In an interview posted on Rick Beato’s YouTube channel, Mike McCready and Jeff Ament spill some never-before-heard details, look back on decades of their career, and give us a sneak peek of what’s coming next, including the start of work on a new album.
In an exclusive interview, Mike McCready and Jeff Ament dive into the band’s origins, the impact of Andy Wood, the Temple of the Dog project, the explosion of Ten, and the evolution of their most beloved songs in live shows. Between memories, reflections, and untold stories, the two musicians also reveal that Pearl Jam has started thinking about their thirteenth studio album, with the goal of reinventing themselves once again.
The Roots of the Sound: From the Early Days to Meeting Eddie Vedder
Jeff Ament revealed that his musical journey started super early, thanks to his mom being a pianist and giving him piano lessons. But it was punk rock that really lit the fire for him. Mike McCready, on the other hand, talked about how he got totally hooked when he saw a Kiss lunchbox at school in 1977: “I want whatever that is,” he recalled. The two of them started moving in Seattle’s small, self-made music scene, where bands often had to rent rehearsal spaces and venues just to play, back in the days when minors couldn’t even get into clubs.
The sudden death of Andy Wood, the lead singer of Mother Love Bone, hit Jeff hard. “I’d just quit my job thinking we were about to go on tour,” he shared. “And then I found myself without a band, no job, no plan.” In that void, Stone Gossard and Mike McCready began jamming together. McCready remembered pushing to get Ament involved: “He and Stone were perfect together. He had to be part of this new band.”
Then came Eddie Vedder. Ament described the immediate impact of their first meeting: “When he started singing over those songs, we knew something magical was happening.” That’s when Alive, Black, Jeremy… and even Yellow Ledbetter were born, though it didn’t make it onto Ten, despite its massive potential. All the songs were recorded live, with Ament insisting they capture the real energy, not re-do anything. “I wanted the bass and drums to come down together.”
Success, however, didn’t happen overnight. Pearl Jam joined a tour with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, earning fans night by night. When Ten started selling, the band was just focused on surviving: “If we sold enough to make a second album, that was already a win,” Ament explained. Then came Vs., which sold a million copies in its first week. McCready called it a “mindfuck”: the sudden realization they’d become massive.
In another key moment of the interview, Jeff talked about when Susan Silver, the manager of Soundgarden, handed him a tape with two songs written by Chris Cornell, both dedicated to Andy. “Chris wanted me and Stone to play on those tracks,” he recalled. That’s how Temple of the Dog came to be, recorded while the future members of Pearl Jam were still in their early stages. “We were rehearsing for both things at the same time,” Ament said. “We’d have lunch between sessions.”
The New Album: Ideas, Visions, and the Desire to Evolve
One of the most significant moments of the interview comes when they discuss the band’s creative future. Jeff Ament revealed that Pearl Jam has started seriously thinking about their thirteenth studio album. But it’s not just about writing new songs—they’re also aiming to reinvent the way they work together.
“We talk about the next album a lot,” Ament said. “We ask ourselves, ‘How can we do something that will really surprise us?’ One of the ideas on the table is using an eight-track, assigning each of us a track. It’d be a way to get back to a more raw, direct, spontaneous sound.” The goal is to let chemistry and creative freedom lead the way, without any restrictions.
“The important thing for us,” Ament continued, “is to stay open to anything. We don’t have a fixed plan, but we want something that excites us. After all these years, if it doesn’t surprise us, it’s not worth doing.”
Mike McCready, for his part, talked about how even in the sessions for Dark Matter, he recorded live, without overdubs, to keep that live energy: “I love the positive pressure that comes when we’re all there. I see Ed, Jeff, Stone, Matt in front of me, and I just wanna play my best.”
Ament added that he often prefers to isolate himself in his studio to experiment and refine: “Sometimes it takes me two hours to find the right part. But if we’re in the studio and it’s time to record, I go with my gut.” The two approaches—instinctive and reflective—balance each other, and it’s from that tension that the band’s creative equilibrium comes to life.
The Meaning of Live Shows and Influences
The final part of the interview is a reflection on the meaning of live shows. Jeff Ament emphasized how important it is to offer the audience something real every night: “If people are spending their money to see us, it has to be a genuine experience. I don’t wanna get on stage if nothing special is happening.” McCready agreed: “This band brings out the best in me. When I play with them, I feel like this is where I’m supposed to be.”
They also talked about how songs evolve over time: Given to Fly, written on a snow day, Corduroy, which became an emotional connection with the crowd, Leash, Go, Daughter, born from sudden flashes of inspiration. Ament shared how he wrote Jeremy and Why Go imagining a 12-string bass he hadn’t even gotten yet: “If I give them something extra, maybe they turn into songs.” That’s how the sparks are lit.
There were also memories from childhood and influences: the Beatles, Motown, cheap supermarket records, the love for Kiss and Aerosmith, the energy of the Dead Kennedys. And then there’s the magic of the 2006 Hawaii concert with U2, which closed one of their most memorable tours.
The interview wrapped up with a personal and deep note: “I’ve lost friends like Andy and Chris,” Ament reflected. “Every time I step on stage, I think about how lucky we are. And I never want to waste what we’ve been given.”
🎥 The full video interview is available below.
Born in Reggio Emilia in 1980. He created pearljamonline.it in 2001 and wrote the first edition of “Pearl Jam Evolution” in 2009 along with his wife Daria. Since 2022, he is behind 2 podcasts: “Pearl Jam dalla A alla Z” and “Fuori Orario Not Another Podcast”. He has collaborated with Barracuda Style, HvsR, Rolling Stone, Rockol and Il Fatto Quotidiano. He continues relentlessly to try to find “beautiful melodies that say terrible things”.
Favorite song: Present Tense
Favorite album: No Code
Favorite bands/artists other than PJ: Tom Waits, Soundgarden, Ramones, Bruce Springsteen, IDLES, Fontaines D.C., The Murder Capital, Dead Kennedys, Mark Lanegan, Cat Power, R.E.M.