Stone Gossard says he writes a heap of songs for Pearl Jam every year but it’s Eddie Vedder who causes the hold up on releases.
Pearl Jam have never been the most prolific of bands but it’s hard to ignore the increasingly long waits between album releases in recent years. Just to give you a few examples from the last decade or so, there was a four-year wait for 2006’s Pearl Jam, a three-year wait for 2009’s Backspacer, a four-year wait for 2013’s Lightning Bolt, and finally, a seven-year way for 2020’s Gigaton.
So needless to say that they’re a band who likes to take their time with each release. But according to guitarist Stone Gossard, one of the big reasons Pearl Jam takes so long between albums is because of Eddie Vedder and his creative process.
Chatting to Kerrang about all things music, Gossard says he writes music for Pearl Jam all the time but whether it makes the cut ultimately depends on how Eddie Vedder is feeling.
“I write every song for Eddie, ultimately,” says the guitarist. “He’s my muse. I would love to write 50 songs a year with him, but it’s just not on the cards; it just doesn’t work like that for him.”
While Gossard says he is quite prolific with his output of material, Eddie is basically the opposite and he has to adjust to his singer’s pace rather than the other way around.
“When he’s in a writing process, it’s different than it is for me. I can write all the time,” says Gossard. “The way Ed really operates, the way that he loves to get music, is for something that’s immediate for you coming in at a time when he’s ready to connect with it.”
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“He likes to be in the process with you. So, if I send him 30 ideas, it’s just too much information for him to manage; that’s just not how his brain works.”
Sounds like Eddie just likes to take his time with his music so that it’s perfect when it’s released. Nothing wrong with that, especially after the two new songs he recently released, which were his first solo tracks in quite some time.
But the big takeaway from this? Looks like we’re going to be waiting a while for the next Pearl Jam album.
Check out ‘Get It Back’ by Pearl Jam:
