“I just have this deep kind of connection to reality of being like... in a way, I…” — Eddie Vedder

I was around nine when a babysitter snuck 'Who's Next' onto the turntable. The parents were gone. The windows shook. The shelves were rattling. Rock & roll. That began an exploration into music that had soul, rebellion, aggression, affection.

The one thing about going from the audience to the stage in just three years is that you know how it feels to be down there.

I am not a good enough writer to have an agenda or come up with a message and try to put it into a song. It's more like you write what comes to you... You try to reflect the mood of the songs.

After the Ramones, it was more about new wave for me than punk.