Soundgarden opening for NIN makes sense

Soundgarden will open for Nine Inch Nails on the bands' upcoming double-header US tour – and Kim Thayil believes it makes perfect sense.

The outfits recently confirmed plans to hit the road together, with a string of shows kicking off in Las Vegas on July 19 and ending in Hollywood on August 25.

Now Soundgarden guitarist Thayil has explained why the running order will see his band playing ahead of Trent Reznor and co.

He tells DC101 (via Blabbermouth): “It makes sense. Nine Inch Nails is a production-heavy band – amazing lights, lasers. They use a lot of production both in the audio performance and the visual performance.

“We’re more of a live rock act. If we were to play after them it would be a long wait while they struck all their gear and cleared the stage for us. It’s a lot easier to play before them.”

Meanwhile, Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell has predicted the band will start work on their seventh album before the end of the year – and it’ll come together quickly.

He tells The Pulse Of Radio: “We’re definitely going to start writing songs; we’ve all agreed on several occasions that we want to keep doing it.

“it goes from zero to 60 really fast. All of a sudden everyone will have two things – and that’s eight songs you have to work on. Already you’re well into making an album. That could happen tomorrow.”

The singer expects them to approach the project in the same way as comeback album King Animal, which was released in 2012. “There’s no clock on it,” he says. “I see us going out into some new frontier musically. Hopefully we’ll be here in a year or two talking about what that is.”

Soundgarden are touring with former Pearl Jam drummer Matt Chamberlain in place of Matt Cameron, who’s concentrating on his Pearl Jam duties this year. They return to the UK on July 4 for the British Summer Time festival in London’s Hyde Park, also starring Black Sabbath, Motorhead and Faith No More.

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.