This page collects some of the best interviews and features which have a bearing on Chris Cornell's life and career post-Audioslave. For material from other times in his career, see these links.
This page covers interviews from 2008. For newer interviews from 2009, go here.
For older interviews from 2006 & 2007, go here.
November 2008
"It's not like I'm walking a tightrope between two tall buildings, I'm just making music". Chris talks to Canadian TV - see the MuchMusic site.
Here's an interview Chris gave to Greek newspaper Espresso (thanks Stephen!) It's in response to a local fan outcry after famous Greek artist Christos Dantis guested on Greece's The X Factor and sang Chris's arrangement of Billie Jean - whilst passing it off as his own.
"It’s good to get away from the States and look back through the lens that other people see us through": a rejuvenated Chris talks to Metro Canada about Obama's election and explains why as a musician, he doesn't always want to mine people's nostalgia for the past.
Here's a recent radio interview with Chad McDonald of Saskatoon radio station Rock102 FM for you to download - go here. Chris explains why he loves to be on the road, why he doesn't need to be in a permanent band situation, comments on the Rolling Stone "best singers" list, discusses genre and talks in depth about his reinvention of Billie Jean and its proliferation on TV talent shows.
"I’ve had old-school R&B influences for as long as I could remember." Chris explains to the Montreal Mirror why Scream gives him the chance to sing the way he's always wanted.
Here's a video interview that's just surfaced from earlier in the year at Q100, a top 40 radio station in Atlanta. Chris has some interesting things to say about why his working with Timbaland shouldn't be too much of a surprise to anyone who's been following his career from the start, and talks in depth about the making of Long Gone and Ground Zero:
Here's a radio interview with Marty Riemer on the Mountain 103.7 in Seattle. It's election day. Chris talks about his childhood, his lifestyle, his music, why he loves his Blackberry... and wins an arm-wrestling challenge.
Arm-wrestling on the radio
Fun with a Blackberry
"He started reciting lyrics from some really obscure songs of mine that even I didn't remember..." Chris recalls his first telephone chat with Timbaland and talks about release dates to This Is Winnipeg.
"I'm imagining different people...it's never necessarily entirely myself." Here's a fascinating radio interview with Canadian station X92.9. Chris talks to Greg Beharrell about the co-writing process with Timbaland, vocal technique, what goes into a setlist, why Scream is called Scream, the characters who inhabit his songs and why he'd rather have a set of limitless possibilities than a straightforward career path. In two parts... part 1 part 2
"It would have to be for some creative reason that makes sense": Chris picks his way delicately through the Soundgarden reunion question minefield while on air with Todd & Karen for 99.3 The Fox Rocks in Vancouver:
"Timbaland would come in with a beat and some ideas and I would start writing the lyrics for it and coming up with the vocal arrangements... " Chris talks about the creative process to Saskatoon's Star Phoenix.
"Nobody knew about it at the record company, nobody from my management knew about it..." Chris talks to Jane Stevenson of The Winnipeg Sun about the beginnings of his collaboration with Timbaland, why he's been moved by the fan reaction to Scream live, and why he really doesn't want to step into Robert Plant's shoes.
"I feel like I want to fast-forward into my future": Chris talks to MTV about his hunger for the new.
"You only live so long and there’s so much to do": Chris talks in depth to Vue Weekly about the making of Scream.
"I want to push the boundaries and make new records as though no one has ever heard of me before": Chris talks to Vancouver's straight.com about smashing icons and escaping definition.
"I became a singer by default. The focus has always been the songs": Chris recalls his musical origins for Vancouver's The Province.
"If you raise the bar for yourself it gives you something to live up to": Edmonton's See magazine previews Scream and talks to Chris about being true to yourself.
A two part audio interview with 106.1 Kiss FM's Jackie and Bender: part one part two
Watch Chris interviewed at Seattle's KISW radio station:
Here's a downloadable podcast of an interview with San Francisco's Alice@97.3.
October 2008
"Seattle didn't look kindly on its own creations then" Chris has a fascinating in-depth chat with Rock 105.3 San Diego about everything from his earliest bands, through the Seattle phenomenon to his new album "Scream" - out in February - and the current tour...and why he thinks Thomas The Tank Engine in strangely sinister. In four part video.
"It's a musical journey — like watching a great movie" Chris explains to MTV why Scream sounds nothing like an other Timbaland production, and how the collaboration brought "stories and characters out of me that never really had a voice before."
Here's a featured MySpace Artist on Artist interview with Chris and Timbaland.
"We made a genre that doesn't exist". Also, here's a radio interview from Ryan Seacrest's KIIS FM radio show with Timbaland, Chris Cornell's creative collaborator and producer on Scream. Tim talks about winning over the hardcore grunge fans, TV tie-ins and release dates for the album and the official singles worldwide, as well as his own forthcoming projects.
September 2008
"9/11 was a key factor in Bush winning a second term": in NYC to film a video for his song Ground Zero, Chris talks politics and tells MTV about some planned live dates on America's other coast.
"It was like being a kid in a playground": Chris talks to Entertainment Weekly about his controversial new album Scream - his hopes, his doubts and his pride in the finished article. He isn't buying anyone's abandonment issues over his new direction, either: "People should lighten up..the only way that would happen is if I sent some goon squad to everyone's house to get their CD collections and take all the old songs away.'' There's also a poll at the bottom of page 2 for you to register your own vote on whether you feel this collaboration is "genius, "not bad" or "garbage".
August 2008
"a snapshot of where you are at that time in your life": Chris tells Don Stuck of Indianapolis's x103.com about his thoughts on making albums over the years, talks about the disappearing generation gap, his favourite Donna Summer song and explains why he thinks the vocal on "Cold Bitch" is ridiculous even though he loves the song. Listen here.
"the whole album is kinda theatrical": here's a podcast from Chris's interview with Rod Ryan of Houston's The Buzz. He talks about how punk and British new wave fed into Seattle's music scene, talks about "making music out of whatever I want" and compares his new "beat-based" direction with Bob Dylan's famous transition from acoustic troubadour to rock star.
Here's a wide-ranging four-part video interview with Maxwell at WMMS 1007 in Cleveland...Chris talks about "digging deep and doing crazy stuff", why the new album should be listened to all the way through in the right order, why cigarettes are the hardest drug to quit, being a carnivore, friendship bracelets and why he never says never about anything. one two three four
Here's a downloadable interview from Elliott In the Morning in the Washington DC area. part 1 part 2 Chris talks about his children, reminisces about the Seattle scene and reveals that he's been recording some extra tracks and B-sides for the "Scream" project whilst on the road.
You can download a podcast of Chris Cornell's Scream listening party at the Star Lounge at KYSR Star 98.7 in Los Angeles from this page. Chris debuts five new songs from forthcoming album and goes on (in part 3) to play live acoustic versions of Can't Change Me, Billie Jean and Black Hole Sun with Yogi and Pete from his band. As well as giving some insight into the songs, he talks about how Justin Timberlake came to guest on the album and recalls how Timmy C of Audioslave was an unlikely fan. On the same page, there's also a download link to a short interview with Josh of 98.7. A rather hoarse Chris talks about meeting J.R. from Dallas, playing at a NASCAR race meeting and how "really ambitious musical piece" Scream came to be.
In four-part video, here's Chris's interview with JoJo Wright of KIIS FM. One Two Three Four . If you want a shorter radio edit (which in many ways makes more sense...) you can listen to it here. Timbaland joins the conversation by phone and mentions Sept 23 as the release date for the album "right now", although he admits "anything is possible". Chris tells an amusing story about an old photo which accidentally displayed the crown jewels, and grosses out all non-parents in his audience by sharing a remarkably sweet baby-vomit anecdote.
Chris is briefly joined (via phone link from Miami) by Timbaland for an interview with Johnjay and Rich of 104.7 KISS FM in Phoenix, Arizona - download from this page. He talks about Johnny Cash, why men should be gentlemen, his Greek wedding in Paris, how his family make it possible for him to tour, the songs he wishes he'd written and why he burns the ones he rejects - and how his new writing collaboration with Timbaland worked in the studio.
Here's a good-natured video interview from Atlanta radio station Rock 100.5. Chris says his son is shaping up to be a drummer, explains what he likes about the way Timbaland makes music and recallshow alternative rock began to have "rules".
July 2008
A five-part in-depth interview plus streaming audio of five tracks is up at Planet Radio. Chris explains the thinking behind this unique collaboration with Timbaland, and talks in more depth about each of the songs.
"this is what my solo career will be...me doing things that people probably won't expect": here's an interview with Foster from radio station 96rockWBBB the day before the Raleigh show. Chris looks back through his career and his various collaborations and describes "Scream" as "the least pop album that [Timbaland] has ever made". You can also watch video footage of the interview.
"there's so much with music I want to experiment with..." Terrie Carr of New Jersey's GRock interviews Chris about his artistic restlessness in audio or five-part video..... one two three four five
"I just want to have fun with music" : Chris also gave an interview to New York's RXP101.9, playing tracks from Scream and chatting to Matt Pinfield about the music. You can listen to a podcast of the interview and hear brief extracts from the songs here. The interview is also summarised in an MTV.com feature.
"ready for a quantum leap": Chris's interview with Philly radio station WMMR has been posted online here (right click, save as). Chris felt the album was an opportunity for growth both for him and for fans, and said that his main fear as a musician was "finding a comfortable corner and sitting in it."
"for me, it's kind of ideal": Chris talks to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette about mixing it up with Projekt Revolution and compares it to the old days with Lollapalooza.
"To me that defeated the purpose": Chris explains to Ian Camfield of New York radio station KROCK why he wasn't interested in recording a rock version of Scream, but why he's happy to reinterpret the songs live using different instrumentation.
June 2008
Here's some recently surfaced footage of the MyCoke Fest press conference in South Africa back in March - Chris answers questions about his solo career, recording plans, vocal influences and how it felt to be in at the very beginning of what the world called "grunge".
May 2008
projekt revolution: DC101 has a recent radio interview with Chris and Chester Bennington of Linkin Park up on its website to stream or download. Chris explains (again) why Soundgarden currently have no interest in reuniting, reminisces about working with Rick Rubin and talks about the forthcoming tour.
April 2008
faves and raves of chris cornell: a little Q&A with Chris from an Associated Press writer.
"i would expect that judges would be a little less ignorant": a brief piece on the American Idol affair from People magazine, with quotes from Chris.
where in the hell is chris cornell? An old but interesting interview from November last year when Chris was in Aspen for a show.
March 2008
cornell chats 'idol'/'billie jean' performance: from Billboard, and exactly what it says on the tin.
chris cornell is coming to Israel!!! Interview from the Israeli press in advance of Chris's visit to Tel Aviv on June 17. Chris talks about maintaining his voice, the AI affair and being proud of his long-term survival. With English translation (thanks Yakir)
chris cornell defends "idol" contender david cook: here's a Q&A with Chris Cornell from Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider about David Cook performing Chris's version of Billie Jean on American Idol.
this is the most excited i've been about an album in years: here's an audio interview with Chris Cornell and his new producer Timbaland from Ryan Seacrest's radio show on KIIS-FM. Chris and Timbaland talk about the new album due out later this year, and Chris also talks about this week's American Idol. For streaming or download.
what if god was one of us? Nice title, but perhaps one of the silliest features we've seen for a while - based on the writer's belief that "Gods of Rock aren't supposed to be sensible dads". There's not much about the music, but Chris does manage to mention his love of Prince. From South Africa's Tonight in advance of Chris's trip there later this month.
Just posted online is a short but very interesting video interview with Chris from his trip to Mexico in December. A local TV station asks about Chris's attitude to indie music, young bands and the indie scene today.
jason sutter: on the eve of the 2008 world tour, Drummer's Digest have published their interview with Chris's drummer from last year's visit to Scandinavia. In Swedish, with pictures. If you can translate this into good English, let me know!
February 2008
i'm as happy as hell right where I am: drummer Jason Sutter talks to the UK's TrashPit magazine about his background, ambitions and being on the road with Chris.
meet the grammy nominee: Chris talks to the Palm Beach Post about how it feels to get a second solo nomination - and why he'd rather write songs for movies than act in them.
January 2008
Here's a technical interview (pdf file) with guitarist Yogi which appeared in the UK's Guitar Buyer magazine recently. As well the the usual stuff about guitars, amps and effects, he chats about his audition for the band, his love of meditation, his teaching duties at the Guitar Institute in LA and Chris's own unorthodox guitar technique.
For older interviews from 2007 and 2006 go here
© Clare O'Brien 2008
