Soundgarden's Kim Thayil & Hiro Yamamoto talk Park Forest, ethnicity & Seattle grunge music scene

Kim Thayil and Hiro Yamamoto, founding members of the great rock band Soundgarden, talk about growing up in Park Forest as Asian Americans and moving to Seattle to help create Grunge.

[@samwrought5650]

Respects to both you guys, I was an Asian kid in the late 90s who loved metal and picked up the bass because of Chi Cheng (RIP) from the Deftones

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

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[@endokrin7897]

You were an Asian in the 90s? What happened?

[@sonorastar2239]

Chino is also of Asian descent. Mexican, Chinese and Irish.

[@tonyfischer9804]

These guys wrote some GREAT music

[@GA-Vic]

Not great,Awesome!

[@KyleKalevra]

Hiro is one of my biggest musical influences. Ultramega and Louder are two of the greatest albums ever recorded ,and his work on them was amazing. I can still, 30 something years later, play every track.

[@bobp9512]

You TOOK THE WORDS straight OUTTA MY MOUTH www.youtube.com/@KyleKalevra

[@bobp9512]

Soundgarden without Hiro was NOT AS GOOD!

[@spectral1um397]

This video is so cool. I've not seen this aspect of Soundgarden's character talked about before. I am from the UK, and was only a child when Soundgarden had already split up the first time. As a teenager, I ventured for the first time into the music section of the store where I would previously buy only video games, and checked out my first ever Soundgarden record. The photo on the sleeve of a band with an Indian guy and a Japanese guy looked so exotic, I knew just from this that the music must be coming from a unique place. Soon I started listening to a lot of '80s and '90s indie rock and hip-hop, when the indie rock bands were white and the hip-hop bands were black. As identity politics became more prevalent in the 2000s, there seemed to be a backlash as well. "Who cares what they look like? It's only the music that matters." But I always heard Eastern influences in Soundgarden's music, in the unusual rhythms and the droning guitars. Whatever the truth was, Soundgarden had an image as distinctive as their music, and they both rocked.

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

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[@ETBlair]

Kim is the greatest! Love his sound.

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

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[@ETBlair]

Diversity, so amazing

[@ETBlair]

Legends, love them so much

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[@vwboy2012]

It's nice to see Hiro!!! It's only been 30+ years he disappeared.

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[@evelangdon3086]

Hiro hasn't totally disappeared! Have you heard him featured on Down by the Water by Maki Mae? kzbin.info/www/bejne/f3XZq5dtrduSp9k

[@kevgamble]

It's great to see (and hear) Hiro. I was introduced to Soundgarden via their first two records, and much like Living Colour with Muzz Skillings, I love what came after but my heart is still where it was before. I thought his playing and writing added another dimension, with "No Wrong No Right" my favorite.

[@dereklundblad]

I was lucky enough to meet Hiro ( and Matt Cameron) at the Royal Room in Seattle. He was seriously the nicest dude there, Matt also. Soundgarden has been my favorite band for decades.

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[@user-io1hy9il6k]

This is awesome. I grew up in Park Forest and had no idea how influential my home town was on the music I listen to. Thanks for sharing!

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

Thanks! Please subscribe to our channel if you want to see more! What high school? What year did you graduate?

[@user-io1hy9il6k]

@@ThisAmountOfTime Will do. I graduated from Marian class of 92. I grew up across from Rich East the corner of Sauk Trail and Indianwood.

[@spocktordock3405]

@@user-io1hy9il6k I grew up on Shabonna and Minocqua.

[@rjh34]

@@user-io1hy9il6k From the same area, I graduated HF in 1990 and went to IJP my parents threatened to send me to Marion, Carmel, or Marist, but as a crazy punk kid I told them I would get kicked out on purpose if they did. My mom and wife went to Marion and my mom is the reason they got rid of the one piece glass next to the front doors after she ran through the window, LOL. I just went past Marion the other day, the whole area seems to be saturated with gambling, kinda sad. I grew up with so many talented people who are now famous chefs, brewery owners, tattoo artists and musicians, it makes me think I skipped the class where they handed out talent, lol. I am sure we have multiple acquaintances in common, it's truly a small world.

[@erikjacome221]

As an Asian American who is constantly afraid of hate crime Hiro is one of the most courageous Asian leaders in my eyes thank you hiro 🇰🇷

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

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[@scott7521]

Would you say he is your hero?

[@tootspogsforever5590]

​@@scott7521lol😊

[@anthonyfoltz2534]

That’s so messed up :( I grew up going to Seattle back in the day and race for at least me and my friends was something that was never really brought up. We really didn’t care, friends were friends and some people were d bags and it doesn’t matter what color they were lol

[@JarOfMoMack]

Watch out for the “homies” and you’ll have no issues

[@chriscampbell9191]

One thing about Seattle that maybe isn't well known in other regions is that in the 1960s-1980s there were, and are, a lot of Asian Americans in the area, as many Asian American families had fairly long histories in the region, with many families even dating back to the 1930's or so. My suburban high school was maybe 25-30% Japanese and/or Chinese American, with a lot of Filipino Americans in the region as well. So, although the idea of Asian Americans making rock music wasn't super common, it also wasn't exactly a strange thing here either. Soundgarden, of course, was probably the first 'big' band from the city scene that had Asian Americans in prominent positions in the band. Interesting interview. Thanks for posting it.

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[@taytyty7444]

Yea pretty sure both thayil n Hiro met in Chicago. Maybe their parents wanted out of the intense inter asian dynamics there. Been to both cities and lived in Seattle for awhile. Just typical self loathing Asians who think they are better just cuz they speak American English. N Seattle is a hard city to live in, as you say, gotta live in the suburbs

[@chriscampbell9191]

@@taytyty7444 Interesting perspective on the Seattle Asian community. I went to school with a lot of Asian Americans, didn't sense any self loathing among them. They interacted with the whites the same way they did with each other. As I said, Japanese, Filipino, and Chinese Americans have a long history here in the NW. A lot of the families have been here longer than most of the whites here now. Not sure what time frame you were here, but there definitely have been a lot of migrations here from the Asian continent since 1990 -- Punjabis, Sri Lankans, Taiwanese, and a lot of SE Asians, some of whom are in their second and third generations here by now. They may have a different attitude, although the ones I met during my second go-round in college in the mid 2000's didn't seem to be any different. Just typical Seattle people, really.

[@jonnysee2948]

Kim, I had your poster on my wall growing up. I cut it out of guitar player magazine or something. Love y’all!

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[@user-iw3ii2me2d]

This is great. I, too, grew up in Park Forest and attended ALPS, though later (1980-82) than Kim and Hiro. ALPS was formative for so many of us; hoping a talented documentary maker undertakes a “Revisiting ALPS” project.

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

Cool. Please subscribe to our channel! Are you available to chat about your experience?

[@lieut89]

My Uncle Rick was the one that was teaching the hang glider! And Kim's mother was arguably my favorite teacher at Westwood Jr. High.

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[@gabrielab7648]

This is great! I wish that there was more!

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[@ObsidianLife]

Cool to see! I got into Soundgarden just as Hiro left and always wondered about their relationship with him after he quit...

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[@jonnysee2948]

Love 3rd Secret, too! Everyone listen to it if you haven’t already!

[@davepatterson4774]

If I'd only known! As a kid from Seattle, I grew up spending my summers in Mt. Prospect, just outside of Chicago. Granted, these guys are a couple of years older than I am, but not that much. I could've learned so much from them! At least to a degree, in a way, I have.

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[@imacmadman22]

I grew up in Olympia, Washington and got to play records at the TESC's KAOS radio station a few times. I saw an early version of Nirvana at a house party and I swear I saw Chris Cornell there. I went to a bunch of punk rock shows around Olympia when I was in high school. Not only that, my dad was a logger just like Kim mentioned, the stories of life in the PNW are something else.

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

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[@maxswfl]

Thanks for sharing your story and our Rocket roots, Kim! We didn't realize it it that the time, but Park Forest was a special place to come of age. Programs like ALPS are needed more than ever today to inspire our young artists and future leaders. Cheers to you you and yours and thanks for paying it forward with your inspirational words.

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[@horaceosirian8993]

Soundgarden are the high-water mark of human civilization. Love you guys. Great vid, thanks :)

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[@MDK2_Radio]

Glad they’re still friends. You wonder how that stuff shakes out sometimes since Hiro (if the stories are to be believed) just up and quit in them as they were on the verge of breaking the big time. It’s also something to wonder how they would have sounded if he stayed in the group, given Ben’s musical contributions were significant. Thanks for this.

[@ripperplaysclon152]

Hiro left to go to college, if I remember correctly. He got a master’s in physical chemistry!

[@babywah3290]

@@ripperplaysclon152I think he just retired. I saw an piece recently.

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[@paolo-n2000]

Hiro Yamamoto's post Soundgarden band....TRULY were excellent! Their 1st album - Fast Stories...from Kid Coma...is an amazing LP!!! Check it out!

[@dawidklucz849]

That's a Hiro,dude used to sang Circle of Power

[@jitenpatel441]

Kim Thayil and Hiro Yamamoto you both rule. Sound garden forever rules. Thank you for building Soundgarden. If you can please continue with Soundgarden. Get a leading singer and let’s get this rollin’.

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[@jondubb35]

Absolutely not. There is NO Soundgarden without Chris. End of discussion.

[@christinedovin2355]

NO

[@chriswiggins1679]

Replace Cornell? With fuckin' who Jesus?😂

[@sparks2spare782]

Hiro’s band after Soundgarden was rockin’ too. Truly was good 3 piece band

[@babywah3290]

Yes, it had Mark Pickeral who left the Screaming Trees for the same reason as Hiro- didn’t want to do massive touring that major labels require.

[@Black25787]

Greatest interview ever 🔥🔥

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[@WitherynGrey]

Is the interview somewhere? Can I see the whole thing?

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

More of it will be available in our documentary Revisiting Utopia www.revisitingutopia.com

[@AlecSmith-jk5mb]

That was cool. I actually grew up in Park Forest. Interesting interview.

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

Thanks, Alec! What high school did you go to?

[@AlecSmith-jk5mb]

Hey. I was in the Will County section of PF, so I went to Crete-Monee. Most of the town is in Cook Cty. Rich East was our big rival. I believe they actually closed Rich East a few years ago.

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

@@AlecSmith-jk5mb What year did you graduate? Are you still in the Chicago area? Email me at [e-mail], if you prefer. Thanks!

[@AlecSmith-jk5mb]

I graduated in 1988. I live in Bradley, about 25 miles south of Park Forest.

[@blahzay_]

Great interview 👍

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[@hexenmoon]

My father in law grew up with Kim :)

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

Wow! In Park Forest? What years did he live there?

[@SrSacaninha]

interesting. It's so weird how in America everything is about race.

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

It is a documentary about race relations growing up in Park Forest, IL.

[@CaptainRaab]

That's what happens when laws regarding race are part of the founding laws and for hundreds of years of subsequent laws.

[@GA-Vic]

That's because it is "the melting pot of the world!"...all races are initially welcomed but when they don't assimilate,they are singled out and ostracized...yes it's strange indeed!

[@pattonPwr]

Those guitars: Kim’s Polara, Cornell’s Gibson and Ben Shepherd’s Mexican Fender Pbass

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[@jomoanderson5596]

In an era where it's a thing to try to look pass ones ethic identity it was these guys face card that made me give them a listen. Luckily they were outstanding in creating a Rock Sound that was uniquely them,& backing one of the best frontmen/songwriters in Rock's History.

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[@bdc-muzik]

Great interview 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

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[@thebasementband8366]

3rd secret is my fav always

[@ericcook4665]

these to special guys should start a side project in honour of Chris and see if they can get something together

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[@thebasementband8366]

I love

[@fhrianfz]

genius people

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

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[@dlpasco]

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE

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[@thebasementband8366]

Love this. I’ve Ben listening to hiro a long time now.

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[@chriswiggins1679]

I see what you did there.

[@twintriode]

Good to see Hiro! I wish you would have stayed with the boys.

[@thebasementband8366]

It’s cool can’t help.

[@totalpartykill999]

i really wished Hiro would have stayed with Soundgarden. his sound was very distinctive. i mean Ben is no slouch, but Hiro could jam.

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[@andrewantill2978]

Check out his other band ‘Truly’

[@chriscampbell9191]

@@andrewantill2978 Fast Stories From Kid Coma -- a classic grunge era album. Too bad it didn't sell... But it was a great record regardless.... Blue Flame Ford, Angelhead -- awesome songs. Saw them at Bumbershoot 1995. Great show.

[@thebasementband8366]

Some day ll write a song you both like

[@thebasementband8366]

I’ll keep going.

[@John-so8rc]

I Remember Looking At A Picture Of Kim With His Arms Around Hiro And Initially Feeling Awkward But Then I Thought I Use To Hold My Little Brother Like That As A Kid Cuz I Loved Him So Much.

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[@babywah3290]

I first saw a review of Soundgarden’s UltraMega OK with a rooftop pic of the band and Cornell was so tan I thought that Matt Cameron was the only white guy in the group.😂 Being a person of color, I gravitated to Soundgarden for Hiro and Kim- plus they were an amazing band.

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[@thebasementband8366]

So good.

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[@yvesfriday]

Not easy to be non-white in a notoriously racist country. And still, they managed to be one of the greatest rock bands in history while being themselves to the last bit. I have enormous admiration for these guys.

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[@thebasementband8366]

Love songs I did a lot

[@TravisBrady-wn8fr]

Awesome man

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[@mejohn101]

I know its a lot of pressure, but can u guys save music? Thanks.

[@Melvinator]

Grunge Pioners

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[@Melvinator]

Yeah right 😉

[@thebasementband8366]

I’d love to meet y’all

[@thebasementband8366]

Love ramonea black flag. Misfits

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

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[@thebasementband8366]

Let’s go

[@thebasementband8366]

I’m a wired dude plays guitar 3rd secret is my jam

[@thebasementband8366]

Just using this cause it’s 80\

[@theswede5402]

A damn shame Hiro Yamamoto left the band, japanese rockers are not only cool but he was good af too.

[@ObsidianLife]

It is a shame but I've been digging into Ben Shepherd's Bass lines and songs...Ben was a MONSTER bassist! He also brought the crazy tunings and songs like "Jesus Christ Pose" (it was his riff-the verse-that started the jam). Hiro was/is amazing but Ben is SUPER underrated...His bass lines are EXTREMELY complex and creative! Its funny too because I thought of him as just the mean, weird guy in the band (he openly has stated that he was spiraling into mental illness back then).

[@PoorBoxJohnsDoubleVoodoo-nb3eq]

not only did I know Kim, I used to be mistaken for him . PF was so white- I'm african american and Italian. The other guy was a Russian Jew. The three of us WERE the ethnic comnity!

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

What years did you live there? In 1973, there were 2,144 Black residents, according to an annual census

[@thebasementband8366]

I am gonna play starfeild by a gaming studio. But I have a week off. Mabey I should make a song. I have a green screen.

[@thebasementband8366]

Mods got mw

[@UlfHaukenesWhiteWolfAlchemy]

Soundgarden is OK. TRULY IS CULT! ❤

[@thebasementband8366]

Chicago. I’m a travler here I am

[@thebasementband8366]

I’m a dirk

[@thebasementband8366]

My mom was a streamstress.

[@mineralt]

So the Seattle local government creates this alternative learning system and it has to be part of the reason for all this creativity to come out of the area. Unbelievable. This is back when our government loved us, and didn't view us as something to bleed and control. We need to get back to being a country like this. How do we do it?

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

The alternative learning system Hiro and Kim attended was in Park Forest, their hometown, in Illinois.

[@mineralt]

@@ThisAmountOfTime oh wow, i missed that

[@blahzay_]

Lol

[@thebasementband8366]

I wanna do good make good songs so far I’ve never made a good song

[@smokerise]

I always wondered what happened to soundgarden's original bassist...I've never seen a pic of Kim without a beard! 🤣🤘

[@thebasementband8366]

Kurt taught me. Lol

[@thebasementband8366]

Now you will hte me

[@alanobrien1195]

maybe i am wrong but most of these punk people seem like hippies to me but maybe i am wrong............

[@ThisAmountOfTime]

😂

[@thebasementband8366]

I was taught to be cool. Ma.

[@thebasementband8366]

But now I’m dumb.

[@fredricclack7137]

⚒️🪨Metal!!! 👹

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[@arktos298]

Trribal

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[@thebasementband8366]

Hero. Lol I’m dumb. I’m not as loud as I seem. I’m super reserved and stuff. Paper gangster. Talking like a fool

[@thebasementband8366]

Man doing tick. Tok. Man. I’m a unusual ass hole

[@thebasementband8366]

I’m a dork. F me

[@thebasementband8366]

Dead ops

[@thebasementband8366]

Making songs by your self is some what ass sounding.use to be harder. I am me. I suck. But f it

[@thebasementband8366]

Love how you think Asian is t co l

[@thebasementband8366]

Worst song I’ve ever done. My fr i da were in that. I could never be in it. Tbwy said I was to smart. I had Tourette’s. So I did t u der stand why I had to be in general public

[@thebasementband8366]

I’ll be erased soo. By mods

[@thebasementband8366]

I want to do better. My hero’s are my dogs. I should do better

[@thebasementband8366]

I’m by my self. No one likes rock

[@thebasementband8366]

Dumb I mo w

[@thebasementband8366]

Duck me

[@KidScipio]

in group racial preference by non-whites