Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder Talks Kurt Cobain and Fame on Astini News
Flanked by his bandmates and Cameron Crowe — who directed Pearl Jam Twenty, a documentary chronicling the band's two decades-long journey — Vedder reminisced about various key moments in his life. One such memory: his slow dance with Nirvana's Kurt Cobain backstage at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards during Eric Clapton's performance of "Tears in Heaven."
"[That moment] was the holy grail," Cameron said. "It's such a human moment, and it's what happens outside the glare of the spotlight. They were really in a blender of media explosiveness at that time and here was this moment where Kurt and Eddie got to be alone and kind of expressed themselves as people. The fact it was on film is amazing and so poignant."
Read on for Vedder's take on the experience. You can catch the film when it hits theaters for a limited one-week release starting September 23.
Explaining the stolen moment with Cobain.
"For a second, the camera gets blurry or someone walks in front and you actually see Kurt look over and go like this [puts his index finger over his lips] and it's not him saying, 'Don't tell anybody or keep a lid on this little private moment.' It's actually because on the stage above us, Eric Clapton was playing 'Tears in Heaven,' which is a pretty quiet song, and we were jumping up and down clapping."
Remembering his friend.
"The first time I saw that footage [of the dance with Kurt] it was incredibly emotional. I think just because he's smiling and you think, 'If he just could've pulled through.'"
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On making music that matters.
"It's like catching a butterfly. You can't grab it too hard. It's really a delicate thing. We're five men who used to be teenagers, and if you've ever tried to order a pizza with five people, it's difficult. So to have gone down this road of great records and songs that are different than the last ones we'd written or put on shows that are different, it's a very lucky thing."
What's next for the band.
"I think we'll just keep getting better. Push the boundaries musically. I don't see us stopping. I don't think any of us see us stopping. And everyone is doing things outside of the group, too, which I think is very healthy."
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On whether he was nervous about his Pearl Jam audition.
"[On the flight to Seattle to meet the band] I was thinking 'Oh my God, I am on a plane. I offered to drive. Who are these guys who can afford a plane ticket?' Then I took a razor blade and made a crazy collage. I was just excited to play music. I had been in a few different groups, but it never felt like anything real, like anything that wasn't highly derivative. But when I heard the [Pearl Jam demo], I heard something I had never heard before."
His thoughts on fame.
"I don't know how people do it these days — paparazzi and that kind of thing. That's something I can't even imagine. What we had at the time [at the height of their fame in the 1990's], was too much for me as a human and as a writer — to not be able to walk into a situation and observe because you were being observed. We just had to figure out ways [to cope]. On the music channel, you are in people's living rooms many times a day back then. We had to take responsibility for that and it was more manicuring [fame] to a level you could deal with."
