During a recent interview, Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil discussed the metal bands he listened to in the ’80s when his band was first starting out.

The guitarist appeared as a guest on the Turned Out a Punk podcast to talk about his upcoming memoir A Screaming Life: Into The Superunknown With Soundgarden and Beyond.

Since Soundgarden formed in 1984 before the term “grunge” was used to describe the sound of Pacific Northwest bands — and because their music was more eccentric and progressive than the popular rock of that time — they were sometimes labeled as a metal band, a classification they did not fully embrace.

“Well we liked Metallica but that was different. The thrash scene had a strong crossover with the punk scene and it was independent; it wasn’t as radio-friendly or MTV-oriented or pop-oriented. We were already into Metal Church, and I was acquainted with Trouble and Exodus, so we had those records,” Thayil recalled.

The rocker mentioned that it was Mark Arm of Green River (and later Mudhoney) who introduced him to Metallica’s debut album Kill ‘Em All and Exodus’ Bonded by Blood. Arm pointed out to Thayil how fast Kirk Hammett’s guitar-playing was.

“So that aspect of metal was perfectly fine. On one hand, you have this band that’s definitely part of the metal scene like Trouble, then you have this band coming out of the punk rock indie scene like Saint Vitus. Both are kind of doom-oriented. There’s an element in what we’re doing as well. We incorporated some stoner rock doom influences into our sound. We did a lot of different kinds of stuff,” he continued.

Thayil explained that what frustrated him about Soundgarden being categorized at the time was that record labels did not understand they were part of a movement creating a different sound from both rock and metal.

“And really it was Nirvana’s success that lifted that burden off our backs. Thank you, Nirvana,” the rocker acknowledged.

The guitarist further revealed that he tried to persuade Soundgarden’s label A&M to sign Nirvana when they were emerging, but the label felt it unnecessary to have two bands from the Seattle scene and chose to pass.

READ MORE: Kim Thayil Opens Up on Final Moments With Chris Cornell

“And we did have — Chris [Cornell] is very good-looking, statuesque, and he could easily be marketed that way. ‘If he’d only do the spandex and heels and maybe put some blonde streaks in his hair and use some hairspray.’ But it wasn’t going to happen. That wasn’t what Chris was about and it wasn’t what the band was about. I think there probably was an interest in maybe doing that to help sell Soundgarden and break it,” Thayil shared.

Fortunately, Soundgarden achieved massive success by staying true to themselves — even if it took a few years. See the full interview below.

A Screaming Life: Into The Superunknown With Soundgarden and Beyond will be released next Tuesday (June 9) and can be pre-ordered through the band’s website.

Soundgarden’s Kim Thayil Names the Metal Bands He Listened to in the ’80s

To discover what else was happening in metal during the ’80s, see the best metal album of each year since 1970 below.