chris cornell ready to ‘scream’ a new tune
grunge icon teamed with pop/hip-hop producer timbaland for new album
by associated press, march 2008
NEW YORK - Samples, hip-hop beats, record scratches, synthesizers, and ... Chris Cornell?
The grunge icon has teamed with pop/hip-hop producer Timbaland on what is easily his most daring solo effort, “Scream,” out this week.
Longtime fans of the former Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman’s work may easily be turned off by his latest experiment, which gives a slick and almost synthetic feel — no doubt due to Timbaland — to his otherwise earthy music and vocals.
Cornell recently took time out from Los Angeles to speak by phone about his new genre-bending record and what it was like to work with today’s premier hit-maker.
AP: What was the catalyst for your collaboration with Timbaland?
Cornell: I was looking for some remixes for a couple different songs and that was what got the conversations going ... that’s what got me on the phone with Timbaland to begin with. It really was kind of his enthusiasm about recording new material that got us onto the topic. Suddenly it was kind of like a light bulb that turned on. It went from the discussion of doing a couple of new songs to, “Why don’t we just go make a whole album?” It was actually my idea because I didn’t see the point of making two or three songs.
AP: Was there anything specific about his production work that drew you to him?
Cornell: Having heard a lot of different things that he’s done, it felt like no one was going to approach his beats like I will. It’s just not going to happen. It doesn’t sound to me like any record he’s ever produced. If there’s any way to describe what happened it would be that two people with long careers and big record collections went into a studio and completely trusted each other without really having much in common. There’s something in there that helps create a really interesting album.
AP: Are you concerned over what longtime fans might think of this departure?
Cornell: Music isn’t really something that a sane, solid argument can really be backed up with. I don’t think you can talk someone into liking or disliking an album if that person is really listening with their own ears. I think the music is what it is. I would hope that anyone who is a fan, or even isn’t a fan, that comes across it would give it a chance like they would give anything a chance — by listening to it. But that’s it.
AP: You are pictured throughout the album artwork smashing guitars into pieces. Was that a reflection of you destroying this established rock image people have of you with this record?
Cornell: It’s a little more tongue in cheek than that. I don’t know that anyone really has a specific image of me, even with my history and all the music that’s inside of it. There’s a lot going on with that. I mean there’s a lot of different periods of my career, and that image, in a sense, reminded me of this early ’90s image that more people have of me than others. But I guess it depends on your age and what period someone might have suddenly noticed that I existed in music. I think the last time that I was smashing Les Pauls and flying through the air with long hair was about 18 years ago.
originally available as an online feature here
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