Matthew David Cameron (born
November 28, 1962 in San
Diego
, California
) is an American
musician who
serves as the drummer for the American rock band Pearl
Jam. After getting his start with the Seattle
, Washington
-based rock band Skin Yard,
he first gained notoriety as the drummer for the grunge rock band Soundgarden, which he joined in 1986 and
remained in until the band's break-up in 1997, triggered by
creative friction. In 1998, Cameron was invited to drum on
Pearl Jam's U.S.
Yield Tour. He soon
became a permanent member and has remained in the band ever since.
Additionally, Cameron has served as the drummer for the side
project bands
Hater and
Wellwater Conspiracy, also acting as
the lead singer for the latter.
Biography
Early life
Matt
Cameron was born and raised in San Diego, California. Cameron began playing drums at an early
age. At the age of thirteen, he and some friends played in a cover
band called "Kiss" (with the word
imitation written
underneath the name, in
small print).
During this stint, he met
Paul Stanley.
However, after a letter from the management of the band
Kiss threatened the children with legal action
if they did not cease their infringement, the band melted
away.
Cameron attended
Bonita Vista
High School. In 1978, under the pseudonym "Foo Cameron",
Cameron sang the song "Puberty Love" which was featured in the
movie
Attack of the
Killer Tomatoes. The nickname "Foo" came from Cameron's
younger brother, who pronounced Matthew as "Ma Foo".
Skin Yard
In 1983,
Cameron moved to Seattle, Washington, where he got a job working at a Kinko's. He first played in the local
instrumental band feeDBack with musician
Daniel House. Following feeDBack, Cameron
joined House in 1985 in the newly formed
Skin
Yard. The band had been formed in January 1985 by House and
Jack Endino. Cameron stayed with the
group for almost a year. In 1986, Skin Yard contributed two songs
to the now-legendary
Deep
Six compilation. This album was the first to showcase the
early
grunge sound. The band released its
first album in 1986, the eponymous
Skin Yard. Cameron wrote the song
"Reptile" for the band which appears on its first record. (More of
Cameron's work with Skin Yard can be found on the 2001 rarities
compilation,
Start at the
Top.) Shortly after the release of
Skin Yard,
Cameron left the band, later joining
Soundgarden.
Soundgarden
By September 1986, Cameron had gained so much notoriety in the
local music scene that he was chosen to play for Soundgarden,
replacing drummer
Scott Sundquist.
Soundgarden was made up of vocalist/guitarist
Chris Cornell, guitarist
Kim Thayil, and bassist
Hiro Yamamoto. Cornell said, "When I first met
Matt, he was already the best drummer in town...He just seemed very
confident and well-adjusted." The band signed with the
independent label Sub Pop and released the
Screaming Life EP in 1987 and the
Fopp EP in 1988. In 1988, the
band signed with legendary punk record label
SST Records and released its debut full-length
album
Ultramega OK. The album
earned the band its first major award nomination, a
Grammy Award, in 1990. The band subsequently
signed with
A&M Records,
becoming the first grunge band to sign to a major label. In 1989,
the band released its first album for a major label,
Louder Than Love.
Following the release
of Louder Than Love, Yamamoto left the band to finish his
Master's degree in Physical Chemistry at Western
Washington University
. He was replaced by former
Nirvana guitarist
Jason Everman. Everman was fired following
Soundgarden's tour supporting
Louder Than Love.
In 1990, the band was joined by a new bassist,
Ben Shepherd. The new line-up released
Badmotorfinger in 1991. The
album brought the band to a new level of commercial success, and
the band found itself amidst the sudden popularity and attention
given to the Seattle music scene and the genre known as grunge.
Badmotorfinger was nominated for a
Grammy Award for Best
Metal Performance in 1992. The band's next album was to be its
breakthrough.
Superunknown,
released in 1994, debuted at number one on the
Billboard 200 and launched several
successful singles, including "
Spoonman"
and "
Black Hole Sun". The album was
nominated for the
Grammy Award for Best Rock
Album in 1995. Two singles from
Superunknown, "Black
Hole Sun" and "Spoonman", won Grammy Awards, and the music video
for "Black Hole Sun" won a
MTV
Video Music Award and a
Clio Award.
Superunknown was ranked number 336 on
Rolling Stone magazine's list of the
500
greatest albums of all time, and "Black Hole Sun" was ranked
number 25 on
VH1's list of the 100 greatest
songs of the '90s. In 1996, the band released its fifth studio
album,
Down on the
Upside; while successful, the album could not emulate the
precedent set by
Superunknown. Tensions within the group
arose during the
Down on the Upside sessions, with Thayil
and Cornell reportedly clashing over Cornell's desire to shift away
from the heavy guitar riffing that had become the band's trademark.
In 1997, Soundgarden received another Grammy nomination, for the
lead single "
Pretty Noose". In 1997,
the band broke up due to internal strife over its creative
direction. In a 1998 interview, Thayil said, "It was pretty obvious
from everybody's general attitude over the course of the previous
half year that there was some dissatisfaction." Cameron later said
that Soundgarden was "eaten up by the business."
While a member of Soundgarden, Cameron wrote the following songs
for the band:
- "He Didn’t" (Ultramega OK) ... music
- "Jesus Christ Pose"
(Badmotorfinger) ... music (co-written)
- "Room a Thousand Years
Wide" (Badmotorfinger) ... music
- "Drawing Flies" (Badmotorfinger) ... music
- "New Damage" (Badmotorfinger) ... music
(co-written)
- "Birth Ritual" (Singles soundtrack) ... music (co-written)
- "Exit Stonehenge" ("Spoonman" single) ... music
(co-written)
- "Mailman" (Superunknown) ... music, and played
mellotron
- "Limo Wreck" (Superunknown) ... music
(co-written)
- "Fresh Tendrils" (Superunknown) ... lyrics
(co-written) and music
- "Jerry Garcia's Finger" (Songs from the
Superunknown) ... music (co-written)
- "Rhinosaur" (Down on the Upside) ... music
- "Applebite" (Down on the Upside) ... music, and played
Moog synthesizer
- "A Splice of Space Jam" ("Blow Up the Outside World" single)
... music (co-written)
The task of figuring out the time signatures for Soundgarden's
songs was usually left to Cameron. Regarding his drumming with
Soundgarden,
Modern Drummer
stated that Cameron "always injected a maturity into Soundgarden's
music. His ghost-note grooves and the uncanny ability to make odd
time feel like straight time have already earned him status among
rock's drumming's elite pacemakers."
Pearl Jam
Almost a year after Soundgarden's break-up, in summer 1998, Cameron
was invited by rock-colleagues
Pearl Jam
to drum on its U.S.
Yield Tour after the
band's drummer
Jack Irons left due to
health issues. Cameron had worked with members of the band before
on the
Temple of the Dog project
and had helped them record some early instrumental demos in 1990.
Cameron said, "I got a phone call out of the blue, from Mr. Ed Ved,
Stoney and Kelly. I was ambushed. It was really short notice. He
called and said 'hey what are you doing this summer?'" Guitarist
Mike McCready said, "We knew him from
being around the same scene and seeing him on tour. It had a lot to
do with it. We knew he was a normal cat too, a normal guy." Cameron
learned over 80 songs in two weeks. He was hired on an initially
temporary basis, but soon, during the tour, he was invited to
become a full-time member. Cameron stated, "The guys made me feel
real welcome and it wasn't a struggle to get it musically, but my
style was a little bit different, I think, than what they were used
to. And they've been through so many different drummers, I don't
even know if they knew what they wanted. So, I just kind of played
the way I played and then eventually we kind of figured out what
worked best for the band."
Cameron has since become the longest serving drummer of the band.
McCready stated that Cameron has made Pearl Jam "into a way better
band." In 1998, Pearl Jam, with Cameron on drums, recorded
"
Last Kiss", a cover of a 1960s ballad
made famous by
J.
Frank Wilson and the
Cavaliers. It was released on the band's 1998 fan club
Christmas single; however, by popular demand, the cover was
released to the public as a single in 1999. "Last Kiss" peaked at
number two on the
Billboard charts and became the band's
highest-charting single. In 2000, the band released its sixth
studio album,
Binaural,
and initiated a successful and ongoing series of
official bootlegs. The band
released seventy-two such live albums in 2000 and 2001, and set a
record for most albums to debut in the
Billboard 200 at
the same time. "
Grievance" (from
Binaural) received a Grammy nomination for
Best Hard Rock
Performance. The band released its seventh studio album,
Riot Act, in 2002. Pearl
Jam's contribution to the 2003 film,
Big
Fish, "
Man of the Hour",
was nominated for a
Golden Globe
Award in 2004. The band's eighth studio album, the eponymous
Pearl Jam, was released
in 2006. The band released its ninth studio album,
Backspacer, in 2009.
Since joining Pearl Jam, Cameron has written the following songs
for the band:
- "Evacuation" (Binaural) ... music
- "Save You" (Riot Act) ...
music (co-written)
- "Cropduster" (Riot Act) ... music
- "You Are" (Riot Act) ... lyrics (co-written), music,
and played rhythm guitar
- "Get Right" (Riot Act) ... lyrics and music
- "In the Moonlight" (Lost
Dogs) ... lyrics and music
- "Unemployable" (Pearl Jam) ... music (co-written)
- "The Fixer"
(Backspacer) ... music (co-written)
- "Johnny Guitar" (Backspacer) ... music
(co-written)
While not as frequent as the other members' written contributions,
Cameron's are held in high regard by the band, as are his
performances. In the liner notes of the 2003
Lost Dogs
compilation, Pearl Jam vocalist
Eddie
Vedder says:
Matt Cameron writes songs and we run to find step
stools in order to reach his level,...what comes naturally to him
leaves us with our heads cocked like the confused dogs that we
are,...eventually getting it.
Did we mention he's the greatest drummer on the
planet?
Other musical projects
Along with Cornell,
Stone Gossard,
Jeff Ament, McCready, and Vedder, Cameron
appeared on the 1991
Temple of the Dog album. The
album paid tribute to
Mother Love
Bone vocalist
Andrew Wood, who died
of a heroin overdose at age 24.
He has played in two
jazz-influenced side
projects: Tone Dogs in the early 1990s, and Harrybu McCage, which
formed in 2008. Cameron also has a fondness for
psychedelic garage
rock, and his side projects
Hater
and
Wellwater Conspiracy
reflect this. Cameron formed Hater in 1993 with Soundgarden bassist
Ben Shepherd. The band released a self-titled album in 1993 and
recorded a second album in 1995 following Soundgarden's
Superunknown tour. The band's second album,
The
2nd, would not see release until 2005. Cameron founded
Wellwater Conspiracy with Shepherd and guitarist
John McBain. The band's debut album,
Declaration of
Conformity, was released in 1997. Following Shepherd's
departure from the band in 1998, Cameron took over lead vocal
duties for the band. Cameron and McBain maintained the group after
Cameron joined Pearl Jam, and a further three Wellwater Conspiracy
albums were released following the band's debut album (
Brotherhood of
Electric: Operational Directives (1999),
The Scroll and Its
Combinations (2001), and
Wellwater Conspiracy
(2003)).
Cameron appears on the
Gamma Ray EP which would become the
first recorded material by
Queens of the Stone Age. Cameron
played drums at the band's first show on November 20, 1997 at the
OK Hotel in Seattle, however he did not
join the band as its drummer.
Cameron contributed his drumming on seven tracks considered for
The Smashing Pumpkins' 1998
album,
Adore, though only the
epic and highly acclaimed "For Martha" appeared on the album.
Another studio track, "Because You Are", surfaced on the 2001
B-side and rarities collection,
Judas Ø. Rumors circulated in
the beginning of 1998 that he was considered as a permanent drummer
replacement for
Jimmy Chamberlin,
but Cameron denied this.
Other drumming contributions by Cameron include four tracks on
Eleven's 1995 album,
Thunk,
the track "Disappearing One" on former bandmate Chris Cornell's
1999 solo album,
Euphoria
Morning, and
Geddy Lee's 2000
solo album,
My Favorite
Headache.
Cameron has enjoyed a friendship with fellow drummer
Jeremy Taggart of Canadian rock group
Our Lady Peace. When Taggart was
sidelined with an ankle injury during the recording of that group's
2000 album,
Spiritual
Machines, Cameron played drums on songs such as "Right
Behind You (Mafia)" and "Are You Sad?". Cameron contributed to the
soundtrack for
the 2002 film,
Spider-Man, playing on "
Hero" with
Chad Kroeger and
Josey
Scott. As Cameron was unable to attend the shoot, Jeremy
Taggart returned the favor and is shown in Cameron's place in the
video.
Cameron, along with fellow Pearl Jam bandmate Mike McCready,
contributed two songs to
Peter
Frampton's instrumental album,
Fingerprints (2006). These include
a cover of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" and "Blowin'
Smoke".
Cameron has lent his talents to Submersible Music's
DrumCore software.
He is also set to appear on a compilation album by Thick Syrup
Records in 2010 alongside
Half
Japanese,
Adil Omar and
Penn Jillette.
Musical style and influences
Cameron was described by Greg Prato of
Allmusic as "unquestionably one of rock's finest
and most versatile drummers." Cameron's style is one that seeks not
to dominate a song but rather tease out a groove that will
complement and support its atmosphere. Despite a career in rock
music, Cameron stated in a 1989 radio interview that growing up he
"wasn't a big rock fan..." and that his musical tastes during his
youth were "more into jazz." Cameron has professed that his primary
musical interests lie in
progressive
rock and various jazz subgenres, including
hard bop, both of which are characterized by a much
busier playing style than Cameron exhibits. Cameron has cited
Tony Williams,
Keith Moon,
Steve Gadd,
Stewart Copeland, and
Kiss as influences.
Cameron tends to revisit the
paradiddle for effect. Examples
include the spreading of the RLRR-LRLL pattern amongst the toms on
Soundgarden's "Never the Machine Forever" (from
Down on the
Upside); between ride and snare on "Unemployable" (from
Pearl Jam), creating a driving shuffle; and "You Are"
(from
Riot Act). This pattern can also be heard on the
ride cymbal during the bridge of "
Bleed
Together" (from the "
Burden in My
Hand" single).
Equipment
Unlike his contemporaries
Dave
Abbruzzese (Pearl Jam), Jimmy Chamberlin (The Smashing
Pumpkins), and
Sean Kinney (
Alice in Chains), who each have extensive
drumkits, Cameron, although far from static, employs a more
traditional approach to drum equipment.
Throughout
the 1990s, Cameron favored three crashes (generally matching 19"
Zildjian
Z customs), a ride of 20 or 21 inches, and 15"
hihats. Before 1996's
Down on the Upside, a China
cymbal was used infrequently, most notably on
Superunknown's closing track "Like Suicide". Even after
becoming a full-time member of Pearl Jam upon drummer Jack Irons'
departure for health reasons, Cameron's cymbal setup has not
changed radically from his Soundgarden days. Currently, the most
noticeable difference is his use of the A Zildjian series as
opposed to the heavier Z series.
Cameron used California-based
Drum
Workshop drums during the majority of his time with
Soundgarden. Cameron revealed in a 1994 interview with
Modern
Drummer magazine that to greater emphasize the dynamic shift
in the aforementioned "Like Suicide", two kits were used, the
latter having shells both larger in depth and diameter. Along with
fellow Northwesterner
William
Goldsmith (
Sunny Day Real
Estate and
Foo Fighters), Cameron
was an early supporter of drummer and craftsman Gregg Keplinger,
famous for perhaps the heaviest and most characteristic steel snare
drum on today's market. During the recording of 1996's
Down on
the Upside, and the album's subsequent tour, he was endorsed
by the Canadian custom outfit
Ayotte,
of which cohort Jeremy Taggart (Our Lady Peace) is a long-time
artist.
Initially during Pearl Jam's U.S. Yield Tour Cameron could be seen
using his purple Ayotte kit, the very same employed on
Soundgarden's
Saturday Night
Live performances of "Pretty Noose" and "Burden in My Hand"
(during which the bass drum read "Go
Sonics!", a reference to the Seattle
basketball team). Cameron's subsequent time with Pearl Jam is
notable for his shift away from maple-shelled drums, arguably the
most popular drum material in the rock market for its low
fundamental tone and strong projection. He opted instead for the
Yamaha Birch Custom Absolute, which is
higher-pitched than maple and produces fewer overtones. In 2009, he
began to use yet another type of wood, the Yamaha Oak Custom.
Cameron, along with fellow contemporary drummer Jimmy Chamberlin,
is endorsed by
Vic Firth
drumsticks and has a signature model available. They are most
similar to a 5B.
Personal life
Cameron and his wife, April Acevez, are the parents of two
children, son Ray and daughter Josie. The couple currently resides
near Seattle, Washington. His wife April has contributed
viola to Soundgarden's
Superunknown,
Wellwater Conspiracy's
Brotherhood of Electric: Operational
Directives and
The Scroll and Its Combinations, and
Pearl Jam's
Binaural.
Discography
Skin Yard discography
Soundgarden discography
Tone Dogs discography
| Year |
Title |
Label |
| 1990 |
Ankety Low Day |
C/Z |
Temple of the Dog discography
Hater discography
Wellwater Conspiracy discography
Pearl Jam discography
| Year |
Title |
Label |
Track(s) |
| 1998 |
Live on Two Legs |
Epic |
All |
| 1999 |
No Boundaries:
A Benefit for the Kosovar Refugees |
Epic |
"Last Kiss" and
"Soldier of
Love " |
| 2000 |
Binaural |
Epic |
All except "Soon Forget" |
| 2000 European
Official Bootlegs |
Epic |
All |
| 2001 |
2000 North
American Official Bootlegs, Volume 1 |
Epic |
All |
| 2000 North
American Official Bootlegs, Volume 2 |
Epic |
All |
| Substitute: Songs from the Who |
Edel America |
"The Kids Are
Alright" (live) |
| 2002 |
Riot Act |
Epic |
All except "Arc" |
| 2003 |
2003 Official
Bootlegs |
Epic |
All |
| Lost Dogs |
Epic |
"Sad", "Down", "Hitchhiker", "In the Moonlight", "Education",
"U", "Undone", "Fatal", "Other Side", "Last Kiss", and "Sweet
Lew" |
| Big Fish: Music from the
Motion Picture |
Sony |
"Man of the Hour" |
| 2004 |
Hot Stove, Cool Music, Vol. 1 |
Fenway |
"Bu$hleaguer" (live) |
| Live at Benaroya
Hall |
BMG |
All |
| For the Lady |
Rhino/WEA |
"Better Man" (live) |
| rearviewmirror |
Epic |
"Save You", "Last Kiss", "Nothing as It Seems", "Light Years", "I Am Mine", and "Man of the Hour" |
| 2005 |
2005 Official
Bootlegs |
Ten Club |
All |
| 2006 |
Pearl Jam |
J |
All except "Wasted Reprise" |
| 2006 Official
Bootlegs |
Ten Club |
All |
| Live at Easy
Street |
J |
All |
| 2007 |
Surf's Up: Music
from the Motion Picture |
Sony |
"Big Wave" |
| Live at the Gorge
05/06 |
Rhino/WEA |
All |
| Live at Lollapalooza
2007 |
Self-released |
All |
| 2008 |
2008 United
States Official Bootlegs |
Kufala |
All |
| 2009 |
Backspacer |
Monkeywrench (US), Universal
Music Group (international) |
All |
Harrybu McCage discography
| Year |
Title |
Label |
| 2008 |
Harrybu McCage |
Monkeywrench |
Contributions and collaborations
| Year |
Group |
Title |
Label |
Track(s) |
| 1993 |
M.A.C.C. (Mike McCready, Jeff Ament, Matt Cameron, and Chris Cornell) |
Stone
Free: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix |
Reprise/WEA |
"Hey Baby (Land of the New Rising Sun)" |
| 1995 |
Eleven |
Thunk |
Hollywood |
"Why", "Seasick of You", "Big Sleep", and "No Ground" |
| Seaweed |
Spanaway |
Hollywood |
"Magic Mountainman" |
| 1996 |
Kristen Barry |
Home Alive: The Art of Self
Defense |
Epic |
"Joyride" |
| 1997 |
The Prodigy |
The Fat of the
Land |
XL |
Unknown |
| Matt Cameron and Taz Bentley |
Flyin' Traps: Stereo Drums |
Hollywood |
"Theme From Wrong Holy-O" |
| 1998 |
Stegosaurus |
Stegosaurus |
Reprise |
"Not Defeat Myself", "Candy", and "At the Water" |
| The Smashing Pumpkins |
Adore |
Virgin |
"For Martha" |
| 1999 |
Amy Denio |
Greatest Hits |
Unit Circle |
"(When George Bush Was Head Of The) C.I.A.", "Secret Crush",
"Brave It", and "Traffic Island Psycho" |
| Chris Cornell |
Euphoria Morning |
Interscope |
"Disappearing One" |
| 2000 |
Tony Iommi |
Iommi |
Divine/Priority |
"Time Is Mine", "Flame On", "Just Say No to Love", and "Into
the Night" |
| Geddy Lee |
My Favorite
Headache |
Atlantic |
All except "Home on the Strange" |
| 2001 |
Our Lady Peace |
Spiritual
Machines |
Columbia |
"Right Behind You (Mafia)" and "Are You Sad?" |
| The Smashing Pumpkins |
Judas Ø |
Virgin |
"Because You Are" |
| 2002 |
The Walkabouts |
Ended Up a Stranger |
Interstate |
- |
| Aya |
Senjou no Hana |
BMG |
All |
| Chad Kroeger featuring Josey Scott |
Spider-Man: Music from and
Inspired By |
Sony |
"Hero" |
| Burden Brothers |
Queen O' Spades |
Last Beat |
"Walk Away" |
| 2006 |
Peter Frampton |
Fingerprints |
A&M |
"Black Hole Sun" and "Blowin'
Smoke" |
| 2008 |
The Bergevin Brothers |
Seven Songs for America and One for the World |
Bergevin Brothers Music |
All |
References
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