About 15 years ago, alternative music was rerouted to Seattle and some of the biggest names in grunge were born. One of the most popular was Soundgarden, but after a dozen years spent reaching the top, the band called it quits in 1997. Lead singer Chris Cornell decided to take the solo route and recently released a daringly eclectic album titled Euphoria Morning. "I don't think you ever really reach a plateau where you're good enough at your craft to just stop and rest on past achievements," Cornell said. "The world is wide open. You always have to create something new rather than borrow or lean on what you've done in the past. It's like being a baby. You've just been born and have totally new parameters."
     The new album lets Cornell experiment with more emotional music. This new freedom is something that the singer has relished since the band's break. "Suddenly I could do anything I wanted, and that's kind of scary," he said. "It was also an incredible challenge."
     Despite what one might expect, Cornell’s musical influences are found in the Sixties. "The Beatles inspired me," he said. "Not really by their songwriting or sounds, but in the fact that they were really diverse. They would discover different styles and feelings, incorporate that into what they did and create an incredible landscape of sounds." That was an important element he applied on his solo debut.
     Cornell has been singing ever since he can remember. When he was eight years old, he began taking piano lessons and composing songs. He soon started playing guitar and drums and became a music aficionado. When he was in high school he joined local cover bands, playing mostly hard rock. It was then that he met guitarist Kim Thayil and the two soon formed an early rendition of Soundgarden, which was named after a wind sculpture outside of Seattle. Although Cornell played drums at first, it got in the way of his singing, so the duo added drummer Matt Cameron. "It's hard to sing when you're hitting the drums at warp speed," Cornell said. "Once Matt came aboard, the band started to take shape."
     Soundgarden gained their first taste of success in 1987 when they released their Screaming Life EP on the Sub Pop label. The next year, they followed with a full album titled Ultramega OK, which was a huge underground hit. By the time their A&M album Louder Then Love was released in 1989, the band was already being played on radio stations everywhere. "That was a great time and it really felt like we were accomplishing something," he said. "We were making a living playing music, which is what we wanted to do."
     They released Badmotorfinger in 1991, but really hit mainstream when the single “Black Hole Sun,” from 1994’s Superunknown, was released. Success didn't last. Their next album, Down on the Upside, was a bit too experimental for many fans. The group disbanded soon after; a “best of” collection, A Sides, was their 1997 farewell. Cornell believes the band's end was necessary. "It was an act of self-preservation," he said. "A large part was that we were so self-contained in the beginning, I don't think we ever really adjusted to the success part of it." Soundgarden fans will be happy to know that he remains close to his ex-bandmates and considers them family.
     He admits that he missed collaborating, so he sought the writing and production input of Alain Johannes and Natasha Schneider. The three, who had worked together on a song for the Great Expectations soundtrack, made Euphoria Morning in a home studio. They recorded the entire album digitally but used the imperfect sounds of vintage '60s guitars. "We had this old stuff filtering through up-to-the-second technology," the singer said. "To me, it makes this record sound totally unique. I think it's also proof that technology and rock music are okay together. You don't have to be a techno or hip-hop artist to benefit from a new recording environment."
     Cornell believes that the emotional appeal of music is important. "The only criteria I apply when making music is, 'Does it make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end?'" he said. "It doesn't matter what style it is, what it reminds me of, what it doesn't remind me of. If it doesn't give me that feeling of inspiration, then it's not there yet. That's the beauty of being able to do this as my job. It's intangible. Nobody can tell me how to do it. I can't tell anyone else how to do it. You have to invent it as you go along. It's challenging, completely unpredictable and sometimes frightening, but that's what makes it all worthwhile."