Kim Thayil on Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, and the Stories Behind "A Screaming Life" | Full Interview

On Saturday, June 13th, 2026, I sat down with Kim Thayil right after his book signing at Easy Street Records in Seattle — just days after the release of his new biography, A Screaming Life: Into the Superunknown with Soundgarden and Beyond. We covered a lot: the making of the book, the musical influences he and his Soundgarden bandmates passed around over the years, a tribute to Matt Cameron, and a lightning round that says more about Kim than any of us expected. This one's for every Soundgarden fan who's been waiting for Kim to tell it in his own words. 📖 Get A Screaming Life: Into the Superunknown with Soundgarden and Beyond — available now at www.90theoriginal.com 🎵 Closing performance: Soundgarden — "Tighter & Tighter," live footage captured by David McCormack (YouTube: David's Concert Archive) Special thanks: Kim Thayil Mark Cunningham — Red Light Management Eric Garcia Adem Tepedelen Melissa Esner — HarperCollins Matt Vaughn and everyone at Easy Street Records Filmed at Easy Street Records, Seattle A 90 The Original Production Interview & Production: Anita Stelmasiuk 0:00 Intro 0:30 Writing the book 2:25 Album that Kim would recommend to anyone 3:05 What would be Kim's walkout song 4:25 How Kim remember 90 The Original 5:55 Musical influences in the band 8:55 Kim's thoughts about social media 9:25 Who would be Pearl Jam's new drummer? 10:45 Favorite films and adaptations 12:30 The book, A Screaming Life 13:00 Lightning round 14:15 Outro