STONE TEMPLE PILOTS' DEAN DELEO Looks Back On 'Core' Album's Commercial Success: 'We Were Very Confident About It'

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS guitarist Dean DeLeo spoke to Marci Wiser of the 95.5 KLOS radio station about the band's iconic debut album, "Core". The group performed the LP in its entirety for a livestream event yesterday (Friday, July 31) on Nugs.tv.

Regarding STP's collaboration with producer Brendan O'Brien on "Core", Dean said (hear audio below): "One of the greatest things in my career was having the honor and luxury of making most of my records with Brendan. And here we are, 30 years later or whatever, and he's one of my dearest friends. I learned a lot, and I think I can say that on behalf of Robert [DeLeo, bass] and Eric [Kretz, drums] as well. Brendan brings a lot to the table — he brings a lot in — and it's just not only his expertise and his knowledge of what he's doing and his incredible mixes, but it's just his personality. He just makes everyone seem so comfortable and so good about what they're doing. And it's just pretty much a riot — having a good time and a lot of laughs."

Asked if he ever thought "Core" would end up selling more than 10 million copies, Dean said: "No. You can never really dictate what something's gonna do. But I tell you, we were very confident about it, and I say that with great humility.

"Before we even got signed, we had pretty much all the songs that we were playing, off 'Core'.

"Yeah, I think all of us knew kind of what we had, and once we started embarking upon that recording, it was pretty evident.

"As I said earlier about Brendan, he works really fast. We were mixed and mastered with that record in about three weeks. So we kind of knew that we had something that was pretty nice. I think we're our own worst critics, so as long as we were leaving on a daily basis feeling good about what we did, that's really what mattered, as well as Brendan."

"Core" features smash hits "Sex Type Thing", "Wicked Garden" and "Plush", which won the Grammy Award in 1994 for "Best Hard Rock Performance."

In addition to the "Core" livestream event, STP released live audio from past shows beginning with August 3, 2011 at Hampton Beach Ballroom in Hampton Beach, New Hampshire with Scott Weiland, and June 13, 2019 in London, UK at O2 Forum Kentish Town with lead vocalist Jeff Gutt.

Gutt joined STONE TEMPLE PILOTS three years ago. His recording debut with the group was on its self-titled seventh LP, which arrived in March 2018.

Gutt, a 44-year-old Michigan native who spent time in the early-2000s nu-metal act DRY CELL, among other bands, and was a contestant on "The X Factor", joined STONE TEMPLE PILOTS in 2017 after beating out roughly 15,000 hopefuls during an extended search that began more than a year earlier.

Original STONE TEMPLE PILTOS singer Scott Weiland, who reunited with the group in 2010 after an eight-year hiatus but was dismissed in 2013, died in December 2015 of a drug overdose.

Chester Bennington, who joined STP in early 2013, departed nearly three years later to spend more time with his main band LINKIN PARK. Bennington committed suicide in July 2017.