Two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Matt Cameron remembers the day he presented his first Soundgarden song to the band in the mid-’80s.
The drummer was nervous. But the feeling quickly evaporated when He Didn’t was met with excitement by Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil and Hiro Yamamoto. They loved its writhing, hypnotic riff that wasn’t just unconventional for the band; it was new, and even a bit bizarre.
“When I joined in 1986 the guys knew I wrote my own stuff,” Cameron says. “I had a four-track cassette machine and I’d released a few cassettes of solo material. I’d recorded some demos with Jack Endino around 1986 at Recipricol [Studios in Seattle] and the instrumental version of He Didn’t was one of them.
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“I felt okay about playing it for them because I knew it sounded much better than my home recordings. The nerves were mostly because I was such a fan of Soundgarden.”
He Didn’t appeared on 1988 debut LP Ultramega OK – although when Cameron wrote it on his ’80s G&L Broadcaster (his first-ever “nice” guitar), he had no idea it would help earn the album a Grammy nomination.
He went on to contribute prominent guitar riffs and flourishes on more than a dozen Soundgarden songs, including some of their most bruising cuts, from Badmotorfinger’s Room a Thousand Years Wide to Superunknown standouts Mailman and Limo Wreck. The latter features his favorite guitar work: “I wrote the bulk of the music,” he says. “I’ve always liked how that came out on the album.”
The distinguished drummer for both Soundgarden and, until recently, Pearl Jam, Cameron has a long musical legacy in his hometown of Seattle. Along with his work with “grungefather” Endino, he recorded with Tina Bell in Bam Bam. He first picked up the guitar at 15 years old, and Neil Young was the catalyst.
“The first song I learned to play was Heart of Gold. I loved the feeling of playing a chord progression and making a song come to life. It was fun getting together with friends and playing songs by our favorite artists.”
His education continued via his friends: “Mike McCready [Pearl Jam], Kim Thayil and I have always been fans of the late, great Ace Frehley. I don’t play lead guitar much, but Mike showed me some Ace riffs over the years that I still use.”
Cameron looked up to local legends like Buzz Osborne, Jerry Cantrell and Tom Price. But above all else, his friendship with McCready – sometimes an auxiliary Soundgarden player – helped solidify his interest in guitar. Sometimes the Pearl Jam man borrows Cameron’s prized amp, a vintage Vox AC30; he’s used it on several Pearl Jam albums.
“Chris Cornell always said Mike was our honorary fifth member,” Cameron says. McCready’s most recent appearance with Soundgarden was during halftime of the opening home game for reigning Super Bowl champs, the Seattle Seahawks. “It was a blast. Having Taylor Momsen, Mike, [Seahawks drumline] Blue Thunder and our crew join us made it all the more special.”
Cameron, Thayil and bassist Ben Shepherd are nearing the release of their last recordings with Cornell, who died in 2017. “The album is mixed and ready for mastering,” he says. “The process of finishing the tracks has been inspiring and bittersweet at the same time – but I’m excited for our fans to hear it.”
He adds: “I’m definitely up for more shows in the future. But it’s always tricky replacing key members, and the three of us are not on the same page about how that would work, so who knows?”
However it goes, Cameron’s own love of writing and recording continues. “I’m always collaborating with other players, here in Seattle and elsewhere,” he says, referencing projects with big-voiced Emerald City singer Shaina Shepherd, and Is This Real? – his Wipers tribute band with Seattle guitarist Caspian Coberly.
But wherever you hear him next, his groove will more than likely have been made possible by his love of the guitar.
“I tap into time-keeping aspects of drumming when playing guitar, like being consistent with my right hand when I’m playing different tempos, riffs and note values. Guitar playing has helped me to play more musically on the kit and become more aware of song structures.”
