AmericanSongwriter.com - “Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Temple of the Dog Drummer, Matt Cameron, Talks Tunes”

Full Article | Author: Jason Uitti 

Excerpt:

In Seattle, Washington during the mid-80s, one of those small hubs was a Kinko’s in the city’s University District. There, eventual Soundgarden, Pearl Jam and Temple of the Dog drummer, Matt Cameron, would print readers for the nearby University of Washington and, at night, give away hundreds of free leaflet copies to local bands that were making flyers, posters or any number of promotional materials. Cameron was a hero. Still is to many. Especially to those fans of the sludgy rock ‘n’ roll he helped make eternal.

“We tended to use the resources we had at the time to promote our gigs,” Cameron says. “And Kinko’s copies played a big role in that!”

For someone like Cameron, opening the door to history is more like opening a million doors. To use another metaphor, the artist has any number of storytelling threads that he could pull to enrapture audiences. Want to talk about Chris Cornell? He could at length. Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder, Kurt Cobain and Nirvana? Yes, it’s quite possible. It’s the burden and the blessing for someone like the Hall of Fame drummer who was in the center of a massive movement that swept the globe several times over.

“Sometimes I get overwhelmed,” Cameron says. “There’s been so much influence that our small little local music scene really spread to the rest of the world of music. I felt like we wrote a new chapter in the history of music. I’m so proud of that. It really grew out of just a natural microcosm scene that was not unlike other scenes in the U.S. at that time. But our groups became commercially massively successful. It’s pretty incredible. My favorite aspect of what we accomplished was that we were able to contribute to the continuum of music.”

If you ask fans of rock ‘n’ roll, many will tell you how Cameron is one of the greatest drummers of all time. He’s noted for his skill to make difficult or odd time signatures seem supremely digestible. He’s worked with any number of acclaimed artists and continues to. The secret to his success is a two-pronged mission. Cameron, in all that he enjoys, tries to focus intently on what he’s doing. So much so that he loses himself in the work. It’s almost like a Magic Eye image. Intense focus on near-chaos leads to a euphoric clarity right there in front of you. It’s a certain “flow” state. The kind that may come cheaply from elicit substances but satisfyingly from effort.

“My favorite moments as a musician are when I feel like I’m not thinking,” Cameron says. “When I’m reacting in the moment. Those are moments I really cherish.”

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