Soundgarden guitarist and co-founder Kim Thayil looked back on what led to grunge taking over mainstream music in the early-'90s, and what that musical revolution looked like from the inside.
In a recent conversation with Lifeminute, Thayil recalled the mood in Seattle before grunge took off. He noted that major record companies of the late-'80s seemed to be "ignoring" how big the independent music world was getting; alternative music was about to become big business, and much of the record industry didn't see it coming.
Grunge's eventual breakthrough, according to Thayil, came after "a whole series of accidents and intentionalities" that exported Seattle's buzzing music scene to the rest of the world.
Thayil singled out Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as the tipping point. Nirvana blew a hole in the major record industry that other bands like Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains charged through soon thereafter.
"That song, [Nirvana's] success, really opened the doors for all the other bands that people were aware of and were listening to, but now they reach a broader audience by getting on MTV and commercial radio..."
As for the grunge label, Thayil notes that it was a "generic" term used to describe most of the new rock bands of the day, not just bands from Seattle. He says Soundgarden's peers from cities like Chicago and Los Angeles also had common musical influences and approaches.
"I think Nirvana might embody the musical identity of grunge, maybe — the band that'd best embody grunge, I would think, is Mudhoney, Mudhoney's sound, and their style and attitude. That's, that's like the archetypal grunge band.
"The [Smashing] Pumpkins certainly had those elements, and Nirvana. It was only grunge in that we came from the same place and we were friends of those guys. And we played the same venues, we played the bills together."
Coincidentally, Mudhoney is on tour now, with dates announced through September. More details here.