Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, and Temple of the Dog drummer Matt Cameron was recently interviewed on The Trap Set and discussed playing in Pearl Jam compared to Soundgarden. Alternative Nation transcribed his comments.
“It’s just different band dynamics in general. You know how band dynamics are, they’re multi-faceted, they’re everything you could ever imagine in a family. But I think there’s a lot of similarities just in the sense of how we all kind of play music together. I think my role in Soundgarden is a little bit more of a musical director role, whereas in Pearl Jam it’s more of a supporting in the rhythm section kind of role. I think the collaboration I have in Soundgarden is bigger in the creative realm, but I feel very fortunate to be in two really fantastic bands.”
He added, “I totally earned it, I worked my tail off for it, but I think there’s always an element of luck in success in the music industry, for sure.”
He also discussed his stresses of joining Pearl Jam in 1998 just weeks before the Yield tour.
“I was actually calling up Stone [Gossard] to inquire about him putting a Wellwater Conspiracy record out on his label Loose Grooves as the time, so I called him up. He said, ‘Hey, what are you doing this summer?’ I’m like, ‘Nothing, I’m not doing anything.’ He’s like, ‘Hey, we’re leaving in 3 weeks, we’ve got a tour booked, Jack quit.’ So I got the lowdown on that, and that’s how it all started, innocently enough.”
