Hiro's
Welcome
For a strong, silent type, Truly bassist Hiro Yamamoto gives amazing phone.
His name should sound familiar - Yamamoto founded Soundgarden with high school
buddy Kim Thayil and roommate Chris Cornell, remaining with the band until they
went major with Louder Than Love in 1989. The bassist bailed shortly
thereafter for several intelligent, natural reasons, but music never completely
exited his life.
Truly is a haven for weird and visionary musicians, loosely assembled in 1990
with vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Robert Roth, former Screaming Trees Mark
Pickerel on drums, and Yamamoto on bass.
Fast Stories... From Kid Coma is Truly's first full-length effort,
a fascinating patchwork of noiserock that thinks without being mired in thought.
Pin the tail somewhere around punk, glitter, and psychedelia - these are smart
songs about girls, cars, light, darkness, druggies, and outer space. The songs
are clearly Roth's babies, but they bear such delightfully incriminating fingerprints
from the rhythm section that the material is most definitely Truly's by the
time your ears are listening. There's quite a bit of darkness going on here,
but it's not always noticeable. There's an upbeat feel to "Angelhead" and the
James Gang-like "Hot Summer 1991" - a rolled-down Pinto window anthem - but
the lyrics and underlying pulse are anything but. The more foreboding, dissonant
material ("Blue Flame Ford," "Tragic Telepathic," "Strangling") owe much to
Oriental-flavoured tunings.
"We play in some low tunings," Yamamoto agrees. "There are a couple of really
open tunings as far as guitar is concerned, so there's like an open chord ring
to them. It makes it hard to play a set!"
Yamamoto and Pickerel ride with Roth's expressive guitars, much as they did
with their older bands. The Illinois native is quick to praise Pickerel, but
he cuts himself up: "I never really learned how to play like a bass player!"
(Laughs hysterically) "There are even a lot of rock things
I definitely don't know. It's kind of an autistic approach!"
Yamamoto and Thayil were responsible for a chunk of Soundgarden's early, classic
material. Both musicians have curiously plugged up their songwriting wells,
although the bassist admits he's hungry to write, perhaps even with Thayil,
after all this education. "I want Kim to do more than he's been doing," he says.
"I wouldn't mind helping him. I've been in school for a long time and I wouldn't
mind working with Kim. I'd love to play with Kim, 'cause I miss that, too. Kim
and I did a lot of things together, and I'm old, now! I feel like,
'Oh, I remember the old days...,'" Yamamoto laughs, thoughtfully confessing,
"I look back at that (period), and we had something really special - not only
just me and Kim, but the whole band. I think we interacted really well together,
and it's something that's really special and hard to do."
Yamamoto's departure from Soundgarden has been attributed to any and all of
the following: (a) his wanting to resume his education, (b) his not wanting
to tour, (c) his "lack of confidence" in his songwriting, and, (d) his accepting
much more stable employment in the form of selling shoes in scenic downtown
Seattle. "NO! NO SHOES! I wasn't selling shoes!" Yamamoto insists, digging into
the details. "Only 'd' is wrong! I went to school after I quit Soundgarden 'cause
I wanted to do something different. I was afraid of being in a metal band, you
know? Even though they're that big, (Soundgarden) really aren't like a heavy
metal band. They actually carved out their own niche. At that point, I was really
afraid of how we were gonna get marketed and maintaining any kind of integrity,
which I think they've done a really good job of doing. I was really scared that
that wasn't happening, and I was afraid of touring a lot. Didn't want to live
in a bus.
"When we were starting out, if we wrote a song nobody was listening to it,
anyway. But it changed... It was hard for me to deal (with) the notion of, 'Okay,
we're writing songs and we're actually thinking of selling a lot of records.'
I got kinda embarrassed by that. I still get very self-conscious about things
like that... In Truly, it's a little freer because Robert (is) prolific as far
as songwriting. I can kinda hide out in the back. Now that school's over, I'd
like to start writing songs again and really get into music. When I got into
school, I did it with a vengeance, because it was like, 'Okay, I quit Soundgarden,
so I'd better do well in school!' But now music doesn't scare me as much as
it used to. I think I'm more ready to deal with it."
Truly are in the midst of supporting Fast Stories... at a slowed-down
pace that, hopefully, won't drive them bonkers. They've survived several CMJ
appearances and Lollapalooza's second stage. Sometimes a tortoise-like approach
to touring and recording is better. Lollapalooza proved edifying, if not daunting.
"It's fun because it's a circus atmosphere, you know? It's hard to get psyched
and get ready to play in the middle of the day," laughs Yamamoto. "Mostly, to
me, it's getting into those huge shows. It's such a hassle for a small band
like us. We're not really a stadium band, and it's kind of intimidating. I remember
the first time we played (Lollapalooza), I went and saw Soundgarden, and I just
couldn't believe how many people they were playing in front of! I've
always liked the small club kinda thing. I like more of a cult happening than
taking the nation by storm. Our record company probably doesn't want to hear
that, but I just like having a niche rather than carving out the country."
Hiro's niche rules.
(EXCLAIM!, August 1995)