Montana resident and member of Pearl Jam, Jeff Ament, goes solo on 'Tone'
Ament poses onstage at Aloha Stadium in Hawaii. (PHOTOS COURTESY JEFF AMENT)The days I choose to remind me
Are the ones I forget
When I didn't have a care
But to take care
Are the ones I forget
When I didn't have a care
But to take care— Jeff Ament "Give Me A Reason"
Being raised in the small town of Big Sandy did more than just inspire Jeff Ament, it helped mold him.
A key member of Pearl Jam, the 45-year-old Ament has accomplished more than many musicians ever hope to. Now he's added a solo album to his repertoire.
Ament has toyed with the idea of a solo record for as long as he can remember.
"Probably since I was a kid," he said.
In those days, he was living on the Hi-Line, and in many ways, the new songs map out his travels from small-town youth to big city success story.
"I wanted it to be representative of growing up in Big Sandy, and it kind of went beyond that," explained Ament in an interview with the Tribune from his home in Missoula. "Some of the initial ideas of the songs might have started off in Big Sandy, but by the end of it, they kind of ended up somewhere else and it spanned (my life) from 1976 to 2006."
The geographical challenges of rural Montana actually helped Ament when he reached Seattle in the '80s and began his career in music, he said. On the new album, "Tone," Ament pays homage to his childhood inspirations, positive and negative.
"I think a lot of the things on the record were initially either a 'thank you,' or a '(screw) you' to the people that I was around when I was growing up," he said. "Ultimately it ended up being a giant 'thank you,' because the people that didn't understand you and gave you a hard time and told you you were a loser and all that stuff, those people ended up molding me as much as those who supported me, like my parents and people I'm still friends with."
On his ownAment is no stranger to writing lyrics, having penned such Pearl Jam tunes as "Nothing As It Seems," "Other Side," "Low Light" and "Pilate."
On "Tone," Ament gave himself the task of not only writing each word, but composing and performing everything from the guitars to the vocals. The project proved something Ament knew all along, that he had the ability to create an entire record on his own.
"I think you always wanna prove to yourself and the guys in the band that you can handle it. That you can do it," said Ament, who went on to talk about the process of being in charge of every aspect of decision-making.
"It's a little more interesting because you don't have the perspective of somebody else telling you 'Well, I don't know if I'd do that,' " he said. "That's probably why it took me so long to actually finish something and get it out there. Just feeling confident enough that I could put something out there that was ... at least semi-good enough (from) my perspective.
"There were times where I certainly missed that (group atmosphere) where you wished that you could've played it for one of the guys," he continued. " 'What do you think about this?' and they'd probably have a totally different take on it (but) my ego loved actually being the guy."
Ament put a call out to other musicians when the timing was right. For instance, he brought in Fastbacks drummer Richard Stuverud to help on drums. Stuverud and Ament have a history together, sharing the writing duties in the Missoula-based band Three Fish.
"It's amazing. A couple of the songs, when (Richard) came in and played over the top of them and totally added a whole new feel to it," Ament said. "Oftentimes, I'd have to go back in and recut bass or keyboard parts."
King's X frontman Doug Pinnick added vocals to "Doubting Thomasina."
"Artistically, he can do a lot because of his voice. He can go a lot of places," Ament said.
The two have collaborated on a project with fellow Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready, although there aren't plans as of yet to release those songs.
Made in MontanaAs has been the case for years, Ament splits his time between Seattle and Missoula and has access to studios in both.
For "Tone," it was important to spend studio time under the Big Sky where he has been working on the songs for quite some time.
"I have a much smaller (studio in Montana) than what I have in Seattle. In the studio here, for the most part, it was kind of at my leisure," he said. "I'm a little more consistent about when I go in. I'll take a month and I'll say 'I'm gonna go in every morning at 10 o'clock and see what happens.'"
Being part of such a monumental band like Pearl Jam has allowed Ament to see other musicians at the top of their game for most of his career.
"I figure with Pearl Jam that I get to play with really great musicians ... so it's kind of fun to do the stuff myself and use the limitations to your advantage," Ament said. "I wish I could sing like Ed (Vedder) or I wish I could rip out a lead like Mike. You just make do with what you have and hope it's good enough."
Not known for his vocal contributions to Pearl Jam, Ament had to find his voice for the new record.
"I think I'm still finding it in a lot of ways," he said. "A lot of times the songs or the subject of the song or the tone of the song would kind of dictate how I would try to sing it. If I have a musical goal over the next 10 years, it's to be able to find a handful of voices or characters that I can go to."
"That's certainly what I am blown away by with Ed," he continued. "It's pretty cool to have watched him develop those voices."
No pressureAment isn't concerned about sales for the new record. In fact, he's made it almost exclusively available to Pearl Jam fan club members and is distributing about a thousand copies through a handful of independent record stores.
"I just wanted to put it out kind of limited and be done with it," said Ament, who's seen Pearl Jam sell more than 60 million albums worldwide. "It was a nice way to ... have a nice little creative outlet for me where it's not really too involved with the band."
Even the cover artwork on the album is inspired by Montana. Ament took a road map and clipped together the route from Montana to Seattle. Then he painted and pasted images onto it.
"It was right before we went on tour this summer, and I just stayed up a couple of nights and painted this big thing," Ament said of the cover. "Just kind of kept throwing stuff on it and pretty much turned it in before I knew what I did. Sometimes that's the best way."
From his early days on the Montana prairie to his current adventures traveling the world with his bass, Ament is proud to have told his story in a way only he could.
"I decided that I did have something to say and that I was gonna put something out there that was 100 percent representative of me," he said. "A good part of this record was at least inspired by growing up (in Big Sandy) and the transition of moving to the city."
par dvi2702 » Sam Sep 27, 2008 2:12 pm 
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