Pearl Jam bassist Jeff Ament recently joined U2’s Adam Clayton on SiriusXM’s U2 X-Radio show, Don’t Ask Me, I’m The Bass Player, where the two musicians discussed their early influences and how punk rock helped shape their careers.
During the conversation, Ament recalled briefly taking guitar lessons in high school before losing interest in the traditional approach to learning music.
“I played for like six months and I was like, ‘Why are we still playing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star?'” Ament said, explaining that he eventually quit lessons and didn’t pick up the bass until college.
Ament said his introduction to bass came through a college friend who was into punk rock. The two would play along to the Ramones’ live album It’s Alive, with Ament on bass and his friend on guitar.
Within a month, they were offered an opening slot at a concert despite not having a complete band. After recruiting a drummer, Ament performed his first show roughly six weeks after picking up the instrument.
“It was probably quite terrible,” Ament joked.
Clayton noted that the Ramones had a similar impact on U2, helping the band realize that they could create music through simple arrangements, strong melodies and energy rather than technical complexity.
Ament agreed, explaining that discovering punk rock at 18 helped him find his identity as a musician.
“It was almost like I became the person that I was supposed to be when I heard that music,” he said.
The full conversation airs on SiriusXM’s U2 X-Radio (channel 32) and is available through the SiriusXM app.
Listen to the interview clip below, courtesy of SiriusXM’s U2 X-Radio.
