JEFF AMENT (bassist, songwriter): We were trying to talk [former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer]Jack Irons into playing with us. He couldn’t do it, but we asked him to pass along our tape to any other drummers, or anyone who might be a singer. He gave it to Ed [Vedder], and within a couple of weeks, we got a tape back. And within 10 days of that Ed was up here, we were writing more songs together, and we played a show at the end of that. It was kind of on at that point.
STONE GOSSARD (rhythm guitar, songwriter): My first instinct was to say, “This is insane, we can’t play a show after a week!” I remember that at the end of the night [Soundgarden guitarist] Kim Thayil said that he loved that song “Evening Flow” [“Even Flow’]. That’s what he thought it was called, like, “Oh, I thought it was about how the evening just sort of… flows along when everybody’s having a good time…”
AMENT: Ed went home and within two weeks he had moved back up to Seattle. We were then in the mode of “Well, we’ve got to write a bunch of songs”. It wasn’t long after that we got a tour with Alice In Chains. It was kind of how we wanted it to be, we didn’t want to fuck around. I think Stone and I both knew the potential that he and I had together – but we needed to get out and play, and get better. Ed was couch surfing between the practice place and my apartment and Kelly, our manager’s house.
GOSSARD: We would fly [Vedder] up here, and on plane trips he would make little art projects on the plane, and he would give them to you. I was used to hanging out with… drunk, fucking, guys. You don’t give each other a gift of a poem and a picture you drew. That sweetness, I don’t even think I understood. Now I think, thank god for somebody as thoughtful and humble as that. They reach out to people in a way that I was just not expecting.
AMENT: We went to Michael Goldstone at Sony and said, “We don’t want to spend a lot of money making this record, we want to get out and play, do it the way we’re comfortable, doing it with somebody local.” There were two sessions at London Bridge in Seattle, probably of a day or two each, and after that we went in to record the record proper, because we had four or five new songs – “Deep”, “Jeremy” and “Porch” were probably the last three. I think we went in March or April [1991]. Ed had moved up here in November. It happened pretty quick. I remember there being a lot of snow on the ground, which is pretty rare for Seattle. We were stuck in the city, stuck in our basement.
GOSSARD: With Ten we couldn’t finish it with the guy we started it with, and we went with Tim Palmer [who mixed the record], and he was fantastic, and ultimately did a job that was great, and a lot of people responded to the record. If you listen to Ten, it’s a strange combination of influences. Nirvana was so in tune with this sort of… blues and their connection to Seattle music, that it was a much more immediate. It was easy for people to say, “This is the shit, and Pearl Jam sucks.” I understand why that happened.
AMENT: I think that any of our comments [in the press at the time], or any of Nirvana’s comments, were probably based on being asked over and over about each other. I wasn’t going to feel bad about any of that stuff, because I was in a hardcore band when Kurt [Cobain] and Krist [Novoselic] and those guys were 11 or 12. I certainly didn’t want to be in a punk rock band, because I had already been in a punk rock band. I wanted to be in a band that could do anything – like Led Zeppelin.
GOSSARD: I think he [Kurt Cobain] raised our bar. By him being critical of us, I think we said, “Well, that’s what he says about us – what are we going to do?” I think we made tougher records, and I think we thought about everything in the light of “Are we doing this because we like it? Or are we doing it because we’re sellouts?” So in a sense, he kept us on our best behaviour. I think Ed and Kurt became friends. But I think it was all about a fight between [Mudhoney’s] Mark Arm and Steve [Turner] and Jeff and I [over the demise of a previous band, Green River]. And Kurt Cobain was just a pawn in the whole thing.
AMENT: Success was both a bonding experience, and it also tore us apart a little bit, too. Everything was coming towards us so fast, and there were so many offers. Initially your response is, “Of course I’m going to go and do this MTV special, and of course I’m going to go and do this show with Neil Young, go play this New Year’s Eve show with Keith Richards.” Then all of a sudden, it was like, “I don’t even remember what we did in the last month…” there was a point where we had to say “stop”, where we had to stop talking about all this stuff. Stop making mini-movie videos, and stop doing press.
GOSSARD: That’s all of us having to trust Ed – it’s Ed saying, this is what I’ve got to do, and we’re either going to trust him or not. So that was an opportunity for us to break up, or follow his lead and see where he takes us. It’s a series of things where you think things are going to fall apart, in particular where we followed Ed’s lead, where in the long run, we’ve said, “It’s so great that we actually did that…”
AMENT: We needed to just go back to the basement and make music. There was a point where we were like, “We’re forgetting about what our initial plan was,” which was to be a really good rock band. And in order to do that, we need to write songs, we need to go down to the basement, and we need to work. We kind of shut it down and we’ve been like that ever since. And that’s probably 90 per cent of the reason that we’re still a band.
INTERVIEW: JOHN ROBINSON
Here's my question as well;
When performing certain songs such as ‘Daughter’ and ‘Betterman’ amongst others, you often include a ‘tag’ onto the end of the song and as the band continue to play you introduce a cover song...or another of your catalogue...or sometimes just vocal improvisations for the audience to participate in. My question is, Do you decide beforehand what you will do or do you evaluate the audience whilst on stage and choose what you feel will work best or they will respond to the most?
Oh and a quick bonus question;
Do you wake up every morning and think to yourself.... “How lucky am I getting to play with Mike McCready!”
"I get into a state of consciousness that I can't explain. It is about feeling and not thinking. I get positive chills and insight into things that I can't get to any other way. It is Healing of the Soul." - Mike McCready
I have a shit load of questions to ask, some of them as follows: -
1. As part of an extremely successful international rock band approaching its 20 year anniversary is there any possibility that you may write your autobiography to date recounting your journey to the present. Personally I feel this would be a fascinating read, and a great recount of your road to success, and the trials and tribulations along the way of a band that has rightly become recognised as being the most important live band on the planet. Much has been written about Pearl Jam, much of it fiction, so to have an account from you yourself, or the band collectively would be welcomed by many - especially the fans of the band. The reason I ask this question is that we have had a few extracts over the years in books such as Touch Me I'm Sick Photo Book by Charles Peterson, and as recent as the latest edition of the Deep Magazine whereby Mike McCready reveals you were close to Brad from RATM in the early days etc. Of course Pearl Jam's history will make a remarkable story, considering the overnight fame, the best selling follow up, the difficult times that followed, the media intrusion, the Bands drummer changes, the ticketmaster debacle which has been highly documented however rarely from the bands perspective, the world famous Pearl Jam live show, your participation in the vote for change tours, your public support for the Democratic party, and most of all your solid relationship as a band that has resulted in the most dedicated fanbase in rock after the grateful dead.
2. Following your huge success with your solo tour stateside, do you have any plans to bring this to the Uk for a special night somewhere like the Albert Hall. Springsteen played this on his similar jaunt on his Devils and Dust outing, and the acosutics of the venue seemed to compliment him beautifully, which led me to think the venue would be perfect for your voice. After playing there with the who previously, is this something that might be on the radar?
3. I have read in recent interviews with variosu band members that your new album has a new direction and also you have brought to the project inspiration from your into the wild writing, does this herald the return to a more acoustic sound ala No code? can you expand further on the new direction and how the new album will sound?
4. It has been reported that the album is now recorded and currently being mixed, is there any news yet as to a release date? Are we likely to hear the new music before the August Euro Jaunt?
5. Much has been said about a full world tour following the release of the new album, is this planned for 2010 rather than 2009...and is it likely to be a shorter and more spread out world tour know many of you have parental responsibilities? and how has having children affected you personally with regards to touring, writing and time spent away from Pearl Jam?
6. The band has recently released details of the back catalogue release project, which saw the brilliantly repackaged Ten rerelease, can you confirm anything further as the release program and when V's will be expected?
7. Do you have any further plans for solo work following the worldwide acclaim that came with the Into the Wild release?
8. Do the band plan to continue their bootleg release program with the 2009 dates and are there any plans to extend that to the 2007 shows that have so far not emerged.
9. How do you see the future of the band? with 18 years clocked up, and the last surviving members of the Seattle explosion, can we expect that the band will continue long into the future?
10. In recent years you seem to have become more comfortable with your fame and have embraced this in a positive way lending your voice to many a worthwhile cause....Is this all part of the learning curve of life, or can you pinpoint something that changed things for you?
*Do you approach singing a song in which the lyrics have been written by another band member in a different way than you would had you written them yourself
some of your questions are huge guys! how are they gonna be able to print them!
2006 - Astoria, Dublin, Leeds
2007 - London
2009 - London, Manchester, London
2010 - Dublin, Belfast, London
2011 - Alpine Valley x2
2012 - Isle of Wight, Manchester x2
You have had the single best instrumental songwriting team in rock music at your fingertips for the past 17 years in Stone Gossard, Jeff Ament, And Mike McCready. They have trusted your direction since the "Ten" era in things like: marketing yourselves, major songwriting duties and direction, and finalizing track listings for albums and set lists for concerts. That is a remarkable amount of trust.
Will you reciprocate and trust them to bring in an album worth of interesting full-on rock material for you to write lyrics for again like "Ten?"
or
Is Soundgarden going to get back together?
I can't decide which.
"A lot more people are capable of being big out there that just don't give themselves a chance." -Stone Gossard
So, who sent a question??? I sure did. Can't wait to see if it gets answered...
I sent in a question asking him to finally give some substantial info on the firing of their drummer, which was pretty much never formally ever mentioned, yet had the most dramatic influence in their change of sound.
ADD 5,200 to the post count you see, thank you.
*NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
*MSG 9/10/98 (backstage) *MSG 9/11/98 (backstage)
*Jones Beach 8/23/00 *Jones Beach 8/24/00 *Jones Beach 8/25/00
*Mansfield 8/29/00 *Mansfield 8/30/00 *Nassau 4/30/03 *Nissan VA 7/1/03
*Borgata 10/1/05 *Camden 5/27/06 *Camden 5/28/06 *DC 5/30/06
*VA Beach 6/17/08 *DC 6/22/08 *MSG 6/24/08 (backstage) *MSG 6/25/08
*EV DC 8/17/08 *EV Baltimore 6/15/09 *Philly 10/31/09
*Bristow VA 5/13/10 *MSG 5/20/10 *MSG 5/21/10
I sent loads of questions in... hope i get one in the mag! any ideas when this is going to be in the magazine so i know when to buy it?
2006 - Astoria, Dublin, Leeds
2007 - London
2009 - London, Manchester, London
2010 - Dublin, Belfast, London
2011 - Alpine Valley x2
2012 - Isle of Wight, Manchester x2
It's really quite simple. Ed thought Dave was a douchebag.
Asked, and answered.
Thanks Ed. I didn't know you posted on the porch... :roll:
You know CJMST3K, could you please change your avatar? It's scaring me beyond explanation. I can't fucking sleep at night! IS THERE NOTHING HOLY ON THIS PLANET ANYMORE?!?!
Relating to the topic, let's hope we get some pretty good answers.
"...Dimitri...He talks to me...'.."The Ghost of Greece..".
"..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
“..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”
Well I haven't had any emails so I guess they thought my questions sucked! nevermind.
Anyone know when the issue is out?
2006 - Astoria, Dublin, Leeds
2007 - London
2009 - London, Manchester, London
2010 - Dublin, Belfast, London
2011 - Alpine Valley x2
2012 - Isle of Wight, Manchester x2
Well I haven't had any emails so I guess they thought my questions sucked! nevermind.
Anyone know when the issue is out?
me too
+1
"I'll ride the wave,Where it takes me, I'll hold the pain, Release me"
"I'm not about to give thanks or appologize"
"Caught a bolt of lighting, cursed the day he let it go"
Comments
JEFF AMENT (bassist, songwriter): We were trying to talk [former Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer]Jack Irons into playing with us. He couldn’t do it, but we asked him to pass along our tape to any other drummers, or anyone who might be a singer. He gave it to Ed [Vedder], and within a couple of weeks, we got a tape back. And within 10 days of that Ed was up here, we were writing more songs together, and we played a show at the end of that. It was kind of on at that point.
STONE GOSSARD (rhythm guitar, songwriter): My first instinct was to say, “This is insane, we can’t play a show after a week!” I remember that at the end of the night [Soundgarden guitarist] Kim Thayil said that he loved that song “Evening Flow” [“Even Flow’]. That’s what he thought it was called, like, “Oh, I thought it was about how the evening just sort of… flows along when everybody’s having a good time…”
AMENT: Ed went home and within two weeks he had moved back up to Seattle. We were then in the mode of “Well, we’ve got to write a bunch of songs”. It wasn’t long after that we got a tour with Alice In Chains. It was kind of how we wanted it to be, we didn’t want to fuck around. I think Stone and I both knew the potential that he and I had together – but we needed to get out and play, and get better. Ed was couch surfing between the practice place and my apartment and Kelly, our manager’s house.
GOSSARD: We would fly [Vedder] up here, and on plane trips he would make little art projects on the plane, and he would give them to you. I was used to hanging out with… drunk, fucking, guys. You don’t give each other a gift of a poem and a picture you drew. That sweetness, I don’t even think I understood. Now I think, thank god for somebody as thoughtful and humble as that. They reach out to people in a way that I was just not expecting.
AMENT: We went to Michael Goldstone at Sony and said, “We don’t want to spend a lot of money making this record, we want to get out and play, do it the way we’re comfortable, doing it with somebody local.” There were two sessions at London Bridge in Seattle, probably of a day or two each, and after that we went in to record the record proper, because we had four or five new songs – “Deep”, “Jeremy” and “Porch” were probably the last three. I think we went in March or April [1991]. Ed had moved up here in November. It happened pretty quick. I remember there being a lot of snow on the ground, which is pretty rare for Seattle. We were stuck in the city, stuck in our basement.
GOSSARD: With Ten we couldn’t finish it with the guy we started it with, and we went with Tim Palmer [who mixed the record], and he was fantastic, and ultimately did a job that was great, and a lot of people responded to the record. If you listen to Ten, it’s a strange combination of influences. Nirvana was so in tune with this sort of… blues and their connection to Seattle music, that it was a much more immediate. It was easy for people to say, “This is the shit, and Pearl Jam sucks.” I understand why that happened.
AMENT: I think that any of our comments [in the press at the time], or any of Nirvana’s comments, were probably based on being asked over and over about each other. I wasn’t going to feel bad about any of that stuff, because I was in a hardcore band when Kurt [Cobain] and Krist [Novoselic] and those guys were 11 or 12. I certainly didn’t want to be in a punk rock band, because I had already been in a punk rock band. I wanted to be in a band that could do anything – like Led Zeppelin.
GOSSARD: I think he [Kurt Cobain] raised our bar. By him being critical of us, I think we said, “Well, that’s what he says about us – what are we going to do?” I think we made tougher records, and I think we thought about everything in the light of “Are we doing this because we like it? Or are we doing it because we’re sellouts?” So in a sense, he kept us on our best behaviour. I think Ed and Kurt became friends. But I think it was all about a fight between [Mudhoney’s] Mark Arm and Steve [Turner] and Jeff and I [over the demise of a previous band, Green River]. And Kurt Cobain was just a pawn in the whole thing.
AMENT: Success was both a bonding experience, and it also tore us apart a little bit, too. Everything was coming towards us so fast, and there were so many offers. Initially your response is, “Of course I’m going to go and do this MTV special, and of course I’m going to go and do this show with Neil Young, go play this New Year’s Eve show with Keith Richards.” Then all of a sudden, it was like, “I don’t even remember what we did in the last month…” there was a point where we had to say “stop”, where we had to stop talking about all this stuff. Stop making mini-movie videos, and stop doing press.
GOSSARD: That’s all of us having to trust Ed – it’s Ed saying, this is what I’ve got to do, and we’re either going to trust him or not. So that was an opportunity for us to break up, or follow his lead and see where he takes us. It’s a series of things where you think things are going to fall apart, in particular where we followed Ed’s lead, where in the long run, we’ve said, “It’s so great that we actually did that…”
AMENT: We needed to just go back to the basement and make music. There was a point where we were like, “We’re forgetting about what our initial plan was,” which was to be a really good rock band. And in order to do that, we need to write songs, we need to go down to the basement, and we need to work. We kind of shut it down and we’ve been like that ever since. And that’s probably 90 per cent of the reason that we’re still a band.
INTERVIEW: JOHN ROBINSON
Here's my question as well;
When performing certain songs such as ‘Daughter’ and ‘Betterman’ amongst others, you often include a ‘tag’ onto the end of the song and as the band continue to play you introduce a cover song...or another of your catalogue...or sometimes just vocal improvisations for the audience to participate in. My question is, Do you decide beforehand what you will do or do you evaluate the audience whilst on stage and choose what you feel will work best or they will respond to the most?
Oh and a quick bonus question;
Do you wake up every morning and think to yourself.... “How lucky am I getting to play with Mike McCready!”
1. As part of an extremely successful international rock band approaching its 20 year anniversary is there any possibility that you may write your autobiography to date recounting your journey to the present. Personally I feel this would be a fascinating read, and a great recount of your road to success, and the trials and tribulations along the way of a band that has rightly become recognised as being the most important live band on the planet. Much has been written about Pearl Jam, much of it fiction, so to have an account from you yourself, or the band collectively would be welcomed by many - especially the fans of the band. The reason I ask this question is that we have had a few extracts over the years in books such as Touch Me I'm Sick Photo Book by Charles Peterson, and as recent as the latest edition of the Deep Magazine whereby Mike McCready reveals you were close to Brad from RATM in the early days etc. Of course Pearl Jam's history will make a remarkable story, considering the overnight fame, the best selling follow up, the difficult times that followed, the media intrusion, the Bands drummer changes, the ticketmaster debacle which has been highly documented however rarely from the bands perspective, the world famous Pearl Jam live show, your participation in the vote for change tours, your public support for the Democratic party, and most of all your solid relationship as a band that has resulted in the most dedicated fanbase in rock after the grateful dead.
2. Following your huge success with your solo tour stateside, do you have any plans to bring this to the Uk for a special night somewhere like the Albert Hall. Springsteen played this on his similar jaunt on his Devils and Dust outing, and the acosutics of the venue seemed to compliment him beautifully, which led me to think the venue would be perfect for your voice. After playing there with the who previously, is this something that might be on the radar?
3. I have read in recent interviews with variosu band members that your new album has a new direction and also you have brought to the project inspiration from your into the wild writing, does this herald the return to a more acoustic sound ala No code? can you expand further on the new direction and how the new album will sound?
4. It has been reported that the album is now recorded and currently being mixed, is there any news yet as to a release date? Are we likely to hear the new music before the August Euro Jaunt?
5. Much has been said about a full world tour following the release of the new album, is this planned for 2010 rather than 2009...and is it likely to be a shorter and more spread out world tour know many of you have parental responsibilities? and how has having children affected you personally with regards to touring, writing and time spent away from Pearl Jam?
6. The band has recently released details of the back catalogue release project, which saw the brilliantly repackaged Ten rerelease, can you confirm anything further as the release program and when V's will be expected?
7. Do you have any further plans for solo work following the worldwide acclaim that came with the Into the Wild release?
8. Do the band plan to continue their bootleg release program with the 2009 dates and are there any plans to extend that to the 2007 shows that have so far not emerged.
9. How do you see the future of the band? with 18 years clocked up, and the last surviving members of the Seattle explosion, can we expect that the band will continue long into the future?
10. In recent years you seem to have become more comfortable with your fame and have embraced this in a positive way lending your voice to many a worthwhile cause....Is this all part of the learning curve of life, or can you pinpoint something that changed things for you?
2007 - London
2009 - London, Manchester, London
2010 - Dublin, Belfast, London
2011 - Alpine Valley x2
2012 - Isle of Wight, Manchester x2
"Do you have Chris Shifflett's phone number? Please ring him and ask him if Me First & The Gimme Gimmes want to go to Manchester & Berlin in August."
Will you reciprocate and trust them to bring in an album worth of interesting full-on rock material for you to write lyrics for again like "Ten?"
or
Is Soundgarden going to get back together?
I can't decide which.
I sent in a question asking him to finally give some substantial info on the firing of their drummer, which was pretty much never formally ever mentioned, yet had the most dramatic influence in their change of sound.
*NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
*MSG 9/10/98 (backstage) *MSG 9/11/98 (backstage)
*Jones Beach 8/23/00 *Jones Beach 8/24/00 *Jones Beach 8/25/00
*Mansfield 8/29/00 *Mansfield 8/30/00 *Nassau 4/30/03 *Nissan VA 7/1/03
*Borgata 10/1/05 *Camden 5/27/06 *Camden 5/28/06 *DC 5/30/06
*VA Beach 6/17/08 *DC 6/22/08 *MSG 6/24/08 (backstage) *MSG 6/25/08
*EV DC 8/17/08 *EV Baltimore 6/15/09 *Philly 10/31/09
*Bristow VA 5/13/10 *MSG 5/20/10 *MSG 5/21/10
2007 - London
2009 - London, Manchester, London
2010 - Dublin, Belfast, London
2011 - Alpine Valley x2
2012 - Isle of Wight, Manchester x2
oh yeah because the answer would be really worth reading
You know CJMST3K, could you please change your avatar? It's scaring me beyond explanation. I can't fucking sleep at night! IS THERE NOTHING HOLY ON THIS PLANET ANYMORE?!?!
Relating to the topic, let's hope we get some pretty good answers.
Missoula 6/20/98
Alpine Valley 6/26/98 & 6/27/98
Alpine Valley 10/8/00
Champaign 4/23/03
Alpine Valley 6/21/03
Missoula 8/29/05
Chicago 5/16 & 17/06
Grand Rapids 5/19/06
Summerfest 6/29/06 & 6/30/06
Tampa 6/12/08
Chicago 8/23/09
Indy 5/7/10
Alpine Valley x2 2011
Wrigley 2013
Milwaukee 14
Telluride 16
"..That's One Happy Fuckin Ghost.."
“..That came up on the Pillow Case...This is for the Greek, With Our Apologies.....”
boring
Anyone know when the issue is out?
2007 - London
2009 - London, Manchester, London
2010 - Dublin, Belfast, London
2011 - Alpine Valley x2
2012 - Isle of Wight, Manchester x2
+1
"I'm not about to give thanks or appologize"
"Caught a bolt of lighting, cursed the day he let it go"
halszka123@op.pl
Congratulations!