Emma Stone learned to play bass for the movie. She can play all the songs in the movie.
Loosely based on Pete Best, who was the original drummer for The Beatles, and can be seen at the beginning of the movie reading Rolling Stone Magazine with Vesuvius on the cover.
There is a joke in the movie where Jason Sudeikis' character calls Jeff Garlin's character "Norm from Cheers" due to their physical resemblance. Jason Sudeikis' real life uncle is George Wendt, who played "Norm" on the TV series Cheers (1982)
Some of the scenes were filmed in Toronto, Canada (not actually Ohio). The Chinatown scene was filmed on Spadina street in Toronto's Asian district. One of the earliest club scenes when they exit the gig and into a back alley to a limo, was filmed in and outside an all ages club downtown called the Reverb.
Second film for Emma Stone (Amelia)