Eddie Vedder recalls hostile moment with producer Andrew Watt while making new Pearl Jam album
Last month, Pearl Jam returned with their latest studio album, Dark Matter, their first record with superstar producer Andrew Watt at the helm.
Watt had previously worked with singer Eddie Vedder on his 2022 solo effort, Gigaton. The producer has established himself as a favoured accomplice for rock royalty over recent years, notably teaming up with iconic acts such as Ozzy Osbourne and The Rolling Stones.
Nevertheless, despite Vedder previously having experience dealing with Watt, the creation of Dark Matter wasn’t always smooth sailing. However, it pushed Pearl Jam to their limit from a creative standpoint, and the pain was worthwhile due to the eventual outcome.
In a new interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, Vedder admitted: “Andrew would, to be honest, he’d start to piss me off a little bit. And then I’d try to do something really good, just to say like, ‘Fuck you. Back off.’”
Tracing his back to one specific day during the recording process, Vedder recalled, “I said, ‘Look, I need tonight off… I need to sleep, or I need to do something… I’m trying to buy myself frigging eight hours or 10 hours… I just need to clear.’ Because we’re already 15 days in a row of just, go, go, go.”
At this stage, Vedder had asked Watt to work on a song with Mike McCready rather than him, to which Watt replied: “I get it. I totally get it… I’m with you. I will stay an extra three weeks, whatever it takes.” The singer then claimed he said how “it’s going good – but something’s going to break here” if things carry on going down the same path.
In a bid to stop further conflict, Watt offered the following resolution: “So how about this? You go home at ten o’clock, but before you go, if you get the bridge on [one song] and then the outro on the other… And stay with us here; we’re going to record that other thing. I was like, ‘All right, give me ten minutes.’ I went in and wrote and sang it, and I just wanted to get the fuck out… I just needed eight hours to myself.”
Following the incident, Vedder didn’t feel he needed to offer Watt an apology because it “was part of being pushed, and we should be pushed,” which ultimately benefitted the album. He explained: “Maybe when you’re starting to feel a little shaky and vulnerable or whatever, that could be the opening to access some of the deeper shit that might be normally closed down.”
Elaborating on how the incident was a blessing in disguise, Vedder concluded: “So to have Andrew gave us a fire, it wasn’t we were fighting with him – it was good to be pushed. And I don’t think some of it would have happened quite the way it did if we hadn’t been.”
Meanwhile, Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard recently revealed plans for the band to get back into the studio to make “more music” despite the recent release of Dark Matter.
He remarked: “I think this record was an energising experience for everyone. It was a little bit of a journey, but working with Andrew [Watt]… I think Andrew really made a difference by his natural nature as a producer and as a fan. It would be cool to do more.”
