Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil is constantly juggling weird tunings, off-kilter phrasing, and odd time signatures on stage… and generally nailing it. So naturally he got a little pissed off when someone called his playing sloppy.
In a recent interview with Pete Thorn (via Killer Guitar Rigs), Thayil explained that his style is complex as hell and it takes a lot to be able to perform Soundgarden’s material live. And again, have you ever seen Thayil crush songs like “Rusty Cage” and “Jesus Christ Pose”? It ain’t easy, but Thayil makes it look easy.
“I’ve recently read this online review, and it’s like, ‘I don’t know, I’ve seen Kim live, he is just kind of sloppy,'” said Thayil. “I played about eight different guitar tunings. At some point, 30 years ago or more, the idea of patterns and scales, I just threw it out the window.”
“I now have to relearn the song on the neck visually, as well as orally. Everything I’d learned when I was younger, that I taught myself about scales or patterns, those are no longer factors because we’re coming up with our own tunings, or making shit up, or adjusting things.”
Kim Thayil recently teamed up with Guild for two really nice signature models. The models are the flagship USA Artist Edition S-100 Polara Kim Thayil as well as the Polara Kim Thayil, with the former costing $6,999 and the latter running a cooler $899. Check ’em both out below and get ’em here.
