Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell has addressed accusations that the 90’s grunge group reunited to capitalise on nostalgic appeal. As the release of new album King Animal draws closer, Cornell spoke with Spin about the motivation behind Soundgarden’s reformation and the upcoming record.
“We don’t feel nostalgia trying to remember who played what parts on a song that we recorded in 1988. It doesn’t feel like looking at baby pictures of me. It’s nice that we have fans that were fans in 1988. That’s great, but that’s not enough for us. And I would’ve never expected that to be enough,” Cornell told Spin.
Back in August, Soundgarden were labelled as a ‘Nostalgic Act‘ by Smashing Pumpkins’ frontman Billy Corgan. On a separate occasion Corgan mentioned that Cornell made similar statements about the Smashing Pumpkins reunion in 2007. Although Cornell didn’t address Corgan specifically, the vocalist did tell Spin that Soundgarden are grateful to have lasted long enough to even be misconstrued as a ‘Nostalgic Act’.
“If we’re writing and recording new and vital music, it’s taking care of itself. I definitely feel like there’s a place for who we are and what we do. We’re doing what we’ve always done as a band and we’re fortunate enough to have a long enough history that someone could actually suggest that we’re a nostalgia act. Good for us,” Cornell explained to Spin.
Soundgarden’s King Animal local release date is this Friday, November 9.
