PEARL JAM Bassist Looks Ahead To Break And Future Plans

According to The Pulse Of Radio, PEARL JAM has just about completed the touring cycle for 2013's "Lightning Bolt" album and bassist Jeff Ament told Rolling Stone that the band is looking forward to a break, saying, "I think we sort of relish having nothing on the calendar, even if it's just for a couple months. I would guess we'll get through the holidays and then talk at some point after that and figure out what we're doing."

Ament said that the band isn't starting work on a new record yet, but added, "I think everybody's got some stuff stowed away… It's pretty easy for me at this point because we don't have kids, so when I'm home I'm tinkering in the studio all the time."

Ament told The Pulse Of Radio a while back that the group doesn't worry about keeping to a schedule when it makes music. "I think we learned that after the first two records, you know," he said. "I think, you know, whenever you tell somebody, 'Well, I think we can get it done by July,' then July 1st they're at your door, you know, so we've always just said, 'Well, it'll kinda be done when it's done."

"Lightning Bolt" was PEARL JAM's 10th studio album and the band is now putting a cap on its 23rd year of existence. Ament told Rolling Stone that there was a point early on when he couldn't imagine the band lasting this long, saying, "I'll be honest, when things blew up around the second or third record, I thought it could implode at any time. It felt like it was sort of out of control."

But Ament said that the band eventually got its act together, explaining, "There was some deep part of us that trusted one other enough to decide this was the right group of guys to do it with."

The bassist also said that he doesn't see any reason why PEARL JAM can't continue recording and touring for years to come, adding, "The lifelong friendship part of it is more important to me than the legacy of the band at this point."