How far has the band come since Audioslave?
We’ve become an unstoppable force. The music on Out of Exile is undeniably great, and I don’t even waste time thinking about what’s popular and how our music is going to fit into that anymore. I’m thinking about what’s on [Los Angeles-area classic rock station] KLOS and how our music is going to fit into that. We want to make music that doesn’t go away and I think we did it. It’s just so deep. The four of us are truly a band now. No one comes into a rehearsal with a song and says, “Hey, this is my song and that’s it.” Instead, it’s like, “Here’s some stuff I think is cool. See what you guys think.” I’ve never experienced something where we’re constantly telling each other how dope we are. It’s awesome. Has your bass playing changed over the last couple of years? Completely. Chris Cornell’s confidence in me has been really important, particularly because it’s forced me to work on singing and playing at the same time, which I never really did before. For example, we’ve been rehearsing th
