If you missed Stone and Mike's AMA on Reddit last night, never fear. Their answers are archived here, but we've combed through and found you 10 great answers.
From Stone, re: Buckle Up
i wrote the riff in Santiago Chile in my hotel before our first show in SA last time we were there.. i think. i wrote lyrics in seattle about a year ago . it was the last song that was brought to band right at the end of making the record ...fall last year. i love the simplicity of the song> Jeff Ament came in and threw wicked lyrical bass and keys on it right away and the rest is history.. Thank you so much for enjoying. It makes makes me very happy. we rehearsed a few times ... its gonna be gooooooood.
How do you decide who handles which guitar part when writing a song? Is it each of you writing your own parts, or do you write parts for one another?
Depends on the song. I usually am confident that Stone will come up with something great for my songs.On Retrograde he came up with the atmospheric melody in the first part of the chorus.Sometimes ED will have a fixed Idea on how a rythm should be played with references like " make it sound like the KInks" Jeff will have specific melodic leads that he will want me to play. I usually like to hear what the guys will come up with on their own.Mike
From Mike, re: singing
I really want to sing for songs I write outside of Pearl Jam. Its been daunting cause Ive been around the best ! Im taking singing lessons from Sue Carr in Seattle shes really great and Im practicing a bunch.
Stone: follow-up to Moonlander when?!
Im finishing up a record i co wrote with Mason Jennings that is a song away from being mixed. Its called Painted Shield. its really good. Hopefully out in a few months if we survive this crazy shit .
Is there any chance that we could get another lost dogs type album with all the unreleased songs from Avocado onward
Hope you’re both doing great in these tough times and thanks again for all the amazing music, can’t wait to see you guys live when all this is over!
Gigaton is its own record. Id love to record more music in this time of pandemic but its imoportant that we are all taking measures to be safe. Good Idea about Lost Dogs 2 Ill bet we have the music for that.MM
Hi there. Quick escape has a very rare (and wonderful) effect on the guitar, on the solo, how do they do that? With any pedal, which one? greetings from Argentina
Stone: What solo ... first or second...? the first solo is me and he had lots of crap on it... harmonizer and octaver plus tons of distortion.... Thats all Josh Evans on effects choice . It might be guitar direct into the board and distortion with preamps .. i do love that line though.. stone
Mike: On Quick escape I was using a bunch of pedals .One for sure was the Electric Mistress flanger that Alex Lifeson turned me on to.I love that pedal. I also asked Josh Evans and Neil Hunt at separate times to move the switches on an old delay while I was playing so I would get a sound that I couldnt repeat live. I wanted it special for the track
Have been pretty blown away by the cover of Hunted Down by Soundgarden that Stone is doing lead vocals on that was one of the recent ten club singles. Was wondering how that cover came about? It's a really exciting interpretation of that song.
Thanks . i can't get that lyric out of my head. It speaks to me how we spend our lives hiding from( metaphorical) howling dogs. I remember hearing that song for the first time as a test pressing of the Subpop single at one our local music bars.. My jaw fell through the floor ....Matt fucking Cameron and Chris Cornell showing why SG is one of the greatest of all time. sg
Mike: any plans for a solo record?
I would like to do a solo record some day and have some Ideas for it. I hope it will happen in the next few yearsMM
It seems like you guys had a lot of choices for this record, the one notable that missed the cut is Can’t Deny Me. Two years ago when you guys released it as a single, did you have a different concept for the album? If so, when did that all change?
Also, was Of The Earth ever considered for this album? I love the song and would love to hear a studio recording of it some day (hoping that maybe we have enough “Stray Cats” laying around)
Cant Deny Me was a single that came out when we didnt have a record out.It might come out again someday but Im not sure. I think Ed feels like we havent gotten the best take of Of The Earth from what I remember.I hope we can get it sometime>MM
If you Mike, and you Stone could freely pick a Neil Young cover to play love (From his vast amount of amazing songs) - which one would it be? Off the top of your head? Other than Opera Star off Reactor that is!
I keep humming The Great Divide. It really is stuck in my head. Lets play that as a cover!!!! sg
