"Ament wrote about 70 songs during the lockdowns. The first result of channeling his angst into music was the hardcore-infused American Death Squad EP, a solo project released last July. Now? He’s onto his fourth solo effort, with a title so perfect that it echoes how most (if not all) of us feel: I Should Be Outside. Being home and working every day tapped into something Ament says got his writing muscle working. Once he got into a rhythm, ideas would come, sometimes at odd times."
Pearl Jam’s festival shows are also nearly overlapping with two landmark anniversaries for the band. Their seminal album Ten turns 30 and No Code turns 25. Both were released on August 27, 1991, and 1996, respectively. The two albums bookend the first part of Pearl Jam’s career, something that isn’t lost on Ament, who marvels at the band’s survival during those turbulent early days where they could hardly sit in the same room without getting into a fight.
“We easily could have broken up at that time,” says Ament. “We weren’t communicating well, but somehow we gave each other space and just kept focusing on the music-making part of it and playing shows. Some of it was what Jack [Irons] brought to the band at that point. He was very calming — and was going through his own stuff — but had a real calming effect in the studio. That record and Yield have pretty heavy Jack Irons imprints. There are five or six songs that when you hear them, you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s Jack Irons playing drums.'” (Songs like “In My Tree,” “Present Tense,” and “Who You Are” were built around their former drummer’s parts.)
For a band that doesn’t like to revel in nostalgia (“I don’t want to be 30 again because that was a shit time,” he says), No Code’s 25th anniversary holds a bit more value, and Ament appreciates what it meant to the band’s career.
“You have to acknowledge those things every once in a while, too,” he says, thoughtfully. “It just makes you feel so lucky, and that makes you want to reach out to the guys and say ‘Hey, good job, and thanks for having my back when I didn’t know I was rudderless and vice versa.’ Every time you play, it should be a huge celebration, because it’s semi-miraculous, and we love each other. I don’t know if there are too many bands that have been around for a long time that really, genuinely care about each other. I think we’re unique in that regard.”
But Ament isn’t one to dwell. Some of the songs also reflect his “farm kid, plains Montana” humor.
“That’s half of it, for me at this point, is just like, entertaining
myself and finding just some little nugget of joy every day by doing
something and making something out of nothing. And it might suck to most
people, but to me, it’s a life force.”
On a more macro level, having not attended a basketball game (and
after retiring from playing at his usual game in Seattle with
college-level players due to a knee injury) for the first time in years,
he says that the pandemic forced him to realize what’s important.
Slowing down and focusing on the important things, he says, makes it
“more meaningful when you are together.”
After a year at home (mostly in Montana), Ament is ready to get back
into the swing of things. He recently went to his first show since
lockdown: Brandi Carlile, who happens to be playing before Pearl Jam at both weekends of Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Fest. “The whole night was just electric and so genuine and everybody was just so fucking happy to be there.”
As for his day job — you know, Pearl Jam — Ament says that every
three-to-four months during the lockdown, the band got together just as
friends to reconnect. And for good reason. This is the longest stretch
in the band’s decades-long career that they haven’t played live.
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Pearl Jam’s festival shows are also nearly overlapping with two landmark anniversaries for the band. Their seminal album Ten turns 30 and No Code turns 25. Both were released on August 27, 1991, and 1996, respectively. The two albums bookend the first part of Pearl Jam’s career, something that isn’t lost on Ament, who marvels at the band’s survival during those turbulent early days where they could hardly sit in the same room without getting into a fight.
“We easily could have broken up at that time,” says Ament. “We weren’t communicating well, but somehow we gave each other space and just kept focusing on the music-making part of it and playing shows. Some of it was what Jack [Irons] brought to the band at that point. He was very calming — and was going through his own stuff — but had a real calming effect in the studio. That record and Yield have pretty heavy Jack Irons imprints. There are five or six songs that when you hear them, you’re like, ‘Oh, that’s Jack Irons playing drums.'” (Songs like “In My Tree,” “Present Tense,” and “Who You Are” were built around their former drummer’s parts.)
For a band that doesn’t like to revel in nostalgia (“I don’t want to be 30 again because that was a shit time,” he says), No Code’s 25th anniversary holds a bit more value, and Ament appreciates what it meant to the band’s career.
“You have to acknowledge those things every once in a while, too,” he says, thoughtfully. “It just makes you feel so lucky, and that makes you want to reach out to the guys and say ‘Hey, good job, and thanks for having my back when I didn’t know I was rudderless and vice versa.’ Every time you play, it should be a huge celebration, because it’s semi-miraculous, and we love each other. I don’t know if there are too many bands that have been around for a long time that really, genuinely care about each other. I think we’re unique in that regard.”
www.headstonesband.com
But Ament isn’t one to dwell. Some of the songs also reflect his “farm kid, plains Montana” humor.
“That’s half of it, for me at this point, is just like, entertaining myself and finding just some little nugget of joy every day by doing something and making something out of nothing. And it might suck to most people, but to me, it’s a life force.”
On a more macro level, having not attended a basketball game (and after retiring from playing at his usual game in Seattle with college-level players due to a knee injury) for the first time in years, he says that the pandemic forced him to realize what’s important. Slowing down and focusing on the important things, he says, makes it “more meaningful when you are together.”
After a year at home (mostly in Montana), Ament is ready to get back into the swing of things. He recently went to his first show since lockdown: Brandi Carlile, who happens to be playing before Pearl Jam at both weekends of Eddie Vedder’s Ohana Fest. “The whole night was just electric and so genuine and everybody was just so fucking happy to be there.”
As for his day job — you know, Pearl Jam — Ament says that every three-to-four months during the lockdown, the band got together just as friends to reconnect. And for good reason. This is the longest stretch in the band’s decades-long career that they haven’t played live.