Interview with Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam (NY Rock)

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^{Eddie Vedder in concert, Barcelona, Spain, May 25, 2000
Photo © Pearl Jam and Liz}

Pearl Jam has had the misfortune of being in the media spotlight, as of late, for all the wrong reasons. Most recently, nine fans lost their lives during the band’s concert at the Roskilde Festival in Denmark, June 30, 2000, when the crowd surged toward the stage. July 26, 2000, Pearl Jam released a statement concerning the tragedies and investigation. They released another statement August 2, 2000.

In recent years, other media accounts have accused singer/songwriter Eddie Vedder of living in seclusion. Although he performed some solo stints and made some guest appearances with various musicians, among them the legendary Neil Young, fans began to wonder whether Pearl Jam would release another album. There had not been much new material from the band since 1998, until the release of their latest album Binaural (Epic) in May of 2000.

Moreover, since their inception, Pearl Jam has raised the ire of certain members of the entertainment industry by being notoriously uncooperative with the demands of their label, their public relations company and, of course, Ticketmaster.

Prior to the Roskilde tragedy, NY Rock freelancer Gabriella met up with Vedder to discuss these and other matters with the frontman of the seminal Seattle band.

NYROCK:

Critics could claim you try to keep people from your music. For instance, your single "Nothing As It Seems" is five and a half minutes, far too long for radio. And truth be told, although some bands would probably build a career around a song that has the quality of "Nothing As It Seems," compared to the rest of Binaural, it seems to be the weakest link of an otherwise strong album.

EDDIE:

^{Eddie Vedder in concert, Wales, June 6, 2000
Photo © Pearl Jam and Liz}

We're not trying to put people off deliberately. It's not as if we want to stop them from buying our albums. You know as well as I do that it doesn't work. You can't stop them from buying albums, just as you can't make the audience buy albums. But we don't want to lead them on. For example, if we'd have a song with some earworm quality and great hook lines as a single, a lot of people would think the album is like the single and they'd be disappointed. OK, a lot of people would like that, especially the record companies wouldn't mind if we'd sell more albums this way. But for us, it just wouldn't be right. It's not the way we do it. It's not Pearl Jam.

NYROCK:

I'm curious, what is Pearl Jam then?

EDDIE:

We'd rather challenge our fans and make them listen to our songs than give them something that's easy to digest. There is a lot of music out there that is very easy to digest but we never wanted to be part of it.

NYROCK:

And you're known for your dislike of interviews and PR....

EDDIE:

I know our record company would like nothing better than to do a huge PR campaign, a real marketing bash, but I can't even stand the thought. It makes me physically sick just to think about it.

NYROCK:

Do journalists bother you or do you dislike giving interviews?

EDDIE:

I don't mind talking to people. I don't mind giving interviews so much, but the way it's all organized and regulated. That's almost like being in the army. I don't like rules and regulations.

NYROCK:

On the last track of the album one can hear you frustratingly hacking away on your typewriter. Rumor has it that you were suffering from a severe writer's block....

EDDIE:

I almost went completely crazy. I kept changing the lyrics and then changed them again, just to write another version. I ended up with several versions and then used the best and just put them together and that worked surprisingly well. But before I did that, I thought it would never happen, I'd never be able to finish it.

NYROCK:

Knowing writer's block it sounds pretty hellish to me....

EDDIE:

It was my own personal hell. I had a great time but at the same time the lyrics just didn't come together and I was wrecking my head. Somehow I still can't believe that it's all done and over with, that I finally got the lyrics together.

NYROCK:

Many bands would give an arm and a leg for success, but you seem to dislike it....

EDDIE:

I don't hate success, but I never wanted to be the spokesperson for my generation. So I just kind of sat it out for almost seven years and decided to wait it out and see if it would pass. I like music. Finally writing songs and performing is fun again. But I would like it a lot better if I could just do it, then walk away and be anonymous again.

NYROCK:

You're the president of the Pete Townshend fan club and perform his songs with your cover band, just for fun or in little clubs in Seattle....

EDDIE:

^{Eddie Vedder, Verona, Italy,
June 20, 2000
Photo © Pearl Jam and Liz}

Just the other day I thought, "When Pete was my age he had already written Tommy," and that made it much harder to come up with good lyrics. I was always comparing my lyrics to great lyrics. There's so much junk on the radio – I still don't have MTV and I really don't miss it – that I set myself very high standards. I wanted to avoid bad lyrics at all costs. I'm not even talking about the Backstreet Boys or NSYNC; they're something completely else. I think they're in a world, or maybe even a universe, of their own. I'm talking about a lot of rock bands don't seem to have anything to say and they just don't move me.

NYROCK:

You also seem to have some issues with the U.S. ....

EDDIE:

I'd like to be proud of my country. There are a lot of great people in this country and I meet people every day that I truly admire. But, on the other hand, there are also so many idiots in this country. We're one of the super powers, but what good does it do? We may have the biggest weapons, but sometimes I think the smallest brains control them.

NYROCK:

You still use a typewriter instead of a computer to write your lyrics and from what you say, it seems as if you're vehemently anti-technology....

EDDIE:

I think technology went wrong somewhere. It just went into the wrong direction. Instead of helping us and freeing us, it seems to enslave us. That's what I talk about in "Grievance," about the dangers and what a lot of people don't see or don't want to see. There's the line. For every tool they lend us a loss of independence and it's true. Everything happens so fast. The technology is supposed to make everything simple, easy. It tries to make us believe that it's some sort of freedom we have. Of course, it's easy and comfortable if you can do all your shopping via the internet, if you don't need to leave the house to do anything. But, on the other hand, what is going to happen? You lose touch with people. You don't meet new people except on the internet and whatever you do can be traced. They know everything about you; they know what you buy; they know which papers you read, how long you stay on a page and they look at your statistics and they're going to offer you the products they think you might buy – most of them you don't really need anyway. What is going to happen to individuality?

NYROCK:

How do you feel that you've lost against Ticketmaster? I do admire you on the courage to take them on, but it is sad that now you are forced to work with them again....

EDDIE:

OK, we might have lost the war and we're forced to work with them again, but, on the other hand, I really do think it was a wake-up call for a lot of people and they started to notice what was going on. Especially on the East Coast, there are a lot of independent promoters who don't work with Ticketmaster and we're trying to work with them as much as we can. It might not be a lot that we have achieved, but at least we tried and we did our best.

Editor’s note: Pearl Jam are singer Eddie Vedder, guitarists Stone Gossard and Mike McCready, bassist Jeff Ament and drummer Matt Cameron. The band has cancelled the remaining dates of their European tour. They are scheduled to begin a North American tour August 3 in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

August 2000

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Vedder:
"I never wanted to be the spokesperson for my generation. So I just kind of sat it out for almost seven years."

Vedder on the U.S.:
"We may have the biggest weapons, but sometimes I think the smallest brains control them."

Vedder on their battle with Ticketmaster:
"It was a wake-up call for a lot of people and they started to notice what was going on."

Vedder on music:
"There's so much junk on the radio. I still don't have MTV."