Interviews
DOWN ON THE UPSIDE
In 2018, Kim Thayil had a shitty fullcircle moment. He was playing guitar in his favorite band, the MC5, as part of their 50th-anniversary tour. Every night, he’d kick out the motherfucking jams alongside one of his musical heroes, MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer, not to mention Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty, King’s X bassist Doug Pinnick, and former Zen Guerrilla vocalist Marcus Durant.
DOWN ON THE UPSIDE
Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil on punk, the death of Chris Cornell, and his new memoir
J. Bennett
In 2018, Kim Thayil had a shitty fullcircle moment. He was playing guitar in his favorite band, the MC5, as part of their 50th-anniversary tour. Every night, he’d kick out the motherfucking jams alongside one of his musical heroes, MC5 guitarist Wayne Kramer, not to mention Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty, King’s X bassist Doug Pinnick, and former Zen Guerrilla vocalist Marcus Durant.
As the revamped MC5—known as MC50 on this golden-anniversary run—worked their way across North America, the final stop loomed large: Detroit. The MC5 were born in the Motor City, so it only made sense to conclude the tour there. It would be a celebration of music, of life. But for Thayil, Detroit represented death. A year and a half prior, on May 18, 2017, his friend and Soundgarden bandmate Chris Cornell hanged himself in a Detroit hotel room after the band’s performance at the Fox Theatre. Playing guitar in MC5, Thayil was on a collision course with the ghost of tragedy.