Eddie Vedder has opened up about the future of Pearl Jam in a new interview.
Speaking with Rolling Stone to promote his new documentary, Matter of Time, the grunge legend reflected on a turbulent period for the band. Drummer Matt Cameron left the lineup unexpectedly last year.
Vedder told the publication that he recently read a description of Pearl Jam’s current state that made sense to him. “The quote was, I think, ‘Pearl Jam is in between eras at the moment,’” he explained. “And I thought that was actually pretty concise.”
Vedder refused to explicitly reveal whether Pearl Jam have found their new drummer yet.
“ If I were to say anything, I think we’d wanna have a band discussion about what we’d wanna say or who would be the messenger or whatever,” he said.
He did, however, make it clear that the remainder of Pearl Jam’s members are currently playing together.
“We’re in the lab, we’re woodshedding, excited,” he continued. “It’s cool to think of change. As much as we’d like to have done it the way we did it forever — and we’ll still be able to do that thing — I think we’re all just excited for the future.”
After first rising to prominence as a member of Soundgarden, Cameron joined Pearl Jam in 1998 after the other band’s initial breakup. He played on every Pearl Jam studio album from Binaural through last year’s Dark Matter.
Cameron announced his exit from the band last July, speaking candidly about struggling with their “constant touring” schedule.
The decision wasn’t made lightly, with Cameron explaining his desire to pursue different artistic directions. “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,” he said during the interview.
Cameron recently confirmed he’s “still an active musician” and is working on a new Soundgarden album using vocals Chris Cornell recorded before his death.
Vedder’s EB Research Partnership documentary is streaming on Netflix.
