the-art.
0:43:59 > 0:44:05People are saying you only have 24 faders and we want 32, 64.
0:44:05 > 0:44:09We want 72. Whoop-de-doo!
0:44:16 > 0:44:20Keith Olsen left Sound City and built a studio right next door.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23That was the weirdest thing, you know.
0:44:23 > 0:44:26You go out in the parking lot, there would be Keith Olsen.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29I did this thing with Rick Springfield, I told
0:44:29 > 0:44:32Joe Gottfried, "I want you to build me a studio.
0:44:32 > 0:44:35"And I will give you the specs and I will put in the gear."
0:44:35 > 0:44:39He told me one day, "You got to see this studio I built."
0:44:39 > 0:44:43So I go in and he has got a board with one fader.
0:44:43 > 0:44:49I said, "What you do with that?" He goes, "That is all I need.
0:44:49 > 0:44:53"It is all in the computer. What do you hear what I am doing?"
0:44:54 > 0:44:56I thought, I don't give a fuck.
0:44:57 > 0:45:02I want some shit to play with. I want to turn knobs and I can't trust this.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07Keith Olsen clearly had a lot to do with making Sound City what it is.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09But then if you went to his studio next door,
0:45:09 > 0:45:11it was nothing like Sound City.
0:45:11 > 0:45:14It was the precursor to the digital studio.
0:45:14 > 0:45:17That was an interesting time in music where sequences were
0:45:17 > 0:45:22starting to come out. Now you can record audio into the computer. Wow.
0:45:22 > 0:45:25We could manipulate it in ways we never could have done on tape before.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28And you could think about stuff in different ways.
0:45:28 > 0:45:30It was a whole new world.
0:45:31 > 0:45:34# Here I go again on my own
0:45:36 > 0:45:40# Going down the only road I've ever known
0:45:40 > 0:45:42# Here I go again... #
0:45:42 > 0:45:45In the '80s everything was a lot more digital,
0:45:45 > 0:45:47things started to get more processed.
0:45:47 > 0:45:52Things were really overproduced. With a cannon shot snare.
0:45:58 > 0:46:00Sound City couldn't keep up.
0:46:01 > 0:46:06Joe was way over his head and not just with the studio.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11That time we made a lot of mistakes.
0:46:11 > 0:46:15We spent a lot of money chasing other acts.
0:46:20 > 0:46:24And then one day, Rick decided he wanted to go with a younger,
0:46:24 > 0:46:28better manager, in his opinion.
0:46:28 > 0:46:32I was kind of talked into switching managers.
0:46:35 > 0:46:37And I didn't do it very well.
0:46:37 > 0:46:39It was supposed to be that Joe
0:46:39 > 0:46:42was like Colonel Parker and Rick was Elvis.
0:46:42 > 0:46:46That's the way we all thought about it.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49Rick Springfield made some money for Joe and stuff,
0:46:49 > 0:46:53but Joe became like a second father to him. Rick was his baby.
0:46:54 > 0:46:59This guy talked me into, you know, dumping Joe.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02There was a lot of untruths told, you know.
0:47:04 > 0:47:08Joe was completely shattered when it happened.
0:47:08 > 0:47:12It shattered me too but not personal like it did to him.
0:47:17 > 0:47:18It was a really bad day for him.
0:47:20 > 0:47:23That happened, and drum machines and all that stuff
0:47:23 > 0:47:27and synthesisers and stuff like that started taking over.
0:47:27 > 0:47:29It just got a little haywire.
0:47:33 > 0:47:37By the late '80s, Sound City, it just couldn't compete.
0:47:44 > 0:47:47This was a time when studios got nicer and nicer,
0:47:47 > 0:47:49like some studios had hot tubs.
0:47:49 > 0:47:52At Sound City, you just wanted to work and get the hell out of there.
0:47:52 > 0:47:54It was not a place you wanted to spend time.
0:47:54 > 0:47:57And it seemed like it would have been so easy to clean it up,
0:47:57 > 0:48:00but just no-one took it upon themselves to do that.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12I got up after nine years at Sound City, 29,000 for the year.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14No health insurance. Joe took it away, couldn't afford it.
0:48:14 > 0:48:17And then when Joe wouldn't give me my second week vacation,
0:48:17 > 0:48:19that is when I said, I'm leaving.
0:48:24 > 0:48:27By the time I got to Sound City, it was really dying.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31We had a tech who was dealing drugs.
0:48:31 > 0:48:35Receptionist who wanted to hang out with Keith Olsen more than me
0:48:35 > 0:48:37at the studio. So I got rid of her.
0:48:37 > 0:48:39I remember Keith telling me I was wasting my time
0:48:39 > 0:48:42and the studio would be closed in six months.
0:48:42 > 0:48:44I told him to go fuck himself and get out.
0:48:46 > 0:48:49I took the last 200 bucks out of my chequing account
0:48:49 > 0:48:52and I bought paint and repainted the walls.
0:48:54 > 0:48:58Sound City was dead. It was dead.
0:49:08 > 0:49:13To be honest, I don't remember how the fuck we picked Sound City.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20It is a gritty place but we were used to living on the edge,
0:49:20 > 0:49:24so it's just like... It was roomy, it was comfortable.
0:49:24 > 0:49:26I think it was like 600 bucks a day.
0:49:27 > 0:49:3116 days in the studio and then accommodations.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33I think maybe 60k was the budget for the whole record.
0:49:33 > 0:49:36We had these songs and we busted them out.
0:49:36 > 0:49:40We had a pretty good idea what we wanted to do.
0:49:40 > 0:49:44# He's the one who likes all our pretty songs... #
0:49:44 > 0:49:46As much as we loved noise
0:49:46 > 0:49:50and we loved crazy-assed punk rock shit, we wanted to be a good band.
0:49:50 > 0:49:51We loved the Beatles.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54# Knows not what it means
0:49:54 > 0:49:56# Don't know what it means... #
0:49:56 > 0:50:00One of the craziest songs that we recorded was Lithium.
0:50:01 > 0:50:06For whatever reason, the band and Dave kept speeding up.
0:50:06 > 0:50:08Not subtly but a lot.
0:50:08 > 0:50:11It would start out a certain tempo and then keep going faster
0:50:11 > 0:50:13and faster, racing along basically.
0:50:13 > 0:50:17I said, "Dave, have you ever played with a click track before?"
0:50:17 > 0:50:20My heart just went... "Aagh!" I was fucking...
0:50:20 > 0:50:23I just felt like someone had stabbed me in the fucking brain.
0:50:23 > 0:50:25When you are a drummer, you don't
0:50:25 > 0:50:28want anyone to ask you to play to a click track.
0:50:28 > 0:50:33That human feel is what gives a player their personality.
0:50:33 > 0:50:35CLICKING
0:50:36 > 0:50:40Some drummers don't really know how to play to something that is
0:50:40 > 0:50:43keeping them in line, like a click track.
0:50:43 > 0:50:48# I'm so happy cos today... #
0:50:48 > 0:50:50Lo and behold, the first take,
0:50:50 > 0:50:54he locked in like he had played to a click 1,000 times.
0:50:54 > 0:50:57And I think we got the song the first or second take.
0:50:57 > 0:50:59# Yeah, yeah
0:51:01 > 0:51:04# Yeah, yeah, yeah... #
0:51:04 > 0:51:06Then when I listened to it, I'm like,
0:51:06 > 0:51:08"That sounds like it's slowing down.
0:51:08 > 0:51:10"It's OK to speed up a little, isn't it?"
0:51:10 > 0:51:12# Yeah, yeah
0:51:12 > 0:51:15# Yeah, yeah, yeah... #
0:51:15 > 0:51:17A remember every night we would bring a cassette
0:51:17 > 0:51:21back from Sound City to the Oakwood Apartments where we were staying
0:51:21 > 0:51:23and listen to what we had done that day.
0:51:25 > 0:51:29Those imperfections, that's cool. And it makes it sound like people.
0:51:31 > 0:51:35And Kurt was entirely about performance.
0:51:41 > 0:51:45To us it was most important that there was an honesty
0:51:45 > 0:51:47and truth to what we were doing.
0:51:47 > 0:51:51# Don't care, don't care don't care, don't care
0:51:51 > 0:51:53- # Don't care, care if it's old...- #
0:51:53 > 0:51:54The music came through the speakers
0:51:54 > 0:51:56in a way that was primal.
0:51:56 > 0:51:59You could hear the sweat in the tracks.
0:51:59 > 0:52:03You could hear Kurt's vocal cords.
0:52:03 > 0:52:06# ..Girl, if you have
0:52:06 > 0:52:08# Give it to me... #
0:52:08 > 0:52:10Looking back at Sound City,
0:52:10 > 0:52:14I realise so much of that record is about performance.
0:52:14 > 0:52:19MUSIC: "Something In The Way" by Nirvana
0:52:19 > 0:52:21When we tried to record Something In The Way,
0:52:21 > 0:52:24the band tried to record it live in the big tracking room,
0:52:24 > 0:52:27and it was just too kind of big and bombastic sounding.
0:52:27 > 0:52:31That song had to be right because it was
0:52:31 > 0:52:33such a delicate, fragile composition.
0:52:33 > 0:52:37# Underneath the bridge
0:52:38 > 0:52:41# The tarp has sprung a leak
0:52:41 > 0:52:43# And the... #
0:52:43 > 0:52:46Kurt came into the control room, he started playing the song.
0:52:46 > 0:52:48He laid in front of the Neve on this couch,
0:52:48 > 0:52:50and I turned off the fans and the phones and everything,
0:52:50 > 0:52:52and he played the song just barely mumbling,
0:52:52 > 0:52:55barely singing and barely playing that five-string guitar.
0:52:55 > 0:53:01# ..And the drippings from the ceiling... #
0:53:01 > 0:53:07We had to focus on making it correct in the way that it should be,
0:53:07 > 0:53:11which isn't necessarily perfect. It just feels right.
0:53:11 > 0:53:14# ..Something in the way
0:53:16 > 0:53:19# Mm mm... #
0:53:19 > 0:53:24That was when I first saw a computer used with music because
0:53:24 > 0:53:26it was so hard to play that guitar.
0:53:26 > 0:53:30I couldn't really figure out how to get the performances
0:53:30 > 0:53:33locked together without trying to do crazy edits with them.
0:53:33 > 0:53:36Somebody had told me about this new digital machine.
0:53:36 > 0:53:41So this technician brought in a computer. And the screen...
0:53:41 > 0:53:44it was basically like Pro Tools or something.
0:53:46 > 0:53:49It was archaic, it was incredibly slow. You can't do
0:53:49 > 0:53:51what you can these days in Pro Tools.
0:53:51 > 0:53:56You hit this render button and it would take like two hours.
0:53:56 > 0:53:59We used to call it "Slow Tools"
0:53:59 > 0:54:01because it just used to slow everything down.
0:54:01 > 0:54:04And when you finally listen to it, if you didn't like it,
0:54:04 > 0:54:07you had to hit undo and then try another one and hit render again.
0:54:07 > 0:54:09It'd take like another two hours.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11The computer was such a pain in the butt.
0:54:11 > 0:54:13It was like, "This is a gimmicky thing.
0:54:13 > 0:54:16"A good thing we have tape. This'll never take off."
0:54:16 > 0:54:19MUSIC: "Smells Like Teen Spirit" by Nirvana
0:54:27 > 0:54:29When I hear Smells Like Teen Spirit on the radio,
0:54:29 > 0:54:33I remember those really simple moments of being in the studio.
0:54:33 > 0:54:38And those 15 days, or 16 days - whatever it was -
0:54:38 > 0:54:41that board totally changed my life.
0:54:41 > 0:54:44# Hello, hello, hello with the lights out... #
0:54:44 > 0:54:45Nirvana!
0:54:45 > 0:54:47- Nirvana!- Nirvana!
0:54:47 > 0:54:51# ..Here we are now entertain us... #
0:54:51 > 0:54:55Sound City would not have survived if it was not for that record,
0:54:55 > 0:54:57you know?
0:54:57 > 0:55:00Nobody'd never heard of Nirvana and it went right up to number one.
0:55:00 > 0:55:03We knew right after that. We got a lot of business.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06# ..Here we are now! #
0:55:06 > 0:55:09It was like Fleetwood Mac all over again.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15Joe was always really good to me. There was a plaque
0:55:15 > 0:55:17that was brought over to me when Nevermind hit number one.
0:55:17 > 0:55:21And we hung it on the wall and it was just a couple of weeks later
0:55:21 > 0:55:23that Joe actually passed away.
0:55:23 > 0:55:26MUSIC PLAYS
0:55:31 > 0:55:35He was an absolutely beautiful person, absolutely a doll of a guy.
0:55:35 > 0:55:38And, er, I didn't...
0:55:39 > 0:55:44I didn't treat him very well after, you know, the separation.
0:55:44 > 0:55:46And, um...
0:55:49 > 0:55:51So I'm really glad we made up, you know, before he died.
0:55:56 > 0:56:00It was a sad day. He helped a lot of people
0:56:00 > 0:56:02do a lot of things in their career.
0:56:10 > 0:56:13I remember coming back to Sound City.
0:56:13 > 0:56:15I hadn't been there in a while
0:56:15 > 0:56:19and the record had gotten big and they sent them a platinum record.
0:56:19 > 0:56:24I remember opening the door and seeing that..
0:56:24 > 0:56:26and it was such a huge moment for me.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28I was just like...
0:56:28 > 0:56:32because I remembered walking in there for the first time
0:56:32 > 0:56:34and seeing all of those other records.
0:56:34 > 0:56:38To me, Sound City represents some sort of integrity
0:56:38 > 0:56:40like a truth,
0:56:40 > 0:56:42which is very human.
0:56:42 > 0:56:46Actual people doing this thing that inspired
0:56:46 > 0:56:48millions and millions of fans
0:56:48 > 0:56:50all over the place to do the same thing.
0:56:52 > 0:56:54That September, the phones just blew up.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59I mean, you come in in the morning, there'd be like 50 messages.
0:57:01 > 0:57:06It was like this tidal wave of interest and it was a no-brainer.
0:57:06 > 0:57:08Sound City.
0:57:08 > 0:57:11MUSIC: "Killing In The Name Of" by Rage Against The Machine
0:57:15 > 0:57:16We chose Sound City because
0:57:16 > 0:57:20Nevermind was recorded there.
0:57:20 > 0:57:22I'd never been in a studio before, and there was a lot of time
0:57:22 > 0:57:25spent cutting a tape at an angle
0:57:25 > 0:57:27and taping it together.
0:57:27 > 0:57:30It really seemed crazy. It didn't make any sense to me.
0:57:30 > 0:57:32# Killing in the name of... #
0:57:35 > 0:57:38We did our record at Sound City like a live show.
0:57:38 > 0:57:43We brought monitors in and we invited a bunch of our friends down.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46I think we got half the record in that one night.
0:57:46 > 0:57:47# ..Uh... #
0:57:54 > 0:57:57Things got a lot more raw and down-to-earth again.
0:57:57 > 0:58:00MUSIC: "All My Ghosts" by Frank Black
0:58:02 > 0:58:05I had started to give in to simplification and analogue tape
0:58:05 > 0:58:06and vintage equipment
0:58:06 > 0:58:08and that kind of thing.
0:58:08 > 0:58:09And so, obviously,
0:58:09 > 0:58:11all roads led to a place like Sound City.
0:58:11 > 0:58:14It became the centre of my life.
0:58:15 > 0:58:19# I had a date for the eleventh hour
0:58:21 > 0:58:23# Oh oh oh... #
0:58:23 > 0:58:27The Catholics stuff was all live, two track, no overdub.
0:58:27 > 0:58:28After making records in the '80s
0:58:28 > 0:58:31and working toward perfection and all this kind of stuff,
0:58:31 > 0:58:35suddenly to just doing rocking out and have it recorded,
0:58:35 > 0:58:39and it's all done, it just felt really...right.
0:58:39 > 0:58:42# ..Well, who needs that now?
0:58:42 > 0:58:46# Ah, who needs that now... #
0:58:46 > 0:58:52I kept working there pretty much into the '90s with Rick.
0:58:52 > 0:58:55MUSIC: "You Wreck Me" by Tom Petty
0:58:55 > 0:58:59All he kept saying was, "Oh, there's no Paula. This is really weird."
0:58:59 > 0:59:02And I was just like, "You know, seriously?"
0:59:02 > 0:59:06Shivaun was great, she didn't take no shit off nobody.
0:59:06 > 0:59:10# Yeah, you wreck me, baby
0:59:11 > 0:59:12# Yeah, you break me in two... #
0:59:12 > 0:59:17And right after that, Rick did a record with Johnny Cash.
0:59:17 > 0:59:19MUSIC: "Rusty Cage" by Johnny Cash
0:59:19 > 0:59:22He was the coolest guy in the world and he was really humbled.
0:59:22 > 0:59:24He was sick during the making of that record
0:59:24 > 0:59:27and there were times where we would have to take breaks.
0:59:27 > 0:59:30But he loved recording, he loved being an artist.
0:59:30 > 0:59:32# Too cold to start a fire
0:59:32 > 0:59:34# I'm burning diesel burning dinosaur bones... #
0:59:36 > 0:59:38We kept on calling him Mr Cash, and he would get upset
0:59:38 > 0:59:39and say, "No, call me Johnny."
0:59:39 > 0:59:41So we all started calling him Mr Cash
0:59:41 > 0:59:43behind his back.
0:59:43 > 0:59:45Johnny wanted to play with the band
0:59:45 > 0:59:50and he picked US, which was totally off the map for me.
0:59:50 > 0:59:53It was never like the Heartbreakers playing their normal stuff.
0:59:53 > 0:59:57because for each song everybody would pick up different instruments.
0:59:57 > 1:00:01# ..Gonna break my Gonna break my rusty cage
1:00:03 > 1:00:05# Oh, yeah. #
1:00:05 > 1:00:09One of my greatest nights was when Carl Perkins came down.
1:00:09 > 1:00:11MUSIC PLAYS
1:00:13 > 1:00:17I was the runner and I'll never forget sitting at the front desk
1:00:17 > 1:00:22at Sound City and Tom Petty and Carl Perkins and John Fogerty walked in,
1:00:22 > 1:00:24and it was like...
1:00:24 > 1:00:26"Wow!"
1:00:29 > 1:00:31# Come on go with me, babe
1:00:33 > 1:00:35# Come on, go with me, girl... #
1:00:35 > 1:00:37Tom Petty never loses his cool.
1:00:37 > 1:00:40And he walked out of the control room totally calm
1:00:40 > 1:00:42and just slammed his hands on the table and goes,
1:00:42 > 1:00:45"It's Carl fucking Perkins. Can you believe it?"
1:00:45 > 1:00:48Good old Sound City came through for us again.
1:00:54 > 1:00:58Other rooms in other studios all around town,
1:00:58 > 1:00:59started to shift because
1:00:59 > 1:01:02more and more people started to use Pro Tools.
1:01:02 > 1:01:04Everybody just jumped on this bandwagon
1:01:04 > 1:01:06of everything's got to be digital.
1:01:06 > 1:01:09Digital consoles, digital tape machines.
1:01:09 > 1:01:12I mean they hadn't decorated since 1974,
1:01:12 > 1:01:15they sure as shit weren't going to spend 20 grand
1:01:15 > 1:01:17on a fucking Pro Tools rig, you know?
1:01:17 > 1:01:18When you came to work at Sound City,
1:01:18 > 1:01:20you knew what you were getting.
1:01:20 > 1:01:22It was a tape-based studio.
1:01:22 > 1:01:25MUSIC: "The Lost Art Of Keeping A Secret"
1:01:25 > 1:01:28At some point it became cultural -
1:01:28 > 1:01:30we're against that.
1:01:30 > 1:01:31It starts in the runner, right the way up to
1:01:31 > 1:01:33all the engineers and the studio manager.
1:01:33 > 1:01:37They were just against it. Like, "Digital sucks".
1:01:37 > 1:01:40Bring them in the room and mic them up and just let tape roll.
1:01:40 > 1:01:45# I've got a secret I cannot say
1:01:45 > 1:01:48# Blame modern movement
1:01:48 > 1:01:51- # To give it away... # - That's what Queens was about.
1:01:51 > 1:01:54We were not only analogue, it needed to be live.
1:01:54 > 1:01:57It needed to be something that you were proud of that you had done.
1:01:57 > 1:02:00It was just what you had to do if you were a real musician.
1:02:01 > 1:02:07# ..Whatever you do
1:02:07 > 1:02:09# Don't tell anyone... #
1:02:09 > 1:02:13Sound City was a place where real men went to make records.
1:02:13 > 1:02:15It wasn't going to be easy
1:02:15 > 1:02:19but, you know, all good things take an effort.
1:02:24 > 1:02:28I'm going to make a mark on the tape.
1:02:28 > 1:02:30And that is going to be where I'm going to cut.
1:02:30 > 1:02:32When you have to record on tape,
1:02:32 > 1:02:36it's pretty difficult to manipulate the sound.
1:02:36 > 1:02:38We do the same thing there.
1:02:38 > 1:02:42You have to really focus on, one, how it sounds going in
1:02:42 > 1:02:46and then, two, the performance has to be amazing.
1:02:46 > 1:02:48OK.
1:02:48 > 1:02:52Part of making it in the record business in the old days
1:02:52 > 1:02:53was that there was something
1:02:53 > 1:02:55you could do when nobody else could do that.
1:02:55 > 1:03:00Pro Tools has enabled people, any average ordinary person,
1:03:00 > 1:03:03to achieve those sorts of results now.
1:03:03 > 1:03:06To do that same thing with Pro Tools,
1:03:06 > 1:03:08there we go. Done.
1:03:08 > 1:03:10It's really that simple.
1:03:10 > 1:03:13When Pro Tools came in, it freaked me out when I realised you could
1:03:13 > 1:03:16drag music onto the grid and make it sound perfect.
1:03:16 > 1:03:18The good thing about the digital technology is
1:03:18 > 1:03:20if somebody makes a mistake,
1:03:20 > 1:03:22like the bass player hits a wrong note or something,
1:03:22 > 1:03:26you might be able to fix it much easier than we used to.
1:03:26 > 1:03:31The not so great is it's kind of enabled people that have no business
1:03:31 > 1:03:33being in a band or the music industry,
1:03:33 > 1:03:35to become stars.
1:03:35 > 1:03:37I heard some young guy in a band say,
1:03:37 > 1:03:40"Well, you don't have to practise any more.
1:03:40 > 1:03:42"You know, you just slice it up in
1:03:42 > 1:03:44"the machine..." Meaning the computer.
1:03:44 > 1:03:46"..and it comes out perfectly."
1:03:46 > 1:03:49CLASSICAL GUITAR
1:03:54 > 1:03:57Somebody like Andres Segovia, you know,
1:03:57 > 1:03:59who played the guitar beautifully
1:03:59 > 1:04:01there's no machine's going to do that.
1:04:07 > 1:04:09MUSIC ENDS
1:04:12 > 1:04:14I am NOT a Pro Tools fan.
1:04:14 > 1:04:19But Trent uses it as a tool and a real creative tool.
1:04:19 > 1:04:22ELECTRONIC MUSIC
1:04:23 > 1:04:28I never went into it with a kind of fear of it's cheating.
1:04:28 > 1:04:30I never used samplers as a way to sound like the real thing.
1:04:30 > 1:04:33It was a thing that could record sound like tape,
1:04:33 > 1:04:35but you can fuck with it in a million different ways.
1:04:35 > 1:04:39It's a wildly inspiring tool really.
1:04:39 > 1:04:44# I believe I can see the future... #
1:04:44 > 1:04:47I like to record it in analogue at the highest level
1:04:47 > 1:04:48and listen to it that way.
1:04:48 > 1:04:51But that's not what's happening on the street.
1:04:51 > 1:04:53That's not where our audience is.
1:04:53 > 1:04:56You want them to live their lives in the way they want to live it.
1:04:56 > 1:04:58I think it makes a lot of
1:04:58 > 1:05:01independent music possible.
1:05:01 > 1:05:02It's one of the reasons why
1:05:02 > 1:05:05we're able to make records for a couple of hundred bucks.
1:05:05 > 1:05:09I think one of the big tape manufactures went out of business.
1:05:09 > 1:05:12So that really pushed everybody
1:05:12 > 1:05:15into the digital world and the Pro Tools world.
1:05:15 > 1:05:18The days of moving into the studio and writing your record
1:05:18 > 1:05:21and recording your record and mixing your record, those days are gone.
1:05:21 > 1:05:26I used to have 2, 3, 400,000 dollar budgets to do an album.
1:05:26 > 1:05:30Now the money is just not there the way it used to be.
1:05:30 > 1:05:34The budgets were so small. We'd be tracking five days, ten days.
1:05:34 > 1:05:38It was always last minute. "Can you work this afternoon?" or whatever.
1:05:38 > 1:05:40So...
1:05:40 > 1:05:42MUSIC: "Lover There Will Be Another One" by Neil Young
1:05:42 > 1:05:45In the end, it was a little hard to swallow.
1:05:45 > 1:05:48We started selling off the gear in studio B.
1:05:48 > 1:05:50The studio was way behind on bills.
1:05:50 > 1:05:56# Lover, there will be another one
1:05:56 > 1:06:02# Who'll hover over you beneath the sun... #
1:06:02 > 1:06:05Most of the great studios have gone out of business.
1:06:05 > 1:06:10And a lot of what you hear on the radio was made on people's laptops.
1:06:10 > 1:06:16I think Pro Tools has really, was to a lot of people, the death knell.
1:06:16 > 1:06:21It always was an insider place. Always.
1:06:21 > 1:06:23But it could not survive against Pro Tools.
1:06:26 > 1:06:29You know, the internet's cool for some stuff but, like many things,
1:06:29 > 1:06:32there's no book store, there's no music store
1:06:32 > 1:06:33and there's no Sound City.
1:06:33 > 1:06:37# ..And show you the way to go
1:06:37 > 1:06:40# It's over
1:06:43 > 1:06:51# It's over... #
1:06:52 > 1:06:55I had heard that Sound City was about to close.
1:06:55 > 1:06:57Someone said, "You should call Shivaun."
1:06:57 > 1:07:01And I talked to Shivaun and she was in tears, man.
1:07:01 > 1:07:02It was... It was heavy.
1:07:02 > 1:07:05Sound City was my home.
1:07:05 > 1:07:09And, um, basically, after all those 19 years laid-off,
1:07:09 > 1:07:12no severance pay. No medical. Nothing.
1:07:14 > 1:07:17Shivaun was like... She was like a mum to me.
1:07:17 > 1:07:21You now, I'd left my mum. My mum was in Tennessee and then I was out here
1:07:21 > 1:07:23and Shivaun was so cool. I love her so much.
1:07:23 > 1:07:29# ..Shadow on the things you know... #
1:07:29 > 1:07:31I'm sorry.
1:07:31 > 1:07:34Yeah, it's been hard.
1:07:34 > 1:07:37Yet, still...
1:07:37 > 1:07:39I'm trying to move on but it's...
1:07:39 > 1:07:41it's hard.
1:07:41 > 1:07:45# ..It's over
1:07:47 > 1:07:53# It's over
1:07:53 > 1:07:59# Ooh, ooh-ooh. #
1:07:59 > 1:08:02MUSIC ENDS
1:08:10 > 1:08:13Looking back, I was just a kid,
1:08:13 > 1:08:15when I walked into Sound City.
1:08:15 > 1:08:18And that board is the reason
1:08:18 > 1:08:20I'm here right now.
1:08:20 > 1:08:22I'd do anything for it.
1:08:23 > 1:08:27This big room and that Neve console
1:08:27 > 1:08:31is what got us all the big rock'n'roll bands.
1:08:31 > 1:08:34We're digging out all this stuff
1:08:34 > 1:08:37and I never dreamed in a million years I could find this.
1:08:37 > 1:08:41Here's the original order for the Neve console.
1:08:41 > 1:08:43Oh, my God. Really?
1:08:46 > 1:08:48Wow!
1:08:49 > 1:08:52And your signature. Is that Neve's signature?
1:08:52 > 1:08:54I'm going to give that to you if you'd like it.
1:08:54 > 1:08:55Oh, Tom, thank you so much, man.
1:08:55 > 1:08:57You're welcome.
1:08:57 > 1:09:00- A historic document there. - It really is.
1:09:00 > 1:09:03- Thank you very much, my friend. - Thank you.
1:09:03 > 1:09:05That's great, man. Wow.
1:09:05 > 1:09:10That Neve console we sold to Dave and that's how this all started.
1:09:10 > 1:09:14ROCK MUSIC PLAYS
1:09:15 > 1:09:17All right, let's do this.
1:09:20 > 1:09:23To me it's like it's a living breathing piece
1:09:23 > 1:09:26of the music that we've made.
1:09:27 > 1:09:31It's just as instrumental as any instrument that's run through it.
1:09:31 > 1:09:35It's the sound of the records
1:09:35 > 1:09:36that were made at Sound City.
1:09:38 > 1:09:41This thing is a piece of rock'n'roll history.
1:09:41 > 1:09:43I thought that board would just go
1:09:43 > 1:09:45straight to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame.
1:09:45 > 1:09:47I thought NO-ONE was going to get that board.
1:10:07 > 1:10:10I think they knew like, I wasn't going to
1:10:10 > 1:10:13bubble-wrap it and stick it in a warehouse.
1:10:13 > 1:10:16I was going to fucking use it.
1:10:16 > 1:10:17A lot.
1:10:17 > 1:10:20Seems like you'd kind of pull it through a window.
1:10:20 > 1:10:22CHUCKLES
1:10:22 > 1:10:26Spent so much time sitting over here, with these things.
1:10:28 > 1:10:30Well, was it still sitting there, Dave?
1:10:30 > 1:10:33Yeah, you know, it had been working...
1:10:33 > 1:10:35The first thing I really wanted to do
1:10:35 > 1:10:38was invite everyone back to make this new record.
1:10:39 > 1:10:45Giving that old board this new life with new music.
1:10:47 > 1:10:50Telling the story of Sound City is one thing.
1:10:50 > 1:10:52Plugging in and actually putting it through the board
1:10:52 > 1:10:54and putting it on a two-inch reel...
1:10:54 > 1:10:56That's what I'm talking about.
1:10:58 > 1:11:00# We don't talk much about it
1:11:00 > 1:11:05# It goes back so many years
1:11:06 > 1:11:10# All the times we almost didn't make it
1:11:11 > 1:11:14# We stayed clear
1:11:14 > 1:11:17# We walked through the darkness
1:11:17 > 1:11:21# We made a pact not to dance with the devil
1:11:21 > 1:11:26# Even when the devil seemed to have a heart
1:11:26 > 1:11:29# He said we'd never be sorry
1:11:30 > 1:11:34# For what we'd done
1:11:34 > 1:11:37# And we never allowed the devil
1:11:37 > 1:11:41# To come to the party... #
1:11:43 > 1:11:44I messed up.
1:11:44 > 1:11:46- It's amazing. Want to do another? - Sure.
1:11:46 > 1:11:49You want to take it up through verse one and verse two,
1:11:49 > 1:11:51- up to that first chorus.- Yeah.
1:11:51 > 1:11:54What we're hoping to do on this album
1:11:54 > 1:11:57is to catch a little bit of that vibe
1:11:57 > 1:12:00that was captured when all those classic records
1:12:00 > 1:12:04were made at Sound City, and try to put some of that into this album.
1:12:04 > 1:12:07TAPE RESTARTS
1:12:07 > 1:12:09# For what we'd done
1:12:09 > 1:12:13# And we never allowed the devil
1:12:13 > 1:12:18# To come to the party
1:12:20 > 1:12:22# You can't fix this
1:12:24 > 1:12:25# You lost a friend
1:12:29 > 1:12:31# Hearts breaking
1:12:32 > 1:12:34# Write a letter... #
1:12:34 > 1:12:35TAPE SLOWS TO A STOP
1:12:35 > 1:12:38Fuckin' A. That girl can sing.
1:12:38 > 1:12:40Any input from the Foos?
1:12:40 > 1:12:43- Just go...I'm not... just do what you do.- OK. Thank you.
1:12:43 > 1:12:45I am kinda radical, you know.
1:12:47 > 1:12:50# Never dance with the devil
1:12:50 > 1:12:54# He will burn you down... '
1:12:54 > 1:12:57There's a reason why these people have achieved
1:12:57 > 1:12:59these things that they've achieved.
1:13:00 > 1:13:02You can hear it, you can see it.
1:13:02 > 1:13:06# Don't ever dance with the devil
1:13:11 > 1:13:17# He will burn you down
1:13:19 > 1:13:21# You can't fix this... #
1:13:27 > 1:13:28TAPE SLOWS TO A STOP
1:13:28 > 1:13:31It's red. It sounds red.
1:13:31 > 1:13:33And I get to do my snake dance.
1:13:33 > 1:13:35LAUGHTER
1:13:35 > 1:13:39I'm just feeling very wonderful to be in your studio with this board
1:13:39 > 1:13:41and know that this board was the first place
1:13:41 > 1:13:43that we did Buckingham Nicks.
1:13:43 > 1:13:4715458, Cabrito Road, Van Nuys, California.
1:13:48 > 1:13:52This is a letter that I wrote to my Mum and Dad and my brother
1:13:52 > 1:13:56in the middle of the making of Buckingham Nicks.
1:13:56 > 1:13:58"Dear Mum and Dad and Chris, well,
1:13:58 > 1:14:03"here I am once again at the famous Sound City recording studio."
1:14:03 > 1:14:06Sound City, Inc.
1:14:06 > 1:14:07Ta-da!
1:14:07 > 1:14:09"I'm getting very tired of sitting around listening
1:14:09 > 1:14:12"to 12 hours of music per day.
1:14:12 > 1:14:16"Oh, well. I know it will pay off in the end. It will all be worth it.
1:14:16 > 1:14:19"I hope that all of my little family is doing fine
1:14:19 > 1:14:20"and not working too hard.
1:14:20 > 1:14:23"Moving right along, I just want to say
1:14:23 > 1:14:26"that I certainly do miss you all,
1:14:26 > 1:14:29"and wish you could be here to hear some of this stuff.
1:14:29 > 1:14:33"Lindsey may go down in history as one of the greats in guitar playing.
1:14:33 > 1:14:35"It really is quite amazing.
1:14:35 > 1:14:37"Well, no more news as of yet.
1:14:37 > 1:14:39"So much love to you all,
1:14:39 > 1:14:41"and hold good thoughts about this thing.
1:14:41 > 1:14:42"I love you, Stevie."
1:14:45 > 1:14:47I think it really is a testament
1:14:47 > 1:14:50to how many people actually did love Sound city
1:14:50 > 1:14:54and do love that Neve console, and want to be part of history.
1:14:55 > 1:14:59I was bragging to everybody. "Guess who I'm calling tonight?
1:14:59 > 1:15:01"Rick fucking Springfield."
1:15:01 > 1:15:03PLAYS FAST, BLUESY RIFF
1:15:14 > 1:15:17I've always been just a big believer in the power of the song.
1:15:17 > 1:15:21To me, the highest I ever feel is in the middle of writing a song
1:15:21 > 1:15:23that I think I've hooked into something, you know?
1:15:23 > 1:15:25I had an idea. I don't know if it would work,
1:15:25 > 1:15:27but would you want to try something?
1:15:27 > 1:15:29So if we played over the riff, it goes...
1:15:41 > 1:15:43That's fuc... That'd be really cool.
1:15:43 > 1:15:45Let's try it from the top and see how that sounds.
1:16:10 > 1:16:12Yeah, I think it's a great part.
1:16:12 > 1:16:15- It got Rick Springfield written all over it.- I know, it's awesome!
1:16:15 > 1:16:17I love it. It's got that stress rock. I like that.
1:16:17 > 1:16:20I just want to go hang out in a studio.
1:16:20 > 1:16:21I just like the process.
1:16:21 > 1:16:24I love doing things on the fly and in the studio.
1:16:24 > 1:16:27Just trying to think what would be nice, if we...
1:16:27 > 1:16:29To get back into that section.
1:16:29 > 1:16:32I just kind of play arrangements in a repetitive fashion
1:16:32 > 1:16:36over and over and over, until some little change happened.
1:16:36 > 1:16:38What did you just do? You did something kind of cool.
1:16:40 > 1:16:42D, A?
1:16:42 > 1:16:44A little happy accident or whatever, and it was like, everyone,
1:16:44 > 1:16:47"Oh! What was that that just happened?
1:16:47 > 1:16:49"That's part of the arrangement now."
1:16:49 > 1:16:51It'll be so great. And then, right out of there, you just go...
1:16:51 > 1:16:52HE SCREAMS
1:16:52 > 1:16:54It's the perfect pair of pants, it really is.
1:17:01 > 1:17:03The good thing about learning while you're recording,
1:17:03 > 1:17:06when you sometimes accidentally get something good, if you don't
1:17:06 > 1:17:09have any idea what you're doing.
1:17:09 > 1:17:12The sense of discovery, like...
1:17:12 > 1:17:13Is a big part of it.
1:17:15 > 1:17:18Everybody gets it all at once, and that's the first time
1:17:18 > 1:17:22you've ever played it, and it's got everything new for the first time.
1:17:22 > 1:17:24It's like your first anything.
1:17:24 > 1:17:26And that's the cherry of all time.
1:17:26 > 1:17:31What if we tried doing the Rick part as a pre-chorus...
1:17:31 > 1:17:33Yes! That's so good!
1:17:33 > 1:17:37Cos then it goes into the chorus. It's awesome!
1:17:38 > 1:17:39- Better be good now, Pat.- I know!
1:17:39 > 1:17:41LAUGHTER
1:17:43 > 1:17:442...
1:18:06 > 1:18:08# I can't say that I like her manner
1:18:08 > 1:18:11# I can't say that I like her face
1:18:11 > 1:18:13# Carved up on a silver platter
1:18:13 > 1:18:16# Served warm, she's a real headcase
1:18:16 > 1:18:18# I won't wait for an invitation
1:18:18 > 1:18:21# I can't stay for the sacrifice
1:18:21 > 1:18:24# I won't die as an unknown soldier
1:18:24 > 1:18:26# I won't even try... #
1:18:27 > 1:18:29We came in, we practised the song,
1:18:29 > 1:18:30played it a few times,
1:18:30 > 1:18:32kind of a bunch of times, and we did it live.
1:18:33 > 1:18:35How special is that?
1:18:35 > 1:18:37# Just like the man that never was...
1:18:40 > 1:18:41# Just like
1:18:41 > 1:18:42# Just like
1:18:42 > 1:18:46# Just like the man that never was
1:18:48 > 1:18:51# Just like the man that never was... #
1:18:51 > 1:18:53All the elements of it, the playing, the writing,
1:18:53 > 1:18:56it's something that will pull you out of bed every morning.
1:18:56 > 1:18:58And make you resist going to bed at night
1:18:58 > 1:19:00because you want to keep working on it.
1:19:00 > 1:19:01Music's been that for me.
1:19:01 > 1:19:04# I am the man that never was. #
1:19:09 > 1:19:12- Great, thanks.- You've got some darkness in you, boy!- Oh, yeah.
1:19:12 > 1:19:14- A lot of darkness in me! - It's true, man.
1:19:16 > 1:19:19Spent a lot of time in front of that board.
1:19:19 > 1:19:21- Thanks, Dave.- That's cool.
1:19:21 > 1:19:22It's a great enabler.
1:19:22 > 1:19:24Fucking great, man.
1:19:24 > 1:19:28'Anybody that's been to Sound City knows exactly
1:19:28 > 1:19:31'why I'm making this record. They get it.'
1:19:31 > 1:19:33I have an idea. Why don't we just start it Lee Ving style,
1:19:33 > 1:19:36where you go, "1-2-3-4-1-2-3-4!"
1:19:36 > 1:19:38I'm on it!
1:19:38 > 1:19:391-2-3-4-1-2-3-4!
1:19:47 > 1:19:49- # Your wife is calling - Tell her I'm not here
1:19:49 > 1:19:51- # Your wife is calling - Just having one beer
1:19:51 > 1:19:53- # Your wife is calling - Der uberfrau!
1:19:53 > 1:19:55- # Your wife is calling - I'll be home in half an hour
1:19:55 > 1:19:57- # Your wife is calling - Did you say something, dear?
1:19:57 > 1:19:59- # Your wife is calling - Having one more beer
1:19:59 > 1:20:01- # Your wife is calling - You have nothing to fear
1:20:01 > 1:20:03- # Your wife is calling - Divorcing for beer... #
1:20:08 > 1:20:11In the studio, you're trying to boost your own performance
1:20:11 > 1:20:15from the energy that you're feeding from in your partners.
1:20:15 > 1:20:16# Your wife is calling
1:20:16 > 1:20:17# Your wife is calling... #
1:20:17 > 1:20:19You can't do that if you're standing there alone.
1:20:21 > 1:20:22# Your wife is calling
1:20:22 > 1:20:24# Your wife is calling
1:20:24 > 1:20:26# Your wife is calling
1:20:26 > 1:20:28# Your wife is calling
1:20:28 > 1:20:29# Your wife is calling. #
1:20:31 > 1:20:33LAUGHTER
1:20:35 > 1:20:36Fuck, yeah.
1:20:36 > 1:20:38'It's a conversation,'
1:20:38 > 1:20:43and that's a musical relationship that I think everybody searches for.
1:21:00 > 1:21:04I think the downside these days is thinking that
1:21:04 > 1:21:06I can do this all on my own.
1:21:06 > 1:21:08Yes, you can do this on your own.
1:21:08 > 1:21:11But you'll be a much happier human being
1:21:11 > 1:21:15to do it with other human beings, and I can guarantee you that.
1:21:28 > 1:21:30How would you define feel?
1:21:31 > 1:21:35Feel is just a part of who you are.
1:21:38 > 1:21:40It just comes from where you're coming from.
1:21:43 > 1:21:46It's just the way your heart beats, you know?
1:21:46 > 1:21:48Everybody's heart beats a little different.
1:21:48 > 1:21:51Everybody's got a little different feel.
1:21:53 > 1:21:55Feel doesn't mean you're in time.
1:21:55 > 1:21:58You know, because something might have a really
1:21:58 > 1:21:59out-of-time kind of feel.
1:21:59 > 1:22:03It might be gloriously out of tune, and just be awesome.
1:22:04 > 1:22:08It's a chemistry, something that happens between people.
1:22:10 > 1:22:12Feel is not something you learn in a book,
1:22:12 > 1:22:16feel is something that you find as a musician.
1:22:16 > 1:22:20It's like when you take in a breath, your body swells up when you exhale.
1:22:20 > 1:22:23It collapses a bit, and sometimes, music does that.
1:22:23 > 1:22:25It's so subtle.
1:22:25 > 1:22:27But feel is being human.
1:22:46 > 1:22:51No two musicians are the same, even if we're playing the same song.
1:22:51 > 1:22:53No two musicians do it the same way.
1:22:55 > 1:22:57It's so hard to be understood in life,
1:22:57 > 1:22:59and that's why, when you meet someone
1:22:59 > 1:23:01where you understand each other in that moment,
1:23:01 > 1:23:03you sort of want to hold on to it, you know?
1:23:07 > 1:23:09When someone has great feel,
1:23:09 > 1:23:11whether it's a drummer or a guitar player,
1:23:11 > 1:23:14it kind of makes you fall in love with their personality,
1:23:14 > 1:23:17and you realise what a beautiful person they are, you know?
1:23:37 > 1:23:41There's a lot of people growing up now that won't do studio time,
1:23:41 > 1:23:43who have never touched a compressor that's the one that's being
1:23:43 > 1:23:47emulated as the picture on their plug-in on their laptop.
1:23:47 > 1:23:49They are missing out on something, you know?
1:24:07 > 1:24:11Trent's using technology as an instrument, not as a crutch.
1:24:12 > 1:24:13He doesn't need it.
1:24:16 > 1:24:18He's one of the most brilliant people
1:24:18 > 1:24:20I've ever met in my entire life.
1:24:21 > 1:24:24He's the person that could inspire
1:24:24 > 1:24:27the digital end of this conversation.
1:24:27 > 1:24:29Hey, you guys.
1:24:29 > 1:24:31No fucking way with the smoke machine.
1:24:31 > 1:24:34There is no fucking way that's going to go down.
1:24:34 > 1:24:36I'll take the smoke machine in here.
1:24:40 > 1:24:43My grandma pushed me into piano. I remember when I was five,
1:24:43 > 1:24:46I started taking classical lessons.
1:24:46 > 1:24:49I liked it and I thought I was good at it.
1:24:49 > 1:24:51I knew in life I was supposed to make music.
1:24:51 > 1:24:55Feels like it needs a differentiator there. That cool bass part...
1:25:08 > 1:25:09The sound I have is not right.
1:25:09 > 1:25:11That's not helping things at the moment.
1:25:14 > 1:25:15I can do better than that too.
1:25:18 > 1:25:21Are you hearing something you want to try? Bass hits?
1:25:21 > 1:25:23You're not stepping on my toes.
1:25:47 > 1:25:53I practised long and hard and studied and learned how to play an instrument
1:25:53 > 1:25:57that provided me a foundation where I can base everything
1:25:57 > 1:25:59I think of in terms of where it sits on the piano.
1:26:01 > 1:26:03I sort of like that at one point
1:26:03 > 1:26:05it kind of got there, and then it backed off.
1:26:07 > 1:26:10It can kind of brood and be really simple and empty,
1:26:10 > 1:26:11and sort of, kind of like,
1:26:11 > 1:26:15lift the curtain on it and it can expand.
1:26:17 > 1:26:20Can I just say that that is fucking awesome?
1:26:20 > 1:26:23Just that right there sounds so fucking beautiful.
1:26:23 > 1:26:26I really like the sound of these three things together.
1:26:26 > 1:26:30- I think it sounds really cool. - Let's keep doing it, then.
1:26:36 > 1:26:39This whole thing should just sunrise, it would make it beautiful,
1:26:39 > 1:26:44- you know?- Yeah.- It sort of like evolves until it hits this point,
1:26:44 > 1:26:45and maybe go... Zzzzzam!
1:26:48 > 1:26:50From writing music today, rarely do I sit down and think,
1:26:50 > 1:26:53"this should resolve to that suspended..." You know?
1:26:53 > 1:26:55I don't think of that shit.
1:26:57 > 1:26:59But subconsciously, I know I do.
1:27:01 > 1:27:03And just when you've sold that enough,
1:27:03 > 1:27:06that's the time to change to an ending
1:27:06 > 1:27:08and sort of let it rip a little bit, you know what I mean?
1:27:17 > 1:27:19'I like having that foundation in there.'
1:27:19 > 1:27:22And that's a very un-punk rock thing to say.
1:27:32 > 1:27:34But understanding an instrument and thinking about it
1:27:34 > 1:27:38and learning that skill has been invaluable to me.
1:27:47 > 1:27:49Oh! That was pretty good.
1:27:49 > 1:27:51It sounded pretty good to me, too.
1:27:51 > 1:27:54I've found now as processors have gotten faster
1:27:54 > 1:27:57and programmes have gotten smarter...
1:27:57 > 1:27:59There's some pretty musical tools
1:27:59 > 1:28:01that are showing up in the digital world.
1:28:01 > 1:28:03Yeah, take me from the top of the drop.
1:28:20 > 1:28:22The tools are better. You know?
1:28:22 > 1:28:25Tools much better today than they worth five years ago,
1:28:25 > 1:28:27certainly 30 years ago.
1:28:31 > 1:28:34Now that everyone is empowered with these tools to create stuff,
1:28:34 > 1:28:37has there been a lot more great shit coming out?
1:28:37 > 1:28:39Not really.
1:28:39 > 1:28:41You still have to have something to do with those tools.
1:28:46 > 1:28:48Yeah, that's killer.
1:28:49 > 1:28:52You should really try to have something to say.
1:28:55 > 1:28:58It all started with this idea
1:28:58 > 1:29:02that I wanted to tell the story of the board.
1:29:02 > 1:29:04The conversation became something much bigger.
1:29:05 > 1:29:10Like, in this age of technology, where you can simulate
1:29:10 > 1:29:13or manipulate anything,
1:29:13 > 1:29:15how do we retain that human element?
1:29:16 > 1:29:20How do we keep music to sound like people?
1:29:22 > 1:29:26That feeling that I got when I was young - "Oh, I can do that, too."
1:29:27 > 1:29:28Let's go do it.
1:29:28 > 1:29:31My musical foundation was the Beatles.
1:29:31 > 1:29:36Everything I know about playing guitar and song structure,
1:29:36 > 1:29:40composition, all of it, it all started with the Beatles.
1:29:40 > 1:29:44I like the chandelier, too, man, it's a nice touch.
1:29:44 > 1:29:48So, we don't know what we're doing, so we can just do anything...
1:29:48 > 1:29:50- Just...yeah.- ..to start with.
1:30:10 > 1:30:13I think he knows how you feel when you play with him.
1:30:13 > 1:30:15I don't know, I can't really describe it.
1:30:15 > 1:30:17I dropped from the most nervous I've ever been down to, like,
1:30:17 > 1:30:19"Oh, this is...OK."
1:30:23 > 1:30:25# Mama
1:30:28 > 1:30:29# Won't you set me free?
1:30:35 > 1:30:37# Mama
1:30:40 > 1:30:42# Let me be. #
1:30:51 > 1:30:53About halfway through the session, I kind of looked over at Krist
1:30:53 > 1:30:57when we were playing, and we were going for it and I, you know,
1:30:57 > 1:31:01Krist was moving the way he used to move and you were getting into it.
1:31:01 > 1:31:05And I was playing and I thought, "Oh, my God, this is like Nirvana!
1:31:05 > 1:31:07"Wait, Paul McCartney's here?"
1:31:18 > 1:31:21This is the best way to make records, when you get people in
1:31:21 > 1:31:24a room together and you don't know what's going to happen, you just
1:31:24 > 1:31:28hit record and you keep your fingers crossed that it's going to explode.
1:31:34 > 1:31:37# Mama! #
1:31:37 > 1:31:40The limitations of this, it forces you to
1:31:40 > 1:31:44make decisions based on what's most important
1:31:44 > 1:31:46to translating that song.
1:31:46 > 1:31:48If we start as...
1:31:48 > 1:31:53HE IMITATES A GUITAR
1:31:53 > 1:31:57One of the things I think that makes good music
1:31:57 > 1:32:00is some sort of restriction.
1:32:00 > 1:32:02- Just two of them? - And then go into the...
1:32:02 > 1:32:05BASS GUITAR STARTS
1:32:05 > 1:32:11That's where 24 track mentality comes in, you commit to what it is.
1:32:11 > 1:32:13With Pro Tools, you can always come back to it, or you can change it,
1:32:13 > 1:32:15or you can add to it
1:32:15 > 1:32:18to try and make it work, you know.
1:32:18 > 1:32:22Because you're not being forced to make choices, creative ones.
1:32:22 > 1:32:24Maybe then go to the A.
1:32:26 > 1:32:29# We don't know what's going to come on top of this
1:32:29 > 1:32:32# But something is
1:32:32 > 1:32:33# That we'll find out later. #
1:32:33 > 1:32:35And then go to the riff, break down.
1:32:37 > 1:32:43I think you should go to that A maybe one more time, it's such a lift.
1:32:43 > 1:32:44After staying that D for so long,
1:32:44 > 1:32:47it just has such a great impact when it goes up there.
1:32:47 > 1:32:48It's so quick.
1:32:49 > 1:32:53- They're just vocals in the room. So, it's like...- It's all right.
1:32:53 > 1:32:55Has it all opened up in there?
1:32:55 > 1:33:00Do it. Make it simple. Make it fast, don't overthink it.
1:33:00 > 1:33:02Let it come straight out of you and do it.
1:33:26 > 1:33:28# Dear Mama
1:33:31 > 1:33:32# Set me free
1:33:37 > 1:33:39# Oh, Mama
1:33:42 > 1:33:44# Let me be
1:33:49 > 1:33:51# Mama
1:33:54 > 1:33:56# Watch me run
1:34:01 > 1:34:02# Mama
1:34:05 > 1:34:08# I wanna have some fun
1:34:35 > 1:34:38# Mama
1:34:40 > 1:34:44# Don't let me down
1:34:47 > 1:34:49# Mama
1:34:52 > 1:34:54# I want to go to town
1:34:55 > 1:34:57# Yeah. #
1:35:13 > 1:35:14Magical.
1:35:14 > 1:35:17- You didn't even know what you were doing, but it's genius.- Exactly.
1:35:17 > 1:35:19That's my autobiography.
1:35:19 > 1:35:23No, it's I Wasn't Thinking: The Krist Novoselic Story.
1:35:23 > 1:35:24What Was He Thinking?
1:35:24 > 1:35:26No, I Wasn't Thinking.
1:35:26 > 1:35:28- There's a lift there. - Yeah, it's cool.
1:35:28 > 1:35:30It would be nice if there was a sort of...
1:35:33 > 1:35:35Maybe even if it came after the lift.
1:35:35 > 1:35:39THEY BOTH IMITATE INSTRUMENTS
1:35:40 > 1:35:42You let the lift happen,
1:35:42 > 1:35:46then take it further with the chord, vocal chord.
1:35:46 > 1:35:47BOTH: # Ahhh. #
1:35:48 > 1:35:55- The few of us. Who sings? You do?- Me and you.- I do. Krist?- No.- Guys? No.
1:35:56 > 1:35:58- Just checking. - Are you double parked?
1:35:58 > 1:36:00Just checking.
1:36:00 > 1:36:05So, let's just try it and then you tell us what's wrong with it.
1:36:05 > 1:36:07Yeah, I'm about to tell Paul McCartney what to do!
1:36:07 > 1:36:09THEY LAUGH
1:36:12 > 1:36:18# Ahh-hh-hh
1:36:18 > 1:36:21# Ahh-hh-hh-hh. #
1:36:23 > 1:36:28- Sounds pretty cool.- I love it. Shall we do it in the other section, too?
1:36:28 > 1:36:30OK.
1:36:30 > 1:36:32Why can't it always be this easy?
1:36:32 > 1:36:34It is.
1:36:36 > 1:36:38# Yeah
1:36:42 > 1:36:44# Ahh-hh-hh
1:36:44 > 1:36:48# If you want to stick around You've got to cut me some slack
1:36:48 > 1:36:51# I'm gonna hit the road again And never come back. #
1:36:51 > 1:36:56Getting a chance to play music with a person that is the reason
1:36:56 > 1:36:58why I'm a musician.
1:36:58 > 1:37:00Recording through the board
1:37:00 > 1:37:03that's the reason why I'm here today.
1:37:03 > 1:37:05It was a huge full-circle moment for me.
1:37:15 > 1:37:16I think it's really important,
1:37:16 > 1:37:20and it's a lesson I didn't learn until I was in my late teens,
1:37:20 > 1:37:22is that whatever bands that you love,
1:37:22 > 1:37:24go find out what bands they loved,
1:37:24 > 1:37:26and what bands turned them on,
1:37:26 > 1:37:28and then you really start getting into the human aspect of it,
1:37:28 > 1:37:33because the further back you go in time, the less technology you had.
1:37:34 > 1:37:37And consequently the better records that you had.
1:37:37 > 1:37:40There's this incredible library of music, thank God,
1:37:40 > 1:37:42that is still there.
1:37:52 > 1:37:54# Ahh-hh-hh
1:37:54 > 1:37:57# If you want to stick around You've got to cut me some slack
1:37:57 > 1:38:00# I'm gonna hit the road again And never come back.
1:38:05 > 1:38:07# Woo-woo-woo-oooo. #
1:38:12 > 1:38:15Be true yourself and make the music that you love.
1:38:15 > 1:38:20Go out and play, turn people on to your music, spread it yourself.
1:38:20 > 1:38:22Don't think it happens any other way.
1:38:22 > 1:38:26# Let me be. #
1:38:26 > 1:38:29Let's rock, let's play, let's record, let's play it back.
1:38:29 > 1:38:32Wait till you hear this. I can't wait to get into my car to hear it,
1:38:32 > 1:38:33I'm going play it for my friend,
1:38:33 > 1:38:36I'm making a copy, I'm going to blast it for fucking 10 hours,
1:38:36 > 1:38:38and I'm going to listen to it.
1:38:38 > 1:38:42# Mama, Mama, watch me run
1:38:42 > 1:38:45# Mama, watch me run
1:38:45 > 1:38:47# I'm gonna have some fun
1:38:47 > 1:38:50# I just want to have some fun
1:38:51 > 1:38:54# Yeah, set me free, baby
1:38:54 > 1:38:57# Yeah, yeah, yeah
1:38:57 > 1:39:03# Oh, yeah!
1:39:03 > 1:39:05# Yow! #
1:40:53 > 1:40:56- What was the name of your first band?- The Icy Blues.
1:40:56 > 1:40:59It was called Blood Fast. Yeah, good name!
1:40:59 > 1:41:04My first band was called Fury and we were a Kiss cover band.
1:41:04 > 1:41:06Which was your favourite?
1:41:06 > 1:41:10- My favourite Kiss record?- Yeah. - Oh, I could never choose.
1:41:10 > 1:41:11What was your first band?
1:41:11 > 1:41:14My first band was Autocracy.
1:41:14 > 1:41:15A band called Ascenders.
1:41:15 > 1:41:17The Pixies.
1:41:17 > 1:41:21- Pixies were your first band? - Absolutely.- No band before that?- No.
1:41:21 > 1:41:23- Really?- Yeah.- Wow.
1:41:23 > 1:41:26I'd been in practically every other kind of band -
1:41:26 > 1:41:27blues bands, punk-rock bands,
1:41:27 > 1:41:30standard rock'n'roll bands, top 40 bands,
1:41:30 > 1:41:32jazz-rock-fusion bands in New York,
1:41:32 > 1:41:33I had a band called Daybreak.
1:41:33 > 1:41:35- Did you have a band?- We had a band.
1:41:35 > 1:41:36What was the band?
1:41:36 > 1:41:38The Pricks.
1:42:50 > 1:42:52OK, so coming up on the right, you know,
1:42:52 > 1:42:55we have the Budweiser Brewery which...
1:42:57 > 1:43:01..on a good night smells like someone burping right in your face.
1:43:03 > 1:43:06The thing that was cool about the brewery is, like, every band
1:43:06 > 1:43:08that came there always wanted to go take the tour.
1:43:08 > 1:43:11So they would always go over there and come back with cases of Budweiser,
1:43:11 > 1:43:13then sit around and get hammered the rest of the night.
1:43:13 > 1:43:15But that smell. I'll never forget it.
1:43:15 > 1:43:18When the front doors of Sound City were open, on a good, windy day,
1:43:18 > 1:43:21the smell of hops would just fill the whole building.
1:43:21 > 1:43:23You'd just be like, "Wow, what is that?"
1:43:24 > 1:43:27Beer smells like poop, apparently.
1:43:27 > 1:43:29Budweiser smells like poops.
1:43:29 > 1:43:32The funniest thing I remember when Gladys Knight And The Pips
1:43:32 > 1:43:35were there, and they walked out and they went, "Woo-ee, is that you?"
1:43:35 > 1:43:37You know, they were kidding each other about it,
1:43:37 > 1:43:39but it was pretty strong. Pretty... Yeah.
1:43:41 > 1:43:43See? You smell it.
1:43:44 > 1:43:46There you go. You got it.
1:43:47 > 1:43:48It's going to be a good night.
1:43:55 > 1:43:58# Heard a song on the radio just after school
1:43:58 > 1:44:01# Back from the '80s before Reagan was cool
1:44:01 > 1:44:06# The band wore leather and the boys were looking so pretty
1:44:08 > 1:44:11# They rocked all the clubs down on Sunset
1:44:11 > 1:44:14# Doing all those things that we try to forget
1:44:14 > 1:44:18# When they screamed out anthems and the guitar sounded so gritty
1:44:20 > 1:44:23# If it sounds as good in your room as it does in your car
1:44:23 > 1:44:27# You're on your way to be a rock 'n' roll star
1:44:27 > 1:44:31# The groupies say, "Hey, boy, you're gonna go far"
1:44:33 > 1:44:37# I wanna play a song everyone sing along
1:44:37 > 1:44:40# Standing on the stage with the lights turned on
1:44:40 > 1:44:43# Wearing those trends with all my friends
1:44:43 > 1:44:46# Rocking all night like it'll never end
1:44:46 > 1:44:50# All our dreams hanging on one little ditty
1:44:52 > 1:44:56# Yeah, we got it on two inch tape down at Sound City
1:45:02 > 1:45:05# I wanna play a song everyone sing along
1:45:05 > 1:45:09# Standing on the stage with the lights turned on
1:45:09 > 1:45:12# Wearing those trends with all my friends
1:45:12 > 1:45:15# Rocking all night like it'll never end
1:45:15 > 1:45:18# I want to play a song, everyone sing along
1:45:18 > 1:45:21# Standing on the stage with the lights turned on
1:45:21 > 1:45:25# Wearing those trends with all my friends
1:45:25 > 1:45:28# Rocking all night like it'll never end
1:45:28 > 1:45:32# All those epic songs with a phrase so witty
1:45:34 > 1:45:38# You always lose a few to a cause that offers no pity
1:45:41 > 1:45:44# All our dreams hanging on one little ditty
1:45:46 > 1:45:51# Yeah, we got it on two inch tape down at Sound City
1:45:53 > 1:45:57# Got it on two inch tape down at Sound City
1:45:59 > 1:46:03# Got it on two inch tape down at Sound City
1:46:06 > 1:46:11# We got it on two inch tape down at Sound City. #