SCOTT WEILAND Says STONE TEMPLE PILOTS Has 18 New Songs Written

Rick Florino of ARTISTdirect recently conducted an interview with STONE TEMPLE PILOTS/ex-VELVET REVOLVER singer Scott Weiland. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

ARTISTdirect: Where in the world are you right now?

Weiland: I'm in the studio working on new STP music. It's coming along really, really well! We have about 18 songs written, and vocals are written on about ten of them.

ARTISTdirect: Your most recent solo record, "Happy In Galoshes", truly felt boundless. Was there something especially liberating about the process behind that album?

Weiland: Definitely! I've played in bands for most of my life, ever since being a teenager. At the age of 16, I formed my first band. Being in a band, you write songs and you make decisions based on a democratic process. I guess not every band does, but for the bands that I've been in, it was that way. I find it tends to work like that as long as the actual members are talented and they have something to say — whether it's musically or socially. This record, in the same sense of "12 Bar Blues", my first solo album, gave me the opportunity — whenever I was feeling that desire — to create in that arena which was not a rock band. It gave me the chance to do whatever I wanted to do with my partner Doug because we have our own studio. We could get as sonically "out there" as we wanted to and tap into all of our different musical influences. We also got to use all of the various forms of instrumentation that we have here in the studio. It's a fun place to hang out, write and work without a lot of pressure.

ARTISTdirect: That fun and free vibe definitely comes across, but the album has some of your most poignant and powerful lyrics in songs like "Crash". It can be bright, but it's really heartfelt.

Weiland: Yeah, the record was really written over a period of the last ten years since I've known Doug. It seemed like the majority of the writing sessions took place during times when Mary and I were separated. For the most part, I'd say about 90 percent of the songs were about her and my relationship with her — whether I'm directly or metaphorically speaking. There are songs written about my brother as well because he passed in the last couple of years.

ARTISTdirect: Some of these songs had the same vibe as VELVET REVOLVER's "The Last Fight" from "Libertad" which you also dedicated to your brother.

Weiland: Yeah, I think where we were trying to go as a band on Libertad was a natural place. We weren't trying to force anything. We were just getting to know who we were on the first record, "Contraband". After touring for over four years straight, we were writing songs on the road and during rehearsals for tours. We knew what kind of record we wanted to make. We knew it wasn't just about straight-ahead punk rock, rock n' roll. We knew the record that we were going to make was going to have more depth to it, and we were going to tap more into our other influences. Just like STP, the guys in VELVET REVOLVER also have a lot of different influences. Duff [McKagan] and I have a lot of very similar influences, just like Matt Sorum, too.

ARTISTdirect: Right when you got back into the studio with STP, did music instantly begin pouring out of you?

Weiland: Definitely, there are a lot of songs written.

ARTISTdirect: Was the reunion tour last summer particularly fun? I'll never forget the Hollywood Bowl show.

Weiland: I think that show was one of our best shows on that tour. There were some really good shows. I think we perhaps toured two months too long because we were doing the "greatest-hits" set really. Once we get out on the road when our new album comes out, we'll start playing a lot more of the new material mixed in with the old material, and that will reinvigorate the band and everyone will feel a lot more inspired.

ARTISTdirect: Last summer to see a song like "Sin" come to life on stage was amazing because it felt like you guys were improvising and adding more of a psychedelic vibe. That vibe had always been improvised but it was amplified.

Weiland: That was the idea! We're playing with smaller amps and going with smaller amp sounds, not just relying on a wall of Marshalls to create sounds that were actually created by an amp that you could put in the passenger seat of your car right next to you.

ARTISTdirect: What's next?

Weiland: We have Softdrive [Weiland's record label] releases planned through the year. TOMMY JOE WILSON's record is out, and we're working hard on that. We partnered up with a management company and another label Nashville because we are obviously not a Nashville-influenced label, but he was just too good to pass up on. SOMETHING TO BURN is a band that we have going to coming out soon. Their release is out September 18. THE COLOR TURNING is slated for August 4th. We have a few shows lined up with STP, we'll finish the record and then we'll be out doing our thing, touring for awhile once the record comes out. It'll probably be a Christmas release.

Read the entire interview from ARTISTdirect.

Fan-filmed video footage of STONE TEMPLE PILOTS' December 31 (New Year's Eve) concert at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California can be viewed below (clip uploaded by "lisapolisa").