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Stretching the Sound Barrier with STONE TEMPLE PILOTS... An Interview with Robert DeLeo by Kristi Kates
Photos by Kay McEntee
Editor's Note: In terms of energy, musicianship, and stage-presence, Stone Temple Pilots are one of the more engaging bands exploring the stylistically blended and often confusing terrain of Modern Rock.
A recent excursion to Pine Knob proved that the group has lost none of their panache'. Fueling swagger with inspiration lead singer Scott Weiland taunted the audience after the first song. "I wanna see a Revolution out there!" proclaimed the lanky singer with the powerful voice, seemingly melded from titanium & crushed velvet. "Come on, you guys did it once before - let's see it again!"
By the time the crowd started storming the front rows of the amphitheater and the 32 ounce beers began flying overhead, it was clear that like all vital rock 'n roll outfits, this was a posse' that thrived upon straddling that fine line between danger and engagement.
And like a tightly wound clock, they never missed a beat.
Nobody ever said that the Stone Temple Pilots would have it easy. From Core to No. 4, the band's gone through more trials and tribulations than Madonna has hairstyles. But STP bass player Robert DeLeo still says that it's the band he's always wanted to be in.
Musician and writer Kristi Kates talked to DeLeo about their struggles, the Pilots' new disc, and the unlikely influence of Jim Croce. ________________________________
The Stone Temple Pilots - singer Scott Weiland, guitarist Dean DeLeo, bass player Robert DeLeo (yep, they're brothers), and drummer Eric Kretz - have been on the road with the Red Hot Chili Peppers since the end of July, pumping up the interest in STP's eclectic new album, No. 4.
The two band's styles do compliment each other nicely - the Peppers alt-funk vs. the Pilots' alt-rock - but it ain't all water under the bridge just yet. If you think about it, these are two bands that should really both be headliners - yet the Pilots are, for all practical purposes, serving as the Peppers' opening act on this current tour.
Not that there's dissention in the ranks, but it can be frustrating at times - for instance, how would you feel if you'd invested in a $20,000 light rig for all the kids to see, only to have your set pushed back to the shiny daylight hour of 7:50?
"Well, that part of it is definitely not satisfying," explains a weary Robert DeLeo, crunching on an apple in his Detroit hotel room. "Nothing against the Peppers, but I'm kind of getting tired of being a backup band when we shouldn't be." And a backup band is something that the SoCal quartet was never really meant to be from the get-go.
Robert DeLeo met Scott Weiland some 10-odd years ago at a Black Flag concert near L.A., where they quickly found out that they were dating the same girl. The stuff that fistfights are made of? Nope - they also found out they were both musicians, so it wasn't long before they started collaborating, and then hooked up with drummer Kretz and Robert's brother Dean, to form the band that was first known as Mighty Joe Young, and is now known as Stone Temple Pilots, one of the musical success stories of the '90's.
A trio of hit alt-rock albums later, though, the band found themselves mired in lead singer Weiland's much-publicized struggles with drugs, and both DeLeo brothers and Kretz temporarily bailed to form the one-album, one-hit rock project Talk Show before putting the STPieces back together in late 1998 or so.
"I love Scott to death," DeLeo emphasizes, "and he's come a long way, he really has. But, when your singer can't function as a human being - I mean, when he's actually going to jail for getting high - well, I think there's something wrong there. When we started out with Core (STP's first album, 1992), it was a 100% functional album. I'm proud of that record. But with Purple, Tiny Music, and even with No. 4 - well, we had altercations with Scott getting high through all of those, and I think that Scott could've been 'there' more on several of the songs, if you know what I mean. Six months ago, I even got to the point where I kind of wanted to keep STP just as a hobby. But I can't dwell on that anymore."
Not to mention Weiland doesn't seem to be dwelling on it anymore, either. After a jail stint that's been talked about in the press more than the band's deserving music, Weiland finally married long-time girlfriend Mary Forsberg, and is well on the way to cleaning up his act, although his creative antics on stage continue.
"I don't think I've ever seen Scott like this," DeLeo smiles, "he's not only sans drugs, but he's a lot more mature. And everything's more cohesive than it's ever been." Good news for a band whose future wasn't certain a year ago. And, although all of STP's discs have been lauded by critics and fans alike, that cohesiveness and chemistry ("the best it's ever been," DeLeo enthuses) really shows its stripes on No. 4.
"It cracks me up when a band comes out, and people want to peg you as such-and-such a band," DeLeo says, "you know how it is - you can't even really tell who a band is until their 4th or 5th record."
So what does No. 4 have to say about Stone Temple Pilots?
Well, for starters, it's most obviously a comeback of sorts for the original STP quartet, with a stronger and hopefully wiser Weiland at the wheel. It's a continuation of their collaboration with uber-producer Brendan O'Brien ("I think he's always been a part of our sound," DeLeo clarifies). And it's the first album they'll be promoting under their new management, their first management change since 1991.
But the sonics are what really stand out.
There's no loss of the familiar STP sound - the driving Kretz beats, the Motown-meets-Philly bass lines, the textured guitars, the distinctive Weiland vocals - but this album might be the most varied of the Pilots' discography so far, with tunes ranging from the heavy opener "Down" through the likes of "I Got You," "MC5," and the poppy, almost Beatlesque stylings of "Sour Girl," their current radio hit.
"When Dean started playing 'Sour Girl," I thought of a bass line - like a Larry Graham 'If You Want Me to Stay' sort of bass line, or like a Paul McCartney bass line," DeLeo recollects, "so you have your Larry Graham bass along with a Spinners-style Philly beat, and that played right into that song."
The Spinners? Larry Graham? So whatever happened to the press' endless (and tiresome) comparisons of STP to the Seattle grunge movement of the early '90's? "I didn't get that grunge thing," DeLeo laughs, "I, myself, don't really listen to anything current. I like a lot of Brazilian music, and I love R&B - I mean, one of my favorites is Stevie Wonder's 'Signed, Sealed, and Delivered' - but there are so many different influences in this band!"
Which brings up the Jim Croce reference. Think of STP's songs - do any of them bring Mr. Croce and his bluesy folk-rock to mind? No? Okay - just think of DeLeo humming Croce's "I Got a Name" in your ear ("Moving me down the highway, moving me down the highway,") and now, perhaps, you'll hear that familiar Joe Macho bass line that's echoed in a little Top 40 tune called "Interstate Love Song". Yes, ladies and gentlemen, Stone Temple Pilots remain full of surprises.
Even more surprises will be coming up soon for fans of STP. The "Greatest Hits" disc idea that was being bandied about for a while is being shelved for the time being ("it may be just a little too early for that," DeLeo confirms).
But will the band be hitting the studio again anytime soon?
"Absolutely!" according to DeLeo. There's no definite release date for the new album yet, but the band is well on their way to crafting more of the tunes that radio, MTV, and their fans all love.
"We might go up to the Hudson Valley (region of New York State) to record this time," DeLeo ponders, "I do like the weather in California - I mean, when I get time off, I do surf, and I'm a total beach bum - but I'm originally from Montclair, New Jersey, so I miss the East Coast."
More touring is on the agenda for the band, too - their tour with the Chili Peppers extends through September 22nd, and, although they've hit both Europe and Asia in their travels, there are still more horizons that they'd like to see. "We did just get up to Alaska," DeLeo enthuses, "it was the first time we'd played there, and it was amazing. Anchorage was beautiful," he continues, "but I really want to go to Australia and New Zealand - yeah, Australia, New Zealand, and South America would be my choices for where we'd tour next."
Wherever STP tours next, here's hoping that things continue to go as well as they have been. If we had three wishes to throw at DeLeo and the whole STP crew, we'd try for these - how about a successful tour, a chart-topping album, and perhaps even a set that starts at 8:30?
The way they've been going lately, it could happen, as things continue to get a little easier for the band that's persevered through it all. In the words of the Stone Temple Pilots themselves, it sounds like it might just be all Heaven and Hot Rods from here.
Photos by Kay McEntee |
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