One of the great drummers of the Grunge scene who played in the two biggest bands that came out of Seattle and one more formidable supergroup, drummer Matt Cameron was born on November 28, 1962.
(Photo: pearljam.com)
1. He grew up in San Diego and started playing at a very young age. Already at the age of 13, he was part of a cover band for KISS songs. This period ended very quickly after the original band threatened a lawsuit by those young guys.
2. In 1983 he moved to Seattle, began working on a branch of the shipping company Fed-Ex and at the same time began playing in various groups in the city at a time when the seeds of the grunge scene began to flourish.
3. Two years later he joined a band called "Skin Yard", one of the first and most important grunge bands, it was at a time when music in the city was already starting to bubble. The band contributed two songs to the legendary album "Deep Six", which was the first collection from the creator of the record company Sub-Pop and was dedicated to Seattle bands.
4. In 1986 the band released its debut album bearing its name, Matt wrote the song "Reptile" for the album, but shortly after the release of the album Matt left the band.
5. Another band that contributed their songs to the legendary record "Deep Six" was the band "Soundgarden".
6. It was formed in 1984 by Chris Cornell, Kim Thayil, and Hiro Yamamoto with Chris as the band's drummer and singer. A year later they added drummer Scott Sundquist to allow Chris to concentrate on singing.
7. Two years later Scott left the band to concentrate on his family and he was replaced by Cameron. After several performances, they signed a contract with the Sub-Pop label and went into the recording studio.
(Photo: Soundgarden)
8. They released their first EP "Screaming Life" in 1987 and their second EP "Fopp" in 1988 when an album uniting the two was released in 1990.
9. At the same time they signed a contract with an independent record company called SST Records and released their debut album "Ultramega OK". The album earned them their first Grammy nomination and ignited the rise of one of the top five bands of the Grunge scene.
10. Before we mention the band's albums let's stop for a moment to tell that in 1990 the one-time supergroup Temple of the Dog released one of the most moving albums in the history of music. The lineup included Chris, Cameron, and three members of the band "Pearl Jam"! Jeff Ament, Stone Gossard, and Mike McCready, and also included a guest appearance by Eddie Vedder.
11. Together with "Soundgarden" he released four more albums: "Louder Than Love" in 1989, "Badmotorfinger" in 1991, "Superunknown" in 1994, and "Down on the Upside", each of which is an exciting and sweeping world of crazy music !!
12. The album "Superunknown" which is considered the band's global breakthrough album reveals Cameron's special talent. He uses an off-beat technique with a complex time signature that matches Kim's seemingly out-of-sync riffs. This album has a performance that makes you wonder if he holds another pair of drumsticks in his hands and feet.
13. Like the rest of the band, Cameron was also a partner in creating some of the songs both musically and in terms of lyrics.
14. In 1997 the band disbanded after a disagreement over its future musical direction, especially between Chris and Kim, however, Cameron said in one of the interviews that the commercial side was the one who destroyed the band.
15. In 2010, after a lot of rumor milling, one of the biggest comebacks of the decade took place, and "Soundgarden" returned to perform when it released its sixth album "King Animal" two years later. The comeback ended faster than expected and was stopped at once in 2017 with the tragic death of Chris Cornell.
16. A year after the dissolution of "Soundgarden", in 1998, Cameron was invited to take part in "Peral Jam's" tour to promote the album "Yield", (their fifth album) after their latest drummer Jack Irons decided to leave the band. We will not open here the subject of "Pearl Jam" drummers for discussion, but what is important is that from this point on they have found a permanent drummer.
(Photo: Danny Clinch)
17. Cameron accepted the unexpected invitation, he called it an "ambush" by members of "Pearl Jam", and he had to learn more than 80 songs in just two weeks.
18. Of course after the tour Cameron became a permanent drummer of the band and with him, "Pearl Jam" released six more albums: "Binaural" in 2000, "Riot Act" in 2002, "Pearl Jam" in 2006, "Backspacer" in 2009, "Lightning Bolt" in 2013 and the band's latest and most amazing album in which we fell in love with it again "Gigaton".
19. In addition to his work and the significant part he took in the two huge bands from the Grunge scene, Cameron also played with a great many artists and groups from different and varied genres.
20. For example, he recorded the debut album of the jazz band "Tone Dogs" which was released in 1990 and was called "Ankety Low Day".
21. He formed two psychedelic rock bands, one called "Hater" together with "Soundgarden" bassist Ben Shepherd, with whom they released two albums, and the other called "Wellwater Conspiracy" also with Ben and guitarist John McBain with whom they released three albums.
22. He worked with the band "The Prodigy" on their third album "The Fat Of The Land", from which came out the hits "Breath" and "Firestarter" among others.
23. He took a small part in the recordings of "The Smashing Pumpkins'" fourth album called "Adore".
24. In 2017 he released his first solo album “Cavedweller” in which he plays almost all the instruments and also performs the vocals.
25. He performed the drum roles on the debut album "My Favorite Headache" by Geddy Lee (from the band RUSH).
26. He performed the drum roles on Japanese singer AYA's debut album "Senjou no Hana".
27. In 2020 Cameron co-founded with Taylor Hawkins, Buzz Osborne (The Melvins), and Steven McDonald the "Nighttime Boogie Association" project. To date, they have released two singles but have not yet released an album or additional material.
28. He has collaborated with many other artists such as: "Queens Of The Stone Age", Tony Iommi, The Walkabouts, Peter Frampton, The Pretty Reckless, and many more.
Listen to Cameron's only solo album to date on: Spotify, Apple Music