“We are stubbornly loyal. “
Pearl Jam’s Stone Gossard has spoken to NME about the band’s upcoming London shows, his side project Painted Shield, his love of IDLES, and the band’s plans for this year’s US Presidential election.
Currently touring their 12th album “Dark Matter,” the Seattle legends will play two stadium shows this weekend (June 29-30), which Gossard promised would bring a mix 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 spoke about Pearl Jam’s plans for the November U. S. election, after its displays to inspire voter registration in key marginal spaces allegedly contributed to Joe Biden’s election victory.
“We’ll be involved,” he said of this year’s competition. “I don’t know the exact scope of this, but whether it’s investment or communication and targeting very specific positions that we need to influence and 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 continuing to play 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 hung out, they wrote songs together, they had their ups and downs. So we thought it would take work, but there was something about it that was worth it. There’s been a lot 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 is better to work with the other people that you have Pintado to look to to start over and have to go through all this with a new set of personalities. I think we are stubbornly loyal.
Bands like The Black Keys are leaving the stadiums for more intimate places: does music have a problem?
“We’re in a certain bubble of people that have been with the band for a long time and it’s its own little universe in a way. We are just hoping and trying to nurture that universe as well as we can and are mainly just appreciative that we’ve got it.”
Billie Eilish said the three-hour concerts were “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 headline 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 efforts. 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 this era?
“As far as private relationships and dating go, not for me privately. But you can’t have experienced the same thing (Smashing Pumpkins or Foo Fighters) and not think it would be appealing to have a verbal exchange or reflect on the things we like or don’t like about others. I’m interested in that, but it’s not going down right now.
Is Pearl Jam’s album ‘Dark Matter’ a milestone in your career?
“I wouldn’t say that. I think it will end up being a historic album; In retrospect, at some point, this record will be significant. Working with [producer] Andrew Watt was effective for us. In a sense, he’ll come back in time and say, “You did this very well, do that. “It makes me think, “Okay, we’ve done this, now, what’s the opposite?Let’s look 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 pretty smart and excited. I’m grateful to the other people who enjoy it and it’s cool 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: Can Trump do it again?
“I guess it’s possible. In a sense, Trump is a performance artist and there’s people that play along with his performance because it suits them in certain ways. I think in the end, I hope that they’re going to realise that it’s more serious than performance art.”
What would be the consequences if he enters?
“I feel that equivalent and contrary energies collide with each other 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. let it happen. I still think that will be part of the equation, that if you get everything you want, you will also find a force that you don’t expect and that will move you in another direction. That’s the most productive thing I can hope for, because, I guess.
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 album “Versus” with Brendan O’Brien, and how much he impacted us and how much I appreciated his musicality and generosity to us. At Ollapalooza, there was a feeling of painting networks between this organization of people.
“Watching Ice Cube play every night and just thinking this is the best, that Ice Cube and the band I’m in are playing on the same day. There was a really fun time at the beginning where we were just all drunk all the time and that was part of the unhinged joy of being onstage. We’re crappy and we’re just fucking drunk and this is great and everybody’s having a good time and isn’t that great? That Mudhoney era was a lot of fun. People were sloppy.”
“Painted Shield 3” will be on July 26.
Pearl Jam excursion dates to the United Kingdom, Europe, and the United States are shown below. Visit here for tickets and more information.
JUNE
29 – London, Tottenham Hotspur stadium
JULY
AUGUST
SEPTEMBER
NOVEMBER