Daily Trojan Online
No hate after Soundgarden band breakup


Almost eight years to the day after Soundgarden's breakup, Hater releases their second album, a follow-up to the album widely circulated by musicians.

By Michael Libby

Published: Thursday, April 28, 2005


Ben Shepherd was asked to be in a side project during his first week in Soundgarden. Having replaced original bassist Hiro Yamamoto in 1990, Shepherd initially had reservations about recording with someone outside his new band.

"I thought about it and I was all nervous. Like, 'no way, that's insane, you can't do that,'" Shepherd said. "And I felt really shy about it, embarrassed even. I took (Soundgarden drummer) Matt (Cameron) outside and asked him, 'Matt, is that all right, do you think? Or would I get in trouble and kicked out of the band?'"

Not only did Cameron give his blessing, but ended up playing drums on the record, Hater, which ended up being released in 1993 with Shepherd on guitar. The album had a small release, but was widely circulated by musicians and fans. A follow-up album was recorded in the period between Soundgarden's Superunknown (1994) and Down on the Upside (1996) records, but remained unreleased, until now. Hater's the 2nd arrived in stores Tuesday, almost eight years to the day since Soundgarden's 1997 breakup.

Shepherd credits the delay in releasing the album to "a mix between bizarre laziness and happenstance," and the fact that it was difficult to achieve closure on the production end. The album was mixed and re-mixed several times, and eventually fell by the wayside.

"Matt was in Europe on a trip with his honey, so when he came back we wanted to get it right. So we mixed it again," Shepherd said. "By that point things had sort of fallen apart between both bands, Soundgarden and Hater, and it just sort of happened that way."

During the downtime after the Soundgarden breakup, even more time passed and the album was put on the backburner. "The labels were changing, the whole face of the music scene was getting weird," Shepherd said. "Not the scene, but the actual industry. Things were shifting a lot and (there was) a lot of shuffle time, basically. I guess I could sum up the ten years as shuffle time and trying to get re-perspective on stuff."

Hater's the 2nd is a time capsule of sorts, offering insight into Shepherd and Cameron's collaborative process during Soundgarden's creative peak, while also sounding innovative as a standalone record. Songs such as "Uncontrolled" and "Whatsever" demonstrate the band's range, while "Zombie Hand" showcases Shepherd's unique songwriting talent.

The songs fit in logically between Soundgarden records, and some songs from the second Hater sessions were eventually developed into Soundgarden songs such as "An Unkind" on the band's final album. Another Shepherd composition from the "Hater Session II" tapes was originally an instrumental acoustic guitar song before it was re-arranged by Soundgarden vocalist Chris Cornell and became Down on the Upside's "Dusty."

Although Hater's sophomore effort was recorded during a break between his band's albums and the music is similar in style, Shepherd is quick to point out that the 2nd is not the "lost" Soundgarden record.

Shepherd said, "This has nothing to do with Soundgarden, not at all. Soundgarden would have been all proud and huge and beautiful. This is more like the snotty nosed dead little boy in the backyard that just huffed too much paint. It's got more growl to it. It's got some kind of growl that hard rock has."

Still, he reminisces about his old band in a decidedly fond tone. He hints at the possibility of a Soundgarden B-sides/rarities album somewhere down the line, and has some ideas for it already.

"I've already compiled my list of songs and I've actually made a mix CD of what I think," Shepherd said. "Outtakes, studio stuff, bizarre versions and completely unheard songs. So I'm already prepared to go to the table with those guys and say 'hey, let's do this.'"

Shepherd seems to have kept relatively close with Cameron, but was unaware of Soundgarden guitarist Kim Thayil's appearance on Dave Grohl's Probot project, as well as Cameron and Cornell's first performance of (other side-project) Temple of the Dog songs in 12 years at a Pearl Jam concert in October of 2003. "I didn't know that," Shepherd said. "You actually witnessed that man, that's cool."

For devout fans, Shepherd even offers a glimmer of hope when asked about the possibility of a reunion. "The rule that I grew up with as a kid looking at bands and stuff - as long as everyone's still alive, then it can happen," Shepherd said. "It's very, very slim, but sure, there's always a possibility."

Shepherd is starting a new band called Unkmongoni with Bubba Dupree (Void) and others, and also hopes to play some Hater reunion shows with Cameron and guest stars John McBain and Alan Davis, who also performed on the record.


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