#1968 - Jason Everman

Joe Rogan (0:04)

The Joe Rogan Experience. Well, thanks for coming, man, I appreciate it.

Jason Everman (0:14)

Yeah, thanks for asking.

Joe Rogan (0:16)

You've had a wild life, dude. How the fuck does one go from playing in Nirvana and Soundgarden to being a soldier?

Jason Everman (0:26)

It's a longer story. I don't know how long an answer you want.

Joe Rogan (0:31)

We've got plenty of time.

Jason Everman (0:38)

So I guess being a professional rock musician was something I kind of fell into. It wasn't something that I had a dream of.

I love playing in bands, I love playing music, but it was at this punk rock level where you were never going to make a living at it. It was just something fun to do. And then I started playing with Nirvana, and even at that level, still not making money from it, but touring.

Joe Rogan (1:11)

Was it the early days of Nirvana? So Nirvana wasn't worldwide at that point?

Jason Everman (1:16)

No, no.

Even on the Seattle level, like one of the smaller bands. There was bands like Mudhoney and Soundgarden that were better known than Nirvana was at the time.

Joe Rogan (1:31)

And you played for Soundgarden too, which is also hilarious.

And when did you... So in the beginning, did you have friction with the band? Why did you wind up leaving?

Jason Everman (1:46)

So with Nirvana, it was just...

I guess initially when I came on board, Kurt wanted a second guitar player for the live show basically.

Have a heavier sound live, take some of the guitar playing responsibility off him so he could concentrate on vocals, that kind of thing. And initially I thought I was going to be able to contribute to the band creatively. And then it got to the point where I realized that wasn't going to happen. And the same thing happened with Chad, the drummer, I think. And it was, like, everyone in the band, including myself, was, like, very poor communicators. Like, a lot of passive aggression. And, you know, I mean, we were kids, you know.

Joe Rogan (2:32)

How old were you at the time?

Jason Everman (2:34)

20, I think.

And, yeah, I just, I wasn't equipped for it. And became more and more unhappy with the situation and then ended up leaving.

Joe Rogan (2:45)

So was it that, like, when you would try to put creative input in, it would get shut down or they weren't interested or Kurt wasn't interested?

Jason Everman (2:54)

Yeah, so, like, on the rare time where we actually rehearsed as a band, which was not a lot, Kurt would kind of halfheartedly, like, hey, who has ideas? And, like, I'd throw a couple ideas out, and then Chad, like, a very accomplished musician in his own right, would throw some ideas out, and then it would just kind of be glossed over and, like, okay, here's the new song I wrote, you know, and start learning that.

So it was very... Ego-centered. Cursory, you know. It was like he kind of, like, threw it out there, but then it wasn't going to go anywhere.

Joe Rogan (3:34)

Mm.

And so, did you... So you went from Nirvana first and then to Soundgarden?

Jason Everman (3:40)

Yeah, like, I left... We did a US tour, like, the first full US tour that Nirvana did in...

88 or 89 I can't remember what year it was, but I think it was still the 80s. And, like, I left at the end of that tour, like, okay, I'm done, like, nice little four-way...

foray into rock and roll, but I'm going to do something else. And when I got home, I was planning on going trekking in the Himalayas. Like...

Joe Rogan (4:13)

Really?

Jason Everman (4:13)

Yeah, that was the next thing. It's like, okay, this was a nice diversion, but I'm going to kind of fulfill this dream I've had since I was a kid of, like, trekking in the Himalayas. So, like, I went to Mesker's Maps in Seattle and was buying maps of the Himalaya, Nepal and Tibet and all this stuff and, like, getting gear sorted, and that's what I was going to do.

And then at some point that summer or fall, I can't remember what time of year it was, end of summer, Kim from Soundgarden called me and was like, hey, Hero, their bass player then, like, quit. Do you want to audition for the band? I was like, you know, at that point, like, Soundgarden was my favorite Seattle band, like, hands down. And I was like, okay, you know, fully not believing I'd ever get chosen.

Joe Rogan (5:05)