Dave Grohl rules, you don’t

We already know that he has punk-rock cred as the drummer of seminal grunge band Nirvana, has recording-studio credits with Queens of the Stone Age and Tenacious D, and a closet full of Grammys from his years fronting the Foo Fighters. Then, there was the one time he turned down an offer to be a permanent drummer for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. And that other time a few weeks ago when he jammed with ex-Nirvana members and Paul McCartney at 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief. True story: The rocker is now setting his overachieving hands on movie directing.

His new rock documentary, Sound City—which screens at the Crest Theatre on Thursday, January 31—chronicles one of rock’s most famous recording studios of the same name. First opened in 1969 and located in the San Fernando Valley area in northern Los Angeles, the studio recorded legendary musical acts such as Johnny Cash, Neil Young, Elton John, Fleetwood Mac, Grateful Dead, Santana, Nirvana, Tom Petty, Rage Against the Machine, Weezer and Metallica. The list goes on.

When Grohl found out that the studio was closing in 2011, he bought Sound City’s one-of-a-kind mixing board to install in his private studio and began interviewing people for this historical documentary. Sound City is Grohl’s visual ode to the studio, and it features interviews with dozens of rock stars who recorded there. The film, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah earlier this month, will be on screens around the country for one night only and will be released for online download the day after, on Friday, February 1.

As if that weren’t enough, coinciding with the release of the film is an album with new material recorded by the Sound City Players, a supergroup consisting of members of Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Cheap Trick, Rage Against the Machine and, natch, McCartney. They performed at Sundance this month and will play with a different lineup at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles on January 31. Warning: If you’re a fan of rock ’n’ roll or music history, you’re at risk of getting a huge nerd boner while watching this film.