http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071011/FEATURES/710110535/-1/RSS07
10-11-07
BY
ALAN
SCULLEY
CORRESPONDENT
Puddle
of
Mudd's
straight-ahead
guitar
rock
has
little
to
do
musically
with
hip-hop.
But
that
didn't
stop
the
band
from
applying
a
common
practice
in
hip-hop
to
its
new
CD,
which
hit
shelves
Tuesday.
Whereas
most
rock
bands
work
with
a
single
producer,
Puddle
of
Mudd
borrowed
a
page
from
hip-hop
and
tried
to
match
producers
to
the
types
of
songs
on
"Famous."
It
didn't
start
out
that
way.
In
fact,
the
band
appeared
poised
to
surprise
its
fans
by
teaming
up
with
two
of
the
biggest
names
in
punk
rock
--
Bill
Stevenson
(drummer
for
Black
Flag
and
The
Descendents,
who
has
produced
Rise
Against
and
MxPx,
among
others)
and
Jason
Livermore
(NOFX,
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
we
listened
...
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.'
"
In
the
end,
another
half-dozen
producers
contributed
to
"Famous,"
including
Brian
Howes
(Daughtry,
Hinder),
Jack
Joseph
Puig
(John
Mayer,
Goo
Goo
Dolls,
Jellyfish)
and
Howard
Benson
(My
Chemical
Romance,
All-American
Rejects).
"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."
The
band
has
already
hit
the
road
in
support
of
the
new
album,
and
performs
Saturday
with
Saliva
at
St.
Petersburg's
Jannus
Landing.
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."
Last
modified:
October
11.
2007
12:00AM