Matt Cameron quits Pearl Jam

[Leatherhead]

He's tired and wants to do other stuff. I'm sure Pearl Jam still takes a up a significant amount of time.

[warehouse]

He maintains, as he did in his original announcement, that “I’m at a point in my life where I want to redirect my time and energy in a way that is a little bit based on what I want to pursue as an artist at this point.”

I'm not usually like this, and don't like that I'm being like this this time, but I really want some of the people who were insisting that his leaving the band just couldn't possibly have to do with anything creative -- "no, not Pearl Jam, they're a band of brothers! no one could ever feel creatively dissatisfied in Pearl Jam, because look at all the time they have outside the band to work on their own projects!" -- to come back here and eat some crow.

i def think a lot of it is soundgarden being able to record stuff. as he stated, he's got more emotion ties to that band b/c he started it. pearl jam brought him on as a touring drummer last minute, then wouldn't let him leave lol.

i think it's interesting he talks about long shows as an art form unto itself. if that's the case, he's obviously over that kind of expression. he was part of some of pearl jam's best shows, but i wouldn't want him to keep doing it just b/c he's bound out of obligation.

[wease]

He maintains, as he did in his original announcement, that “I’m at a point in my life where I want to redirect my time and energy in a way that is a little bit based on what I want to pursue as an artist at this point.”

I'm not usually like this, and don't like that I'm being like this this time, but I really want some of the people who were insisting that his leaving the band just couldn't possibly have to do with anything creative -- "no, not Pearl Jam, they're a band of brothers! no one could ever feel creatively dissatisfied in Pearl Jam, because look at all the time they have outside the band to work on their own projects!" -- to come back here and eat some crow.

i def think a lot of it is soundgarden being able to record stuff. as he stated, he's got more emotion ties to that band b/c he started it. pearl jam brought him on as a touring drummer last minute, then wouldn't let him leave lol.

i think it's interesting he talks about long shows as an art form unto itself. if that's the case, he's obviously over that kind of expression. he was part of some of pearl jam's best shows, but i wouldn't want him to keep doing it just b/c he's bound out of obligation.

He don’t wanna think, he wants ta feel

[Birds in Hell]

Chapter 26: What Spenno Said

Hopefully about how much I love Evacuation.

[daft twat]

Some context on the split from a Matt Cameron interview in Billboard (mostly about Soundgarden)...

https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/so ... 236067155/

The Soundgarden album is just one of the endeavors Cameron’s been up to since, and before, announcing his departure from Pearl Jam — which he says was amicable. “I definitely gave them a lot of notice,” he notes. “I’ve spoken with Jeff (Ament) and Stone (Gossard) a little bit…It’s been fine. Hopefully we’ll get back together at some point and have a beer or something.”

He maintains, as he did in his original announcement, that “I’m at a point in my life where I want to redirect my time and energy in a way that is a little bit based on what I want to pursue as an artist at this point.” That includes a new band, Is This Real?, in which he’s serving as frontman and guitarist; it began as a Wipers tribute but is “also recording original music I’ve been writing over the years,” with an album of mostly original material I’ve been writing over the years” expected in the near future.

He and Thayil, meanwhile, continue to work in the all-star 3rd Secret (with Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, Void’s Jon “Bubba” Dupree and others), with hopes of possibly taking that band on the road.

“I was having some issues with (Pearl Jam’s) three-hour shows and constant touring and stuff,” Cameron adds. “That’s definitely an art form unto itself, to be able to do those types of shows…I’m at a point now where I want to do a face-melting 70-minute set, and that’s kind of what I’m focusing on right now.”

“It’s been fine.” That’s what I’d say when it hasn’t been good.

Matt has earned the right to do whatever he wants, but citing “constant touring” and “3 hour shows” is disingenuous. I don’t think they’ve played even 40 shows in a year since 2006. They stopped 3 hour shows after 2018. Just be real. It’s not a satisfying creative outlet anymore. Probably never was. You’re old. Time is limited. Nothing wrong with saying you’re tired of playing the same hits and fan favorites night after night that you had nothing to do with. To do that for almost 3 decades sounds like a prison sentence.

holy projection, batman! never was? lol. i think he kind of implies he'd like to take his creativity in a different direction than pearl jam tours, but pretending like he's never enjoyed being in the band is just weird.

I didn’t say he didn’t enjoy being in the band. I’m sure he did. As has been pointed out, it wasn’t as contentious as Soundgarden. Plus, he was making a ton of money and being treated like a god by Ed and the PJ fanbase at every show. But it had to be a disappointing creative outlet for him. His PJ songs never got traction at live shows, and as the years have gone on, it’s been more of a nostalgia act than ever, and he’s just a hired hand as far as those songs go. He’s done his time being a cog in the PJ machine.

I would love for him to be candid about his output with the band. His honest opinion on the albums he made with them is something I would love to hear more about. Does he like any of those albums as much as King Animal?

[digster]

I'm paraphrasing, but I know in one of those Lightning Bolt interviews, Matt said he'd rather be in the studio than playing live if given the option, so I feel like the degree to which the band has slowed down on that front in the past 15 years maybe contributed, as well.

[spike]

Ed wanted him to play Corduroy even faster.

[warehouse]

Some context on the split from a Matt Cameron interview in Billboard (mostly about Soundgarden)...

https://www.billboard.com/music/rock/so ... 236067155/

The Soundgarden album is just one of the endeavors Cameron’s been up to since, and before, announcing his departure from Pearl Jam — which he says was amicable. “I definitely gave them a lot of notice,” he notes. “I’ve spoken with Jeff (Ament) and Stone (Gossard) a little bit…It’s been fine. Hopefully we’ll get back together at some point and have a beer or something.”

He maintains, as he did in his original announcement, that “I’m at a point in my life where I want to redirect my time and energy in a way that is a little bit based on what I want to pursue as an artist at this point.” That includes a new band, Is This Real?, in which he’s serving as frontman and guitarist; it began as a Wipers tribute but is “also recording original music I’ve been writing over the years,” with an album of mostly original material I’ve been writing over the years” expected in the near future.

He and Thayil, meanwhile, continue to work in the all-star 3rd Secret (with Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic, Void’s Jon “Bubba” Dupree and others), with hopes of possibly taking that band on the road.

“I was having some issues with (Pearl Jam’s) three-hour shows and constant touring and stuff,” Cameron adds. “That’s definitely an art form unto itself, to be able to do those types of shows…I’m at a point now where I want to do a face-melting 70-minute set, and that’s kind of what I’m focusing on right now.”

“It’s been fine.” That’s what I’d say when it hasn’t been good.

Matt has earned the right to do whatever he wants, but citing “constant touring” and “3 hour shows” is disingenuous. I don’t think they’ve played even 40 shows in a year since 2006. They stopped 3 hour shows after 2018. Just be real. It’s not a satisfying creative outlet anymore. Probably never was. You’re old. Time is limited. Nothing wrong with saying you’re tired of playing the same hits and fan favorites night after night that you had nothing to do with. To do that for almost 3 decades sounds like a prison sentence.

holy projection, batman! never was? lol. i think he kind of implies he'd like to take his creativity in a different direction than pearl jam tours, but pretending like he's never enjoyed being in the band is just weird.

I didn’t say he didn’t enjoy being in the band. I’m sure he did. As has been pointed out, it wasn’t as contentious as Soundgarden. Plus, he was making a ton of money and being treated like a god by Ed and the PJ fanbase at every show. But it had to be a disappointing creative outlet for him. His PJ songs never got traction at live shows, and as the years have gone on, it’s been more of a nostalgia act than ever, and he’s just a hired hand as far as those songs go. He’s done his time being a cog in the PJ machine.

I would love for him to be candid about his output with the band. His honest opinion on the albums he made with them is something I would love to hear more about. Does he like any of those albums as much as King Animal?

[96583UP]

i don’t even think pearl jam likes those albums as much as king animal

ed’s in-the-studio process is sus

he’s like the dan snyder of contemporary album-making

[warehouse]

this has been brewing ever since ed "fixed" matt's demo and made the worst pearl jam song ever.

[E.H. Ruddock]

Didn’t Matt just say the other day the HoF induction with Soundgarden means more?

[liebzz]

Didn’t Matt just say the other day the HoF induction with Soundgarden means more?

If he did it would make perfect sense since Soundgarden’s creative peak with with him there and while he was with Pearl Jam longer, their creative or commercial peak came before he arrived. They were an established juggernaut before he got there.

[contamination]

I always felt that Matt wasn't talking about just Taylor in that RS article when he said:

“[A band like that] is a big machine [with] a lot of people on the payroll,” Cameron says. “So you’ve got to really be cognizant of the business side of something when it’s that big and that has inherent pressure, just like any business.”

I'm sure it's a huge relief of not being responsible for the livelihoods of everyone in the PJ organization, and do things in a much smaller scale instead - and with a lot more freedom.

[96583UP]

still not clear whether Boom gets healthcare benefits and a 401(k) match

[liebzz]

I mean, the other thing is at the end of the day it’s his job. I am sure some of us have had jobs we left amicably for other opportunities. It doesn’t mean the first job was bad, but that you decided to take a different path for your career. This is Matt Cameron’s career - suspenders, suit and tie.

[joostone]

[spike]

holy shit, did he endorse dave a?

[VinylGuy]

SG´s album being done at maybe 75% is very good news. Also, they know who is going to sing with them, interesting.

Im sure it will be a bunch of singers like Taylor Momsen, Brandi Carlile and some other

[96583UP]

god this interviewer is so annoying

a reminder of why 90s media sucked

she treats this like a ‘presser’

matt working hard to stay positive and keep some flow

but she really is just digging for a headline every single question

i understand why ed would refuse to do these

[Ello Sailor]

SG´s album being done at maybe 75% is very good news. Also, they know who is going to sing with them, interesting.

Im sure it will be a bunch of singers like Taylor Momsen, Brandi Carlile and some other

They should save Mike Patton from that folk rock collab.