Just listen to Pearl Jam's last studio album, Yield.
"The other guys in Pearl Jam too, I think they're equally open to different kinds of music and trying different sorts of things," says Ament on the phone from Chicago prior to the Three Fish gig at Lee's Palace tonight.
"And I think those guys turn me on to as much stuff as I turn them on to, so I can't say that I bring anything more to Pearl Jam because of this.
"I mean I know I do," he adds with a chuckle.
Like when Ament got Pearl Jam to go play in a hall near the airport in Istanbul, Turkey?
"Pretty mind-blowing to see 10,000 Turkish people singing along to your songs," remembers Ament. "For me at this point, in that band, those are the sort of things that I want to do. We've done North America a few times and so anytime that we can go some place new and just try our thing out on a whole new group of people, I think it adds an excitement and an anxiety to it that reminds us of the very beginning, so it's nice."
The Pearl Jam overseas excursion followed in the footsteps of an earlier journey to Turkey and Egypt that Ament made with his Three Fish bandmates Robbi Robb, who also plays in Tribe After Tribe, and Seattle-based drummer Richard Stuverud.
In fact, the just-released Three Fish album, The Quiet Table, which follows their 1996 debut, was inspired by those travels. Check out the extremely cool black-and-white photos in the album's liner notes for a visual accompaniment.
"Since there was a couple of songs on the first record that were inspired by the Sufi philosopher-poet Rumi, it made sense to go there," explains Ament of their 10-day stay in Egypt and two weeks in Turkey.
"It was amazing. Even beyond the fact of seeing Rumi's tomb, I think it was just a bonding, brotherly journey that we took. I think we came back with a very unique connection with one another."
Ament returned to Turkey two more times and said he would love to tour Europe with Three Fish, who are currently on a month-long, 20-date North American tour. His day job prevents that from happening.
"I can't really put the time into Three Fish that I can into Pearl Jam so that's a huge part of it," he says. "There's just not enough time in the day."
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