daddy rocks

By Kirsi Uimonen Ballesteros

from seura, august 2007

Rocker Chris Cornell, 43, left his band Audioslave in February and is now on a solo tour in Europe. The man who made the theme song for the latest Bond film Casino Royale, You Know My Name, enjoys the personal freedom.

“As a solo artist I can make just the kind of music I like. As a member of a band I don´t have the freedom to move and to renew myself the same way as a solo artist”, tells the man who grew up in Seattle.

The handsome artist has taken his wife Vicky and their nearly two-year-old son with him to the interview. They also have a three-year-old daughter Toni.

“The kids travel with us if we stay in one place for more than one day. But I won´t take them to the tour bus. We have an apartment both in Paris and in Los Angeles. If I´m touring in USA my kids and my wife are based in Los Angeles. The arrangement increases the costs of the tour but it works well because I can tour for a longer period.”

The artist who writes dark but touching lyrics has successfully combined a career and fatherhood.

“I wrote songs for my latest album Carry On at home in the daytime. I worked for a couple of hours in the morning, then I took a break and spent some time with my family and then I continued working. Only a few times my kids managed to disturb me.”

Cornell learned a carefree attitude towards life from his father.

“My father was a worrier but he tried to teach me to not to worry too much. He told me that only once in a blue moon our fears come true and that mourning doesn´t help even though misfortunes happened.”

The man with a powerful voice speculates and continues: “What it comes to singing, it´s important to take it easy because you can hear the signs of stress very easily in a voice.” Chris Cornell performs in the Helsinki Ice Hall on 29th of August.

By Kirsi Uimonen Ballesteros, translated by Eriica from Finnish magazine Seura.

Chris Cornell Fan Page © Clare O'Brien 2007