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WITH WEILAND OUT OF JAIL AND INTO MUSIC AGAIN, STONE TEMPLE PILOTS
GET BACK TO THEIR NATURAL CHEMISTRY.
-by Kerry Doole
A couple of years back, the odds that
the Stone Temple Pilots would ever get to make a fifth album seemed
remote indeed. Frontman Scott Weiland was busy establishing himself
as the Robert Downey Jr. of rock via addiction to hard drugs and busts
that saw him do real jail time. His loyal comrades stayed active with
side project Talk Show, but that just emphasized how much they needed
their charismatic singer.
Happily, Weiland cleaned up his act, and a tour with
the Red Hot Chili Peppers last summer suggested there was still life
within STP. That has now been confirmed with the release of new disc,
Shangri-LA DEE DA. It has brought the band back to rock radio
and sales charts, but, more importantly, it has brought them closer
together.
Bassist/keyboardist Robert DeLeo explains that “the
success of this record has been the fact that we’ve been open enough
with each other to make those personal statements, not just to the world,
but to ourselves.”
Stone Temple Pilots have never been critics’
darlings. When the San Diego-based quartet burst onto the scene in 1992
with their mega-million selling debut Core, they were viewed
as opportunists cashing in on the Nirvana and Pearl Jam bandwagon. Not
that the group cared too much.
“We’ve sort of gotten over looking at reviews
to see if our record is good,” says Robert. “It’d be
a really stupid reason to make records, pleasing the critics.”
Drummer Eric Kretz does admit that “in the very beginning
it was hard to accept such large success. That is such a dichotomy.
It is something you always want, but then when it hits you, you try
to push it back. Now that I’m getting older, I enjoy every aspect
of what we do.”
DeLeo agrees that their longevity and popularity is satisfying.
“I don’t know if sweet is the word. Being human is having
all kinds of moods. I’m certainly not happy all the time. I don’t
know who is. Maybe aerobics instructors! What comes out on our records
is genuinely how we are feeling at the time.”
A key feature of the STP sound is the mix of melody and
muscle. Shangri-LA DEE DA kicks off with the ferocious sonic
assault of ‘Dumb Love’, then lightens up with the poppy ‘Days
Of The Week’ and on to the tender ballad ‘A Song For Sleeping’.
“That is our natural chemistry,” stresses Eric.
“It comes from our love for all kinds of music.” Robert adds:
“We have proven ourselves as a band that can write a heavy rock
song, but I certainly don’t want us to be only known for that.
I enjoy melody. When I want to hear that, I’ll listen to a Burt
Bacharach compilation or Stan Getz blowing sax on an old standard. That
is really where my heart is at.”
To record the new album, STP and long-time producer Brendan
O’Brien set up a studio in a Malibu villa. The band lived there
for the sessions, and loved this method. “It’s the greatest
way to make a record,” claims Kretz. “I don’t think I
want to see the inside of a music studio again. This way lends itself
to more creativity and more cohesiveness with each other. You have the
freedom to explore at any hour without worrying about turning off the
power and locking up.”
Robert recalls that “we did Tiny Music, our
third album, in a house, but Scott wasn’t really there for that
one. This time he was sober.”
They’re no longer the Stoned Temple Pilots, but the
group isn’t loudly preaching an anti-drugs sermon. “There
is a responsibility to not make too much of an ass out of yourself,”
says Robert DeLeo. “Younger people are very impressionable.”
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