The 1990s were a busy and fruitful period for producer Michael Beinhorn. Having played and produced respected musicians such as David Byrne, Herbie Hancock, Brian Eno and Nile Rodgers in the '80s, the New York-born studio technician made his name in rock and metal circles with the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Mothers Milk album, and went on to produce hit albums for Soul Asylum (Grave Dancers Union), Hole (Celebrity Skin), Ozzy Osbourne (Ozzmosis), Korn (Untouchables) and more.
One of Beinhorn's most acclaimed and best-loved collaborations of the decade, however, was one which tested and frustrated everyone involved as never before. Soundgarden's fourth album Superunknown made the Seattle band - frontman Chris Cornell, guitarist Kim Thayil, bassist Ben Shepherd and drummer Matt Cameron - genuine superstars, but recording it was far from easy as the 65-year-old producer recalled in a recent Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) discussion.
"It was... quite an experience," Beinhorn remembers. "One of the most difficult recording sessions I’ve ever done. The band and I didn’t see eye to eye on the overall approach so there was a lot of tension throughout. In a way, I’m surprised they didn‘t fire me early on!
"It was a struggle," he continued. "The main issue was how I was producing the record, in terms of getting instrument sounds, etc. I think they were expecting a relatively quick recording and all of a sudden here’s this guy they barely know, spending a week hunting for a drum sound. They got pretty surly about it- especially Matt [Cameron]. I understood their irritation but from my point of view, they’d hired me to do a job for them and that’s how I was going to do it. I knew this was an important record for them- and for me too, and if we just slacked in any way, it would reflect in the end result and I wasn’t going to let that happen. If they were going to fire me for doing my job, I reasoned it would be my tough shit."
