Chris Cornell Interview

Chris Cornell By Scott Bolohan Jul 17, 2007, 11:13

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Unshackled:
Chris Cornell

After spending the last 20 years fronting a rock band, Chris Cornell finds himself at a crossroads, trying to break from the rock of his past while maintaining commercial success (after all, the guy wrote the most recent James Bond theme). Given artistic freedom on his recently-released second solo album, Carry On, Cornell emphasizes his vocal range while seemingly churning out power pop songs in his sleep.

With Carry On, Cornell gets the opportunity to go in directions he felt he was limited from with Audioslave, although not as much as in his first solo effort. “This album is less a response than Euphoria Morning. It was a response to 14 years of being in Soundgarden and really wanting to do music that I hadn’t been doing for 14 years. Carry On is similar in that I’m not in this band and therefore I’m going to write songs that wouldn’t fit in that band, like clearing my pallet, it gives me something fresh. We didn’t really get to rip into a soulful ballad so much, and I missed that.”

But Cornell is relieved to be free from his commitments to penning tracks for a band where he was forced to consider writing for the other members. “Writing the songs for Carry On was a very relaxed experience as compared to writing songs with Audioslave in a room with other people. The content is always going to be different for me because of the identity of the band. Writing lyrics in a band, you have to consider the other people in the band because they are going to have to get up and back up that song on stage and perform it. I remember Kim Thayil of Soundgarden saying he really loved going up and doing the song 'Suicide' over and over. Lyrically, he felt like someone had written those songs about his life. That’s a huge compliment and that’s an important thing to consider in a band.”

Cornell admits there is a sort of stigma that people attach to a solo record, but he doesn’t view his solo work any differently than his work in bands. “I think the idea is that when someone makes a solo record, it’s more important to them. In my case, every record I made is of equal importance. That includes this record versus Superunknown or a record like Temple of the Dog. They’re all my favorite things at the time and the most important thing that I’m doing, and I put everything I have into whatever record it is.”

Reflecting on his Audioslave time is somewhat bittersweet for Cornell, but he says he’s ready to move on and become "a type of Peter Gabriel performer" who has success solo and in a band. “I think with Audioslave, it’s something that kind of distracted me from that," he says. "And it was great, it was a great combination of people to put together and make records, and I’m glad we did it. I also think there’s some give and take involved, and what I missed out on is where I could be going in a solo world. I want to spend some consecutive years working on making Chris Cornell records. In terms of rock singing, I’ve done a lot. In terms of R&B and soul singing and breaking down certain sound and cultural barriers, I feel there’s a lot I can still do.” | RDW

Chris Cornell • July 22 • Fillmore Detroit

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On solo record writing: “I think writing solo records can be more whimsical, which isn’t to necessarily say more personal but in that I can cover any idea or attitude that I want to.”

On songwriting for a band: “There are bands that are very much based on one person’s songwriting and attitude and vision, and then a band name is put on top of it.“

On his progression as a songwriter: “Over the years as a songwriter it sort of gathered momentum where I can get ideas out easier and more efficiently.”