The band talks about writing songs while surfing and more
Pearl Jam is one of the world’s biggest, most respected rock groups. Now, in a rare extensive interview with Anthony Mason, Eddie Vedder and bass player Jeff Ament open up about the band’s founding, being together for nearly 35 years, their latest album, and more for CBS News Sunday Morning, to be broadcast Sunday, September 22nd at 9 am ET/PT on the CBS Television Network and streaming on Paramount+.
Mason caught up with them on tour in Missoula, Montana, for a revealing, personal look at Pearl Jam.
Here’s an excerpt of Vedder talking about writing lyrics while surfing to an instrumental tape sent to him by a group of Seattle musicians and bassist Jeff Ament’s reaction when he heard them.
“I was doin’ those midnight shifts security. So when I went for a surf in the morning … But I remember it bein’ super foggy and one of those days where you think, ‘Maybe I won’t go out … So these waves were just kind of all of a sudden coming outta nowhere. And–but I had the music in my head, the instrumental, and, and just kind of wrote it. And then I was still wet when I hit record,” Vedder says about writing lyrics while surfing to an instrumental tape sent to him by a group of Seattle musicians and bassist Jeff Ament’s reaction when he heard them.
“I listened to it. And then I remember I–I left, and went and got a coffee, and then I came back, and I listened to it again. … And then I remember calling Stone [Gossard] and say–and I said, “You need to come over here right now,” Ament adds.
Ament and guitarists Stone Gosard and Mike McCready flew Vedder to Seattle to audition for the band in person.
“It was, like, you felt it. Like, you–you were like, ‘Oh, this is what it is. This is what it is’ … I was like, ‘This is heaven,'” Vedder says.
In a wide-ranging interview, Vedder and Ament talk about their childhoods, making music together, their dedicated fan base, being on tour, growing older and their friendship.
In a rare extensive interview to air on "CBS Sunday Morning" Sept. 22, Eddie Vedder and bass player Jeff Ament open up about the legendary band's founding. https://t.co/9aPFfLRHQC
— CBS Sunday Morning 🌞 (@CBSSunday) September 19, 2024
