Mike McCready is best known for lighting up arenas with Pearl Jam, but this spring, the guitar hero is trading stadiums for Flying Vs and taking his annual Flight to Mars show—a UFO tribute band—on the road for its 10th anniversary.
“It started as a one-off fundraiser,” McCready says. “Now we’ve been doing it every year for a decade, and we figured it was time to take it beyond Seattle.”
What began as a passion project to raise money for kids with Crohn’s disease and the late Jennifer Jaff’s chronic illness advocacy work has turned into a dual-purpose mission: pay homage to the criminally underrated British hard rock band UFO and bring awareness to a disease that McCready himself has lived with since he was 21.
“I kept it quiet for years,” he admits. “I was embarrassed. It's isolating. You're always worried about where the nearest bathroom is. But finally my wife said, ‘Enough. Speak up. Do something.’ So I did.”
That something has turned into camps, fundraisers, conversations, and community. And also: serious rock ‘n’ roll. “Playing this stuff is a blast,” McCready grins. “Michael Schenker was a monster on guitar. It takes two of us—me and Tim DiJulio—to even try to pull off what he was doing.”
Schenker’s influence runs deep. McCready and Stone Gossard were trading pictures of the guy back in their teens. “Strangers in the Night was our holy grail,” he says. “And now I get to embody that music. It’s fun to play a little harder than I do in Pearl Jam—channel that inner 16-year-old.”
But don’t confuse Flight to Mars for just a nostalgia act. McCready sees it as catharsis, as education, as a celebration. “We want people to hear this music, but we also want kids with Crohn’s to feel seen. If I’d had a role model growing up, it would’ve made a difference.”
There’s also movement in the vaults. McCready’s long-shelved Mad Season material is finally surfacing. “We’ve got about 13 unreleased songs from the Disinformation sessions. They were supposed to be for a second record, but Lane went back to Alice in Chains and then… well, you know. The songs were never finished.”
Now he’s hoping to change that. “We’re talking about getting guest singers—voices that can do those songs justice. I can’t say names yet, but it’s happening. And we want to do it right. A deluxe reissue, a live concert, the works.”
Star Anna—another McCready champion—is also gearing up for a big year. “She’s my favorite singer out of the Northwest right now. Just finished a new record with Johnny Sangster. I’ll be sitting in with her for Record Store Day,” he adds, noting their new 7” featuring a cover of Robyn’s “Call Your Girlfriend” is dropping on vinyl. “She turns that pop banger into something haunting and beautiful.”
Of course, no Mike McCready conversation would be complete without asking about Pearl Jam. While the band isn’t rushing, new music is definitely on the stove.
“We’re working with Brendan O’Brien again,” he confirms. “We’ve got about 15 ideas going, a few leftovers from the Backspacer era, but mostly new stuff. I’d say some is experimental, some is straight-ahead rock, and some are beautiful ballads. We’re not trying to rush this. Think of it like a slow-cooked turkey. We want it juicy, not dry.”
There’s also the juggling act of side projects—Matt Cameron playing with Soundgarden, Ed Vedder doing solo work—but McCready says it’s all part of the rhythm now. “We’re at a point where we want to make the best music we can, tour when it feels right, and give everyone space to do their thing. That’s the luxury of being a band for over 20 years—you stop chasing, and you just do.”
He also took a moment to reflect on public radio, especially in the wake of Public Radio Awareness Month. “Stations like WFPK and KEXP have supported us when commercial radio wouldn’t,” McCready says. “They play what they love, not what they’re told. That’s powerful. And I’ve discovered so many new bands just driving around listening.”
Even Pearl Jam’s experimental ‘90s pirate station Monkeywrench Radio gets a mention. “That was such a weird time,” he laughs. “Ed was doing a radio show out of a van right after our gigs. Meanwhile, the rest of us were on a plane. We weren’t even talking much at the time—it got tense—but that’s where some amazing moments came from. Like the show with Mad Season, Mudhoney, Soundgarden. That bootleg still holds up.”
As for the future? “We’ve got the tour with Flight to Mars starting May 14 on the West Coast,” he says. “Hopefully new Pearl Jam music next year. And if all goes well, a big release from the Mad Season vault.”
Also, a potential return to his birthplace, Pensacola, Florida. “My dad was stationed there during the Vietnam War,” McCready says. “I haven’t been back in ages, but we’re playing Luna Fest this fall. A kind of weird homecoming.”
And while he jokes about never growing up—still chasing the guitar gods of his youth and reliving road trip fantasies on stage—it’s clear McCready’s mission has grown deeper with age: connect, reflect, and if possible, melt some faces along the way.
Listen to the full interview above and then check out the track below.
