EV and Jeff will be on Bill Simmons podcast

Spiritual_Chaos

BF25394 said:

cp3iverson said:

mickcasey said:

Nothing about music in this interview.  It would have been nice to learn about the creative process.  We get that Bill Simmons likes basketball.  

His nickname is “The Sports Guy”.  They knew what kind of conversation they were going to have. 

He's been immersed in entertainment for almost 20 years since he moved to L.A. to write for Kimmel.  He is so far beyond being "The Sports Guy."  He claims to be a big Pearl Jam fan, but he's a casual fan at best-- which is fine, although imagine what someone who is actually deeply familiar with the band's entire body of work, not just its first three albums, could do with more than two hours of access to band members.

This was a podcast for Simmons audience though. And they are not hardcores. 

But yeah, I have a feeling someone like Marc Maron could have a  more genuine interest that takes the interview in cool places. Even with not being a hardcore either.

BF25394

I wasn't necessarily looking for something "hardcore."  I just wanted something less superficial.  Really, I wanted to hear the guys talk about this new album that they are ostensibly very excited about but barely got to talk about.  I was entertained by this, but I got a lot more out of Josh Evans' interview with Variety.

Spiritual_Chaos

BF25394 said:

I wasn't necessarily looking for something "hardcore."  I just wanted something less superficial.  Really, I wanted to hear the guys talk about this new album that they are ostensibly very excited about but barely got to talk about.  I was entertained by this, but I got a lot more out of Josh Evans' interview with Variety.

Yeah, I agree. 

on2legs

BF25394 said:

jh275312 said:

It’s just really sad how much Ed chain smokes. 

And ironic in the context of the discussion of how athletic you have to be to be in a band.  Can you imagine LeBron James chain smoking and still performing at a high level?

Maybe Ed should reach out to do a collaboration with the Chainsmokers.

cp3iverson

BF25394 said:

cp3iverson said:

mickcasey said:

Nothing about music in this interview.  It would have been nice to learn about the creative process.  We get that Bill Simmons likes basketball.  

His nickname is “The Sports Guy”.  They knew what kind of conversation they were going to have. 

He's been immersed in entertainment for almost 20 years since he moved to L.A. to write for Kimmel.  He is so far beyond being "The Sports Guy."  He claims to be a big Pearl Jam fan, but he's a casual fan at best-- which is fine, although imagine what someone who is actually deeply familiar with the band's entire body of work, not just its first three albums, could do with more than two hours of access to band members.

The only reason this interview was even taking place was because Pearl Jam has a new album out for the first time in over six years.  In over two hours, the content of that album was barely mentioned.  There was a discussion of track sequencing that referenced "Who Ever Said" as a "banger" and a discussion of "Dance Of The Clairvoyants" that was approached from the angle of "were you f*&%ing with your fans with this song?"  He had Jeff on the phone for over two hours and never asked him about his significant contributions to this album or the fact that he's doing much more than playing bass on this album.  There was zero discussion of the overall themes of the album, of what it is the band is trying to say with the album.  Simmons called the album "Gigatron" because he has no idea what a "Gigaton" is and why it's relevant to the themes of the album.  There's no shame in not knowing, but a good interviewer would ask these questions.

Yes, everyone knows Bill's LA "evolution", but his podcast focus these past six months is more NBA than ever.  Plus, did you ever think that maybe they just also wanted a light hearted good time?  The guy is a real PJ fan, probably has every album.  You know what the difference is?  We're way beyond that.  

If this is the majority of the Gigaton press, I'll say that I enjoyed it way more than the 4 fifteen minute videos they released for Lightning Bolt (save for the Steve Gleason/father clip).  Less serious, yeah, but I was laughing and entertained for 2.5 hours.  They're only going to do what they want to do.  This is not a NYTimes piece with Mr. Vedder and Mr. Ament, and it's not a deep dive into songwriting and guitar work like their Guitar World interviews used to be 25 years ago.  

Obviously, they're fans of Simmons' work.  They knew what this podcast would be like.  Not only that, but I think Spotify now owning The Ringer played a bigger part here than anyone realizes.  

bb4packers

Hadn't thought of the fact that Spotify now owns the Ringer - good point.  I thought it was very entertaining - Jeff's scouting breakdown of Ed on the basketball court was worth it alone.  scrappy=can't shoot to save his life

cp3iverson

I really enjoyed it.  That’s the funniest ive heard Eddie in a long long time.  Jeff was enjoying himself as well.  Honestly Bill tends to annoy me a decent amount these days.  He’s naturally changed from a being a sports fan with a column to having sports/movie stars at his house.   Man and now he’s richer than NBA All Stars. You have to change when that happens.   He did a good job here tho.   I wasnt expecting a deep dive.  I was expecting a lot of NBA talk and questions about “Singles”, fame, Bill talking concert memories, and Kurt Cobain.  Bill always asks questions that are 4 minutes long but it’s Bill.    It was good tho.  

BF25394

on2legs said:

BF25394 said:

jh275312 said:

It’s just really sad how much Ed chain smokes. 

And ironic in the context of the discussion of how athletic you have to be to be in a band.  Can you imagine LeBron James chain smoking and still performing at a high level?

Maybe Ed should reach out to do a collaboration with the Chainsmokers.

Does he chain-smoke cigars?  Or does he occasionally smoke a cigar?

on2legs

BF25394 said:

on2legs said:

BF25394 said:

jh275312 said:

It’s just really sad how much Ed chain smokes. 

And ironic in the context of the discussion of how athletic you have to be to be in a band.  Can you imagine LeBron James chain smoking and still performing at a high level?

Maybe Ed should reach out to do a collaboration with the Chainsmokers.

Does he chain-smoke cigars?  Or does he occasionally smoke a cigar?

Not sure. 

Zod

KV4053 said:

What does Ed say after Jeff mentions Brett Hart and Abruzzese becoming friends?

Funny enough I met Bret Hart when PJ did the show in Vancouver in 2000 at the Commodore.   He somehow found a way in, even without Dave being in the band.

cp3iverson

in 1990 i spent all of my money and ordered a bunch of stuff from the WWF catalog.  One of those things was those badass Bret Hart glasses lol.  

Man what showed up was so cheap.  Like a piece of window tint glued to a rubber band

E.K

Listened to half of it and would have to say that it's the first time I have ever heard Ed's laugh ... and it's a nice one.

BF25394

on2legs said:

BF25394 said:

on2legs said:

BF25394 said:

jh275312 said:

It’s just really sad how much Ed chain smokes. 

And ironic in the context of the discussion of how athletic you have to be to be in a band.  Can you imagine LeBron James chain smoking and still performing at a high level?

Maybe Ed should reach out to do a collaboration with the Chainsmokers.

Does he chain-smoke cigars?  Or does he occasionally smoke a cigar?

Not sure. 

Looks very much like he occasionally smokes cigars.  Half of these appear to be after winning the NBA title, and two of those aren't even lit.

Needless to say, this is a very different thing than chain-smoking cigarettes.  One of these things is not good for your health, but minimally so; the other one is often catastrophic for your health.

RunIntoTheRain

E.K said:

Listened to half of it and would have to say that it's the first time I have ever heard Ed's laugh ... and it's a nice one.

Wait...what? You had never heard Ed laugh before? He laughs a lot. 

on2legs

Simmons regularly interjects stories about Havlicek and the old Celtics smoking like chimneys at halftime and after games.  And Yaz smoking butts in the dugout at Fenway.  

CantKeepmedown

Maybe Ed and Jeff took this interview simply because they knew it wouldn't be too serious.  Knowing that Simmons wouldn't go too deep with them, keep it casual.  Not acting like Chris Farley with Paul McCartney.  Bill has no musical background, probably played the album once while working, and therefore isn't able to even appropriately ask a question about what instruments Jeff is playing or themes of the album.  Shit, Eddie didn't even want to answer what song gets the crowd most fired up.  They wanted a lighthearted conversation and they got one.  

on2legs

CantKeepmedown said:

Maybe Ed and Jeff took this interview simply because they knew it wouldn't be too serious.  Knowing that Simmons wouldn't go too deep with them, keep it casual.  Not acting like Chris Farley with Paul McCartney.  Bill has no musical background, probably played the album once while working, and therefore isn't able to even appropriately ask a question about what instruments Jeff is playing or themes of the album.  Shit, Eddie didn't even want to answer what song gets the crowd most fired up.  They wanted a lighthearted conversation and they got one.  

I’m thinking they picked him because they know him and because his podcast is the 12th ranked show on iTunes. 

davidos

I thought this interview was cringey... yes, nice to hear Ed and Jeff's voices but the questions were pretty awful and all the NBA references... ugh... also when it finally came out at the end that Ed hasn't payed attention to the NBA since the Jordan era I think Simmons probably died a little inside...

The guys just seem really out of touch... Their orbits now are celebrities (Octavia Spencer?) and sports figures...  the casual (and super) fan are way down on the totem pole... guarded responses to anything about the new album, no fan club singles, minimal live shows (makes it tough to even get a ticket), a contest to give away 70(!) tickets to a 1,500 seat venue to fans (the Apollo theater show), no social media, etc. Even the way they went about making this record... were they even in the same room together during this 3 year process?

and Josh Evans is doing most of the PR for the new album! It's like they don't give a crap...

Whatever, some PJ is better than no PJ, right? Hey, there are new t-shirts!

southp

Well it was certainly a lengthy interview, and we got a few little stories about the music and 90's era stuff. But man, waaaay too much basketball talk.  

Abe Froman

I thought it was a great interview. Ed and Jeff seemed like they were loose and having fun.