Everything is from Soundgarden today. I was going back through interviews and other articles, looking for some insight on the creative frame of mind, and a few of their quotes jumped out at me for various reasons. I love how no-nonsense they are, but more than that, I love how all four of them open themselves up freely to the creative process and let the music go where it will without trying to “structure” the music or lyrics to match any particular standard.
1) RIP Magazine (1996):
"To me, music should be escapism. It should be confrontational sometimes, to a degree. And if it's done correctly, it can be really powerful. More than being politically or socially aware, it should serve as something that doesn't have to be touched by outside problems, something that's immune to what we perceive as normal humanity. If I started writing songs based on what I saw around me, in the social or political arena exclusively, then I'd start feeling like a puppet, as if whatever happens tomorrow is going to dictate what I write the next day. And I don't want to live like that. I don't want music to mean that to me. I want something else, where tomorrow I'm going to create something that never existed anywhere, and the next day somebody is going to hear it. To me, that's a lot more exciting."
-Chris Cornell
"We approach it more like the song helps the sound. The song helps everything else. The song makes it."
-Ben Shepherd
2) The Guitar Magazine (1996):
"One of my favourite solos with the band is on Slaves and Bulldozers. When our A&R guy came in we played it to him, and he was like, 'This is finished? Huh? C'mon guys.' I just said, 'You don't get it, do you? That's it, finished!' To me it's great - it seems free, it's real kinetic, it gives the song this great jarring feel. Like Suicide is another one I like, but I play that note-for-note every time, the same patterns. Slaves and Bulldozers live is when I'm real free. I just approach the fretboard with a 'what do I do now?' attitude. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it doesn't work. That's what music is like."
-Kim Thayil
3) PULSE (1994):
"People said to me after Temple of the Dog, 'I didn't know you could sing like that. And I had a hard time explaining that, actually, Soundgarden records are much harder to sing. And the reason it seems like it's better is because, rather than being up against the wall all the time like usual, I'm being mellow and flying under the radar, so the points when [my voice] shoots up will seem more aggressive."
-Chris Cornell
4) Rolling Stone (1992):
"That's what happens in a society when music is exposed and hyped one song at a time. Whatever song they grab the ball and run with is the song they're gonna remember you for. There are a few songs that sound like Soundgarden in a nutshell. I don't think ‘Outshined’ is one of them, but that's the one all the kids cheer for. You might play a sing that you feel is the best thing you've done in a while, and it kind of falls on deaf ears; then you play that song half-heartedly, and they love it. It can be depressing if you let it."
–Chris Cornell
5) RIP Magazine (1994):
RIP: That line in "Black Hole Sun," "No one sings like you anymore," who is that directed at?
Kim Thayil: Is it about John Lennon?
Chris Cornell: I ate some cottage cheese that turned, and I wrote those lyrics. I don't know; it's just sort of a surreal dreamscape, a weird, play-with-the-title kind of song.
RIP: Do you free-associate when you write, or do you sit down with a beginning, middle and end in mind?
Chris Cornell: I used to sit down with a cup of coffee, with usually the title in mind. When I start lyrics, that's what I always do; I start with a title.
6) SPIN (1996):
"You just have to allow yourself to go in different directions. There are songs similar to 'Black Hole Sun' that I wrote years ago, but it seemed like they didn't quite fit our perception of the band. Once sort of define what the band is, then you have to move on from there or you're finished, done."
-Chris Cornell
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