http://www.sunherald.com/152/story/92524.html
07-06-07
Posted on Fri,
Jul. 06, 2007
By JUSTIN HOOKS
SUN HERALD
-- The following are excerpts
from the Sun Herald's recent conversation with Wes Scantlin, vocalist for the
Kansas City-based band, Puddle of Mudd, who perform Saturday at CPR Fest XI at
the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi:
So
where are you calling from? What's going on today?
"We are in
Milwaukee doing Summerfest right now. Flyleaf's playing, there's a bunch of
other cool bands playing. All kinds of cool kids. REO Speedwagon's playing, and,
oh, I'm going to get fired. Who else? Violent Femmes, they're playing too.
They're one of my favorite bands."
"We were just
out for about 3.5 months straight with 3 Days Grace and, uh, Breaking Benjamin
and another cool band called Red. Yeah, a bunch of cool bands. It was sad when
we did the last show on that tour. We were all like super-bros with all the
people. Now we're going to do some shows with Nickelback and then in a
month-and-a-half from now, doing our own headlining tour. So that's getting all
set up. We're going to be out here on tour for quite a little while, know what
I'm saying?"
What
are you expecting on this tour? Are there certain things you want to accomplish,
things you're looking forward to bringing out?
"Well yeah,
there's a lot of different goals that I'm looking for, but the main thing is, I
just want everybody to be really healthy and in as good of a mood as possible
all the time. One of my favorite parts of touring is being out there and hanging
out with the fans. It's been a long time, so it's really nice to be back and
saying hi to some old friends and a lot of the fans we've not seen in a few
years, man. That's special to me. The band, we're all good buds and our crew is
really cool and it feels like one big, cool family out here. I don't know, it
could go on forever, man. I don't mind it at all."
You
guys have been out of pocket for a while. A few years back, it seemed like the
band just dropped off the face of the earth. What have you guys been up to in
that time?
"We've just been
recording a lot, to be honest with you, man. It's no secret, you get 10 years to
write your first record, then a year to write your second record. Nowadays, you
can't just put out an OK record. You've got to put an amazing record out, you
know? It takes a while to gather up an amazing record full of amazing songs, so
it's had its ups and downs. All I've been doing is writing and recording and
trying to stay mentally sane during the process. Everything happens for a reason
and it's all one big learning experience. I feel pretty blessed that it has gone
like this. We were on the road there, man, sheesh, we must have been on the road
for like four or five years straight, those first two records. It was a mind
bender and a body cruncher. Now we're all real healthy and feel real good, and I
guess it just had to go like that, know what I'm saying?"
What
has that break done for your mindset? Did it help calm you down?
"It's helped
tremendously, man. Mentally and physically, man. I can honestly say I'm in the
best shape of my life, since I was about 13, that's when I started playing
guitar, about 12 or 13. At this point, I can honestly say this is probably the
healthiest I've ever been...until I hit about 12 or 13. For the last 20 years,
dude, I was just being a freak. Now I've pulled it all together and I've learned
a lot of stuff, man, and I have a lot of good people surrounding me and teaching
me a lot of good wisdom. I thank all parties involved for helping me out and
being there for me when I needed some help. And my family as well."
The
band as a whole, where are they mentally? You say we're all happy and healthy,
but as far as a cohesive unit, is everybody on the same page?
"Everything is
OK to go, man. There's a few people that the road might have mentally and
physically torn to pieces, and I'm included in that... .I started this thing in
1993, and I've gone through so many different member switches. My whole deal is
that I don't want to tell people how to live their lives... .It's not easy being
in a band, man. It's like being married. I feel almost like I'm married to this
band. But we're like a big team out here, man. It's not just about me, man.
Everybody is involved in the songs and everybody has their info to put into the
music and stuff. But we're all psyched about it, though. We're like hanging out
and getting along, and that's something I would never want to fly away. When
you're out here on the road, man, everybody doesn't need to be hating on each
other, that's for sure."
Is
fame one of the primary themes of the record, or are you trying to say something
else as a whole?
"No, I think
that's just one portion of it. There are a bunch of other cool songs on there.
The record is full of like, just cool little emotions and feelings and everyday
kind of things and that's how we like to keep it. We lived a lot of life in the
last three or four years and that's what the record is kind of pointing at, just
every-day emotions and gatherings of life. That's how we're rolling, dude.
That's how we roll, man."
The
Biloxi show will feature Saliva, Sevendust, Kittie, Seven Mary Three and more.
There's also an up-and-coming local band from here that's going to open up the
show. What's your take on battles of the bands?
"Well that's
cool, you got your local bands and they're battling it out and stuff? That's
cool man, we did the same thing, dude, out in Kansas City. We won the battle of
the bands a couple times and we got to open up for Tesla one time, the Rock Fest
in Kansas City. We opened for Queensryche one time, too. That's awesome that you
guys are doing that, man, because there's not a lot of it going on... .That's
really cool. My hat's off to you guys for taking care of your local people. I
hope they rip it and rock really nice."
Is
there a relationship between some of the bands that you'll be playing with down
here? Sevendust, Kittie, Saliva?
"Every one of
those bands, I know different members, but I'm uncertain if I've met anyone from
Kittie. They're all girls and they're badass. I know a lot of the guys in Saliva
and I know the guys in Sevendust. But, you know, we're out here doing so many
shows, sometimes it seems like a big blur. We all know different people from
those bands. It's going to be cool seeing them again. We did Rock Fest in Kansas
on my birthday and I saw a lot of the guys from Sevendust. It's cool to see
everybody again, big hugs, how's the family, how's your kids and this and that.
It's just like a family reunion at these shows. For our particular band, we walk
around and meet everybody we can. Just hang out, you know? We're always just
tooling around and talking to kids and making sure they're doing OK and talking
to some parents and making sure things are cool with the town.
"And it seems
like everybody's pretty solid right now in this time on - planet Earth I guess,
right? But, I don't know, it seems like everybody's getting smarter, man, that's
for sure. Discovery World is right across the street from me, man, I just went
in there, dude? It's insane, man. They have this vein scanner. Like, you put
your hand under this green weird thing, and it shows you your veins, dude. And
they have this like, 3-D imaging facial technology, like to take a picture of
your face. They take a picture of your face and it takes like 45 seconds to
process it, and then they can just flip your face around in 3-D and there's all
kinds of crazy technology. My son might possibly be smarter than me, and he's
like 10. So, I don't know, I think everybody's just getting real smart, man. I
saw this one dude the other day, he was doing sound, like a front-house guy, and
he was doing it from a little flat screen. He was walking around and he set the
sound up on the board and the board is totally automated. He can do the whole
thing just walking around. He just roams around and sets up the sound on a flat
screen. He's got his finger and just goes beep-beep, so all the fans can get
their fair share of the sound."
How
has the fame aspect of all of this affected you, if at all? When you're on
stage, is that something that you're even considering?
"It's an up and
down thing, man. I've learned a lot, man, and a lot of this stuff may sound
crazy but it's humbled me in a lot of ways. It really has, man. I got a great
family, great tour, and a lot of great and amazing things are happening. I feel
blessed, I thank God every day for all the stuff I've got and it's still coming
true, dude. I think it's more humbling. My head gets a little big sometimes so I
need to hit the deflate button and call my kid."
Anything
else you might want to get off your chest?
"If you're a fan
of music and you appreciate it, and the good vibes it helps you feel in your
life, have a little respect, and before you download or burn something, buy one
of the records from one of your favorite bands. It's no secret you can just rip
it off, and that's unstoppable stuff. But there's a lot of hard work that goes
into this stuff and a lot of thoughts and everybody's working hard to get this
out, so buy records and keep buying them. When everybody stops buying records,
dude, it's going to get harder to put it out to the people. Have some respect
and buy some records, man. At least one. Sometimes you might have a little
chuckle when you burn something, but in the back your mind, everybody's like 'I
should buy one.' Just buy a record, man. Buy two."