Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: SATURDAY, October 16, 1993 TAG: 9310190132 SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: MARK BROWN ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
Like his equally silent bandmates, Vedder is simply being careful now that Pearl Jam has become one of the rock machine's hottest commodities. He has to be, if only for his own sanity.
Suddenly everybody wants a piece of you; everybody wants to be your friend. Suddenly actresses want to date him. Vedder's not buying into it.
"I was listening to an old Who record yesterday while chopping some wood," Vedder said in a rare interview backstage at the MTV Video Awards last month. "Pete Townshend was definitely talking about some industry stuff. Pete tells the truth."
The song, "How Many Friends" from 1975's "The Who by Numbers," long has been a Vedder favorite.
"I remember relating to that song when I was 14, before all this," he said, gesturing to the MTV hullabaloo all around him.
He shook his head and quoted a couple of lines from the song: "How many friends have I really got?" He looked down and spread his fingers. "I can count them on one hand."
Finding those real friends becomes a chore.
"You get related to as an icon," he said.
Despite the 90-degree temperature, Vedder arrived at the MTV Video Awards rehearsals wrapped protectively in a bulky Army jacket, with a sarcastic "I (heart) grunge" T-shirt underneath. He wore a full-head rubber mask on his way in, thwarting the MTV cameras in their attempts to get a piece of him the same way he would blow off MTV's Kurt Loder - live on the air - the next night.
Sure, some of it is plain attitude. But despite his energetic performances fronting Pearl Jam, Vedder is genuinely reserved.
At the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in January, where he stepped into Jim Morrison's shoes for three songs with the Doors, Vedder mixed nervously in the crowd afterward.
His head was down as if he were trying to withdraw it into his coat, and he was clearly relieved when the crowds formed around Eric Clapton, allowing Vedder to slip away.
If it's a game to some, it's more serious to the band. It's to the point where Vedder and the other members of Pearl Jam are doing no interviews for the album except for a piece for Spin magazine and one for Rolling Stone. Epic officials even confiscated tapes from radio reporters who interviewed Vedder.
But backstage at the MTV Awards rehearsals last month, before the media blackout, Vedder sat down for a chat about success and the upcoming album, at that time still untitled.
At times a one-word-answer kind of guy, Vedder this time relaxed and tried hard to express what was going on in his and the band's existence as they prepared to step again into the maelstrom of a new album, a tour, publicity, reviews, expectations.
Especially expectations. Little was expected of "Ten" when it was released in 1991. With sales of 5 million in the United States alone on its first album, things are quite a bit different this time out.
But the band is trying to keep things the same.
It's hard to stay natural when you're thrust in the most unnatural of situations. Last time even Pearl Jam got burned out on being Pearl Jam. Success can be trying even to those who enjoy its rewards. And you can get sick of any song, even your own, if you hear it too much.
"It's a shame to be overplayed," Vedder said. "The greatest song in the world can make you sick if you play it too many times."
by CNB