Jeff Ament Unpacks The Artists that Influenced Pearl Jam
7/1/202621 min
Today on Track Star*, Jack is joined by legendary Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament to discuss his life and work, and the wide variety of music that inspired it.
In this episode, Jeff and Jack have a conversation about music, community, and the glue that binds us together as they talk about the moments and memories that made Jeff Ament.
Covering everything from his early childhood in rural Montana to his youth in Seattle to his time with Pearl Jam and beyond, Jeff shows us how building community and encouraging positive human interaction can change lives.
This Episode's Track List:
Stir It Up (Jamaican Version) - Bob Marley & The Wailers
The Lemon Song - Led Zeppelin
The Magnificent Seven - The Clash
Never Fight a Man with a Perm - IDLES
Could You Be The One? - Hüsker Dü
Poptones - Public Image Ltd.
Roundabout - Yes
Glue - SS Decontrol
Sludgefest - Dinosaur Jr.
Rain - The Beatles
Protest and Survival - Discharge
Clips
Transcript preview
First 90 secondsJack Coyne· Host0:00
Do you play basketball in college?
Jeff Ament· Guest0:01
I played at University of Montana for about a month and a half until the coach, Mike Montgomery, told me that [laughs] if I worked really hard, maybe by the time I was a senior I'd get some minutes. [laughs] And I remember thinking like, "I don't think I'm gonna... I don't think this is my jam."
Jack Coyne· Host0:14
Were you playing music at the same time?
Jeff Ament· Guest0:16
I was. I was in a punk rock band called Deranged Diction.
Jack Coyne· Host0:18
And you were a skater.
Jeff Ament· Guest0:19
And I was a skater, yeah.
Jack Coyne· Host0:20
Introduce yourself.
Jeff Ament· Guest0:21
Hi, I'm Jeff Ament. Uh, I play with the rock band Pearl Jam.
Jack Coyne· Host0:24
Okay. I'm gonna play you some songs.
Jeff Ament· Guest0:26
All right.
Jack Coyne· Host0:26
We'll talk a little bit more about skating later. All you gotta do is tell me who the artist is.
Speaker 3· Soundbite0:29
Dear leader.
Jeff Ament· Guest0:30
Bob Marley. How great is that groove?
Speaker 3· Soundbite0:33
Dear leader.
Jack Coyne· Host0:34
That's why I played it for you.
Jeff Ament· Guest0:35
Yeah, yeah. Aston Barrett, Family Man, bass player.
Jack Coyne· Host0:38
Yes.
Jeff Ament· Guest0:38
Unbelievable.
Jack Coyne· Host0:39
Tell me about, uh, that kind of music.
Jeff Ament· Guest0:41
Well, you know what's amazing is, uh, when we made our second record, um, Dave Abbruzzese, our drummer at the time, we were making tapes for each other 'cause we wanted to go into that record like sort of connected, and I just got deep into reggae- Yeah ... at that time. Like, I wanted some element of our music to f- to just lay s- so far back, and then just like... And we kinda pulled it off, where like Animal has a little bit of that vibe. There's a couple songs on Versus that kinda have that, but... And then I got, I got sorta burned out on reggae, 'cause you start hearing it every- you start hearing Bob Marley everywhere. [laughs] It's like when I was in college and I, I was, like, into all that post-punk stuff, and I drove by a frat and there were frat dudes [laughs] singing Sunday Bloody Sunday, and it ruined U2 for me. I couldn't listen to U2 for like 10 years.
Jack Coyne· Host1:20
Got too big.
Jeff Ament· Guest1:21
Got too big.
Jack Coyne· Host1:22
So you had to keep it indie. All right. What's next?
Jeff Ament· Guest1:23
[singing] Zeppelin. Again, that groove that Jimmy Page had,