http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/jan/26/on-stage-el-corazon-puddle-of-mudd/
01-26-08
Puddle
Of
Mudd's
style
of
straight
ahead
guitar
rock
has
little
to
do
musically
with
hip-hop.
But
that
didn't
stop
the
band
from
seeing
a
common
practice
in
hip-hop
that
it
could
apply
to
the
group's
new
CD,
"Famous."
Where
most
rock
bands
work
with
a
single
producer
in
making
a
CD,
Puddle
Of
Mudd
borrowed
a
page
from
hip-hop
and
tried
to
match
producers
to
the
types
of
individual
songs
on
"Famous."
That
wasn't
the
original
plan.
In
fact,
Puddle
Of
Mudd
appeared
poised
to
surprise
its
fans
by
teaming
up
with
two
of
the
biggest
names
in
punk
rock
as
its
producers
—
Bill
Stevenson
(drummer
for
Black
Flag
and
The
Descendents,
who
has
produced
Rise
Against
and
Bremerton's
MxPx,
among
others)
and
Jason
Livermore
(whose
credits
include
NOFX
and
the
Lemonheads).
"We
did
go
to
Colorado
and
worked
with
Jason
and
Bill
on
a
full
record's
worth
of
material,"
Puddle
of
Mudd
singer-guitarist
Wes
Scantlin
said
in
a
recent
phone
interview.
"Then
when
listened
and
sat
back
with
it,
we
decided
to
go
over
everything
with
a
fine-toothed
comb
and
make
sure
it
was
the
record
we
truly
wanted
to
put
out.
And
we
realized
hey,
maybe
we
should
hit
up
some
more
avenues
rather
than
this
punk
direction."
That's
when
the
game
plan
changed
and
the
band,
and
the
band
sought
out
other
producers.
In
the
end,
another
half-dozen
producers
contributed
to
the
"Famous"
CD
—
including
Brian
Howes
(who
has
worked
with
Daughtry
and
Hinder),
Jack
Joseph
Puig
(whose
long
resume
includes
projects
with
John
Mayer,
the
Goo
Goo
Dolls
and
Jellyfish)
and
Howard
Benson
(My
Chemical
Romance
and
All-American
Rejects,
among
others).
"It's
kind
of
like
the
hip-hop
world
where
you
have
a
different
producer
for
every
track
on
this
record,"
Scantlin
said.
"We
got
the
best
work
from
each
person
respectively
at
his
forte."
Despite
the
influence
of
the
wide
variety
of
producers,
"Famous"
sounds
very
much
like
the
work
of
Puddle
Of
Mudd.
The
songs
produced
by
Stevenson
and
Livermore
rock
hard,
but
don't
transform
Puddle
Of
Mudd
into
a
punk
band.
The
collaboration
with
Howes
(who
co-wrote
the
song
"Famous"
with
the
band)
produced
two
contrasting
tracks,
with
"It
Was
Faith"
being
a
fairly
conventional
rock
ballad,
while
"Famous"
is
as
brisk
as
it
is
catchy.
Benson's
work
on
the
song
"Psycho"
yielded
a
rocker
that
has
a
bit
of
Velvet
Revolver
in
its
sound.
If
anyone
brings
a
decidedly
new
twist
to
Puddle
Of
Mudd's
sound,
it's
Puig,
who
injected
a
bit
of
an
electronic
feel
into
"Radiate."
All
four
band
members
—
Scantlin,
bassist
Doug
Ardito,
guitarist
Christian
Stone
and
drummer
Ryan
Yerdon
—
were
on
hand
for
the
phone
interview.
While
they
are
clearly
very
happy
with
"Famous,"
they
weren't
making
any
predictions
that
the
CD
will
become
a
huge
hit.
"We
kind
of
just
do
what
we
do
and
hope
for
the
best,"
Scantlin
said.
"We
feel
good
about
it
or
else
it
wouldn't
be
released.
We're
just
hoping
for
the
best."
If
the
album
does
catch
on
big,
it
would
mark
a
return
to
commercial
form
for
Puddle
Of
Mudd,
whose
2001
debut,
"Come
Clean,"
sold
more
than
five
million
copies.
But
the
second
CD,
2003's
"Life
On
Display,"
didn't
fare
as
well,
as
sales
of
the
CD
topped
out
at
about
500,000
copies.
The
second
album
was
done
under
a
tight
deadline
in
hopes
of
sustaining
the
momentum
of
the
first
CD,
and
the
band
actually
wrote
some
of
the
material
in
the
studio.
For
"Famous,"
there
were
no
such
time
pressures.
"It's
a
matter
of
you
have
your
whole
life
to
write
your
first
album,"
Ardito
said.
"Then
you've
got
to
like
rush
in
after
a
week
off
and
make
your
second
album.
And
this
time
we
did
have
the
time
allotted
to
just
go
through
life
and
have
things
happen
and
have
something
to
honestly
talk
about
rather
than
forcing
it."
The
extra
time
also
gave
the
band
a
chance
to
get
more
familiar
with
its
two
new
members
—
Yerdon
and
Stone.
Yerdon
replaced
Greg
Upchurch,
who
left
Puddle
Of
Mudd
to
join
the
hugely
popular
band
3
Doors
Down.
Stone
took
over
for
Paul
Phillips,
who
unsuccessfully
lobbied
to
take
Puddle
Of
Mudd's
music
in
a
heavier
direction.
He
has
since
started
his
own
band,
Operator.
The
new
lineup
has
already
been
busy
touring,
with
a
run
of
headlining
dates
the
current
order
of
business.
Scantlin
said
the
group
will
still
feature
crowd-pleasing
hits
from
the
first
two
albums
(such
as
"Blurry,"
"She
Hates
Me,"
"Bring
Me
Down"
and
"Away
From
Me"),
but
will
add
new
material
as
the
tour
continues.
"We've
got
like
so
many
songs
that
are
getting
ready
to
start
popping
that
it's
difficult
to
prepare
for
it,"
Scantlin
said.
"But
we're
going
to
rehearse
and
do
everything
we
can
to
get
it
(the
"Famous"
CD)
across
to
the
crowd
and
have
a
good
time.
They're
buying
the
records
and
coming
to
the
shows,
so
we've
got
to
give
them
mad
respect."