Sub Pop Records 20th anniversary celebration is happening soon in Seattle, WA where a whole slew of new and old Sub Pop bands will perform.

Pitchfork Media, have a great piece on the label which includes a pretty in-depth interview with founders Jonathon Poneman and Bruce Pavitt. In it, the two discuss the formation of the label from a little-known zine, early bands such as Soundgarden and Nirvana and the insane direction the label took after the success of Nevermind. This includes discussion of Nirvana’s first album “Bleach” which as many people know, did not feature Dave Grohl, but drummer Chad Channing.

“BP: Bleach is almost double platinum, yeah. And it cost $600 to record, so…I would venture that, just from a business point of view, the return on investment from Bleach might make it the most profitable record in the history of the world. $600 for two million in sales, that’s pretty unusual.”

Source.

A drummer I’ve been into for a long time is Matt Cameron. If you don’t know who he is, he was formerly the drummer of Soundgarden and is now the current drummer for Pearl Jam.

It’s rare that a drummer gets to be in one well known band, let alone two. The drumming of Matt Cameron, is in my opinion best represented on the breakthrough Soundgarden album “Superunknown.” After having listened to it recently I was impressed that his playing was so diverse on one record. Multiple snare drums, as well as drum kits were used to record and this is evident on the different drum sound on a lot of the songs on the record.

Cameron’s drumming features several odd time parts, such as on the famous hit “Spoonman” where he showcases a mix of 7/4 and 4/4 time signatures. Another detail worth mentioning is his classy use of the cymabls and toms, throughout the album he never overplays any one part of the kit.

If you have never really listened to Soundgarden’s Superunknown, or it’s been a while, check it out again.