Wednesday, December 8, 2010

On a Side Note: Jack Irons in Drum Magazine

This month's issue of Drum Magazine features an interview with Jack Irons.





Here are some choice tidbits that relate to his leaving Pearl Jam.





Jack:



When I left Pearl Jam in '98, I wasn't in a good place. Honestly, the way I felt, the last thing on my mind was music. Music is, I believe, something you do when you're feeling strong. I pretty much had to kind of give up my career to get my life together.



...



I just wasn't well enough to carry on. You've got to be fairly healthy go play for 15, 20, 30,000 people four or five times a week. You can't start to come unglued. There's thousands and thousands of people counting on you to do your job and to do it well. I just couldn't at the time.



...



When I was diagnosed [with bi-polar disorder] back in my twenties they said, 'when you get to your forties you might be able to turn a corner with this kind of thing.' And I think that's very accurate. I had to learn to decipher sort of what was real and what was in my head. And that took time.




Eddie Vedder:



As upsetting as it was at the time - it's not like I could have more respect for the guy - but I've always respected that decision. Because it's one thing to be completely devoted to music and feel it in an organic way and to be pure about it. And then it's another to be in a big band playing big shows and big tours and big records. And working with the machinery of rock and roll, and keeping a big band afloat business-wise, and all that. It's a balancing act, those two things. And it's completely understandable if it seems difficult for someone who's so purely dedicated to the art to have a hard time with the other side.