Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has officially announced he’s directing and producing a feature-length documentary called Sound City. The film, about the legendary and now defunct recording studio in Van Nuys, California, was conceived by Grohl after he bought an equally famous Neve 8028 recording console from the studio. The console, built in 1972, is considered by many to be the crown jewel of analog recording equipment, having recorded classic albums by artists such as Nirvana, Neil Young, Fleetwood Mac, Tom Petty, Cheap Trick, Guns N’ Roses, Rage Against The Machine, Slipknot, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica and countless others over the past 40 years. Grohl said in a statement about the project, “Sound City is a film about America’s greatest unsung recording studio . . . it was the birthplace of legend. It was witness to history. It was home to a special few, intent on preserving an ideal. An analog church, a time capsule, the last bastion of a craft defied by technology. It was rock and roll hallowed ground.” Grohl interviewed dozens of artists and producers who worked at Sound City about their experiences there and some of the legendary albums that came out of the studio.The film will also feature brand new performances by artists who recorded at Sound City, including collaborations between musicians like Slipknot‘s Corey Taylor and Rick Springfield. Grohl hopes to get the film, his first feature-length project as a director, out by early 2013. I can’t wait to see this!
If it’s half as good as the band’s own documentary, Back & Forth, it will be tremendous!….Hit the RockStar Uproar site for a video teaser with the mainstage bands. Check out how stoned Aaron Lewis is! How does he do it and still sing so amazingly????…Linkin Park singer Mike Shinoda and Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger will chat online with fans today (May 2nd) at 1:00 p.m. ET on RollingStone.com. The band members will answer questions submitted by fans and also discuss their upcoming co-headlining jaunt on the 2012 Honda Civic Tour. Shinoda told us that he and the rest of Linkin Park are eager to hit the road with Incubus, especially because the bands were youngsters together back in the day growing up in the valley. Fans can submit questions for Shinoda and Einziger ahead of time and during the chat via hashtag #RSChats on Twitter. The Honda Civic trek, which will also feature MuteMath, begins in Bristow, VA on August 11th and comes to a close on September 10th in San Diego….Yesterday I made a boo-boo. The name of the AxeWound tune is “Post Apocalyptic Party.” My bad….Nickelback is continuing its campaign to prove that the Canadian act has a sense of humor, especially about itself. Answering questions from fans in a video posted on YouTube, frontman Chad Kroeger responded to one question — “How the f*** can you be so epic?” — by replying, “We work on our epicness. We went to epic school. We graduated with honors. Ryan has his masters in epicness.” Kroeger then adds, “To comment on our comments on your comments, leave a comments. It’s an upward spiral — that sounds painful.” Interestingly, I wonder if this is a hint as to what record company will win the prize of signing Nickelback to their next recording contract. With great interest, I noticed the president and another big wig from Epic Records was in the house watching the band perform at Madison Square Garden right near me at the soundboard. Hmmmm….Marilyn Manson‘s Born Villain album is available for streaming on AOL Music. I’m listening to his cover of “You’re So Vain” with Johnny Depp on guitars and backing vocals. You can bet this will be on hardDrive‘s “Cover It Up” special edition for Memorial Day weekend! Oh yeah!…Here’s a ’00’s blast from the past tour for ya: Everclear, Sugar Ray, Lit, Gin Blossoms and Marcy Playground. Everclear has a new album, “Invisible Scars,” due on Jun 26th. Remember when all those bands had huge radio hits? I do…..Here’s an update from Slayer on the condition of guitarist Jeff Hanneman: “As you know, Jeff was bitten by a spider more than a year ago, but what you may not have known was that for a couple of days after he went to the ER, things were touch-and-go. There was talk that he might have to have his arm amputated, and we didn’t know if he was going to pull through at all. He was in a medically-induced coma for a few days and had several operations to remove the dead and dying tissue from his arm. So, understand, he was in really, really bad shape. It’s been about a year since he got out of the hospital, and since then, he had to learn to walk again, he’s had several painful skin grafts, he’s been in rehab doing exercises to regain the strength in his arm; but best of all, he’s been playing guitar. We were all excited when he joined us onstage for the encore a year ago at The Big Four show at Coachella. Since then, we’ve given him all the time and support he’s needed to continue his rehab so he can come back to the band fully recovered and able to deliver the kind of shows we all want him to. While Jeff’s been doing some writing and has been coming to rehearsal over the past several weeks, he has decided he needs to take more time to continue his rehab. While we want him back onstage with the band, all of us support his decision. So, we’re very grateful that Gary Holt (Exodus) will continue to fill in for Jeff, and will tour with us until Jeff completes his rehab and is ready to return. How long will that be? The best and most honest answer we can give you is ‘as long as it takes.’ We also wanted you to know we’ve been doing some writing and recording for the next Slayer album – we’ve tracked a few songs, and will finish the album when we’re off the road later this year. Gary will join us on tour in Europe and the UK in May and June, and then we’ll all see you on this Summer’s Mayhem Festival.” Poor Jeff. What a nightmare this must be for him! We hope he gets back to normal soon!…..Scott Weiland told RollingStone he is looking forward to Stone Temple Pilots‘ upcoming 20th Anniversary Tour because the band will be performing Core in it’s entirety, allowing the band to do songs live they’ve never done before. He also isn’t ruling out a reunion with Velvet Revolver, citing if Maynard Keenan can do it with tool and A Perfect Circle, then certainly he can too! (He didn’t mention Puscifer! Maynard has 3 projects!) Now I wonder what the other boys in VR think about that. I mean, after all, they haven’t been able to replace him, and not for not trying either, my friends! Could be interesting. I will endeavor to track down those DeLeos. We could use a new interview on STP!…Tomorrow, Serj Tankian‘s on the hotLine! Please send me any questions you would like to ask him via the INTERACT link on the home page! And next week, Sid Wilson of Slipknot drops by. Questions are welcomed! Have a good day!
