Soundgarden are set to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tomorrow, over 7 years after the tragic death of frontman Chris Cornell. The band will be joined onstage by Taylor Momsen, Jerry Cantrell, and Mike McCready.
Alternative Nation had the chance to sit down with legendary former MTV host Matt Pinfield, who visited Soundgarden during their rehearsals for their Hall of Fame performance. Part 2 of this interview will be published tomorrow, featuring a tribute to late Limp Bizkit bassist Sam Rivers. Matt Pinfield currently hosts a radio show on KLOS in Los Angeles.
Greg: What are your thoughts on Soundgarden’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction?
Matt: I think it’s long overdue, and they’re one of the greatest rock bands to come out of the 80s and 90s, certainly. I love Soundgarden. I’ve been shown up with all of them — you know, you remember I did the album special for Down on the Upside, and then 17 years later when they came back, I did the one for King Animal when they reformed.
So I’ve had a long-term relationship. I was close with Chris Cornell, and I’m friends with Matt and Ben and Kim. I love the band so much. I think that they were inventive, innovative. Their book — your book — I really enjoyed, but of course, you didn’t have me in that book. But I… I’m grateful to have been in a small way part of Soundgarden’s history.
This is so overdue because they are such an important band in my life — as a fan and as a person who had an opportunity, and still do — I still play them on the radio all the time. But I mean, they deserve to be in there and they deserved to be in there for a while.
I mean, let’s face it — Chris Cornell is one of the greatest rock singers of all time, and he’s definitely in that list of the top singers ever. A lot of people felt that way, and I’m pretty sure Freddie Mercury probably would have felt that way as well if he was still alive. But no, I think Soundgarden are such an important band. They were inventive. The way that they created songs with interesting time signatures, and the fact that there is just so much talent. Speaking of groove — that I had mentioned before — Soundgarden had that deep groove.
Greg: Right.
Matt: It was powerful, it was heavy, it had sections, it had everything. It was just super. To me, they were one of the most important bands of the 90s, and the late 80s obviously when they were getting their footing, and being one of the first bands obviously to be signed out of Seattle. I just think this is overdue, but I’m grateful and I’m glad that their friends are coming to hang out and doing some singing with them.
With Jerry Cantrell playing, and Taylor Momsen has always loved the band, and her and I have always had many discussions about it. I think it’s going to be incredible. I can’t go to the show because I’m going to be on [a cruise]. I’m going to be there at this rehearsal in a few minutes — I’m like really close. So I’m going to watch the guys and, you know, so I can see some of the history being made.
You know, it was so important to me to see them get in. I can’t believe Alice in Chains isn’t in there either. They need to be in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame too! But Soundgarden are long overdue. And talk about a band where every guy in the band wrote songs and threw in some of their parts. I mean, everybody was such an intricate part of the creative process that made up the sound of Soundgarden. So it’s just a beautiful moment.
So, something that—why I’m going to rehearsals today is because I was invited. I just also thought, I had to see this because I’m gonna be on a f**king boat on Saturday night. Or I would have been here actually for the real awards. But I love them, yeah.
Greg: What are some memories of Chris Cornell over the years, either talking with him or meeting him?
Matt: I’ve got so many memories of Chris. Our friendship started—you know, I had seen the band really early on. I was a major supporter in alternative radio, rock radio, and even in college radio, you know what I mean, like when they were starting out. My memories are just being at so many shows with them, having dinner with Chris and the band in New York City while they were in town for their rehearsals for Saturday Night Live when Down on the Upside came out.
They were doing shows—we spent a lot of time together. I went to Seattle for the album special for Down on the Upside. Then me and Chris used to talk a lot about music, talk about the greatest bands and songs and his vocals and people we love musically. So I’m very grateful that I had a relationship where the band let me into their life and trusted me. That is important to me.
All the way around, I miss Chris every day. And it’s important for me to keep his music alive through whatever platform that I have. At this point I’m on three different radio platforms—my syndicated show, KCS Los Angeles, and KLOS—and it’s all about keeping their music alive.
