Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil recently spoke with Thephoenix.com and went in-depth to assure that the bands return was not for monetary reasons—but rather to preserve their legacy. An excerpt from that can be read below:
“When we started touring and we put out Telephantasm, there were some reviews that said, ‘Oh, well Soundgarden is obviously doing a cash grab.’ I thought, ‘Cash grab? How is it a cash grab? Since when is there money in making records anymore [laughs]?’ I mean, playing Lollapalooza was a one-day payday but… and by the way, since when do we need the money?
We’re not like the Afghan Whigs or Pavement, we had a fairly successful career. Matt Cameron played in Pearl Jam for god’s sake! What the hell does he need to spend another, you know, 20 hours a week dedicated to writing and rehearsing Soundgarden songs and tending to Soundgarden business? He’s doing just fine thank you.
I think for Matt it’s really just a labor of love and it’s a great creative outlet for him. He wanted to see Ben and I playing again and Chris and writing new Soundgarden songs. I don’t think Chris needs the money, it seems like he did pretty well with Audioslave and his solo career. When people said ‘cash grab’ I said, ‘Huh?’ I’ve been semi-retired. I didn’t need the money; I guess if I needed to I could’ve started a band and toured a whole bunch.”
