Alas, while Weiland was serving his most recent stint in "the joint," the boys in his band carried on with valiant optimism, released the new disc No. 4, and waited for their singer to return to civilian life.
In late 1999, while they were waiting for Weiland's release, brothers Robert and Dean DeLeo and drummer Eric Kretz paid a visit to LAUNCH executive editor Dave DiMartino to discuss life without Weiland. They talked about their brief split (the band recorded under the name Talk Show with another singer, while Weiland released a solo record), the evolution of Stone Temple Pilots from their smash debut to the eclectic stylings of No. 4, and their involvement with the off-Broadway glam-rock musical Hedwig And The Angry Inch. You can watch a LAUNCH live exclusive of "Tear Me Down" from Hedwig And The Angry Inch, as well as video excerpts of their conversation, on Issue 35 of LAUNCH CD-ROM.
LAUNCH:
How does a band function when it's got a record to release and a singer in jail?
ROBERT:
That's a question we kind of been asking ourselves over the past couple months. It was our choice to keep the record until Scott gets out or put it out now. We thought it was a good time to put it out now. One, because of Scott's antics, should I say. It's been hard to tell what he's going to do next. So to put the record out, especially at Christmastime, is good time for everyone to get a piece of what were doing right now. On our last record, Tiny Music, we didn't tour that record until a year later after it came out. So there was a sufficient amount of time in between there, between releasing the record and touring. I'm constantly blown away that people still want to hear about or talk about what we're doing. Hopefully in that amount of time, if he's a good boy, he'll be out in February or March. So by summer, we'll be planning what we should be doing--a tour.
ERIC:
It's actually not as tough as it seems. Only difference we're not going to be doing any live performances leading up to the release of the album. But other than that, it's the same thing, Scott would be upstairs doing an interview and I'd be here. Before he went into jail, we did a show for Miller Genuine Draft "Blind Date" in Las Vegas, then that night or that morning we left to go to the L.A. County courthouse, which is where Scott was incarcerated. We knew even doing that show and two weeks before what outcome would be, when he was in front of judge for the fifth time with the same kind of offenses. So when knew that he was looking at a year in jail. We already talked about "do you want to release the record?" because we've always worked as a democracy. He was definitely behind releasing it, you know, saying, "Because this is how I feel now emotionally and lyrically." To wait just seemed stupid, because he won't feel the same way and we won't feel the same way about the songs as we do now.
DEAN:
This is not so difficult. It's pretty easy. I feel like there is an immense part missing, but it's pretty easy. You know that's really the only thing we can't do right now is gig. We're approaching this record as we would any other record. We're doing this shameless press onslaught. The only thing we can't do is gig. We wouldn't be doing this unless we had Scott's full support. If he had expressed to us that this isn't the right time, we shouldn't be doing this, it's not the right time, we wouldn't be doing it. He's completely into doing this record. This organic momentum is going that you don't want to interfere with. You know it just feels good.
LAUNCH:
Did you know what the verdict would be for Scott before it came down? Did you expect that to happen?
ROBERT:
Absolutely! Sooner. When last we saw Scott, we saw him at the courthouse where he was taken away from. The night before that we did a show, it was last show. We did the "Blind Date" show. It was a very surreal 48 hours, because onstage, doing what we're doing onstage, and the next day we flew back to L.A. and went to courthouse and watched them take him away. So it was a surreal 48 hours.
DEAN:
I expected that a year ago. None of us were shocked by the verdict, which came down on Friday the 13th on the 13th floor, interestingly enough. Yeah, none of us were shocked. Scott wasn't either.
LAUNCH:
How did all of the problems impact the making of the new record? Did it affect the songs, the speed in which you made the record? What on the new record reflects that experience?
ROBERT:
I think mostly in Scott's lyrics, it really sets the pace or sets the tone for where he's been in his life. He's always had a way of making his lyrics abstract, and I think he's a little more self-explanatory on this record. I think for the most part musically and lyrically and just as a band, my main concern on this record was getting us to be focused and make a focused record. I always though it took four or five records to really epitomize what band is about. I think this is a little bit of the first record, a little bit of the second record and the third all together, and really epitomizes what the band is about.
ERIC:
It wasn't until towards the end of the record that problems arose. So, as far as him going to jail, it really had nothing to do with making the record. Making the record was actually about as smooth as it's been since the first record. Just because of all the time off in between the Tiny Music album, we could really reflect on what it was that we missed about each other as a band, and the chemistry that we all have when we make music together and how ridiculously easy it is to make music together. Even though it took a long time to make this record...because originally were trying to do a double-album or two albums, depending on how we wanted to put it together. This is the first record that we've done where we have four or five songs left over that you might be hearing on the next album when Scott gets out.
LAUNCH:
Talk to me about the period when you guys were broken up--Scott recording his solo record and you recording as Talk Show without Scott. It must have had some effect, but you seem to have come back stronger. Was that experience of being apart therapeutic? How do you look back at those projects now?
ROBERT:
It's exactly what you said. It was very therapeutic. I think we all learned the value of each one in this band. I think it was looking at what each one of us had to offer. Here we are suddenly making a record with another singer. At the time of the Talk Show record, not only were Dean, Eric, and myself writing music for the record, but also lyrics. That in itself was therapeutic. You know, I think each one of us doing our own thing, we realized what chemistry really was. I think we all admitted that to each other when we got back together. It was an admittance to each other.
ERIC:
Us doing the Talk Show record and for Scott doing the solo record was actually very rewarding because at the time, things just got to be really sh-tty, internally as a band. We weren't really speaking to each other; we were speaking at each other. We all needed to do something different and express ourselves in different ways. For us, it was the first time we had to contribute complete lyrics to songs and everything else, so it was an expanding experience. And we produced it ourselves. We realized how hard it was to wear both hats--be the musician and the producer. And for Scott, he's always heard a lot of sounds and wanted to go to different places. I was glad he did his record, and I was really pleased with it. Performing live with Talk Show just wasn't even close to what it was with Scott, chemistry-wise, and when he saw us on our tour when we were playing in Los Angeles, he was just like, "Oh, I see." When he was doing his solo tour with different musicians, he called us and said, "This is f--king weird, it's not the same." When we met about this time last year, we greeted each other with open arms and said, "Man, I really missed you as friend, brother, and also as a musician and what you bring to band." So it was pretty easy to make up that way.
DEAN:
You know, it was really cathartic. You know, this is what we do. I can only sit home and crochet so many sweaters, man. What the f--k else am I going to do? This is my gig, man. If Scott can't be a part of it, I'm going on to make records.
LAUNCH:
Talk about the growth of the band. When I listen to the new record, I hear bits and pieces of the last three records on there. Was there a change in the kind of music you wanted to make?
ROBERT:
I think we could have made the third record from first record, but it's an area of where less is more. For the first record, I think it's the kind of thing where people need to digest what you're doing and really get a grasp. This is your step into the world. Sometimes baby steps are better. This is a rock record. The second record is a rock record, too. But we kind of branched out into different areas. I think the third record was an attempt to make things more open--open to bossa nova areas, jazz areas, and pop areas. There is so much talent and influences in this band that keep us together. My influences are totally different from Scott's influences, which are totally different from Dean's influences. That's what makes for a great band. I always go back to bands that I admire. I just put on a Queen record the other day--you know, the amazing talent between the four people there. If you can make a contribution to music and a valid contribution, I think that's the beauty of music. I think we're all learning.
DEAN:
You know, I think we've probably grown as people over the years. I think that by becoming a better person, you might become a better player. I've become very comfortable with my instrument in the past year-and-a-half. You never want to repeat yourself. I'm comparing us now to Tiny Music. I think this record really gelled lyrically and musically. Scott was really fighting hard and working hard at his sobriety during this time, and I think it shows. On Tiny Music, we were really worlds apart. I don't think we were really where Scott was at, so it was really weird for us. Whereas this record, we were really very much in the same universe. There was an approach in the actual recording process. We recorded the Tiny Music record in a house and it was lo-fi. The rooms weren't designed for the physics of acoustics. We took a hi-fi stance with this record; in that aspect, we recorded in some of the greatest rooms around L.A. We tracked "Pruno" and "Church On Tuesday" where all Steely Dan records were cut, over at the Village. You look at the ceiling and envision [Donald] Fagan singing "Asia." It was really nice.
LAUNCH:
And doing this album was a nice return to the original dynamic?
ERIC:
Especially compared to Tiny Music, when Scott wasn't around that much. He was pretty much into his own situation. That record was kind of a mess, as far as being a complete band and trying to make a complete album. Whereas on No. 4, the very first day of writing rehearsals we did "Down" and "Church On Tuesday." Scott was writing and we were starting to riff and the song is basically just as it is today. He was scribbling down lyrics, and then another 30 minutes later we did "Church On Tuesday." It just picks up so quickly. We don't miss a beat on that.
LAUNCH:
Talk about the treatment you've received from critics. How would you characterize your relationship with the critics? Have you seen a change in the relationship between you and the press now that you've released your fourth album?
ROBERT:
Constantly. You know, it's been like that from the beginning, but who doesn't have that problem? That's been going on for decades. There's always that bit of misunderstanding and misrepresentation of someone. But I think that comes around at some point, the interviews I've been doing lately are a lot different than they were five years ago. It's a different scene and a different vibe. I'm feeling more comfortable with being who I am in this band. I think I've earned it, I've finally earned it. They needed to get it out and we needed to prove what we could do, and I'm feeling more comfortable with that.
ERIC:
It started off really sh-tty, but at a certain point of getting criticized so much, you just grow jaded and don't give a sh-t any more. So you put up defenses. We talk to who we want to. The label begs us to talk to people who we don't want to, and says, "Really they won't be a--holes." So then we come out with Tiny Music, which sold the least amount of records comparative to the other two records, and suddenly the critics love you--you're the media darlings. All your musician friends love you. It'll be interesting to see what happens now.
DEAN:
It's just the way it goes, man. I think anyone with a tremendous amount of success on the first outing, whatever it may be, you're just a target. You're exposed. Whether you're an artist or a painter...it's all on the table...you've opened yourself up. You know, man, I never got into it to be a songwriter, to make records, to have my personal life exposed. I never got into it to be a part of any genre. It's weird. It's silly to me.
LAUNCH:
Do you think you wear your influences on your sleeve?
ROBERT:
I just talked to someone just before this interview, and they referred to Scott's performance on "Atlanta" as a Morrison-type influence. I noticed that on first record. If you look at the back of the first record, you see Scott doing this Morrison-type thing. It's totally Jim Morrison. It kind of made me do a 180. I think it was due to the timing, that made people say this is compared to this or this looks like this. I don't think any one of us really liked the fact that we were being compared to our contemporaries. But I knew that we had a lot to offer. I think that goes back to what music is. It shouldn't be a comparison. There's a beauty in music. There's a beauty there.
DEAN:
We could sit here for hours if we wanted to talk about my musical influences. It runs the gamut. I really enjoy hearing how different artists interpret the Bacharach tunes, the Dusty Springfield stuff and how the Carpenters would do stuff. I'm a big fan of that Bacharach/ Hal David stuff. I'm a tremendous fan for those Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson Trio, Barney Kessel. I dig Wes Montgomery stuff. I occasionally like to listen to Edith Piaf, you know what I mean. It's stupid, man. We could talk for hours about my influences. It was really a big part of my life, in 1968, hearing the Doors or the Beatles or Hendrix come blaring out of my older brother's bedroom. My little sponge brain caught that as a young boy.
LAUNCH:
There's a track on No. 4 called "MC5?" Is that an ode to the Detroit band?
ROBERT:
We just thought that that song was very much like an MC5 song. Whenever I listen to MC5, they're a band that I really admire. I really like the way that band made it sound like everything was going to fall apart at any minute. There's a beauty in that. At the time I think whenever you're going to make a record, you're digging through your pile of records to see what influences you can get. I pulled out an MC5 record, and I just kind of suggested I wanted to get this MC5 feel. It was a working title, and we just kept it. Wayne Kramer was roommates with Scott, so he gave his approval.
LAUNCH:
How did you get involved with the Hedwig And The Angry Inch project?
ROBERT:
Scott had originally seen the play and mentioned something to Dean. A few months ago when we were in New York, we saw the play and were blown away by it. I think it's an amazing play. The soundtrack is on Atlantic Records, so we're labelmates. I don't know, sometimes funny things happen when you get together with people you don't even know and suddenly you realize you feel like you've known them your entire life. Steven Trask, who wrote all music and lyrics, is one of those people, as well as John Cameron Mitchell and Michael Cerveris. who wrote Hedwig. It was just a really great experience to be involved with that. It was odd learning someone else's songs. I probably haven't done that since I was 15, in a garage learning cover songs.
ERIC:
I haven't had that much fun in a long time. It was rewarding and challenging because it was someone else's music and it was complicated music. You have the theatrics that are so much more than what we are use to with Scott out in front. It came about from a seeing the play in New York, and how great it was. They're out here in L.A. now, rehearsing bands for extending their play in Los Angeles. They, in turn, needed a band for their pre-party, and we're a band that needed a singer, so it worked out very easily.
LAUNCH:
Do you feel like you're getting more cooperation from the industry or your label? How do you feel about the music industry today?
ROBERT:
Yeah, I do, but I think there's a certain amount of surprise that just being here today...and people want this...is not a drag. People want to talk to me still and find out what's going on with the band still. That blows me away.
DEAN:
It's a pretty gross industry. It's pretty gross, especially now. I think we were fortunate when our fist record came out, the business was really focused on establishing a band. The label was willing to go two or three singles deep into a record. It's not like that now. Now I think labels want a huge return on their investment and are only willing to go into it for one song, and if it doesn't go, it's like throwing it against the wall and if it doesn't stick, they're moving on. I think that's where the industry is at right now.
LAUNCH:
What's the craziest thing to happen to you onstage?
ROBERT:
There was one night when I had my wingtips on and the sole part here had came away from main part of shoe. As I was back-pedaling, my bass cord got caught in between there and I literally did a full flip. I continued playing while doing a full flip--without missing a beat. I didn't think a backward flip was possible while playing the bass. At least I didn't go forward and fall off the stage.
DEAN:
We gigged the Garden one night and Steven Tyler and Joe Perry from Aerosmith came up and we did a couple tunes with them. We did "Lick And A Promise," off of Rocks. And that whole intro thing, we kind of messed up on one, and came in on one-and-a-half. It was close, but we caught up by two. Gigging with a couple transvestites was interesting.
LAUNCH:
There has been some confusion in the press about where you guys are from. Are a San Diego band or an L.A. band?
DEAN:
That really came about when I was the only person in the band living in San Diego. I was interviewed and merely said I lived in San Diego. Then all this print came out that the band was from San Diego. I think the bands down there really got a sour taste in their mouths. "They're not from San Diego. They're L.A. kooks." It was just one of those things where they needed to change their underwear, I suppose. The folks in San Diego were really cordial to us--the club owners, that is. They really let us gig their clubs. It was a hard time getting gigs in L.A. It was the whole pay-to-play thing, and the whole groovy ghoulie. We didn't really fit in. It was the end of tight pants, cowboy boots, and big hair. We didn't really fit in anywhere. We were dealing with some really sweet people, Audrey Marpool at Coconut Teaszer, and we gigged Club Lingerie once in awhile because my childhood friend worked the door, but the folks in San Diego were really nice.
LAUNCH:
Looking back, what do you see as the high point of the band?
ROBERT:
I don't mean to be cynical in any way. I feel like this band has achieved a lot. But on the other hand, I feel like if people could see what this band could really do...that sounds silly. You are your own worst critic. If people could see what this band could really do, as far as being all together 100%. We've gotten a chance to play with a lot of people, write with a lot of people, and perform for many people. It constantly blows me away. I'm humbled by it.
LAUNCH:
What makes Stone Temple Pilots special?
DEAN:
I think what really sets Stone Temple Pilots apart is that there are some timeless songs, if you will. I think songs like "Interstate Love Song" are going to be a part of our radio world for a long time to come. I have to attribute that to my upbringing. Even though we grew up on separate coasts--Robert and I on the East Coast, and Eric and Scott on the West Coast--between Robert, Eric, and I, our musical tastes are almost mirror-like, it's incredible. And then the beauty of it is to have Scott's whole trip thrown into the mix. When he was in Huntington Beach for the militaristic Black Flag days, so he caught that whole trip.
LAUNCH:
What would you be doing if you weren't a rock star?
ROBERT:
"Would you like fries with that?"
DEAN:
This is all I could be doing, man. This is all I wanted. I think that's integral to anyone who wants to make records or pursue an acting career or what have you. It has to be more important than your next breath.
