Eddie Vedder - Earthling

[liebzz]

I’m all fairness, I read twice on here where Eddie got lost in his own metaphor, but yeah we don’t take kindly to outsiders criticizing our guys. It’s only okay from within the fan base. Ha.

[guitar_davey]

I’m all fairness, I read twice on here where Eddie got lost in his own metaphor, but yeah we don’t take kindly to outsiders criticizing our guys. It’s only okay from within the fan base. Ha.

He'll never out-metaphor Paul Stanley or Lars Ulrich (I hope).

[Birds in Hell]

Well, again, the interviewer accused him of hypocrisy and selling out throughout, and also implied that their music isn't as good as it used to be. For what it's worth, I agree with the interviewer for the most part. The only interviews I've seen that resemble this one, though, are hostile. EV isn't a politician making policy decisions. He isn't really a relevant pop culture figure at all anymore. I just don't see this exchange falling in the spectrum of normal interviews of musicians.

I don't see what you're seeing.

It seems very much within the normal range of musician interviews to me.

[FlatSideofaDog]

Well, again, the interviewer accused him of hypocrisy and selling out throughout, and also implied that their music isn't as good as it used to be. For what it's worth, I agree with the interviewer for the most part. The only interviews I've seen that resemble this one, though, are hostile. EV isn't a politician making policy decisions. He isn't really a relevant pop culture figure at all anymore. I just don't see this exchange falling in the spectrum of normal interviews of musicians.

I don't see what you're seeing.

It seems very much within the normal range of musician interviews to me.

Fair enough. I'll start looking more carefully for this stuff in other interviews of rock bands/members of bands.

[tragabigzanda]

pearl jam sucks now

[WtOB?]

At the risk of sounding whatever, we haven’t had an issue selling tickets over the years. If there’s been ebbs and flows in the amount of people that care, we’ve had enough people that cared and continued to care that we haven’t noticed. I don’t know if that’s been for better or worse. At least we’re not chasing anything.

ol' m8 obviously forgot about the 2003 japan tour.

[Buby]

Good read... Interviewer a bit pushy, but not to the point of being rude.
Also, this bit here:

I have a question about not chasing things: When you got started in music, the idea of not selling out was central. Now the concept has basically disappeared.
This is good news! This means that the fragrance that I’m about to put out won’t be looked down upon!

Immediately brought "Batphone" by Arctic Monkeys to mind.
Lyric:
I launch my fragrance called "Integrity"
I sell the fact that I can't be bought

[Kevin Davis]

Because with songwriting it’s almost like you can’t think about it in order to let it happen. Getting to some authenticity or relaying some experience — it’s about getting out of the way.

This quote really sums up Eddie's recent writing in a nutshell to me. "I don't write the songs; the songs write themselves through me." He seems to really value this first-thought-best-thought, "just get lost in the inspiration," "watching Stevie Wonder play was like watching him become one with the music," etc., metaphysical gobbledygook, and man does the music ever sound like it.

[dimejinky99]

Ed’s interview reveals dimejinky99 as Ed. It was me along

[bodysnatcher]

Imagine what an Ed fragrance would smell like

[Birds in Hell]

Imagine what an Ed fragrance would smell like

Seawater, sweat and Gatorade.

[bodysnatcher]

Imagine what an Ed fragrance would smell like

Seawater, sweat and Gatorade.

That ashtray in your grandmother’s living room

[Jaeti]

Great interview. Glad to see someone take Ed to task with some hard questions. Typically not something you see with Ed interviews. Like Argo said, I’m glad he didn’t let him off the hook when he gave typically vague answers or told stories he’s told a million times.

yeah, one of the better interviews i've read in some time. i love the irony of anyone who posts on rm having the attitude of "who the hell is that guy to not treat eddie like a genius king at all times!?"

[Birds in Hell]

Because with songwriting it’s almost like you can’t think about it in order to let it happen. Getting to some authenticity or relaying some experience — it’s about getting out of the way.

This quote really sums up Eddie's recent writing in a nutshell to me. "I don't write the songs; the songs write themselves through me." He seems to really value this first-thought-best-thought, "just get lost in the inspiration," "watching Stevie Wonder play was like watching him become one with the music," etc., metaphysical gobbledygook, and man does the music ever sound like it.

I don't have anything to add, but this is a good observation and I agree 100%.

[bodysnatcher]

I think it kinda coincides with the answer he gave a while back about not having the time he used to have to tinker and be a “mad scientist” with songs

[Tj]

Well there is something to be said for both approaches. Yellowledbetter Alive and Release all seemed to happen out of his stream of consciousness writing style. I would guess Faithful and Red Mosquito as well.

[Monkey_Driven]

This seemed like a fairly normal interview. They both sort of called each other out on their BS.

[evenslow]

Because with songwriting it’s almost like you can’t think about it in order to let it happen. Getting to some authenticity or relaying some experience — it’s about getting out of the way.

This quote really sums up Eddie's recent writing in a nutshell to me. "I don't write the songs; the songs write themselves through me." He seems to really value this first-thought-best-thought, "just get lost in the inspiration," "watching Stevie Wonder play was like watching him become one with the music," etc., metaphysical gobbledygook, and man does the music ever sound like it.

I don't have anything to add, but this is a good observation and I agree 100%.

it's the neil young way of looking at songwriting. you're just a vessel for capturing the muse.

sometimes i totally agree with that and sometimes i think it's a huge copout.

[evenslow]

And for people wondering about the interviewer, this guy (David Marchese) is essentially the best in the game right now. He has a long track record of interesting, probing interviews going back to his time at Vulture. Always gets a unique take on his subject. One example was the eyebrow raising one he did with Quincy Jones in 2018. He knows how to be provocative without being obnoxious, imo.

[Anders]

Well there is something to be said for both approaches. Yellowledbetter Alive and Release all seemed to happen out of his stream of consciousness writing style. I would guess Faithful and Red Mosquito as well.

None of those somgs were written by Ed, apart from the lyrics.