Soundgarden will be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame later this fall. During a recent conversation with Stereogum, guitarist Kim Tahyil admitted he’s grappled with his view of the Hall over the years.
“There’s an aspect of [the Rock Hall] that’s very anti-indie, punk rock culture, and that’s anti-indie metal culture,” Thayil explained. “In the ’80s it was not something that was on our radar at all. Even in the ’90s, it’s not where we come from. We didn’t follow who was being inducted into the Hall. It didn’t really represent us as fans. You hear about a band you really like getting inducted, and you think, “Alright, cool.” But then that was about the extent of it. So I think there might have been more cynicism and ridicule from the audience and scene that we would associate with.”
Interestingly, it was late Soundgarden singer Chris Cornell who changed Thayil’s perspective on the Hall of Fame.
“I learned from Chris’ participation inducting Heart (in 2013),” Thayil recalled. “He learned how important it was to the fans, and that changed his understanding. He said, ‘The fans believe in you.’ And just like, growing up, I might have a strong identity, maybe with the Beatles or KISS — or as a college-aged guy or late teens, it would have been the MC5 and the Ramones and the Stooges — and you kind of identify with that. You champion that. Because in championing a band that you’re a fan of, in a way you’re kind of affirming yourself and part of your identity and your choices, aesthetically and socially. And Chris confirmed that that’s exactly it. It’s important to the fans, as it would be to you to hear that the MC5 were inducted or something. And he said what kind of changed it for him was to see the enthusiasm and pride that someone that they believed in — and whose work was either moving or inspiring or a soundtrack to their various rites of passage — for them to achieve that kind of accolade, I think, reflected on the affection they had for that particular artist. And so that gave me a different perspective.”
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Thayil will carry that viewpoint to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony, taking place November 8 in Los Angeles. The surviving members of Soundgarden have confirmed they will perform, though they haven’t revealed who may be handling vocals.
“We have our ideas, and the familiarity and comfort we have as musicians obviously is paramount to the kind of people we would ask to play with,” the guitarist noted. “There are external participants who will give their input (on who should sing). One of them is the Hall. The Hall has some thoughts because it is their show. So we might brainstorm some people. We might think of someone from our roots in our underground, and then the Hall of Fame might think, ‘Well, I don’t know if our audience will know who that person is,’ so we kind of temper it, given that it’s their show. But mainly within the context of it being our performance, our musical partnerships.”