What makes rock bands from the 80s and 90s special, according to Matt Cameron

Rock fans will be practically unanimous in pointing out how different bands from the past sound compared to current groups. Sometimes the argument comes up against nostalgia, but there is also a certain coherence in highlighting such distinctions. After all, those were different times, and artists signed by major record labels had a high investment — which allowed them to work more calmly on their “products”.

Matt Cameron specifically believes that bands from the 1980s and 1990s had something special. In a radio interview 95.5 KLOS (via Ultimate Guitar), the drummer of Pearl Jam It is Soundgardentwo of the greatest exponents of the so-called grunge scene — which reached its peak at the beginning of the last decade of the 21st century — reflected on the subject.

For the musician, the great charm of artists and groups from the aforementioned period is the fact that they all had “their own sound”. This was true for any subgenre of rock, not just alternative.

“A lot of bands from the 1980s and 1990s simply had their own sound. Like, Sonic Youth didn’t sound like anyone else, Scratch Acid didn’t sound like anyone else, Big Black didn’t sound like anyone else, Jane’s Addiction, Guns N’ Roses. And all of our Seattle bands sounded pretty unique.”

Still according to Cameron, there was no orchestrated attempt to find a unique sound. In relation to the grunge movement, bands like Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Mudhoney and the groups the drummer is part of achieved originality organically.

“And we weren’t intentionally trying to sound different. That’s how she left. We were really trying to express ourselves as honestly as possible. I think a lot of the groups back then just kind of stood on their own creatively.”

Kim Thayil and the difference in the grunge scene

Matt Cameron’s Soundgarden partner, guitarist Kim Thayil reflected in an interview with Pete Thorn (via Killer Guitar Rigs) about the specific difference of grunge. Initially, he highlighted a compilation called Deep Six, recorded in 1985 and released the following year. The material featured songs from six Seattle bands: Melvins, Green River, Malfunkshun, Skin Yard It is U-Men, in addition to Soundgarden. There, according to Kim, it was already possible to notice a “particular stylistic identity” which he defines as follows:

“It became clear that there were a number of bands that emerged from the underground indie punk movement that used slower or standard tempos as opposed to hardcore models.”

According to the guitarist, it took some time for the band to become aware of the aforementioned difference — using slower, more drawn-out rhythms compared to other bands.

“When we started, we played fast and in more standard tempos. We didn’t even know we were doing it, we just tried to play a little fast while accommodating the vocals. Chris [Cornell] I wasn’t prone to yelling and screaming too quickly behind the drums with some strange time signature. Our interest in the types of things we were writing, the way we played, kind of moved away from hardcore.”

Thayil highlighted that hardcore did have an influence on the grunge scene. However, the movement was a little more diverse.

“There were some other more hardcore bands on the scene, like Melvins and Malfunkshun. But Malfunkshun had this kind of inclination towards metal bands, like Venom and Mercyful Fate. The Melvins were really artistic, but they were definitely a punk rock or hardcore band. Then, overnight, they started playing slow and doing really heavy, mind-blowing and strange things. And this was happening with Green River too. When Green River was formed, the conversations that Mark [Arm, vocalista do Green River e posteriormente Mudhoney] and I had before the formation of Green River or Soundgarden was about our interests and influences from bands like the Stooges.”