DeepSummary
Kim Thayil from Soundgarden discusses the making of the 1986 C/Z Records compilation album 'Deep Six', which featured early recordings from bands like Soundgarden, Melvins, Green River, and Skin Yard before they achieved mainstream success. He explains how the idea originated from Chris Hanzsek wanting to do a split album with Green River and Soundgarden, but Mark Arm suggested making it a compilation with more local bands.
Thayil provides insight into the Seattle music scene at that time, the influences and attitudes of the different bands, and how Soundgarden's experimentation with drop D tuning after talking to Buzz Osborne impacted their sound and the subsequent grunge movement. He also shares anecdotes about the recording process, creative disagreements during mixing, and the relationships between the bands.
While not initially a major commercial success, 'Deep Six' has become a celebrated cultural artifact documenting the nascent Seattle alternative scene before it exploded into the mainstream in the early 90s. Thayil reflects on the bands' modest ambitions at the time versus their eventual impact, and the open-minded, anti-purist approach that enabled musical innovation.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The 1986 'Deep Six' compilation documented the nascent Seattle alternative scene before grunge's mainstream explosion.
- The bands featured embraced musical experimentation by moving beyond rigid punk attitudes and genre boundaries.
- Soundgarden's explorations with drop D tuning after talking to Buzz Osborne helped shape their heavier, drone-influenced sound that impacted grunge.
- The bands had modest ambitions at the time, not expecting their non-commercial styles to gain widespread popularity.
- Creative tensions arose during the album's production, like disagreements between Chris Hanzsek and Tina Casale over mixing.
- While not a major commercial success initially, 'Deep Six' became a celebrated cultural artifact chronicling a transformative era.
- The bands' socially-conscious, anti-purist mentalities enabled the musical innovation and eventual popularity of grunge's progressive sensibilities.
- Careful song selection was used to accurately represent each band's distinct aspects on the compilation.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “I remember Chris saying some things out of the side of his mouth where I just kind of turned to look at Tina like, that's not to me, I don't think. And I kind of looked at her like, what does that mean? And I just shut up.“ by Kim Thayil
- “And the fact that people wanted to hear that, we thought, right on. Maybe the world isn't such a shitty place, really.“ by Kim Thayil
- “We picked two songs, but it was my idea that we can get. We can be more representative of what we're doing if we look at the length of the song.“ by Kim Thayil
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The Ringer
6/27/24