Pearl Jam drummer recalls receiving cease-and-desist letter from KISS as a teen

Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron has recalled receiving a cease-and-desist letter from KISS when he was a teenager.

• READ MORE: Pearl Jam – ‘Dark Matter’ review: some of their strongest work in recent memory

Speaking on the Howard Stern Show to promote Pearl Jam’s latest album ‘Dark Matter’, Cameron – who was also in Soundgarden – told the story about meeting KISS when he was young and how that resulted in him getting a cease-and-desist a few months later.

Cameron revealed that he had been in a KISS cover band growing up: “We played local high schools, keggers, whatnot. And my dad was friends with the head of the stagehand union in San Diego, so when KISS was playing there… during the ‘Alive’ tour, that was ’75, we got to go see KISS do a soundcheck at the San Diego Sports Arena.”

Cameron continued: “So I brought the two guys I was in the KISS band with, Tim and Dave Mahoney and we brought our photo album from our stupid KISS cover band to meet Paul Stanley, and we got a photo with him. We were like, ‘Hey man, we’re in a KISS cover band, here’s our stupid little photo album.’”

“Cut to like, I dunno, four-to-six months later, we get a cease-and-desist letter from Aucoin Management. We were big KISS fans, and KISS used to put the logo from Aucoin Management on their albums. So we were all excited, ‘Whoa, we’re getting a letter from Aucoin Management, we’ve made it!’ And it was a cease-and-desist from KISS,” Cameron added.

However, Cameron attributes the letter to him and his bandmates marking the error of not naming their tribute band appropriately: “I think we just called [our] band KISS. We didn’t really think ahead there. So after that, we had ‘KISS’ and in parentheses: ‘Imitation’”.

NME gave Pearl Jam’s latest album ‘Dark Matter’ a glowing four-star review, and praised it as “some of their strongest work in recent memory”.

“For those longing for the charismatic songwriting that first put the band on the map over three decades ago, ‘Dark Matter’ will come as a pleasant surprise,” it read. “Not only does it showcase Pearl Jam reclaiming the charm that first made them a force to be reckoned with back in 1991, it comes alongside some of their most impressive musicianship yet, as well as a determination to take risks after years of playing it safe.”

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