Dave Grohl: “You Can’t Get In The Way Of Progress”

The subject of his new documentary, the Sound City studios in Los Angeles, may have suffered at the hand of new technology, but that doesn’t mean Dave Grohl is adverse to progress.

In a Q&A session held in London to support the release of ‘Sound City’, he told a cinema full of attendees that it’s a ‘double-edged sword.’ ‘It’s amazing that now, these tools are available to everybody,’ he explained, referencing more digitised recording methods: Pro-Tools, drum machines and the like.

‘Anyone can make an album in their house at the click of a button, can distribute it to the rest of the world. It’s a lot easier now to make that happen, but like Trent [Reznor] says, does that mean there’s a lot more great music out there? Not really.’

‘I think it’s important that the future of music is people. It has nothing to do with the technology, it really doesn’t if you think about it. There was music before there was electricity and there’ll be music long after all of us are gone… You can’t get in the way of progress.’

The documentary itself captures the rise and fall of the legendary studio, exploring its legacy and featuring interviews with the likes of Josh Homme, Butch Vig, Rick Rubin, Tom Petty and Grohl himself.

Many of those who appear in the film now take part in Grohl’s Sound City Players band, a revolving line up that recently stopped at London’s Forum for a set that included turns from Alain Johannes, Chris Goss, Lee Ving and Rick Springfield, amongst others.

The soundtrack for the film is available from tomorrow (12th March) via Roswell Records.

Read more about Dave Grohl’s Sound City in the first tablet edition of DIY Weekly, available from iTunes now.