Cameron moonlights in Wellwater Conspiracy

11/12/2003 1:30 PM, AP
Gene Johnson

SEATTLE (AP) — Between drumming for Pearl Jam and raising two young children, Matt Cameron doesn't have much time for moonlighting.

But Cameron has found some time over the years to develop his songwriting in a side project called Wellwater Conspiracy. The band includes ex-Monster Magnet guitarist John McBain and Cameron's old friend Glenn Slater on keyboards and bass.

The band recently released its fourth album, "Wellwater Conspiracy" (Megaforce), a stripped-down, drum- and guitar-based exploration of early '70s-style psychedelic rock.

"John and I started this thing as a fun studio project where we'd get together and write tunes on the spot," Cameron said. "It's certainly progressed. We're trying to challenge ourselves more as songwriters now. ... It's just a good outlet for both of us."

Cameron joined Pearl Jam after his previous band, the groundbreaking Seattle grunge group Soundgarden, split in 1997. And McBain, who's also married, is in the midst of a two-year solo effort and seems to enjoy selling used gear at a music shop. Neither wants Wellwater to ever become his sole band.

Yet as busy as Cameron is with Pearl Jam and his 1- and 4-year-old children, the 40-year-old musician has more time now than he did with Soundgarden.

"It's been a little easier having Matt in Pearl Jam, because they kind of do what they want at this point," McBain said. "They've allotted themselves some good downtime and we took advantage of it."

They seldom play shows as Wellwater Conspiracy, but they're considering some limited touring early next year — maybe New York, maybe Europe, most likely Seattle.

Cameron and McBain, 38, first played together on another side project called Hater in 1992, while Soundgarden was on a brief hiatus.

They recorded a few EPs with Soundgarden bassist Ben Shepherd as Wellwater Conspiracy from 1993 to 1995. In 1997, they released their first full-length album, "Declaration of Conformity."

Their next records featured several guest players, including Josh Homme from Queens of the Stone Age and Wes C. Addle, better known as Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder .

This time around, sometime collaborator Slater, Cameron's friend from growing up in San Diego, joined in. The band decided to remain a trio for most of the songs so they could play them in concert without lining up other musicians.

They also simplified the sound, having learned from previous experience that going hog-wild in the studio with overdubbing and piling on guitar parts makes for songs that are virtually impossible to play live.

And McBain pushed Cameron, who had done some of the vocals in the past, to do all the singing on the new album.

"We did the guest star thing, and who else do we ask at this point?" McBain said. "There were definitely cases in the past where he did the vocals because we needed to get the song on record. Just the fact that he's working at home a lot more and he's had more time to practice, the confidence is definitely there.

"But at the end of the day, Matt knows his limitations as a singer as I know my limitations as a guitar player, so we don't really push it. I'm by no means a shredder and he's by no means Freddie Mercury ."

Cameron and McBain work in a nondescript gray building on a seedy avenue north of downtown Seattle that once housed a Kentucky Fried Chicken and later a car insurance shop.

Soundgarden bought the building and converted it into Space Studios. When the band broke up, the members decided to hang on to the property. Cameron and McBain have access to it 24 hours a day, seven days a week, which helps them stick to their no-pressure schedule.

"We're being realistic about this," McBain said. "We know we're not going to make a million dollars and we're not going to sell a million records."

"We're trying to write songs that are a little more interesting, and have more peaks and valleys," Cameron added. "It's all tension release. That's what we're going for."

___

On the Net:

http://www.nowinvisibly.com

http://www.sonymusic.com/artists/PearlJam/