Eddie Vedder is the airport announcer in the new movie What Happens Later.
Judging by the trailer, Hal Liggett might really be the Pearl Jam singer. That is not a random name. Like every hardcore Eddie Vedder fan knows, he likes to use pseudonyms (Wes C. Addle and Jerome Turner are the most known) when making incognito appearances in friends and colleagues projects.
Hal could be referring to HAL 9000, the onboard computer on the spaceship Discovery One form the Stanley Kubrick movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, which happens to be Eddie Vedder’s favorite movie ever (if you look closer in the picture behind the singer, there is a HAL 9000 replica).
Liggett might come from Clayton E. Liggett, Eddie’s San Dieguito High School drama teacher, to whom he dedicated Long Road, the second track from the EP Merkin Ball.
It has been noted that getting a big break in the music industry is a double-edged sword for most artists. As much as it might be fun to play the music you love for anyone who wants to hear it, there comes a point where things begin to move too fast, and labels breathe down your neck to make something equally as good.
Although Eddie Vedder never said anything that wasn’t from the heart in Pearl Jam, he admitted that he first felt uncomfortable when writing for one of their earliest records.
Looking back on how the band was constructed, though, Vedder’s inclusion practically came through happenstance. Although the band looked like they would keep moving as Mother Love Bone, the sudden death of frontman Andy Wood led to Stone Gossard and Jeff Ament forming an entirely new outfit with guitarist Mike McCready in tow.
