Soundgarden Split
After 12 years and five albums, Soundgarden formally called it
quits this morning in a statement issued by their label, A&M
Records. Although the statement said the group was disbanding to
“pursue other interests,” sources have speculated that frustration
with touring, artistic differences and tension with bassist Ben Shepherd also
contributed to the breakup.
“Kim [Thayil] and Chris [Cornell] sat down the other
day….and they said, ‘Look, we’ve accomplished everything we’ve
wanted to do, there’s a lot of pressure for us to be Soundgarden,
people’s jobs depend on us, but we’ve done it all, we’ve been to the
mountain and back, maybe it’s time for us to try something
different for a while,” says a source close to the band.
par par Another reason for the split was Shepherd, Soundgarden’s
third bassist, who reportedly walked offstage during the middle of
the band’s February 9 performance at the Neal Blaisdell Arena in
Honolulu. The show turned out to be the band’s last. Shepherd also
irritated his bandmates by saying he was going to leave Soundgarden
to devote all his time to his side project
Devilhead, according to a source at Loosegroove Records,
Devilhead’s label.
“Kim told me this had been coming for a while,” says the
source. “They had actually been considering it since Ben’s little
temper tantrums in Australia and Hawaii. The very end of the last
tour, the writing was on the wall for them. They had not been happy
for a very long time.”
The entire statement reads: “After twelve years, the
members of Soundgarden have amicably and mutually decided to
disband to pursue other interests. There is no word at this time on
any of the members’ future plans.”