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Mike McCready is writing a rock opera about the triumphs and tragedies of grunge
"I'm just in the middle of it," he says. “I’m working on a script and I've got about 18 songs that I'm working on, and I'm singing on it. It's been a long journey."
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In a new interview with Guitar World, PEARL JAM guitarist Mike McCready spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for the band's new studio album. The follow-up to 2020's "Gigaton" is being recorded with Andrew Watt, the multi-Grammy-winning producer who has worked with Dua Lipa, Post Malone and Justin Bieber, as well as Ozzy Osbourne, Eddie Vedder and THE ROLLING STONES.
"It's just about finished," McCready said of the new effort. "I think there's a few tweaks here and there that have to happen, and we're probably not going to have anything out this year. But Andrew Watt brought an energy and a youthfulness and a great ear to us that I think we needed. He kind of kicked us in our asses a little bit. Like, 'Okay, let's go, let's go, let's go, let's go go go!' He's the most hyper guy I've ever met besides myself. But he's a giant fan of our band, and he's a really smoking guitar player in his own right. He got us into a room and just pushed us as hard as we could be pushed."
Ah yeah!
Last month, Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready unexpectedly shared a live performance of an acoustic track titled Crying Moon that he says he wrote as a tribute to his late friend, and former Temple Of The Dog bandmate, Chris Cornell.
Introducing the song, McCready references the fact that a number of his friends in the Seattle music scene passed away, and says that death in the city's artistic community became "a horrible cliché".
Alongside the clip, McCready posted: "This is a song I wrote as a goodbye to my friend Chris Cornell. Crying Moon is part of my process in dealing with his death. Chris opened up my world to new heights when he let me play on Temple Of The Dog. When he agreed to sing on Mad Season as part of the Sonic Evolution show with the Seattle Symphony, I literally jumped for joy! The Temple Of The Dog reunion at that show inspired us to tour, which was amazing. Playing War Pigs live with Chris was a dream. I love and miss him."
Now, in a new interview with Guitar World, McCready has revealed that Crying Moon will feature in a 'rock opera' that he's writing about the Seattle scene, which will make reference to the passing of Soundgarden's frontman.
"I look at him as one of the greatest singers and songwriters of all time, aside from being a friend," McCready says of Cornell in the interview. "I love Chris and I'm working on a little project about the Seattle scene and a musical kind of rock opera thing. He's part of it."
McCready says that Crying Moon will appear in his rock opera, which he currently envisages as "a record and maybe some sort of stage/play thing."
"I'm just in the middle of it," he says. “I’m working on a script and I've got about 18 songs that I'm working on, and I'm singing on it. It's been a long journey."
https://www.guitarworld.com/features/pearl-jam-mike-mccready-signature-fender-stratocaster
Speaking of Soundgarden, you recently shared a performance of a new original song, Crying Moon, in tribute to Chris Cornell. What did you take from Chris as a guitarist and musician?
“Chris is someone who I think about every day, and I’m still in loss and sad, but proud that I got to know him at one time. I look at it in a very sentimental way that he allowed me to play on that Temple of the Dog record – it was my first big thing I was ever part of, and it was a dream come true. And I’ll always love him for that.
“He didn’t have to let me play on that record – they could have done anything. We were talking about Reach Down earlier, and he was very encouraging, like, ’Hey, just go crazy and solo.’ I was very nervous and didn’t want to do that, and when he encouraged me to do that, to go crazy, I went for it.
“And of course, I look at him as one of the greatest singers and songwriters of all time, aside from being a friend. So I look at him as a fan, too – I would go to Soundgarden rehearsals and I’d bring them pizza just so I could watch them rehearse. I really did! I was kind of their fanboy. So I probably irritated them a lot, I’m sure.
“I love Chris. I’m working on a little project about the Seattle scene and a musical rock opera thing. He’s part of it. [Crying Moon] is one of the songs that’s maybe going to be part of it, just an acoustic version of it.”
That’s a serious undertaking. Is there anything else you can reveal about that project at this time?
“I can’t right now because I’m just in the middle of it. I’m working on a script and I’ve got about 18 songs that I’m working on, and I’m singing on it. It’s been a long journey.
Is that a record or something for the theater?
“I hope so. A record and maybe some sort of stage/play thing, I’m not sure. It’s just from my experience in the Seattle music scene.”
Eddie Vedder Düsseldorf 06/30/2019
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