I played djembe, percussion, keyboards and I sang. Jeff Ament More Quotes by Jeff Ament More Quotes From Jeff Ament Every few years I'll party way too much to remind myself what an idiot I am. Jeff Ament too-muchpartyyears Punk rock and skateboarding took the 'school' out of living your life, and I related to learning as I went, doing a lot of different things that I liked, when I liked. Consequently, I'm mediocre at all of the above, but still stoked on being a lifetime student of music, skating, painting, writing, etc. Jeff Ament rockswritingschool I have to go someplace where I can soak myself in a creative atmosphere. Jeff Ament atmospherei-cancreative When I moved to Seattle, I was hanging out with kids who had done drugs, had sex a million times. I look at them now and realize their childhood was taken away. Jeff Ament takenkidssex Right after 'Backspacer,' my best friend got killed tragically. Something happened to me then where I got super motivated. I had a shelf of all this unfinished music... So I just went to work and made a conscious decision that I was going to finish a bunch of stuff. Life's short. Jeff Ament my-best-frienddecisionstuff You go to a show and you know the crowd is there because they like the music, not because everybody else was going. That's a good feeling. You look out there and you know, these are our people. Jeff Ament feelingspeoplelooks I'm healthy enough to still skate, so I gotta go because growing up I didn't have - I mean, I grew up in Montana so... there was kind of a little half-pipe in my yard, and that was the extent of the skate terrain in Montana. So I've got to go out and make up for lost time. Jeff Ament growing-uphealthymean There really is a certain magic that happens when you're in the studio. And it's important in life to feel that magic: to feel that there is something greater moving all this along. Jeff Ament magicimportantmoving Where I grew up, I could be a punk rocker and a jock. But in college, it became apparent that those two worlds didn't mix. When I brought my guitar back to school after Thanksgiving break, a friend handed me his bass and said, 'Listen to the Ramones.' Jeff Ament guitarcollegeschool Make movies. Don't make videos. Videos are evil. Jeff Ament videoevil It was hard to figure out what were the good causes, the bad causes, even the good politics and the bad politics. So we started taking requests and figuring it out. Jeff Ament figuring-itukulelecauses This isn't a mass-produced...instrument. Mike Lull Custom Guitars makes each bass right here in the NW. Over 20 years of collaborating, designing, and building basses has gone into my model. Jeff Ament designguitaryears I'm not going to say no to playing a show in Missoula. Jeff Ament shows I've been interested in Eastern religions since I went to college because I was trying to figure out where I stood with Catholicism. Jeff Ament figurescollegetrying It's great that people are basically spending their two weeks of vacation to come out and be with us in some weird part of the world. And I think we owe it to them to take 'em to some cool places. Jeff Ament vacationtwothinking I love sad. Sadness makes you feel more than anything. Jeff Ament sad-lovesadnessfeels Ever since I picked up a bass, I've written songs. Jeff Ament basswrittensong With Pearl Jam, everybody is so good at what they do, it's hard to get up the courage to say, Can I sing this part, or, I want to play guitar. I feel like I have more courage to do that. Jeff Ament guitarjamplay I've seen kids turn their lives around. It's usually a kid who's outside of the team-sport world, or maybe has a darker personality or doesn't fit in. Skateboarding ends up being something they latch onto. It sounds hokey, but finding a focus on something - whether it's skateboard or playing your guitar - can be life changing. Jeff Ament guitarfocuspersonalitylife We went to Big Sur about three years ago and hung out at the Esalen Institute. Jeff Ament aboutbigthreeyears
