“We are stubbornly loyal”

Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard spoke to NME about the band’s upcoming London concerts, their Painted Shield assignment, their love for IDLES, and the band’s plans for this year’s presidential election in the United States.

Currently touring their twelfth album “Dark Matter,” the Seattle legends will perform two stadium performances this weekend (June 29 and 30), which Gossard promised would bring a combination of favorites and surprises.

“We’ll probably upload new stuff every night, and we’ll also play some of the hits,” he said. “It’s an intelligent show. The organization is betting quite well at the moment. Everyone is in a good mood.

Gossard is also featured on the July 26 release of “Painted Shield 3,” the third album from the eclectic outfit comprised of himself, singer-songwriter Mason Jennings, keyboardist Brittany Davis and drummer Matt Chamberlain.

He also discussed Pearl Jam’s plans for the US elections in November, after its displays aimed at encouraging voter registration in key marginal spaces reportedly proved helpful to Joe Biden’s election victory.

“We’ll be involved,” he says of this year’s competition. “I don’t know the exact extent of it, but whether it’s about investment or communication and targeting very quick positions where we need to influence and we think we can help. “

Check out our full interview below, where the guitarist tells us if he’ll ever headline at Glastonbury, three-hour gigs, and the secret to the band’s longevity as a stadium-level musician.

osh Klinghoffer, Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Eddie Vedder, Matt Cameron, Stone Gossard and Boom Gaspar of Pearl Jam at Climate Pledge Arena on May 28, 2024 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo via Jim Bennett/Getty Images)

NME: Hello stone. What is the secret to continue playing in giant stadiums after so many years?

Stone Gossard: “The most important thing is probably that we didn’t break up. Our favorite rock bands: they shared, they wrote songs together, they had their ups and downs. So we thought it would take work, but there was something worthwhile about that. There’s been a lot of commitment and a lot of collaboration and a lot of blind acceptance and just believing that you have a smart organization around you and that it’s better to work with the other people that you have Pintado with to look at to start over and have to go through all of this with a new set of personalities. I think we are stubbornly loyal.

Bands like The Black Keys are abandoning stadiums for more intimate venues. Are there any challenges with music?

“We’re kind of in a bubble of other people who have been with the band for a long time and it’s kind of their little universe. We just hope and try to nurture this universe as productive as we can and just enjoy having it.

Billie Eilish said the three-hour concerts are “psychotic. “Accept?

“Well, we’ve gone for much shorter concerts on those days for our own well-being and longevity. We’ve done three-hour concerts over and over again, and there’s something fun about completing it, and there might even be something of a laugh about witnessing it and lingering there. ” . But I don’t need to go to a three-hour concert in general.

“In two hours, we can still create that Pearl Jam exhibition environment where there will be things you know, there will be things you don’t know, there will be climaxes where Array will be in the right shape. We all know what it’s like to watch a movie or read an e-book that deserves to have been published. We try to be aware of it. »

Would you ever be at Glastonbury?

“I don’t know the answer to that question. I know we’ve never played before. I think there could have possibly been an offer a long time ago, but I’m not sure. My impression is that this festival has had a very significant impact, especially in England. I know there were some performances there. But I didn’t take much. Dua Lipa, right?

What helps keep wonderful grunge-era bands like you and the Foo Fighters alive?

“I’m excited about the artistic endeavors. I’m excited because I don’t know what we’re going to do next. Everyone in the organization still has a lot of artistic power over what they need to do.

Is there brotherhood between the surviving teams of that time?

“As far as private relationships and dating, not for me privately. But you can’t have experienced the same thing (Smashing Pumpkins or Foo Fighters) and not think it would be attractive to have a verbal exchange or reflect on the things that We like or don’t like each other. I’m interested in that, but it’s not going down right now.

Is Pearl Jam’s album “Dark Matter” a career record?

“I wouldn’t say that. I think it will end up being an impactful record – looking back at some point this record will be significant. Working with [producer] Andrew Watt was effective for us. In a sense, he was going back in time and saying, ‘You did this so well, just do this’. It makes me think ‘OK, we did that, now what’s the opposite of that? Let’s lean in the other direction’.”

What do you get from Painted Shield that you don’t get from Pearl Jam?

“In both of these steps, you’re actually encouraging other people’s other teams to share with each other and take risks and make it an organization that’s not your primary organization, but an organization to do anything. You can be anyone, you actually encourage that mindset like, “Let’s be whimsical and playful, because in more serious teams there’s a lot at stake, so it’s harder to be playful. It’s harder to come out of nowhere. ” It is meant to be a kind of playground. It’s other people who lead the pace on other tracks. “

Is the next generation finding you?

“I don’t know. I see other young people at the exhibits and our audience feels quite smart and excited. I’m thankful to the other people who enjoy it and it’s great to think that some kids are excited about Pearl Jam.

What do you think of the younger generation of rock bands?

“IDLES is just amazing. We did some concerts with them and the abandonment they have, it’s shamanic, it’s an ecstatic dance. And the simplicity, the fundamentals, you get your fucking old men together and they all grab anything and hammer it thoughtfully. . And then the lyrics and the way the singer approaches the music, communicates and makes a song in a way that shows you – just like all those unconventional singers show you – new tactics that it can still be a song. The democracy of music. And other people go absolutely crazy.

It’s an election year: can Trump win again?

“I guess it’s possible. In a sense, Trump is a functional artist and there are other people who lend themselves to his functionality because it suits them in some way. I think in the end I hope they realize that it’s more serious than functional art.

What would be the consequences if he enters?

“I feel as if equivalent and contrary energies collide and when something goes too far in one direction, you release some other power that will take it back in another direction, but you don’t know exactly how it’s going to happen. I still think that’s going to be part of the equation, that if you get everything you want, you’ll also find a force that you don’t expect and that will move you in another direction. I guess that’s about as productive as I can hope for. .

Has Biden kept his promises?

“I’m not an expert. I’m a chair analyst. I guess when other people look back, they’ll say that there are some things he did that weren’t celebrated. I think there’s a certain subtlety to what he did. ago.

Eddie Vedder and Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam perform at Marlay Park on June 22, 2024 in Dublin, Ireland (Photo by Kieran Frost/Redferns).

What are your favorites from the 90s grunge scene?

“I play music with Andy Wood, I paint Temple Of The Dog with Chris Cornell. Making our first record “Versus” with Brendan O’Brien, and how much it marked us and how much I appreciated his musicality and generosity with us. In Ollapalooza, there was a sense of net painting among this organization of people.

“I see Ice Cube play each and every night and I think it’s the best, that Ice Cube and the band I’m a part of play on the same day. There was a really funny moment in the beginning where we were all there. all the time and that was part of the unbridled joy of being on stage. We suck and we just are and it’s wonderful and each and every one of us is having a great time and it’s rarely that wonderful. Those days at Mudhoney were a lot of fun. People were careless.

“Painted Shield 3” will be on July 26.

The remaining Pearl Jam tour dates in the United Kingdom, Europe, and United States are indexed below. Visit here for tickets and more information.

JUNE 

29 – London, Tottenham Hotspur stadium 

JULY 

AUGUST 

SEPTEMBER 

NOVEMBER