1. Who Are You? What's your affiliation with Soundgarden?
I'm Matt. I'm a huge Soundgarden fan without a lot of free time. I've been doing this since 1999, though the Guide made it's first appearance online sometime in 2000-01. Following that was a major rebuild that culminated in the Guide going online on the fifth anniversary of the last show, on February 09, 2002. I updated fairly regularly until summer 2003, when life caught up to me. It's good to be back. For the record, I have absolutely no affiliation with Soundgarden.

2. How do you know all this stuff?
Eleven years of research. I have huge .txt files full of every snippet I've read about Soundgarden live from thousands of websites since like 2002 plus all my source documents from the first Live Guide build. I've also meticulously scoured Live Guides of bands that played with Soundgarden (Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, Faith No More, Smashing Pumpkins and Guns 'N Roses in specific) in order to add tour dates/details for quite a few shows. I'm also a collector-it took me years to amass a large collection of recordings, and from this I was able to accumulate a large collection of setlists; also, traders would often provide me with details of recordings even if they weren't able to trade. It has taken years, but the guide has come together in a painstaking manner; it was worth the wait.

2a. Who else helped? Surely you couldn't have done all of that research by yourself....
Absolutely not. Without the help I've received this guide would have gone nowhere. I wish to thank the following individuals in specific for their help and support: Chris Hickman, Jim Hirte, Greg Lemon, Jen Allen and Rob Cardenaz. I would like to thank Geoff for helping me build the site so many years ago-Geoff, if you ever read this, you are the best! I would also like to hereby thank the following individuals: Thomas Avellone, John Bacus, Vikas Bhatia, Rick Blanco, Julien Boule, Mike Brand, Niklas Broberger, Bob Collins, Kyle Coleman, Carl Cunningham, "Marie Curie", "Dirty", John Etter, Jason Farrell, Adam Fehlberg, Dan Feriolo, Dave George-Cosh, Diane, Tim Feeney, David H., Chris Hobbs, Marcus Hoover, Phil Huckelberry, Mike Jenkins, Khris Jensen, Oliver Jochum, Kendrick Kay, Naomi Klein, David Lajeunesse, Kim Larsen, Leah, Morten Madsen, Joel Moffatt, Pyro, Sean, Damien Rockwell, Scot Shoemaker, Erik Sieckman, Sim, Billy Smith, Kris Sproul, Team DZ (thanks for all the screenshots!), Jay Tomkins, Nathan Wheeler, Mike Ziegler...and others whom I don't remember. If I forgot you please tell me!

3. Did you ever see Soundgarden live?
No! If I had you might not be reading this right now. My failure to see them on December 08, 1996 in Salem, Oregon ("I'll see them next time...I'm broke) still bugs me today, more than 13 years later. I even have a poster of the show framed and hanging in my office to remind me not only to not miss another must-see show, but also to keep working on this guide. It's bugged me every day since the show took place-doubly so since Soundgarden broke up. The frustration of never having seen one of my favorite bands turned into a desire to collect Soundgarden bootlegs, which in turn manifested itself into the Soundgarden Live Guide.

4. The old Live Guide was last updated in 2003. What took you so long getting this version up?
Two words: grad school.

4a. What's changed since you last updated the guide? Why is this rebuild necessary?
Well, aside from the obvious design changes (such as giving each show I actually have information on its own page), there are tons more shows in the guide; I've added pictures, posters, ticket stubs and video screenshots where I could find them; I've added some supplementary guides to help eliminate some of the confusion that comes with Soundgarden live recordings; and I've made an effort to simplify everything so that it's easy for even the novice to understand. In relation to the old guide, I've removed the quality grades for recordings, because they are completely subjective and not really all that important. I've also removed opening/support acts from the guide; this might irk some readers, but again, I don't think it's all that important, and it's one more thing to research that takes time away from tracking down setlists and new recordings. My hope is that the new guide is far more streamlined and tighter than it was before; this isn't a college dorm room operation anymore.

5. Why do you only focus on Soundgarden? What about Audioslave or Chris Cornell's solo tours?
Honestly, I'm not a big Audioslave fan. The one time I was supposed to see them I had to bail in order to make a manditory meeting. I don't feel like I missed much...they just don't interest me much. As for Chris Cornell's solo material...while Euphoria Morning is one of my favorite albums ever, I don't feel all that compelled to collect Cornell solo shows or chronicle his solo career. It's personal preference. More to the point, it's personal preference for wanting to keep this guide focused just on Soundgarden. The only side project included in this guide is Temple Of The Dog, partially because they were amazing but more because both Chris and Matt were in the group. The only solo Cornell performance I have in this guide is from 9/08/92 in Phoenix, and that's only in here because 1) Soundgarden played that same day; 2) Chris performed at least one Soundgarden song; and 3) it sounds like an absolutely amazing event. I can make exceptions; however, I'd like to set forth the following guidelines: 1) shows listed in this guide took place from 1984-April 1997 and from April 2010 to the present; 2) if it isn't a Soundgarden performance, at least two members of the band must be present, and between those two one should be either Chris or Kim, the founders of the band; 3) the only true side project to be listed will be Temple Of The Dog, or something close to that. I realize Temple Of The Dog has regrouped a few times since then to play "Hunger Strike"; while I will continue to track any and all Temple Of The Dog appearances, I just do not have the time to keep up with Chris Cornell's solo career (sorry Chris). However, I am always open to exceptions in my rules, so long as they took place between 1984 and April 1997 or from April 2010 to the present.

6. I see you have xx/xx/xx in your guide. Where can I find this show? How do I start collecting?
The easiest places to find recordings are Etree, TapeTrader and DimeADozen-tons of traders use these sites and you'll always be able to find at least 20-30 shows at any given time. Unfortunately, it's often the same 30 recordings. Beyond that, spend an hour searching on Google-you'll be amazed what you can come across...

6a. Can I see your trade list? Will you trade with me?
No. I don't mean to be secretive, and I'm not sitting on a treasure trove of hoarded Soundgarden (honestly!), but most of the time these days trading is rather cumbersome. I'm always open to a trade if it's something I can put out into the community, but I'm not going to spend my time doing B+P's for DVDs of 7/22/92. I don't mean to sound like an ass, but I'd just rather torrent the shows I do have and let hundreds hear the show than trade one copy via snail mail. That being said, I'm always open to suggestion.

6b. So, do you have all these recordings?
No. Not even close. Another reason why I work on this guide is to track down shows and get them into circulation.

7a. What are your favorite Soundgarden audios?
In chronological order: 9/05/88, 2/12/89, 9/03/90, 5/02/92, 9/11/92, 1/18/94, 2/08/94, 6/17/94, 8/27/95, 9/16/96 and 12/18/96.

7a. What are your favorite Soundgarden videos?
In chronological order: 2/11/88, 06/08/1989, 4/16/90, 7/22/92, 2/08/94, 7/02/94, 9/06/95, 9/09/95, 10/18/96 and 11/13/96.

8a. What Soundgarden audios would you recommend to a beginner (i.e. what are the best shows to start out with based on sound quality, performance and setlist)?
In chronological order: 9/05/88, 10/24/88, 2/12/89, 4/16/90, 10/06/91, 7/22/92, 9/11/92, 2/08/94, 4/08/94, 6/17/94, 8/27/95, 7/05/96, 9/16/96, 9/xx/96 (MTV), 11/07/96, 11/09/96 and 4/16/10.

8a. What Soundgarden videos would you recommend to a beginner (i.e. what are the best shows to start out with based on picture quality, performance and setlist)?
In chronological order: 2/11/88, 06/xx/1989 (Bologna), 4/16/90, 9/14/91, 12/16/91 (which circulates with the next night on the same DVD), 6/06/92, 7/22/92, 2/08/94, 7/02/94, 9/06/95, 9/09/95, 9/xx/96 (MTV), 10/18/96 and 11/13/96.

9a. What soundboards are currently circulating?
In chronological order: 2/12/89, 9/23/89 [incomplete], 12/10/89 [incomplete], 4/16/90, 10/06/91, 4/25/92 [incomplete], 6/08/92, 7/22/92 and 5/18/96 [SNL] and 9/xx/96 (MTV).

9b. What pro-videos are currently circulating?
In chronological order: 4/16/90, 9/03/90 [incomplete], 6/06/92, 6/08/92, 7/22/92, 2/08/94 [very incomplete], 8/11/94 [2 songs officially released] 5/18/96 [SNL], 9/xx/96 (MTV), 1/27/97 [very incomplete] and 08/08/2010 (Lollapalooza). Seriously-that's it. Many, many others exist but I've listed only those that include at least two full songs. Wherever you see a notation in this guide that a pro-video exists, I've tried to include a note as to what that recording is, usually meaning which songs were broadcasted. Very few of these include even one full song. Thankfully, there's also Louder Than Live and Motorvision.

9c. Where can I find a list of every Soundgarden bootleg currently circulating?
There is one in the works, but I'm not sure it's necessary. How do you define "circulating" when more than 50% of the recordings listed in this guide aren't even listed on either Etree or Tapetrader? You can be sure that every recording listed in this guide is out there somewhere-but for some, like the mythical 1/19/87 show, will they ever actually surface? We need help here digging up new recordings so we can seriously put far, far more recordings in real circulation.

10. Will you send me an mp3 of X song from xx/xx/XX?
No. Please don't ask unless you need help comparing a recording for the purposes of surfacing another recording. Otherwise, please don't hound me for mp3s or shows in mp3 format.

10a. So how do you feel about trading/exchanging mp3s then?
I do not support trading mp3s. Trading mp3s pollutes the community at a time when we're trying to purify the community and surface upgrades of pretty much everything. I have no problems with creating mp3s for personal use, and I have no problems with exchanging mp3s of songs. However, trading shows in mp3 leads to problems. For example: 12/01/96 used to be a well-circulated show, as easy to find as 11/20/96, 11/27/96 or any other DAT from that tour. At some point, somebody took the recording and chopped out the banter between songs, and traded the mp3s of JUST the songs. This version became the only version in circulation, and now it's not easy to track down because the recording is more or less untradeable. Let this be a lesson to you. I don't mean to be preachy about this, but most of our sources are already unknown-generation as is; let's at least keep them lossless (comparatively speaking, of course...)!

11. Soundgarden were a band for 13 years the first time around. Why aren't there more recordings of them out there?
There are tons out there-but we don't have them. By my estimation there are 100 shows in fairly wide circulation and another 100 that are on somebody's list somewhere but aren't really being traded. When you consider how much Soundgarden toured-and some years, such as 1992, they toured a lot-then there are literally hundreds of recordings waiting to be surfaced. Once again, we need help!

11a. Why aren't there any soundboards/pro-videos of them from 1993-97?
I'm going to take a guess here, though I have absolutely no proof whether or not this is true: sometime in 1993, Soundgarden discovers that audio copies of Motorvision are being sold for big money on the bootleg market ("Moonlight In Vermont", etc.); being good capitalists, they naturally get angry. As a result they institute a strict no-tape policy that extends to granting authorization for FM broadcasts and pro-video feeds. When you consider how many soundboards exist for bands from this era that played the same festivals (if you're curious, look up how many Pearl Jam, Nirvana or Smashing Pumpkins soundboards exist from 1992-1996...), it would only make sense that they just were not authorizing FM or pro-video broadcasts. We do know for a fact that they had a no-tape policy when they last toured. I'd love more information myself on this topic.

12. I have this show/recording/setlist that's not in your guide. What is it?
First of all, before contacting me or anyone else in the community, please read through the Mislabels guide on this site; many, many recordings are mislabeled and circulate with the wrong information. For example, if you go on Soundgarden's Etree entry, there are at least three separate entries for the 7/22/92 Bremerton show; some label the date as 7/13/92, some label the city as Seattle. There are many, many mislabels as bad as this one. A few of them even originated with me. If you can't find any record of the show, please contact me, and if possible, send me an mp3; we'll have your recording circulating in no time!

13. Does your guide list every show Soundgarden ever did?
No. Not even close. There are still many gaps in the guide, most notably for the February-March 1989 U.S. tour, the 1989 European tour, the 1990 February - March US tour, pretty much all of 1991, and even parts of the Superunknown tour. There are still dozens of dates yet to be entered into the Soundgarden Live Guide.

14. How do I get involved in this guide/website?
Great! Email me, I'd love some help.

15. What are some other good Soundgarden websites?
This list begins and ends with the Unofficial Soundgarden Homepage (and to a lesser extent, the current home page). If you haven't been to the Unofficial Soundgarden Homepage already, make this site your friend! I swear I've gotten at least 25% of the info for this site there, between the articles, interviews, old gig posters and old bootleg discography. Beyond that, Yahoo's SOMMS group is still going strong after some 15 years; beyond that, the pickings get slim.

16. Will you do a First and Last Performances Guide?
No. I don't see a point in doing such a guide when we know the setlists for maybe 1/3 of the shows they ever did. I've made a point to list first and last performances of some notable songs (such as "Beyond The Wheel", "Jesus Christ Pose" and "Head Down"), but for the most part I'm not able to pin down the first and last performances of most Soundgarden songs. Sometimes it's easy; for example, the band debuted much of Superunknown in London on 3/12/94; last performances become substantially easier to note in 1996/97 for obvious reasons. Beyond that, however, you won't find many such notes and with good reason; who the hell knows the first time "All Your Lies" was played? I doubt even the bandmembers do.

17. Will you do a Sessions guide next?
Yes, I am planning on doing a sessions guide at some point. I even have a rough draft on my computer. Unfortunately, however, I don't have the resources to really do it right, nor do I really have the time. Give me a couple years and maybe and it will come.

18. What else will you do for this website? Will there be forums?
Eventually the site will have its own forums-I think they are absolutely essential in order to truly foster a spirit of community. There will be a sessions guide as well at some point in the far-off future, as you have just read. As for anything else, well, you can just head over to the Unofficial Soundgarden Homepage; I'm only attempting to fill the void of what that site doesn't cover. There will not be a discography or anything like that; after all, what exactly has changed since 1997? Any new releases can and should be covered elsewhere. We'll have something new to add to the discography sometime soon (Telephantasm). Hey Kim, Chris, Ben and Matt-if you are going to assemble a live collection or box set, can I help? Please?