Address | 15452 Cabrito Road, Van Nuys, California 91406. |
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Location | Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, US |
Opened | 1969 |
Closed | 2011 (reopened 2017) |
Sound City Studios is a recording studio incorporated in 1969, located in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, California, USA. The facility had previously been a production factory of the British musical instrument manufacturer, Vox. The studio was officially closed in 2011, when it ceased commercial operations, but it has reopened as of early 2017.
Sound City contributed its signature analog sound to more than a hundred certified gold and platinum albums. The studio was privately held from 1970, until it closed its commercial studio services in May 2011. It was reserved for the exclusive use of its tenants, Fairfax Recordings from 2011 through 2016, before officially being reopened in early 2017.Dave Grohl, former Nirvana drummer and current frontman of Foo Fighters, purchased the Neve Electronics 8028 Console from Studio A, installing it in his private recording studio. In 2013, a documentary on the studio was made by Grohl simply titled Sound City.
The studio was run by Joe Gottfried and Tom Skeeter, two guys who wanted to start a record company and got into artist management. After a rough start, Skeeter ponied up $75,175 to buy a state-of-the-art recording console from Rupert Neve, a British electronics genius who built technologically advanced audio gear: "One of four in the world", "a 28-input, 16-bus, 24-monitor 8028 with 1085 EQs and no automation".
During 1969, Sound City hosted the David Briggs productions Twelve Dreams of Dr. Sardonicus by Spirit and After the Gold Rush by Neil Young. On a more infamous note, cult leader Charles Manson made some recordings in Studio B, just a few months before the Manson family crime spree in the Summer of 1969.