New Soundgarden Album Is ‘About 80% Finished’ According To Drummer Matt Cameron

The reactivated Soundgarden is “about 80% finished” with the initial recording of their new album, according to drummer Matt Cameron, who spoke with radio personality Mistress Carrie of WAAF in advance of the band’s upcoming Boston show in July. Guitarist Kim Thayil previously called the new material "definitely very heavy."

Cameron says the band is about 80% finished “with the tracking of it all.” He says “we’re going to record a couple of more songs in August when we get back from tour and then hopefully we can mix it up and put it out!”

He’s currently juggling the responsibilities of his longtime gig as drummer for fellow Seattle grunge pioneers Pearl Jam with the newly reborn Soundgarden. When asked about the possibilities of a dream tour featuring both bands, possibly with a Temple of the Dog encore set, Cameron laughed and said “I might die if we do that!”

Exploring the idea a bit more, Cameron says “if I was 25, I’d say ‘yeah, let’s do this.’ But the energy it takes to play a Soundgarden show and a Pearl Jam show on the same night, I think I need to keep those separate for now.”

The Soundgarden reunion finds the band playing to a whole new generation of fans that grew up with the music, fans that were too young to see the band live in their heyday. Cameron says “it’s cool when the music can get passed down. I’m playing my kids Jimi Hendrix, Aerosmith, Thin Lizzy, Queen, stuff like that, and they love it.”

Citing Queen as a personal inspiration, he remembers that seeing them live in 1977 “blew his mind” and said that he enjoys “carrying on that tradition of seeing a really cool rock concert, and having that hopefully inspire kids.”

Cameron also feels like the rebooted Soundgarden has shaken off the rust at this point: “It’s pretty much second nature for us to play hard rock music." But he also says that he feels like the band’s current level of playing better addresses the “subtle aspects” of the music. Soundgarden will play selected tour dates throughout the summer and you can find a list of those tour dates here.

Watch Soundgarden perform 'Burden in my Hand'