I seriously doubt Gossard, Ament and McCready wanted to be obscure artist as PJ was signed to Epic records and there was a lot of industry push behind them. NcCready even went to L.A. in his metal days to try and "Make it".The Ginger Beard Man wrote:Didn't Pearl Jam's drummer, the one they had when they broke, quit because the rest of them were miserable? I'm sure I read that he basically said that his dream of becoming a rock star had come true, and the rest of them were ruining it because they wanted to be obscure artists.
These guys were chasing the dream, trust me. Everyone of us in bands were. It was a time when you (if you had integrity) wanted to make true music but you were still out to get rich if you could.
Mother Love Bone was on a label and were going to get a huge push and then Andy Wood had to hit the needle and end up in a coma and die. Temple of the Dog and Soundgarden were on major labels as well.
If they wanted to be obscure they would have signed with Sub Pop.
They did pull back from videos because they were sick of seeing Jeremy every time they turned on the TV like the rest of us back then. (Worse song on the LP.)
I think it was more that Dave was still stuck in the 80's and did not get along with them? He was more the wild partier type, they were more into chillin and doing drugs.
McCready got real bad into meth after Vs.. His best work IMO Mad Season was about him Layne and Barret Mullen making music with guys who were fresh out of rehab and could support each other during that time.