Kim Thayil

Infobox musical artist
Background = non_vocal_instrumentalist
Instrument = Guitar
Name = Kim Thayil


Img_capt = Thayil (left) with Kim Warnick of The Fastbacks, 2007
Born = birth date and age|1960|9|4 Seattle, Washington, US
Died =
Alias =
Genre = Alternative metal, grunge, alternative rock, heavy metal
Associated_acts = Soundgarden No WTO Combo Probot Dark Load
Label = A&M Records SST Records Sub Pop
Notable_instruments =
Years_active = 1984 - present
URL =

Kim Thayil (born September 4, 1960 in Seattle, Washington) is best known as the guitarist for Seattle-based grunge band Soundgarden, which he founded with Chris Cornell and Hiro Yamamoto in 1984. He was named 100^th best guitarist of all time by "Rolling Stone Magazine".

Early life

Although he was born in Seattle in 1960, Thayil grew up in the Chicago suburb of Park Forest. Thayil's parents are from the south Indian state of Kerala.

Thayil met Hiro Yamamoto at Rich East High School in Park Forest. After graduation, they moved to Washington, where Thayil studied philosophy at the University of Washington. There they met Chris Cornell, a roommate, and the three formed Soundgarden in 1984.

oundgarden (1984-1997)

Soundgarden became the first of Seattle's grunge bands to sign with a major label (A&M Records). They went on to release five albums, including three which went platinum at least once, and win two Grammys.

Thayil became acclaimed for his guitar work, which was typically characterized by heavy riffing, and was cited among other grunge guitarists as an influence and a pioneer of the "Seattle Sound." In 1994, Thayil commented, "I think Soundgarden is a pretty good band and I'm a fine guitarist. I'm not God, but I'm certainly not average. I feel very comfortable with the fact that not many other people can do what I do on guitar. I think my guitar is happy with the way I play it."

While living in Seattle, he was known to associate with Rob Morgan of the Seattle band The Squirrels. He was also known to frequent The Cold Mountain Juice Company, a fresh juice company which was located in Seattle. A UPS Store now stands where The Cold Mountain Juice Company once was.

During the recording sessions for Soundgarden's final album, "Down on the Upside", Thayil clashed with Cornell over the vocalist's desire to shift away from Soundgarden's traditional heavy riffing. In the midst of these tensions, which increased on the subsequent tour and came to climax at a show in Hawaii (where Ben Shepherd flung his bass into the air in frustration after suffering from several technical failures), Soundgarden announced that it was disbanding in April 1997.

Originally one of Soundgarden's main songwriters, Thayil's contributions as a writer eventually dwindled to just one song on "Down on the Upside", "Never the Machine Forever." While a member of Soundgarden, he wrote the following songs for the band:
* "Hunted Down" ("Screaming Life") "... music"
* "Nothing to Say" ("Screaming Life") "... music"
* "Tears To Forget" ("Screaming Life") "... music (co-written)"
* "Little Joe" ("Screaming Life") "... music"
* "Hand of God" ("Screaming Life") "... music"
* "Kingdom of Come" ("Fopp") "... credited to Soundgarden"
* "Flower" ("Ultramega OK") "... music"
* "All Your Lies" ("Ultramega OK") "... music (co-written)"
* "Circle of Power" ("Ultramega OK") "... music"
* "Incessant Mace" ("Ultramega OK") "... music"
* "Hands All Over" ("Louder Than Love") "... music"
* "Get on the Snake" ("Louder Than Love") "... music"
* "Heretic" ("Loudest Love") "... music"
* "Jesus Christ Pose" ("Badmotorfinger") "... music (co-written)"
* "Room a Thousand Years Wide" ("Badmotorfinger") "... lyrics"
* "New Damage" ("Badmotorfinger") "... music (co-written)"
* "My Wave" ("Superunknown") "... music (co-written)"
* "Superunknown" ("Superunknown") "... music (co-written)"
* "Limo Wreck" ("Superunknown") "... music (co-written)"
* "Kickstand" ("Superunknown") "... music"
* "Never the Machine Forever" ("Down on the Upside") "... music and lyrics"

After Soundgarden (1997-present)

After the demise of Soundgarden, Thayil went on to contribute guitar to work by Pigeonhed and Presidents of the United States of America. More recently, he contributed guitar to the track "Blood Swamp" from the 2006 SunnO)))/Boris album Altar, for which he also wrote liner notes.

In 1999, Thayil formed a punk band, the No WTO Combo, with Jello Biafra (formerly of Dead Kennedys), Krist Novoselic (formerly of Nirvana, at the time a member of Sweet 75), and Gina Mainwal (also of Sweet 75). The band was formed to celebrate and further the rampant protest activity against the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, which was held on November 30, 1999. Originally scheduled to play at the Showbox on that same evening, police prevented the band from doing so, forcing the show to be rescheduled for the following night. This was Thayil's first live concert since the breakup of Soundgarden. The show was recorded and mixed by Soundgarden producer Jack Endino; it was released as the album "Live from the Battle in Seattle" in May 2000.

In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine named Thayil #100 on the list of the "100 greatest guitarists of all time". [Fricke, David; Edmonds, Ben; Eliscu, Jenny; Kemp, Rob; Kot, Greg; Levy, Joe; Moon, Tom; Puterbaugh, Parke; Randall, Mac; Sheffield, Rob (18 September 2003) "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time" "Rolling Stone" Issue 931, pp. 46-61. The list was posted to the Internet on 27 August 2003 [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5937559/the_100_greatest_guitarists_of_all_time "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time"] ]

In 2004, Thayil played guitar for Probot, Dave Grohl's heavy metal side-project; he was featured on the songs "Ice Cold Man" and "Sweet Dreams."

Thayil was a recurring participant on the "Almost Live!" sketch comedy show, calling things "lame" during "The Lame List" segments.

Gear

Early years

Guitars: Guild S-100 Amplifier: Bass Ampeg mesa boogie w/15" speaker Effects: Jim Dunlop Crybaby wah, MXR chorus

Badmotorfinger

Guitars: Guild S-100, Gibson Les Paul Custom Lite, Gibson Firebird Amplifiers: Peavey VTM-120, Music Man HD130, Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Effects: To get the heavy sound in studio, many guitar tracks were layered and panned to add the body that was lacking from previous albums.

Superunknown

Guitars: Guild S-100, Gibson Les Paul, Fender Telecaster, Gibson SG Amplifiers: Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifiers, Mesa Boogie 50-watt Mavericks, an old Fender Super, a Fender Princeton, Fender Twin Reverbs and Vibro-Kings, and an old Orange head. Effects: Intellitronics LA-2 and Summit DIs. (To get him to play most comfortably, Thayil's living room couch was brought into the studio, as per an article published in the May 1994 issue of "Guitar World")

Down on the Upside

Guitars: Guild S-100, Diet Gibson Les Paul, Fender Telecaster, Fender Jazzmaster, Gibson SG. Amplifiers: Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifiers Effects: Jim Dunlop Crybaby wah, Colorsound wah, Jim Dunlop Rotovibe, Mu-Tron

Discography

oundgarden

* "Screaming Life" (1987)
* "Fopp" (1988)
* "Ultramega OK" (1988)
* "Louder Than Love" (1989)
* "Screaming Life/Fopp (1990)
* "Loudest Love" (1990)"
* "Badmotorfinger" (1991/1992)
* "Superunknown" (1994)
* "Songs from the Superunknown (1995)
* "Down on the Upside (1996)
* "A-Sides (1997)

No WTO Combo

* "Live from the Battle in Seattle (2000)

Probot

* "Probot" (2004)

External links

* [http://www.guitarfxdepot.com/rigs/kim-thayil-soundgarden-guitar-rig/ Kim Thayil (Soundgarden) guitar rig]

Footnotes