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Soundgarden to Tour in 2014 Without Matt Cameron

Soundgarden will hit the road again next year, but drummer Matt Cameron will be taking a temporary break from playing live with them due to his commitments as Pearl Jam's drummer, Cameron announced…

By Jessica Letkemann

Jessica Letkemann

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Soundgarden will hit the road again next year, but drummer Matt Cameron will be taking a temporary break from playing live with them due to his commitments as Pearl Jam’s drummer, Cameron announced today (Nov. 15) in a statement on Soundgarden’s website .

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“I will be taking 2014 off from Soundgarden touring due to prior commitments promoting [PJ’s album] “Lightning Bolt” with my brothers in Pearl Jam and the desire to have more time at home with my family,” Cameron says in the Soundgardenworld.com posting . “I am trying to balance the many twists and turns of my awesome music career. This is temporary. I am still an active member of Soundgarden.”

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So far Soundgarden has only announced a handful of 2014 tour dates: Lollapalooza Chile, Argentina and Brazil in the spring plus a trio of German concerts in June. Cameron, in his statement, explains that his SG bandmates, “Chris, Ben, Kim and I are in the process of finding the perfect substitute for the upcoming Soundgarden dates in 2014.”

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Soundgarden On ‘King Animal’

It’s been a busy time for Soundgarden since it reformed in 2010, with regular tours and 2012 studio album “King Animal.” It’s been twice as busy for Matt Cameron, who has also been Pearl Jam’s drummer since 1998.

Pearl Jam: Billboard Cover Story | PJ Sets Fall Tour of North America

There has been no word yet on Pearl Jam’s plans for next summer, but the group’s new album, “Lightning Bolt,” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 last month, and the band is currently in the midst of a North American arena tour in support of the release. The second leg of that tour begins tonight in Dallas.

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Drummer Matt Cameron to Tour With Pearl Jam in 2014; Soundgarden Will Find Replacement Drummer

For the first time in years, both Pearl Jam and Soundgarden will be actively touring. Drummer Matt Cameron announced today that he will tour with Pearl Jam in 2014, and Soundgarden will find a replacement.

In a note posted on Soundgarden’s website, Cameron says he will be taking 2014 off from Soundgarden due to “prior commitments promoting Lightning Bolt with my brothers in Pearl Jam and the desire to have more time at home with my family.” Cameron continues, “I am trying to balance the many twists and turns of my awesome music career. This is temporary. I am still an active member of Soundgarden.”

Current Soundgarden members Chris Cornell, Ben Shepherd and Kim Thayil are currently in the process of choosing a replacement. Soundgarden is scheduled to play several shows in 2014, along with multiple stops at Lollapalooza, suggesting they could be a staple along the festival circuit in the summer. Pearl Jam also has a few dates in 2014, but none that overlap with Soundgarden’s as of yet.

Cameron is a replacement drummer for both bands, first joining Soundgarden in 1986 after founding drummer Scott Sundquist left the band to spend time with his family. In 1998, Pearl Jam drummer Jack Irons left the band due to health issues, prompting the band to reach out to Cameron shortly before their Yield tour. He has spent the years since with both bands.

Here is Cameron working his way (with ease) through “In My Tree,” a song that is widely regarded as having one of the best drum tracks in Pearl Jam’s catalog.

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SOUNDGARDEN TO TOUR IN 2014 WITHOUT DRUMMER MATT CAMERON

• November 15, 2013
• One Comment

“I will be taking 2014 off from Soundgarden touring due to prior commitments promoting [PJ’s album] Lightning Bolt with my brothers in Pearl Jam and the desire to have more time at home with my family,” Cameron says in the Soundgardenworld.com posting. “I am trying to balance the many twists and turns of my awesome music career. This is temporary. I am still an active member of Soundgarden.”

It’s been a busy time for Soundgarden since they reformed in 2010, with regular tours and 2012 studio album King Animal . It’s been twice as busy for Matt Cameron, who has also been Pearl Jam’s drummer since 1998.

additional source: Billboard

One Response

Matt’s pretty awesome. Would love to have his drumming career.

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Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden Join Forces for 2014 North American Summer Tour

Two of rock's biggest bands -- Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden -- have announced that they're teaming up for a co-headlining 2014 North American summer tour! The trek kicks off July 19 in Las Vegas and runs through an Aug. 25 gig in Los Angeles.

NIN will be touring in support of their 2013 album 'Hesitation Marks,' which features the singles 'Came Back Haunted' and 'Copy of A.' Trent Reznor and company previously toured North America in support of the disc this past fall. Check out our review and photo gallery of the band's October 2013 gig in Newark, N.J., here .

Soundgarden, meanwhile, will be touring behind their 2012 comeback album, 'King Animal,' which has yielded the No. 1 rock hits 'Been Away Too Long' and 'By Crooked Steps.' Chris Cornell and company likely will be without drummer Matt Cameron, who announced late last year that he is taking 2014 off from Soundgarden to tour with his other band, Pearl Jam. Reports are that Matt Chamberlain (yeah, that can get confusing) will be taking his place for the band's 2014 shows. Chamberlain is the drummer for singer Tori Amos, but once drummed for Pearl Jam in the '90s.

Death Grips will serve as the opening act throughout the tour. Check out the full list of shows below. Pre-sales begin this Monday, March 17, for NIN.com members, with the public on-sale date being March 21. There will also be a Tuesday, March 18, presale with the code NINSG. Details here  and here .

Nine Inch Nails + Soundgarden 2014 Tour North American Dates:

7/19 - Las Vegas, NV @ Planet Hollywood 7/21 - Denver, CO @ Red Rocks Amphitheatre 7/24 - Tinley Park, IL @ First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre 7/26 - Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre 7/27 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Amphitheatre 7/29 - Mansfield, MA @ XFinity Center 7/30 - Camden, NJ @ Bank Center 8/1 - Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre 8/2 - Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center 8/4 - Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live 8/5 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Farm Bureau Live at Lakewood 8/7 - Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion 8/8 - Atlanta, GA @ Aaron's Amphitheatre at Lakewood 8/10 - West Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Amphitheatre 8/11 - Tampa, FL @ MidFlorida Credit Union 8/14 - Austin, TX @ Austin360 Amphitheatre 8/16 - Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion 8/17 - Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Pavilion 8/19 - Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Amphitheatre 8/21 - Chula Vista, CA - Sleep Train Amphitheatre 8/22 - Irvine, CA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre 8/24 - Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre 8/25 - Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl

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1984 – Chris forms Soundgarden with Hiro Yamamoto and Kim Thayil, naming the band after an art installation in Seattle’s Sand Point. Chris initially plays drums while singing, but in 1985 the band enlists drummer Scott Sundquist to allow him to concentrate on vocals. They play their first show at a club called Top of the Court in Seattle. The band’s first recordings are three songs for a C/Z Records compilation called Deep Six.

1987/1988 – Kim Thayil introduces the two eventual founders of the Sub Pop label and encourages them to start a label. Scott Sundquist is replaced by Matt Cameron and the band signs to Sub Pop, releasing the Screaming Life EP in 1987, and the Fopp EP in 1988. A combination of the two is later issued as Screaming Life/Fopp in 1990.

1988 – Though the band is the first of the Seattle grunge acts to generate major label interest, in 1988 they sign to the lesser known SST Records to release debut album Ultramega OK.

1989 – The band release their first album for a major label, Louder than Love on A&M Records. Bassist Yamamoto leaves the band to return to college. Jason Everman, formerly of Nirvana, joins the band briefly. He plays bass on the band’s cover of The Beatles’ Come Together and appears in the Loud Love video. Shortly afterwards, he is replaced by Ben Shepherd. The band’s first music video, Flower, is directed by Mark Miremont.

1990 – Soundgarden receives a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance for Ultramega OK.

1991 – The new line up records Badmotorfinger in 1991. The band tours with Guns N’ Roses to support the album, and later releases the video compilation Motorvision, filmed on that tour.

1992 – Soundgarden appears in the Cameron Crowe movie Singles performing Birth Ritual and Chris Cornell solo song Seasons is also included on the soundtrack. From July, the band joins the Lollapalooza tour alongside the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and Ministry.

1993 – Under the name M.A.C.C, Chris Cornell covers Jimi Hendrix’s “Hey Baby (House Of The New Rising Sun)” along with Mike McCready, Jeff Ament and Matt Cameron. The track is released in October on Hendrix tribute album Stone Free, alongside tracks by Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Paul Rodgers and others.

1994 – Soundgarden plays in Australia and Japan for the first time. In March, the album Superunknown is released and becomes the band’s breakout album as they continue to tour worldwide. The music video for Black Hole Sun is a hit on MTV and wins Best Metal/Hard Rock Video at the 1994 MTV Video Music Awards. Soundgarden receive two Grammy Awards in 1995; Black Hole Sun for Best Hard Rock Performance and Spoonman for Best Metal Performance.

1996- The band’s final album is 1996’s self-produced Down on the Upside. Singles include Pretty Noose, Blow Up the Outside World, and Burden in My Hand.

1997 – February 9 sees Soundgarden’s last 90s show at Honolulu’s Blaisdell Arena. Exactly two months later, they disband. A greatest-hits compilation titled A-Sides, is released in November.

2010 – In August, Soundgarden make a historic return to the live stage as headliners for Chicago’s Lollapalooza festival, and release their retrospective album ‘Telephantasm’ in September.

2011 – Soundgarden announce the March release of live album ‘Live on I5’, taken from their 1996 US tour, and enter the studio to begin recording new material. In Summer, following Chris Cornell’s ‘Songbook’ solo acoustic tour, Soundgarden embark on a tour of the US and Canada.

2012 – Soundgarden tour in Australia, New Zealand, Europe and North America. Their album ‘King Animal’ is released on November 13.

2013 – Soundgarden tour North America.

2014 – Soundgarden tour in North America and Europe. Superunknown received a 20th Anniversary reissue. In November, rarities collection “Echo of Miles: Scattered Tracks Across The Path” is released.

2015 – Soundgarden tour in Australia and New Zealand.

2016 – The album Badmotorfinger receives a 25th Anniversary reissue.

2017 – The band tour the USA.

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• March 30, 2014 Setlist

Soundgarden Setlist at Parque O'Higgins, Santiago, Chile

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• Searching With My Good Eye Closed Play Video
• Spoonman Play Video
• Let Me Drown Play Video
• Rowing Play Video
• Black Hole Sun Play Video
• Jesus Christ Pose Play Video
• Outshined Play Video
• Beyond the Wheel Play Video
• Taree Play Video
• My Wave Play Video
• The Day I Tried to Live Play Video
• Been Away Too Long Play Video
• Blow Up the Outside World Play Video
• Fell on Black Days Play Video
• Superunknown Play Video
• Pretty Noose Play Video
• Burden in My Hand Play Video
• Rusty Cage Play Video
• Like Suicide Play Video
• Flower Play Video
• Slaves & Bulldozers Play Video

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29 activities (last edit by rocker129 , 3 Apr 2014, 15:07 Etc/UTC )

Songs on Albums

• Black Hole Sun
• Fell on Black Days
• Let Me Drown
• Like Suicide
• Superunknown
• The Day I Tried to Live
• Jesus Christ Pose
• Searching With My Good Eye Closed
• Slaves & Bulldozers
• Blow Up the Outside World
• Burden in My Hand
• Pretty Noose
• Been Away Too Long
• Beyond the Wheel

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• Apr 06 2014 Lollapalooza Brazil 2014 São Paulo, Brazil Add time Add time

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Soundgarden: "We never got used to the success"

Think of the Seattle scene and you think of Nirvana. But it was Soundgarden who led the grunge explosion. CR caught up with them to look back at the band that killed glam metal

When Soundgarden’s world tour wrapped up in 1997, it seemed like the end of just another successful record-tour cycle for the band. Their latest album, Down On The Upside , was a global hit, they had become the first ever band to appear twice on Lollapalooza, and they had just wrapped up a lengthy headlining tour of their own. But behind the scenes it was an entirely different story. “The [recording] sessions were certainly strained,” drummer Matt Cameron remembers. “So I knew something was up, something was certainly going on. And then once when we started touring for that record, the shows were just increasingly bad. It was just horrible; a lot of drinking, a lot of bad vibes, a lot of temper tantrums, a lot of rock-star bullshit. I was actually thinking about bailing at that point. It was really tough. We couldn’t get through a show, basically, without someone storming off the stage. It was so not about music.”

On February 9, Soundgarden played the final show of the tour, at the Blaisdell Arena in Hawaii. On April 9 the group announced their break-up.

Before their demise Soundgarden were one mean rockin’ machine, a leading light in the world of grunge. Equally influenced by Black Sabbath and Bad Brains, the band perfected a style that had its origins in the early 80s with the likes of The Melvins and Black Flag – slowing down punk’s fury to a sludgy crawl. And while Nirvana were the band that blew the roof off the 90s Seattle rock movement, Soundgarden were the ones that did the legwork. They were one of the first groups from the scene to record for the Sub Pop label, tour nationally and sign to a major label. Soundgarden were also responsible for some of the 90s’ best rock albums ( Badmotorfinger and Superunknown ) and songs ( Rusty Cage , Outshined , Black Hole Sun …). Along with Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains and Nirvana, Soundgarden effectively exterminated glam metal.

Frontman Chris Cornell, a former cook, and guitarist Kim Thayil, a philosophy graduate, were the men who put Soundgarden together. Both from the Seattle, Washington, area, Cornell and Thayil had crossed paths thanks to a mutual friend, Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell was a roommate of Yamamoto’s and they played in a band together, The Shemps (for whom Cornell played drums); Thayil and Yamamoto were friends since their early days in Chicago, before they relocated to Washington together to go to college.

In 1985 the trio decided to form their own band – Thayil on guitar, Yamamoto on bass, and Cornell ‘doing a Phil Collins’ and handling both drums and vocals. Taking their name from The Sound Garden – an art installation in a nearby Seattle park – Soundgarden were born.

The three-piece line-up only lasted only for a few shows, however, before drummer Scott Sundquist joined and Cornell focused solely on vocals. “I played the drums and sort of fell into singing by accident,” recalls Cornell. “I was playing drums and singing and we didn’t know which was easier to find – a singer or a drummer, so we looked for both. The decision was based on the fact we found a drummer first, so I became the singer.

Producer Jack Endino happened to catch the band’s debut gig as a quartet. “They played half the set with Chris on drums, then he came out, and said: ‘Okay, we want to introduce our new drummer, and I’m just going to sing now’. Scott came out, finished the set, and Chris just stood there and sang. It would have been one of their very early shows – probably in early ’85.”

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Endino, who was then a member of another up-and-coming Seattle band, Skin Yard, recalls Soundgarden’s early sound: “Scott was an older guy. He had a Ginger Baker touch on the drums, a rolling, jazzy sort of feel that was really dynamic and very fluid; it wasn’t so ‘conventional heavy rock’ as they became later. It was a slightly psychedelic kind of vibe. And at times it was really pretty amazing. Even though technically he wasn’t anywhere near the drummer that [Matt Cameron would be].

“After they got Matt in the band,” Endino continues, “they became more focused, and zeroed in on the sound they became known for later. Soundgarden were a little inconsistent live, you never knew what was going to happen. There was definitely an element of chance going on, craziness, and fun. There were some amazing Soundgarden shows in the early days.”

In addition to becoming Soundgarden’s focal point on stage, Cornell was also quickly becoming the group’s chief songwriter. Cornell recalls realising early on that life in a band was not as simple as he had thought. “I thought it would be a lot easier than it ended up being, to write and make records of quality,” he says. “It shouldn’t be in-fighting; there shouldn’t be clashing egos; there shouldn’t be this constant editing of ideas out of fear of what other people might think, all that stuff.”

1986 was an important year for Soundgarden. The band made their first ever appearance on vinyl – the CZ Records compilation Deep Six – and experienced the first flutter in their line-up. It was becoming obvious that the band would have to venture outside the Pacific Northwest region to further their career, so Sundquist (who was a husband and father) opted to leave. It was a decision that enabled Matt Cameron to occupy the drum stool.

“I’d seen them play a few times, and they were my favourite band in Seattle,” Cameron says of early Soundgarden. “I heard that Scott left, and I called Kim. I said: ‘I’d like to try out.’ And I did. I knew a few of their songs – there was one called Heretic that I knew, and I knew Incessant Mace , and a few others – so I showed up semi-prepared. I remember Chris really liked the way I played – he said that I played everything perfectly. They had a gig in a week’s time at the Central Tavern, so it was baptism by fire. I just threw myself in there and never looked back.”

Making believers out of local rock fans, the band left a profound impression on one admirer, a man by the name of Ben Shepherd. “They were playing a show down in Olympia, one of those daylight shows,” he remembers. “There was a bunch of bands. Seattle was totally cool back then. The music scene was totally happening; people were fun, life was cool as fuck, and there they were. So that was the first time in Olympia getting to see Matt play. It was like: ‘Wow, they’re the real thing now.’ Chris was just singing, and Hiro and Kim – that was the true Soundgarden. The very first show I saw, they blew some national act away.”

With the Cornell/Thayil/Yamamoto/Cameron line-up now in place, Soundgarden set out to go beyond the demo stage and undertake a professional recording. Already pals with Jack Endino, the band asked the producer – who had landed a job at the nearby Reciprocal Recording Studio – to oversee the sessions.

Endino: “We worked very hard at getting the right performances. We spent a ridiculous amount of time mixing it, just making it exactly so; just as good as we could possibly get it with the gear and the budget that we had available – nobody had any money around here. Sub Pop didn’t really exist yet. I think it was something that came up partly through the recording – ‘Oh, these guys we know are talking to us about maybe releasing it’.”

Recorded quickly and mostly live (Cameron recalls that they “only had three or four days to get the rhythm tracks done, because we had day jobs”), the six tracks were released in October 1987 as the Screaming Life EP, through the Sub Pop label, which was co-run by Bruce Pavitt (an old pal of Thayil’s) and Jonathan Poneman.

“I remember listening back to the mix of Nothing To Say ,” Cameron recalls, “and I just couldn’t believe that I was playing in a band so good at such an early stage of development.”

Shepherd agrees with Cameron’s assessment. “ Screaming Life is still my favourite record of theirs. That’s what Soundgarden sounds like to me – dark, black and blue. It sounds like the overcast days of Seattle. They sounded huge, and the riffs weren’t stupid or anything – there was something more to them, something disturbing.”

Wasting little time, a follow-up EP, Fopp , was issued through Sub Pop in August 1988. Working with producer Steve Fisk, it was recorded at Seattle’s Moore Theater during an afternoon with a mobile truck. Fisk recalls realising that Seattle’s buzz was growing: “At one point, a jackhammer crew went to work on pavement, and we couldn’t hear anything in the truck,” he says. “We got the crew to move and come back later in the day, because although they didn’t know who Soundgarden were, they knew Seattle bands were starting to get some attention. So they moved to be cool.”

With major labels starting to sniff around, the band opted to stay independent for their full-length debut, and Ultramega OK was released in November ’88 via Black Flag’s SST label. (The following year the album would go on to be nominated for a Best Metal Performance Grammy Award.)

Cameron remembers more rapid-fire recording. “We had a little more money to record with. We went down to a home-made studio that was pretty good. It was in this place called Newberg, Oregon. Again, we didn’t have a lot of time – I think we had two weeks to do it all. We recorded some up here in Seattle, in an abandoned warehouse, recorded some drums there, then we finished the rest in Newberg.”

With other Seattle groups following Soundgarden up the ladder (Screaming Trees, Mudhoney, Nirvana, Mother Love Bone), the band decided that the time was finally right to sign with a major label. After signing to A&M, Louder Than Love (produced by Terry Date) was released in September 1989. It wasn’t the record that broke Soundgarden commercially, but it certainly helped, with the videos for both Hands All Over and Loud Love receiving late-night MTV rotation. It was also supported with a year’s worth of live dates.

But it was a period that was far from smooth sailing, with Yamamoto leaving the band when the album sessions were wrapped up. With an extensive American tour looming with Faith No More and Voivod, Soundgarden arranged try-outs for prospective bass players. They whittled the competition down to two – ex-Nirvana guitarist Jason Everman and ex-Nirvana roadie Ben Shepherd.

“They were crunched for time,” Shepherd remembers. “Once we got to the rehearsal room, I didn’t say anything; I just walked over to the amp, turned it up and started playing. We jammed for three hours – we didn’t play any of their songs. We didn’t even talk, we just played music the whole time. They took Jason because he knew the songs. He was more connected and on-beat with it.”

While Soundgarden completed the ensuing tour with Everman, they soon realised they had chosen the wrong bassist. Upon returning home in the spring of 1990, they asked Shepherd to join. He was pushed straight in at the deep end.

“We rehearsed for a couple of weeks, then we went straight to touring Europe,” he recalls. “The first place I played was the Roskilde Festival [Denmark]. We come on stage and the crowd is chanting: ‘Hiro! Hiro!’ I’m like: ‘Oh, goddamit!’ We did this three-week tour, then we came home, then we had another tour all ready to go. So it was like jumping right into the fire. It was awesome. So fucking fun.”

After a tour with Danzig finished in September, Soundgarden focused on their next studio album, which was again to be produced by Terry Date. But since their previous recording, something had changed; there was something in the air about the Seattle scene, which Shepherd remembers noticing: “You could see everybody was ‘on music’ at that point. Music was suddenly alive again and doing something. Sometimes it’s film and writing that does that culturally, but that time it was music.”

Shepherd remembers the sessions – at Studio D in Sausalito, California (at the behest of their Faith No More pals) – being extremely laid back: “It was so fun, we invented this game – it takes a Frisbee and a Nerf ball to play, two-man teams. We’d play that all the time when we weren’t tracking. A home away from home. It’s way outside the city, a cool old barn turned into a recording studio.”

Just as the sessions had been completed, a side project that included Cornell and Cameron (plus former members of Mother Love Bone and a then-unknown Eddie Vedder) released the Temple Of The Dog album. It was a tribute to Andrew Wood, the singer of Mother Love Bone, who had recently died from a drug overdose, and would also prove the launchpad for what would become Pearl Jam. “It was initially my idea because of a couple of songs I recorded,” Cornell explained at the time. “It didn’t feel like a morose project. It felt sort of celebratory.”

Cameron: “Chris and Andy had been room-mates. I think the original idea was to do a single on Sub Pop in tribute to Andy. We got together, and just started to write more songs. Chris had a bunch of really cool songs, so we decided just to do it. So it was, once again, organically produced. A&M really liked it and put it out.”

Soundgarden’s Badmotorfinger , released in October 1991, was where it first all came together for the band in the studio. It was their strongest and most consistent album. It also didn’t hurt that it came out right as grunge was really taking off, helped hugely by the recent releases of Pearl Jam’s Ten and Nirvana’s Nevermind (and, earlier, Alice In Chains’ Facelift ). Additionally, Soundgarden landed some prime touring spots.

In the same week as the release of Badmotorfinger, Soundgarden played alongside Metallica as part of the mammoth Day On The Green Festival in Oakland, California. Two months later they played a string of arena dates opening for Guns N’ Roses, who were still in all of their out-of-control glory, followed by dates with Skid Row. “We were in the metal trenches at that point, just fully paying our dues. We were kind of ‘the opening act’ for ’91/’92,” Cameron says.

Despite coming from opposite ends of the spectrum to GN’R, Shepherd remembers the tour with them fondly: “We had a blast. The whole crew of theirs and their whole band are really fucking nice. And me, I’m a punk rocker fuck-up, and I’m all cantankerous – my nickname was Manimal back then, and we were called Frowngarden. We weren’t rock stars and shit, we’re not like that. I’m all grumpy – ‘Goddamn it, these guys are nice, I can’t even fucking hate ‘em! I hate their music, but they’re nice.’ Same thing with Skid Row – fucking hated their music, they knew it, but they’re all so fucking cool. Pissed me off, now I don’t even have a reason to be pissed off. What the hell is this? My life is going to shit and it’s beautiful at the same time.”

It was also around this time that rock photographer Ross Halfin began working with the band: “The thing about them – they were all actually quite quiet. They were very nice, but they were one of those bands that as soon as they started drinking… It got to a point where they ended up getting security in England. Ben was walking across Camden Town, there was a bunch of guys outside a pub, and he’s like, ‘Fuck you assholes,’ and they came over and whacked him. So security was needed because they would just go off when they drank.”

With such songs as Outshined and Rusty Cage getting significant airplay, Badmotorfinger served as Soundgarden’s commercial breakthrough. And as a reward, the group nabbed a spot on Lollapalooza II in the summer of 1992, alongside the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their pals Pearl Jam. “That was our payback for opening for all these weird heavy metal bands that we had nothing in common with,” laughs Cameron. “Once we got to Lollapalooza, we were back with our friends. That was a really fun tour.”

But it was also during this time that Shepherd began hitting the bottle heavily. “I would hang out with the Jesus & Mary Chain, I was the only guy that would talk to them – share my whisky with them or whatever. I started drinking too much on that first Guns N’ Roses tour. I would just get really depressed and that was the only way out, or so it seemed. A lot of touring is ‘hurry up and wait’ – you get there and then you wait. You’d see guys that had been out for a couple of years in a row – you hit this wall where it’s like: ‘Why go back? Why go home? There is no home, there’s nothing! Let’s just keep going, we’ll play another show.’ It gets really surreal.”

By the time their 1991-92 tour was at an end, there were three Soundgarden-related albums on the charts – Badmotorfinger , the Singles movie soundtrack and Temple Of The Dog . Having toured non-stop for over a year, Soundgarden took a much-deserved break for most of 1993, during which Cornell ‘celebrated’ by shaving off his long hair, and Cameron/Shepherd launched a garage rock band, Hater. In fact, the only shows Soundgarden played the whole year were two weeks’ worth of dates opening for Neil Young in August.

The majority of the year was spent at Seattle’s Bad Animals studios with producer Michael Beinhorn, preparing the album that they hoped would be the final push over the top.

“I think creatively we were really peaking at that point,” says Cameron. “All pistons were firing – we were writing really cool music and we were playing really good together. I think the arc of the band was fully peaking at that point. We really wanted to be prepared and we rehearsed a lot. Worked on the arrangements of the songs and everything.

“I remember those sessions being pretty intense – it took like four or five months to track that record. There was a lot of wheel-spinning going on – like we would spend three days on a guitar part. It got really silly. We knew we had a good record in there, but I think we were all just sick of it, we just didn’t care anymore. Then Brendan O’Brien mixed it, and he did it in about two weeks – the complete opposite of the way we were working. Just knocked it out. At that point, when I took the mixes home, I realised we had a really good record.”

Shortly before the album’s arrival, a press release was issued, in which Shepherd explained: “Bands like Aerosmith and Led Zeppelin made records where every song counted, and I think that’s what we did.” He wasn’t kidding: Superunknown was not only one of the greatest rock albums of the 90s, but of all time.

Released in March of 1994, Superunknown would debut at the top of the US album chart, and prove to be a worldwide smash on the strength of such hits as Spoonman , Fell On Black Days and, especially, the moody-yet-melodic Black Hole Sun .

Cornell recalls that the latter song helped the group start thinking outside of what was musically ‘expected’ of them. “At some point, there was an idea that we had to decide: ‘Is this or is this not a Soundgarden song?’” he remembers. “And after Badmotorfinger it was like, Black Hole Sun ? No, it’s not a Soundgarden song. So we had to look at ourselves and go: ‘It is if we play it’.

“ Black Hole Sun was a song that I wrote and recorded entirely in my basement, 16 hours a day and then offering a tape of a song, already finished, to a band that then learns it. It was refreshing and kind of cool for a moment because we hadn’t worked that way and we came up with ideas that did sort of reinvent us as a band. But in the long run, even when I look back at it, some of it was a lonely, miserable time. Only half of what I might have worked on would end up being liked by other members of the band. It’s weird for any band member to be dictated to: ‘Here’s [the] song in a final form – learn it’.”

With the album’s worldwide chart success, Soundgarden were now part of rock’s elite. But a month after the album’s release, the world was shocked by the suicide of Kurt Cobain, which spelled the end of Nirvana. Couple that with Pearl Jam losing the plot and touring less (in part due to a battle with Ticketmaster), and suddenly, Soundgarden were the leaders of the pack.

On March 1, 1995, Soundgarden took home two Grammy Awards – Best Hard Rock Performance for Black Hole Sun and Best Metal Performance for Spoonman.

How did the group handle their new status? Halfin remembers that the band “were fine with that, I just think they didn’t care. It’s very much that ‘down’ Seattle mentality. One of the things I think they had over Pearl Jam – Pearl Jam, despite all their anti-everything stance, still very much liked the trappings of being rock stars. The bodyguards, the this, the that. Whereas Soundgarden didn’t really have that – they were very accessible where Pearl Jam were: ‘Keep everyone away’.”

Despite the success, Cameron remembers the first chinks in the armour showing around this time. “For the most part, the tour was pretty fun,” he concedes, “and then towards the end of that tour, the whole fabric of our group was starting to unravel a little bit.

“We weren’t really getting along that good. The pressures of touring so much, just being on the major label machine of record-tour-record-tour sort of took its toll after a while. After that, I think we took a little break, then we started to try and get some songs going for Down On The Upside .”

Produced by Adam Kaspar, Down On The Upside was released in May, 1996. While the album peaked at No.7 in the UK charts (No.2 in the US) and contained its share of highlights ( Pretty Noose , Blow Up The Outside World ), it didn’t exactly measure up to its stellar predecessor.

“It was my idea to record it at Studio Litho with Adam Kasper,” states Cameron, “because I felt our last situation was so kind of intense with all these big-name producer guys involved. It just wasn’t our scene at all – we just went back to the homemade method of making records with our buddy Adam. It was good, but we weren’t all on the same page. I was certainly trying to keep everyone motivated and just try to get it off the ground, but if people don’t want to do things, it’s really hard to get them going. I just think that at that time, we just weren’t enjoying the process as much as we had been.”

And as Cameron recollected earlier, things only got worse once Soundgarden hit the road in support of …Upside , first as part of Lollapalooza once more, and then their own headlining tour. By the time the tour was winding down in Australia and Hawaii, Halfin could see the writing on the wall. “Ben kept walking off stage halfway through the last few shows – you got an idea they weren’t getting on. You’d be in Australia, and they’d just be holed up all day – Chris would just stay in his room all day, you never saw him.”

Shepherd recalls what put him in such a foul mood during their last few shows. “That last show we played in Hawaii was the night that I found out it was our last show. Because our bass tech, I’d gotten him out of rehab, which is another harsh thing about our family that was going on – but that’s a whole other story. But anyway, I got him over to Hawaii, and he called a band meeting. He’s the only guy besides one of us that can call a band meeting – he had seniority. He goes: ‘What’s this shit I hear that this is your last show and you’re breaking up?’ And I’m like: ‘What?!’ And everyone didn’t rebut that, they just sat there. I was like: ‘Oh my God, what the fuck’?

“And of course, my equipment died that night. It completely died, and the other opening band had already left, so there was no other fucking equipment in the building. So I got all pissed off and smashed my bass. I was totally out of my head – angry and pissed off, drunk. I left the stage because there was no sound. I’m not going to stand up there and monkey around like I’m playing. It was almost right away; I think I got to play six songs, if that. And I was so lividly sad, because that was the end of the tour after my honey had left me. And that was it, the last show of the tour that she should have been with me on. It was the most creative and destructive music that I’d ever heard or been part of. The final magic.”

Two months later, Cameron was surprised to find a mystery visitor one morning at his Seattle home. “I took my dog out for a walk, came back, and Chris’s truck was in my driveway. I was like: ‘Cool, Chris never comes to visit. Awesome man – we’ll work on some stuff. What a great opportunity.’ So I go into the house, and my girlfriend – who’s now my wife – she goes: ‘Hey, Chris is in the basement.’ I go down there, and he just reeked of alcohol. I think he’d been up all night drinking, and he looked a little odd, so I said: ‘Hey, what’s up man?’ And he was like: ‘Well, I’m here because I’m leaving the band’.”

Shepherd also recalls getting a similar visit from Cornell that day. “We’re all standing in my living room, and my friend goes: ‘Today’s the day The Beatles broke up.’ And Chris goes: ‘Here man,’ and hands me the bottle of whisky. I take a swig, we go down to my car, and he says: ‘I’m quitting, I’m breaking up the band. How do you feel about that?’ I looked down at the ground, I spit, and I went: ‘Alright.’ That’s how I joined the band – they asked me: ‘Do you want to join the band?’ I looked down at the ground, I spit, looked up, and said: ‘Fuck yeah!’ So it was kind of fitting for me.” Just like that, one of Seattle’s finest was over.

In Soundgarden’s wake, Cornell initially launched a solo career, before uniting with Tom Morello, Brad Wilk and Tim Commerford of Rage Against The Machine as Audioslave. Cameron has remained busy with another garage rock outfit, Wellwater Conspiracy, as well as keeping the beat in Pearl Jam. Shepherd kept a low profile before returning this year with a belatedly released second album from Hater, and focusing on an all-new band, Unkmongoni. Thayil on the other hand appears to have vanished completely, as his ex-bandmates do not even have contact info for him. Jack Endino offers this update: “Kim is basically hanging out, reading books, watching TV. I’m not sure what he’s doing.”

Looking back at Soundgarden’s split nearly 10 years later, it’s clear the group did the noble thing, and shut things down at their peak (à la The Police and The Beatles). Cornell agrees: “I feel like the entire career of Soundgarden, if you look at it in a capsule, I couldn’t have imagined it artistically going better. I mean our last record is my favourite record. It sold, like, two million copies. We didn’t sort of meander into obscurity and continue going on the road and making records that I wasn’t proud of. None of that ever happened.”

Ultimately, the band fell victim to their own phenomenal achievement. As Cornell admitted at the time, Soundgarden’s break up was a “an act of self-preservation. We were so self-contained in the beginning, but I don’t think we ever really adjusted to the success part of it.”

This feature originally appeared in Classic Rock #83 .

For more Soundgarden and the chance to flick through record racks with Matt Cameron, then click on the link below.

Record shopping with Soundgarden's Matt Cameron

Contributing writer at Classic Rock magazine since 2004. He has written for other outlets over the years, and has interviewed some of his favourite rock artists: Black Sabbath, Rush, Kiss, The Police, Devo, Sex Pistols, Ramones, Soundgarden, Meat Puppets, Blind Melon, Primus, King’s X… heck, even William Shatner! He is also the author of quite a few books, including Grunge Is Dead: The Oral History of Seattle Rock Music , A Devil on One Shoulder And An Angel on the Other: The Story of Shannon Hoon And Blind Melon , and MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video , among others.

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• Matt Cameron

Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Temple of the Dog Drummer, Matt Cameron, Talks Tunes

by Jacob Uitti September 24, 2020, 9:30 am

In the history of music, there are major venues like Madison Square Garden, The Gorge or Red Rocks that have long, well-told stories. But there are also smaller, more modest hubs that were, in their own little ways, integral to a thriving sonic movement. In Seattle, Washington during the mid-80s, one of those small hubs was a Kinko’s in the city’s University District. There, eventual Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Temple of the Dog drummer, Matt Cameron, would print readers for the nearby University of Washington and, at night, give away hundreds of free leaflet copies to local bands that were making flyers, posters or any number of promotional materials. Cameron was a hero. Still is to many. Especially to those fans of the sludgy rock ‘n’ roll he helped make eternal.

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“We tended to use the resources we had at the time to promote our gigs,” Cameron says. “And Kinko’s copies played a big role in that!”

For someone like Cameron, opening the door to history is more like opening a million doors. To use another metaphor, the artist has any number of storytelling threads that he could pull to enrapture audiences. Want to talk about Chris Cornell? He could at length. Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder, Kurt Cobain and Nirvana? Yes, it’s quite possible. It’s the burden and the blessing for someone like the Hall of Fame drummer who was in the center of a massive movement that swept the globe several times over.

“Sometimes I get overwhelmed,” Cameron says. “There’s been so much influence that our small little local music scene really spread to the rest of the world of music. I felt like we wrote a new chapter in the history of music. I’m so proud of that. It really grew out of just a natural microcosm scene that was not unlike other scenes in the U.S. at that time. But our groups became commercially massively successful. It’s pretty incredible. My favorite aspect of what we accomplished was that we were able to contribute to the continuum of music.”

If you ask fans of rock ‘n’ roll, many will tell you how Cameron is one of the greatest drummers of all time. He’s noted for his skill to make difficult or odd time signatures seem supremely digestible. He’s worked with any number of acclaimed artists and continues to. The secret to his success is a two-pronged mission. Cameron, in all that he enjoys, tries to focus intently on what he’s doing. So much so that he loses himself in the work. It’s almost like a Magic Eye image. Intense focus on near-chaos leads to a euphoric clarity right there in front of you. It’s a certain “flow” state. The kind that may come cheaply from elicit substances but satisfyingly from effort.

“My favorite moments as a musician are when I feel like I’m not thinking,” Cameron says. “When I’m reacting in the moment. Those are moments I really cherish.”

He exercises – runs – often to achieve the same Zen-like state. Cameron also enjoys riding motorcycles and doing yoga. They each require the same locked-in presence and provide the desirable flow state. Cameron is all about routine, especially on gig days. It takes regimen and practice to achieve the right flow state. Cameron, who first fell in love with music while listening to it on his AM/FM radio and later began taking music lessons at nine-years-old, is no stranger to sweating, effort.  

“In order to get that fluid state between all of your limbs, you really have to practice,” Cameron says. “Once you make noticeable progress on the instrument, it can open doors.”

Growing up, the drummer listened to Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix but around 18-years-old, Cameron took a “left turn” and began throwing himself into jazz, listening to drummers like Elvin Jones and Max Roach (“They did it in a way that wasn’t too jagged,” Cameron says). He doubled down on the essential elements of keeping and translating a beat. He was able to bring that knowledge to Soundgarden in the 80s, and beyond. The band would often write odd-timed songs, though not completely understanding how to articulate them. Cameron brought a technical expertise that aided the iconic band.

“It was fun to work in that sense with musicians who naturally would write things that way without thinking about it,” he says. “That really was beneficial for me as a musician. We really tried to approach each song as a piece of music as opposed to try and impress other musicians.”

If you ask him, Cameron will tell you he considers himself a musician first, even more than he does, specifically, a drummer. While he’s also acclaimed for his work behind the kit, he’s a skilled and accomplished songwriter. A number of his songs, for example, have become Soundgarden mainstays (see: “ Mailman ”). It was a skill he often kept in his “back pocket” but something he’d bring to the fore on occasion, often with success – thanks, largely, to encouragement from his prolific Soundgarden band members.

“One thing Soundgarden was always really proud of,” Cameron says, “was that we all wrote music. We felt like we were unique in that sense. All four of us could write a song and have that song be completely in our own voice.”

Today, Cameron, who continues to play and tour with Pearl Jam (when not in a pandemic), reflects easily and pointedly on both the past and the present. He swings between eras, projects and exercises as effortlessly as he does between the snare and high-hat. He’s dexterous, there’s no doubt about it. It’s important for Cameron to stay present and practiced as much as possible, even if that means looking back on what it felt like to take a stages with his world famous friends. His is a packed life. Which, paradoxically, means it’s clear, too.

“When your mind has to concentrate so much on this one thing,” Cameron says. “You’re able to get to a cool place where you turn off your mind. There’s no shortcut for it.”

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• Consequence

Nine Inch Nails and Soundgarden team up for U.S. tour, Death Grips to open

Photo by David Hall / Debi Del Grande

The co-headlining tour Nine Inch Nails  and Soundgarden  teased last week  on their Instagram accounts has finally been confirmed. The rock heavyweights have announced  a 24-date summer tour that will see them hitting most of the major U.S. markets. What’s more, Death Grips will open every show. And the winner for Most Absurd Yet Awesome Bill of the Year goes to…

The tour will see Trent Reznor’s pared down NIN lineup making its stateside debut supporting  Hesitation Marks . (The four man configuration premiered on their co-headlining Australian/New Zealand jaunt with Queens of the Stone Age .) For their part, Soundgarden will be playing in continued  celebration  of the 20th anniversary of their record  Superunknown. 

The fact that Soundgarden is on the road recognizing Superunknown makes this co-headlining stretch a bit ironic. The last time the bands played together was in 1994 at Molson Park, Ontario, when Nine Inch Nails was determined to upstage Soundgarden after their album  Downward Spiral was beat to the  Billboard No. 1 spot by, yep,  Superunknown .

“We had a chip on our shoulder about Soundgarden,” Trent Reznor said of that ’94 show. “That became a kind of professional showdown. And we did show them.” Reznor also spoke critically of Chris Cornell’s 2009 solo record  Scream , insinuating that Cornell had sold out by using Timbaland as a producer.

All of that seems to be behind the bands, though, as their new tour kicks off July 19th in Las Vegas. Check out the full itinerary below. Both bands are also slated to headline Lollapalooza’s South American incarnations in Brazil , Chile , and Argentina . Find their individual schedules under the joint dates.

Update: According to Brazilian publication Globo , Matt Chamberlain will serve as drummer for Soundgarden’s upcoming tour. Matt Cameron previously announced he’d be touring with Pearl Jam.

Nine Inch Nails/Soundgarden Tour 2014: 07/19 – Las Vegas, NV @ Planet Hollywood * 07/21 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Ampitheatre * 07/24 – Tinley Park, IL @ First Midest Bank Ampitheatre * 07/26 – Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre * 07/27 – Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Ampitheatre * 07/29 – Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center * 07/30 – Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center * 08/01 – Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater * 08/02 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center * 08/04 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live * 08/05 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach * 08/07 – Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion * 08/08 – Lakewood, GA @ Aaron’s Ampitheatre * 08/10 – West Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Ampitheatre * 08/11 – Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Ampitheatre * 08/14 – Austin, TX @ Austin360 Ampitheater * 08/16 – Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion * 08/17 – Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Pavilion * 08/19 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Ampitheater * 08/21 – Chula Vista, CA @ Sleep Train Ampitheatre * 08/22 – Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre * 08/24 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Ampitheater * 08/25 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl *

* = w/ Death Grips

Nine Inch Nails 2014 Tour Dates: 03/15 – Melbourne, AU @ Rod Laver Arena  ^ 03/17 – Brisbane, AU @ Entertainment Centre  ^ 03/19 – Auckland, NZ @ Vector Arena  ^ 03/20 – Wellington, NZ @ TSB Bank Arena ^ 03/22 – Christchurch, NZ @ CBS Canterbury Arena  ^ 03/27 – Mexico City, MX @  Vive Latino 03/29-30 – Santiago, CL @  Lollapalooza Chile 04/01-04 – Buenos Aires, AR @  Lollapalooza Argentina 04/03-05 – Bogota, CO @  Estero Picnic 04/05 – Sao Paulo, BR @  Lollapalooza Brazil 04/06 – Rio de Janerio, BR @ Citibank Hall 05/06 – Riga, LV @ Arena Riga # 05/08 – Helsinki, FI @ Hartwall Arena # 05/10 – Stockholm, SE @ Hovet # 05/12 – Oslo, NO @ Spektrum # 05/13 – Copenhagen, DK @ Forum # 05/15 – Berlin, DE @ Zitadelle # 05/16 – Luxembourg @ Rockhal # 05/18 – Birmingham, UK @ LG Arena # 05/20 – Glasgow, UK @ Hydo Arena # 05/21 – Cardiff, UK @ Motorpoint Arena # 05/23 – London, UK @ The O2 # 05/24 – Nottingham, UK @ Captial FM Arena # 05/25 – Manchester, UK @ Phones 4U Arena # 05/27 – Amsterdam, NL @ Heineken Music Hall # 05/28 – Antwerp, BE @ Lotto Arena # 05/29 – Paris, FR @ Le Zenith # 05/30-31 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound 06/03 – Bologna, IT @ Unipol Arena # 06/04 – Zurich, CH @ Hallenstadion # 06/05-08 – Nurburgring, DE @  Rock am Ring Festival 06/06-09 – Nurburg, DE @  Rock im Park Festival 06/09 – Vienna, AT @ Stadthalle # 06/10 – Katowice, PL @ Spodek # 06/11 – Prague, CZ @ O2 Arena 07/19 – Las Vegas, NV @ Planet Hollywood * 07/21 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Ampitheatre * 07/24 – Tinley Park, IL @ First Midest Bank Ampitheatre * 07/26 – Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre * 07/27 – Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Ampitheatre * 07/29 – Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center * 07/30 – Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center * 08/01 – Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater * 08/02 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center * 08/04 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live * 08/05 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach * 08/07 – Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion * 08/08 – Lakewood, GA @ Aaron’s Ampitheatre * 08/10 – West Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Ampitheatre * 08/11 – Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Ampitheatre * 08/14 – Austin, TX @ Austin360 Ampitheater * 08/16 – Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion * 08/17 – Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Pavilion * 08/19 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Ampitheater * 08/21 – Chula Vista, CA @ Sleep Train Ampitheatre * 08/22 – Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre * 08/24 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Ampitheater * 08/25 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl *

^ = w/ Queens of the Stone Age # = w/ Cold Cave * = w/ Soundgarden and Death Grips

Soundgarden 2014 Tour Dates: 03/13 – Austin, TX @ iTunes Festival SXSW 03/27 – Lima, PE @ Explanada del Estadio Monumental 03/29-03/30 – Santiago, CL @  Lollapalooza Chile 04/01-02 – Buenos Aires, AR @  Lollapalooza Argentina 04/05-06 – Sao Paulo, BR @  Lollapalooza Brazil 06/08 – Berlin, DE @ Wuhlheide 06/10 – Utrecht, NL @ TivoliVredenburg 06/11 – Tilburg, NL @ 013 06/13 – Munich, DE @ Koenigsplatz 06/15 – Nickelsdorf, AT @ Nova Rock Festival 06/17-18 – Tel Aviv-Jaffa, IL @ New Festival 06/20 – Zürich, CH @ Hallenstadion 06/21-22 – Clisson, FR @ Hellfest 06/24 – Esch Sur Alzette, LU @ Rockhal Box 06/25 – Stuttgart, DE @ Schleyerhall 06/26-28 – Auschwitz, PL @ Life Festival Oswiecim 06/27 – Dessel, BE @ Graspop Metal Meeting 07/04-06 – George, WA @ Sasquatch! Music Festival 07/19 – Las Vegas, NV @ Planet Hollywood * 07/21 – Morrison, CO @ Red Rocks Ampitheatre * 07/24 – Tinley Park, IL @ First Midest Bank Ampitheatre * 07/26 – Clarkston, MI @ DTE Energy Music Theatre * 07/27 – Toronto, ON @ Molson Canadian Ampitheatre * 07/29 – Mansfield, MA @ Xfinity Center * 07/30 – Camden, NJ @ Susquehanna Bank Center * 08/01 – Wantagh, NY @ Nikon at Jones Beach Theater * 08/02 – Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center * 08/04 – Bristow, VA @ Jiffy Lube Live * 08/05 – Virginia Beach, VA @ Farm Bureau Live at Virginia Beach * 08/07 – Charlotte, NC @ PNC Music Pavilion * 08/08 – Lakewood, GA @ Aaron’s Ampitheatre * 08/10 – West Palm Beach, FL @ Cruzan Ampitheatre * 08/11 – Tampa, FL @ MIDFLORIDA Credit Union Ampitheatre * 08/14 – Austin, TX @ Austin360 Ampitheater * 08/16 – Woodlands, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion * 08/17 – Dallas, TX @ Gexa Energy Pavilion * 08/19 – Albuquerque, NM @ Isleta Ampitheater * 08/21 – Chula Vista, CA @ Sleep Train Ampitheatre * 08/22 – Irvine, CA @ Verizon Wireless Ampitheatre * 08/24 – Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Ampitheater * 08/25 – Los Angeles, CA @ Hollywood Bowl *

* = w/ Nine Inch Nails and Death Grips

Below, watch footage of Soundgarden performing “Spoonman” at Chicago’s Lollapalooza 2010 and Nine Inch Nails doing “The Hand that Feeds”, “Head like a Hole” and “Hurt” recently in Sydney.

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SOUNDGARDEN Reportedly Recruits Drummer MATT CHAMBERLAIN For Upcoming Shows

According to Brazil's Globo.com , SOUNDGARDEN has recruited Matt Chamberlain (pictured) to fill in for drummer Matt Cameron for the the band's 2014 tour dates, including SOUNDGARDEN 's upcoming summer U.S. trek with NINE INCH NAILS . Cameron will sit out the shows shows due to his live commitments with his other group, PEARL JAM .

Since the mid-1990s, Chamberlain , 46, has become well known as a session drummer, having appeared on over 200 records with sales well over 80 million worldwide. The diverse range of artists that Chamberlain has contributed his drumming to the tours and albums of include Tori Amos , Peter Gabriel , THE WALLFLOWERS , Fiona Apple , Kanye West , Elton John , Natalie Merchant , John Mayer and Shakira .

In 2005, Chamberlain released a self-titled solo album on Web Of Mimicry Records that he describes as "an imaginary soundtrack to an Asian-Western sci-fi-horror movie."

Cameron announced last November that he will be absent from SOUNDGARDEN 2014 tour dates "due to prior commitments promoting 'Lightning Bolt' with my brothers in PEARL JAM and the desire to have more time at home with my family. I am trying to balance the many twists and turns of my awesome music career. This is temporary."

Cameron added, "I am still an active member of SOUNDGARDEN ."

Ironically, Cameron told The Pulse Of Radio not long ago that playing for both SOUNDGARDEN and PEARL JAM was not the most demanding thing he'd ever done. "You know what? I've actually been a lot busier in my life," he said. "When I was in my 20s, I used to play in a bunch of different bands at once and it's just part of the job of being a drummer — sometimes you've got to do a little juggling. But I'm certainly happy to do it."

Cameron has been a member of PEARL JAM since 1998, the year after SOUNDGARDEN disbanded.

SOUNDGARDEN reunited in 2010, releasing its first album in 16 years, "King Animal" , in November 2012.

Tickets for SOUNDGARDEN 's U.S. tour with NINE INCH NAILS will go on sale to the public Friday, March 21.

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