http://www.northjersey.com/betterliving/Puddle_of_Mudd_at_high_tide.html
02-22-08
Puddle
of
Mudd
at
high
tide
Friday,
February
22,
2008
Last
Updated
Friday
February
22,
2008,
EST
7:35
AM
Timing
is
everything.
When
the
rock
band
Puddle
of
Mudd
hits
the
stage
of
the
House
of
Blues
at
Showboat
on
Saturday,
it'll
be
one
of
the
few
acts
to
perform
in
Atlantic
City
with
a
single
at
the
top
of
the
charts.
"Psycho,"
a
song
from
the
band's
latest
album,
"Famous,"
just
peaked
at
No.
1
on
Billboard's
hot
mainstream
rock
chart.
"We
tried
to
get
away
from
the
punk
sound,"
POM
guitarist
and
lead
singer
Wes
Scantlin
said
during
a
phone
interview
from
Calgary,
Alberta,
before
a
concert
earlier
this
month.
To
do
that,
Puddle
of
Mudd
borrowed
a
technique
employed
by
many
hip-hop
and
rap
artists.
Instead
of
going
into
a
recording
studio
with
a
single
producer,
they
enlisted
multiple
producers
to
shape
the
album
and
the
sound.
"I
think
it
worked
out
pretty
well.
I
think
about
95
percent
of
what
we
did
[on
'Famous']
worked,"
Scantlin
said.
"We
took
our
time
with
[the
album].
We
didn't
rush
it.
We
went
over
every
song
with
a
fine-tooth
comb
because
we
wanted
to
be
sure
this
was
the
album
we
wanted
to
[release].
And
that's
when
we
decided
that
maybe
we
should
try
to
hit
up
a
different
[sound]
instead
of
keeping
going
in
the
punk
direction."
It
took
four
years
and
two
changes
in
the
band's
roster
before
"Famous"
was
released.
Last
year,
drummer
Greg
Upchurch
left
to
join
3
Doors
Down.
Guitarist
Paul
Phillips
left
after
unsuccessfully
trying
to
take
POM's
music
in
a
much
heavier
direction.
Hard-hitting
Ryan
Yerdon
replaced
Upchurch,
and
Christian
Stone
took
over
for
Phillips.
Scantlin
was
never
concerned
that
POM
would
lose
its
edge.
In
fact,
Scantlin
said
his
advice
to
his
new
band
mates
was
simple
and
straightforward.
"I
told
them
to
hit
the
drums
hard,
hit
the
guitar
hard
and
play
your
parts
correctly,
and
everything
would
be
fine,"
he
said
with
a
laugh.
"I
guess
they
listened
to
me."
Scantlin,
35,
is
the
only
original
member
still
with
Puddle
of
Mudd,
which
was
formed
15
years
ago
in
Kansas
City
and
got
its
name
after
the
Missouri
River
overflowed
its
banks,
poured
into
the
band's
practice
space
and
left
a
big
puddle
of
mud
on
the
floor.
The
band
became
one
of
the
first
acts
to
sign
with
Limp
Bizkit
frontman
Fred
Durst's
new
recording
label,
Flawless
Records.
That
paved
the
way
for
POM's
commercial
success
with
the
2001
breakthrough
album
"Come
Clean."
The
album
produced
four
hit
singles,
including
"She
Hates
Me,"
which
reached
No.
1
on
the
mainstream
rock
tracks
chart.
Although
a
follow-up
album,
"Life
on
Display,"
spawned
two
hit
singles
and
was
certified
gold,
it
never
received
the
widespread
acclaim
of
"Come
Clean."
Scantlin
admitted
the
band
probably
rushed
the
production
of
"Life
on
Display"
to
take
advantage
of
the
buzz
created
by
the
earlier
release.
Skin
testing
Now
during
its
current
tour,
POM
is
giving
its
fans
exactly
what
they
want
to
hear.
"We're
doing
every
single
on
the
[new]
album,"
Scantlin
said,
along
with
many
of
the
band's
earlier
hits.
Scantlin
writes
many
of
the
group's
songs.
He
usually
begins
at
home
with
an
acoustic
guitar,
using
his
skin
as
a
barometer
for
which
songs
are
any
good.
"If
I
start
to
feel
my
skin
crawl
and
I
get
goose
bumps,
I
know
I'm
on
to
something,"
he
said.
Next
up
for
Puddle
of
Mudd
will
be
a
live
concert
album,
he
said.
Then
it'll
be
back
to
the
studio
for
the
next
album,
still
in
development.
Puddle
of
Mudd
performs
at
the
House
of
Blues
at
Showboat
at
8
p.m.
Saturday.
Tickets
are
$25.50,
available
through
Ticketmaster.