http://www.al.com/entertainment/huntsvilletimes/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1191144732240380.xml&coll=1
09-30-07
Sunday,
September
30,
2007
By
JON
BUSDEKER
Times
Arts
Writer
jon.busdeker@htimes.com
When
Puddle
of
Mudd's
lead
singer
Wes
Scantlin
walked
into
band
class
as
a
kid,
all
the
good
instruments
were
taken.
The
only
thing
left
was
the
tuba.
"God
bless
the
tuba,"
Scantlin
said
in
a
phone
interview.
But
rock
bands
don't
have
tuba
players,
so
something
had
to
be
done.
It
was
in
1984,
after
seeing
his
rock
idols
Van
Halen,
that
12-year-old
Scantlin
picked
up
a
guitar
and
decided
to
become
a
rock
star.
"The
guitar
is
a
lot
lighter
than
the
tuba,"
Scantlin
said.
Puddle
of
Mudd,
known
for
hard
rock
tunes
like
"She
Hates
Me"
and
"Blurry,"
burst
onto
the
scene
in
2001
after
the
release
of
its
debut
album
"Come
Clean."
The
band,
discovered
by
Limp
Bizkit
front
man
Fred
Durst,
found
success
after
years
of
playing
around
the
Kansas
City
area.
The
group
plays
Big
Spring
Jam
XV
today
at
7:15
p.m
on
the
WZYP
Stage.
Scantlin
formed
the
band
in
1993,
but
didn't
have
a
name
until
later
in
the
year
when
the
Missouri
River
flooded
much
of
Kansas
City.
The
flood
left
the
band's
practice
space
looking
like
a
"puddle
of
mud."
During
the
mid
1990s,
as
grunge
hit
the
radio
waves,
Puddle
of
Mudd
found
some
success
around
their
hometown.
But
keeping
band
members
happy
wasn't
easy,
Scantlin
said.
"It's
hard
to
keep
bands
together,"
he
said.
"It's
a
struggle
-
it's
not
a
lot
of
money
in
the
beginning."
Over
the
years,
lots
of
members
left
the
band.
But
Scantlin
kept
pushing
for
rock
stardom,
sometimes
working
odd
jobs
between
paying
gigs.
Once
he
took
a
job
as
a
plumber
but
it
lasted
only
a
day.
"It's
disgusting
what
they
do,"
Scantlin
said,
adding
they
deserve
every
penny
of
their
paychecks.
After
years
of
having
demo
tapes
go
unheard,
Scantlin
finally
found
someone
to
listen
in
1999.
Scantlin
snuck
backstage
at
the
Family
Values
tour
and
persuaded
Durst's
bodyguard
to
give
the
Limp
Bizkit
front
man
a
copy
of
the
demo.
Durst
signed
Puddle
of
Mudd,
and
the
band
went
on
to
sell
more
than
5
million
copies
of
"Come
Clean."
Now,
six
years
since
hitting
it
big,
Puddle
of
Mudd's
still
touring
and
releasing
albums.
And,
after
all
of
his
success,
Scantlin
is
still
looking
up
to
his
rock
idols
Van
Halen.
At
a
recent
show
in
Los
Angeles,
Scantlin
saw
a
rehearsal
gig
for
the
upcoming
Van
Halen
reunion
tour.
"I
felt
like
I
was
12
years
old
again,"
Scantlin
said.