Interwiev: Eddie Vedder, Grunge Survivor

PEARL JAM
PRETZEL AT TIFFANY'S

      "I'm so proud of all the lyrics... I was playing 'Nothing As It Seems' to a friend and he was reading the words as well and told me how great they were. I thanked him wholeheartedly and it wasn't even mine, it's Jeff's work!" (Laughs aloud.)

      A youngish passport officer at the New York's airport, upon being told that my visit was to interview this Seattle band, summed it up with "Oh, they are still together!?" Yes, PEARL JAM are still at it and have a new album ready, entitled 'Binaural'. And, without any doubt getting better, more up-beat, more adventurous... The band's always had a problem with their Garbo-esque desire to be left alone in-between releases which, at this time of high hype'n'visibility required career standard, amounts to a subversion of the holy law of self-advertising. One excuse could be that this band was never really associated with any genre...

      Having hitched a ride on the steamroller that grunge was, Pearl Jam are the only Seattle-wave survivors from the beginning of the last decade. What even more amazing is that they are still with the same core members, the only changes occurring behind the drumkit; the current occupier of the stool is Matt Cameron, once a power-house behind the sadly disbanded Soundgarden, who is only a temporary replacement: "I'm simply working on this project. It's not signed in blood and they wouldn't want me; I'm very proud of the record we did and am really looking forward to touring it."

     Matt being a stand-in is not only due to his project Wellwater Conspiracy (its third album is out in June) but because the regular Jack Irons is unavailable at the moment, although the band members refuse to discuss his absence. He was missing during the recording of the sixth studio album - a supplant to 'Ten' (1991), 'Vs' (1993), 'Vitalogy' (1994),  'No Code' (1996) and 'Yield' (1998), plus a selection of live cuts 'On Two Legs' (1998) - and finds them in ever expending musical scope as well as being less of a angst-ridden and more of a positive statement in a rocking mould. 'Binaural' refers to two ears or two channels rather than any binary language being employed.

      Pearl Jam have always relied on the traditional rock values, more akin to Neil Young than MC5 and The Stooges, and it was no surprise that they recorded 'Mirror Ball' (1995) and played live with the Young-man, minus their singer (albeit contributing lyrics to 'Fallen Angel' on the same album). Pearl Jam, sans Vedder again, had a part in the Seattle-based grunge-movie 'Singles' (1992) by 'acting' Matt Dillon character's backing band. That was then and this is... the cyber-age!

      The band visited New York to appear at the David Letterman's tele-show to perform the single 'Nothing As It Seems', a Pink Floyd-pastiche with an unmistakable homage to Dave Gilmour's guitar playing skills. The song had also been posted on their Website for two weeks of listening, without possibility to download, a month before hitting the store's shelves. Everything is known among this dot-generation (@-gen?) and weeks before the albums official release the word was out that a song 'Ritual' has been inspired by the Columbine's multiply shooting fatalities of a year ago. There was a big outcry that the band was making money from others' suffering!

      The writer of the song, guitarist Stone Gossard tried to defend his artistic freedom by describing the song as "A cartoony look at male ego. Anger, violence and what makes people snap. I tried to think about what those guys (killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold) may have been thinking the night before." (On the 20th of April, 1999, the two went to school, fatally shooting 12 students and one teacher and wounding 23 others before committing suicides.)

      Afternoon after their Letterman date we sat with three members, guitarist Mike McCready, drummer Matt Cameron and singer Eddie Vedder and the last one was a real revelation: very positive, very friendly and with a sense of humour, often dry and self-deprecating... You could have knocked me down with a clef! The public persona of Eddie is that of a loner, a recluse, a silent type... Like a pretzel, twisted and interlocked, closed within itself and without an apparent starting point.

      While Gossard and bassist Jeff Ament were busy answering somebody else's questions, we started interrogation with their appearance at the Letterman show which ended with the singer presenting the chat-host with a brand new guitar?!

      Eddie Vedder: It was his birthday and very important time for him because he almost died. He had a quintuple bypass recently and still managed to get back on the air within weeks!? I used to be a security guard when the show went on air at 12.30am (it is now pre-recorded in the afternoon for broadcast at 11.30pm), and if I had done all my work, I'd watch him. And then he almost left the planet and last night was really an emotional investment for me.

      "It was one of our rare appearances because we don't do that much... Television is a very strange situation because you do a little bit of soundchecking, a bit of camera rehearsal and jump off a bloke at once. It is unusual and there are people who are good at it, do it all the time, turn it on cue but we are not like that. We need to warm up a bit to really get going but it is good to do it from the cold, be challenged once in a while."

      There are a quite a few songs you haven't authored words for on 'Binaural'; don't you find it difficult to relate and interpret such lyrics due to the fact that you don't hang out with the other members as much as in the past and thus, supposedly, know them less than you used to?

      EV: We still spend a lot of quality time together and I can easily relate... Let's say I wouldn't like to see them any more than I do. I'm glad to be working most of the time we are together because it keeps us focused but there is plenty of downtime between 2-and-10 (hours) on a studio day... Studio is more of a hang-out place, we just happen to record there, it's our personal space, it's Stone's place.      

      "It is a very interesting question but it doesn't correlate to the interpretation of a song... I thought they all were of a high quality and there were few songs I didn't understand and that's why they didn't get recorded. These I am comfortable with and I understood them. There are also some song I couldn't have written, like 'Thin Air'; Stone wrote it, it is about a new love and being in new relationship which I haven't been in a while. It was Stone's situation and maybe I shouldn't be telling you this... It is a tremendous, honest song even it is very traditional with the 1950s arrangement and feel but I thought it was great. All the melody was there and lyrics, everything which I find exciting because it allowed me to get on with my homework because I didn't need to change anything there."

      "I'm so proud of all the lyrics... I was playing 'Nothing As It Seems' to a friend and he was reading the words as well and told me how great they were. I thanked him wholeheartedly and it wasn't even mine, it's Jeff's work!" (Laughs aloud.)

      You reluctance to play-the-game is demonstrated again with the first single that bypasses a more Pearl Jam-y song 'Light Year' for 'Nothing As It Seems'?! And, who is the fan of Pink Floyd?     

      M: That'll be me! I was thinking about that all the time because I love him. Dave Gilmour is one of my great guitar favourites, ever, and Pink Floyd is one of my favourites bands. 'Wish You Were Here'...

      MC: 'Pipers At The Gates Of Dawn, man, the only Floyd album! Syd Barrett, I'm partial to him!

      M: I wanted to be that cool but I prefer the later stuff. Because of Gilmour, I love how he plays, kinda slow but wonderfully sweet notes in a song that might be very dark. I wanted to steal that, pay homage to him, or whatever, just to rip your head off!

      MC: Do you like my Nick Mason drumming style?

      Well, he wouldn't agree with that considering himself not to be in the league of greats...

      MC: I disagree, he is such a craftsman who can produce big things without much effort!

      EV: It's a good sound! And, hopefully, will sound good on the radio because that is really the only way our music gets to people, it's not in the living rooms because it is not on TV... It lets people become aware that our music is coming out. Which often hasn't been the case; I have impression that even our fans didn't know that 'No Code' was out at the time... I talked to people who love our music and they weren't aware it existed, to a certain extent. I have no idea how did that happen and there is a lot of it out there, there is plenty of media pollution and things get lost. There is an information overload and my personal feeling is - I don't want to add to that. We meekly wave our collective hand and try to attract attention and I have no idea how 'Nothing As It Seems' will sound on the radio next to...

      ... Bloodhound Gang? 

      EV: I don't know... I don't know what's on the radio because for the past year I couldn't listen to anything but what we were working on. Singles market is a different world we don't function in. I can't say we are savvy with that world and how to manipulate an audience and record buying public... It is a strange thing that really doesn't interest us because we are not in the business to fool people... I'd really like people to hear the record, I think there is a lot of great things in there and I'm so happy to be able to say it and I didn't think it would be that way. We've always been proud of all our records and the theory is that 'Light Years' will be on the radio at some point.

      "And then, there are plenty of records I need to catch up on, the ones that are not on the radio... There are few great small bands out of Olympia, Quasi and Sleater-Kinney... The Melvins, Buckethead, I'm trying to catch up with a lot; I thought the (ex-Soundgarden's Chris) Cornell's record was great; we were in the middle of recording and I was delighted not as much vocally, because he is Cornell and you can't touch him, but lyrically he offered up a challenge. That is exciting and it is good to have people to play off and especially of your generation... I thought it would be interesting to see what the play would have been if Kurt (Cobain) was still around..."

      Until recently your colleague Gossard ran a label, Loosegroove; did you like anything on its roster, the aloof-and-unorthodox Critters Buggin per chance?

      EV: Not really, I used to listen a lot to Brad records just to make sure I wasn't threatened! But the label's roster wasn't up my alley... My favourite band is Deadmoon and live, you gotta see them. If you don't like them I'll pay your double... Oh, you get free tickets?!"

      Are you a fan of (wife's band) Hovercraft?

      EV: No, not really. It's a bit too esoteric for my taste but I have to be diplomatic otherwise my wife would kill me! Beth (working as Sadie 7 in the outfit) is a very strong individual with a clear vision of what her music is like and how it should function...

      Being married to a fellow musician, do you bring work home?

      EV: You can't imagine how much! It is our lives, everything, it is the fabric of our being. And we often disagree; I'm much less righteous than she is. But she can afford to be because her music is more underground... She got me there, what can I do? I hide my music around the house, until it is done; I can't stand to be criticised while is the work-in-progress, only after the final mastering. The exception being 'Light Years', I played it to few people the day after we recorded it. I felt there was something there and I wanted to see whether other people would pick on it.

      "The song was written in a day and it is one of those things you can listen back and almost not even remember doing it because of the content, the subject matter... It was really rewarding to play it back few times and get other's feedback..."     

      There were rumours of you becoming a father and a line in 'Thin Air', 'There is light... When my baby's in my arms' could be construed as wishful thinking?

      EV: No, not really... We are still arguing about music, we are sleeping in separate bedrooms due to our different opinions!

      Matt, seeing you perform with the band you looked an integral part rather than a hired hand?

      MC: Of sure, that's the way I work, I immerse myself and that's the only way I know how to work. Right now it is not permanent but it could be a long term, we just don't know... My priorities are a little bit different than what they were when I was 25 years old; I have my own band, Wellwater Conspiracy, I consider it my day-job. Pearl Jam is a really great opportunity to keep playing at the really big level with a band that I really like. I think everyone is just happy with the situation and I don't really wan spoil it by saying 'I'm gonna do this' or 'I'm not gonna do this', I just take it one day at the time.

      And you wrote music for one of the most energetic songs on the album?

      MC: Thank you, and Eddie came up with a great lyric and vocal to 'Evacuation'... When you give Eddie a piece of music, he is bound to come up with something really great and powerful!

      M: I was going to write more and even tour with The Rockfords but I got fucked up on drugs and had to check myself into a rehab. I did The Rockfords project about year-and-a-half ago, but I had to get myself together again, it was going downhill... Luckily, today everything is fine.

      MC: But he has developed a horrible chocolate habit, eating it all the time... We'll make sure that we visit  Belgium on this tour, they are supposed to make the best chocolate in the world!

      M: I get all excited just by hearing about chocolate!

      After many a year of being absent from the stages in the European theatre, you are coming over; do you still look forward to touring?

      EV: Absolutely, we still find it as exciting as at the beginning of our career! Last summer I was going to travel and meet up with Beth (Hovercraft were touring Europe at the time), I was really feeling isolated in America... I absolutely look forward to touring, as the first time we ever went out! It lets me clear up my head and focus on performing, it is a positive energy surfacing and this is going to be a positive tour. We are in this for the experience, you know.

      M: The Rockfords might tour in the end after we complete the Pearl Jam dates. The Rockfords is something I'm very proud of and am very glad that a lot of people heard about it. It's not what Pearl Jam are doing and not a major release...

      During periods of the band's inactivity, does it ever feel that you might not get back together, after all?

      EV: No, because we always arrange to meet in a due course. Playing in this band is something special and we are always very eager to get back to it. I suppose there is always a possibility but I don't see it happening anytime soon. Such periods of separation are very important; spending time apart we all  do different things and they all contribute to when we are back with the band. We used to hang out together all the time and that would deny us any surprises when getting back together to work on music. When we regroup now we all are full of expectations and are ready to be surprised by the rest.

      You all work on different projects while Eddie remains largely out of parallel music making?

      M: Partially true because Eddie keeps on making music but it is not for massive consumption. He spends a lot of time in a studio but it is not for release... I believe that we all benefit from all these different projects, mainly because we all find ourselves in different situations, not the one that we've all been in so many times before. You have to make decisions which you might have faced before but it is different because other people are involved. I truly believe that all these makes a  band stronger and more ready to work. One learns about a new method of working, gets a new sense of situation, becomes aware of a different perspective and brings it all back. Yeah, Eddie might not appear to be doing as much as the rest of us but he is constantly working on music in his own place.

      Was there ever a time when you thought that Pearl Jam might disintegrate?

      M: Yes, there were two distinct points of utter vulnerability in our career: one was around our breakthrough success and the second after Kurt Cobain died. Eddie was having a difficult time and wasn't really set on continuing. He seemed to be happy away from it all, almost living in isolation.

      Have you ever had any doubt about not grabbing the opportunity to take over the Nirvana- vacated place atop the rock heap?

      M: No, never, for the simple reason that that wouldn't have been us. We needed to remain true to ourselves, to maintain our own credibility and honesty, not chase after something that was of no interest to us. Eddie is not that kind of person, he's never longed to be a role model.

      Everybody would like to know how long it will last?

      EV: We'd like to know as well, but - who can know? Nobody can tell you anything for certain... There is no way to set a time limit to anything; the only thing I can say is that it will last as long as it feels right. As long as we think it is worthwhile and enjoy it. When that stops, there will be no reason to continue, at all. I feel that would be the only honest thing to do. One thing is for certain, we have one more album left under our (record) deal; I'm not saying we gonna split up or anything, we just don't know what will happen after we complete our contractual obligation...

      One of your favourite pastime was going to see Seattle Supersonics basketball team and even recorded a fan-only song for the team?

      M: I still do have a season ticket but I haven't been lately because I was busy. Unfortunately we are not doing that great and can hardly wait for the next season, I feel it is going to be much better than this one.

      One of the most colourful players, Dennis Rodman, l'enfant terrible of the game, is a great fan of Pearl Jam and, according to his autobiography, 'Bad As I Wanna Be', your music saved him from committing suicide on several occasions...

      M: I'm glad he got something out of it; he is a great character but hasn't played lately because of his bizarre behaviour at times.

      MC: I've seen some things performed by him and he came on stage few times... During the 1998 tour (of America) he came on stage in Houston, blind drunk, and wouldn't leave the stage! He hung around for something like 8 songs before being escorted off!?     

      M: He was mad and we were sort of annoyed with that but he apologised the following night blaming it on being out of it. He certainly was crazy on the night... But, he likes our music so much, that's very cool.

Sasha Stojanovic
Copyright MiM