Kim Thayil: A little known Guitar legend with origins in Kerala
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Kim Thayil and Soundgarden's unique approach to rock shaped an entire culture for Seattle's grunge rock. His story is hugely inspiring, a second generation immigrant in a town where he had to deal with segregation and often subtle racism, Kim managed to find his own footing, and let his guitar do all the talking.
Kim Anand Thayil was born in Seattle in 1960, his parents migrated from Kerala to find opportunities in the United States. Kim's mother was a music teacher who studied to be a concert pianist. His family soon moved to Chicago, and it was only a matter of time before Kim started writing music himself. At age 12, he started writing lyrics, and by the time he was 17, he formed his first punk rock band.
"It complicates one’s identity, being the son of an immigrant and then growing up very American." Thayil explained to Spin magazine about his childhood. While he had all the possible hobbies that are "American", from rock and roll to adoration for baseball. But, at the same time, Thayil's family remained deeply connected to their culture and preserved their identity.
Speaking of identity, the 1970s were an interesting time for Chicago, not a lot of the Indian population made it into the midwest, yet.. "And growing up in Chicago, it’s incredibly metropolitan. It’s incredibly cosmopolitan as well. But at the same time, there was ridiculous segregation. You had areas that were very white, areas that were very black, areas that were very Hispanic. And I’m none of the above, right?", Kim said, in the interview.
But Thayil's musical talents were very evident. Thayil met Hiro Yamamoto at Rich East High School in Park Forest, after the duo's rather uneventful journey in finding jobs, the duo moved back to seattle. They met Chris Cornell, and the three formed Soundgarden in 1984.
Soundgarden went on to have a legendary run, becoming Seattle's first grunge rock band to be signed to a major label, dropping 5 albums and most notably, releasing Badmotorfinger and Superunknown going 2 times and 6 times platinum respectively. Superunknown won them two Grammys, for Best Hard Rock and Best Metal performances.
Kim Thayil, enjoyed a stellar career himself, often credited as a pioneer of the "Seattle Sound". Thayil was named the 100th greatest guitarist of all time by Rolling Stone in 2010 and the 67th greatest guitarist of all time by SPIN in 2012.
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