PEARL JAM's STONE GOSSARD Looks Back On 2024's 'Dark Matter' Album: 'It Was A Record We Needed To Make At That Time'

On the new episode of Safe Mode Radio podcast, hosted by Jamie Stephen Hall of TIGERCUB, Stone Gossard, PEARL JAM's founding guitarist, reflected on the making of the band's latest album, "Dark Matter", which was released in April 2024. The LP was produced by Andrew Watt, the 35-year-old producer who was born October 20, 1990, the same week that singer Eddie Vedder traveled to Seattle from San Diego to meet his future PEARL JAM bandmates for the first time.

" Making a record with Andrew Watt, we just jumped off a cliff with him," Stone said. "He had recorded some stuff with Ed, and Ed was excited about Andrew and said, 'We should just come down. He's got a house and he's got a bunch of gear. [Let's] just fly down, and let's just make some music. No expectations or whatever.' And that in itself, that's a different mindset for Ed and I think a different mindset for the band in general. I think we can get process-oriented, and it's, like, 'Let's plan this. Okay. Bring all our gear.' … And so I think we wrote a couple of our best songs in the first 24 hours from that record by, 'Okay, who's got a riff?' And we just played through his gear, drums in the room."

Stone continued: "[Andrew] has a good setup and was able to… He had his kind of sound for us kind of figured out in a way. And so as soon as we listened back, it already sounded kind of mixed in a way. So it was very satisfying. And we kind of did that for a week, and that was great. And then we ended up having to kind of recap, and it took us a while to get back in to finish the record. But I think when we did, we had another one of those 10-day sessions where everybody was pretty together and everybody felt like we didn't know what was gonna happen. And that was part of the thrill. It was a record we needed to make at that time, for sure."

Two years ago, Gossard told Grammy.com about working with Watt: "I think he loves the band from what he has seen us live. He knows that we, in certain moments, are unhinged. That's part of what we do. It's where rock and roll meets just religious ecstasy, where it's not about anything other than movement and rhythm and noise. And it turns into something that's not a song, but a ritual or something… sometimes, as you get older as a band, you can lose touch of that."

Regarding the overall sound of "Dark Matter", Stone told Grammy.com: "The sonics of it is really Andrew Watt. That's his dream — of loving rock music, and then being in the pop world, then learning and understanding that world so well. And then going back to all of his favorite bands from when he was a kid and making records with them, which is hilarious. Because I keep saying this, 'We're just in Andrew's dream and we're just kind of a sidebar. This is really the Andrew Watt story that's actually going on right now, and we're all just part of it.' But he really has a very distinctive sonic style. He has a studio that we just walked into the first day making this record, and it's just gear already out, ready to go: 'What kind of guitar do you want? Here's an amp, whatever, the drums are here. We've got a microphone in the closet.'"

Stone continued: "Usually, if you're in a band — and especially a band for 20 or 30 years — when you decide to do something, then your gear shows up and your guy shows up, and then all your guys argue with each other about where their stuff's going to go, it's a drama. This was no drama. There was no work involved. We just walked in and played. It sounded like the record right away. He's running things through the chains that he wants. The way he uses compression, and the way he uses reverb, and the guitar sounds he likes, and how he places things — he's a sonic artist. So it sounds exciting, and really live. And yet, also you can really hear the details, and it's not a mess."

In May 2025, PEARL JAM concluded its year-long "Dark Matter" world tour. Two months later, drummer Matt Cameron exited the band after 27 years, saying in a social media statement: "Much love and respect to Jeff, Ed, Mike and Stone for inviting me into the band in 1998 and for giving me the opportunity of a lifetime, filled with friendships, artistry, challenges and laughter. I am forever grateful to the crew, staff and fans the world over. It's been an incredible journey. More to follow. I thank you all from the bottom of my heart."

2024 press photo credit: Danny Clinch