Pearl Jam reveal plans to make “more music”
Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder previously claimed he and the band would be stepping away from music, confessing they only had one or two albums left in them. However, they now look set to make “more music”.
Currently, the legendary rock band are in good form, they are on the brink of releasing their 12th studio album, Dark Matter, and staring a world tour in the face. However, they are also aware it’s impossible to continue working at this pace forever, but for the foreseeable future, Pearl Jam are looking to add to their expansive discography.
Nevertheless, in a recent interview, Vedder discussed the balance between his career and family life, noting, “It makes you realise you gotta be healthy. You want to be around for your kids. You want to make good records, and we might have one or two left.”
Vedder also reflected on former peers who, unfortunately, haven’t made it this far, bleakly adding, “You lean on the relationships with the people who are still around. It really hits you when you are in a situation where that person would be there. And you’re sad for them that they’re not.”
In contrast to Vedder’s pessimistic look on potential new music, guitarist Stone Gossard said on a recent appearance on Kyle Meredith With… that he and the band are excited about making more music. Gossard put this surge in energy down to their producer, Andrew Watt.
“We’re excited about making more music,” said Gossard, “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.”
After 12 albums, writing and recording an LP might become somewhat repetitive; however, with Dark Matter, Watt gave the band a new approach to writing, which got Pearl Jam excited about making music again. One of the key changes comes in the form of writing songs around the drums rather than adding drums later in the process.
“Matt Cameron sat down to warm up on his drums and just started playing that drum beat,” recalled Gossard, “Everybody looked at each other and was like, ‘That’s so amazing how he just goes in there and sits and plays that.’ And we recorded it while he was out there – he didn’t realise it – and we asked him, ‘Can we make a little loop of this?’ And we all sort of took it home.”
It remains unclear whether Gossard’s claiming the band is excited about making new music falls into the same category as Vedder proclaiming the band only had one or two albums left; however, there seems to be a different level of enthusiasm surrounding the prospect of getting back in the studio. What the band will end up doing remains to be seen.
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