Transforming himself into a walking tribute to David Bowie every night, you’ll find more than just visual comparisons linking Scott Weiland and the former Ziggy Stardust. There’s the attention to style and fashion, the ability to mesmerize an audience with unequaled charisma and the ability to channel alter egos at will. Perhaps the most important comparison should come with the disclaimer “not intended for all audiences” as both men were able to overcome the devil, drugs and the vices that have pulled many a musician to an early grave. “I know who I am now,” says Weiland. “I know what I wanna do and I need to do and I have to do."
Fifteen years ago, it was unclear what the future would hold for Weiland. Balancing a seemingly successful run with Stone Temple Pilots with a torrid drug addiction, the singer was anything but stable and unpredictable to say the least. Today, you’ll find Weiland touring with STP, wrapping up a sixth studio record with his original band (due out in 2010), finishing up his autobiography (also due next year), traveling with his solo band and showcasing his latest line of clothing through English Laundry. It’s a busy life, and more importantly, a clean one. He’s so busy, in fact, that Weiland hopes to be able to turn it down a notch in the near future to be able to spend more time with his two children. “One day, it would be nice if some of those businesses were successful so I wouldn’t have to be a slave to the road because I have two young kids at home who miss me when I’m gone and I miss them terribly and I’d like to spend more time with them,” he said.
Weiland has the distinction of fronting not one, but two of the premiere, Grammy-winning rock bands of the past 20 years. Stone Temple Pilots sold millions and Velvet Revolver had a massive following thanks to the mixture of Weiland and the castoff musicians from the glory days of Guns ‘N’ Roses. The on-again, off-again relationship between Weiland and his STP buddies has always been comparable to a group of brothers who don’t quite get along for long periods of time. The door is always open, Weiland says, despite the reasons behind their numerous splits. “It had been a long time coming,” said the singer about the latest reunion. “When we were in STP together before we broke up, we weren’t getting along very good at all. Now we get along much, much better. A band’s like a family, you go through growing pains together with each other. There are times where you have issues and you just work ‘em out like a family does. I’ve known these guys a huge chunk of my entire life. My whole adulthood really.”
While Weiland compared reuniting with STP with coming home, there’s not as much hope of reconciliation riding on the Velvet Revolver front. A much publicized rift between Weiland and certain members of VR not only left the group searching for a new vocalist, but left Weiland having to defend himself against accusations of being a difficult frontman. “I’m not a difficult frontman at all,” said Weiland. “No. I actually was in the band with those guys and we had a great time until the end when we didn’t have a great time, then I knew it was time to bail out. I heard a lot of stories about a certain singer (Axl Rose, maybe?) who everyone knows about and sometimes I wonder if all those stories are all true or maybe there’s another point of view.”
Off the stage, the years since STP erupted with their 1992 debut “Core,” have been somewhat unkind to Weiland. Drug addiction, violence, stints in jail and rehab and personal problems have mounted leaving the man in a constant position of having to pick himself up and learn from his mistakes. “I always get back on my feet and keep charging ahead,” he said. It’s been hard to avoid being another rock star gone before his time, but Weiland is quick to point out that he’s not the only one who has managed to pull it together before it was too late. “Keith Richards has outlived all of us and he’s done it. David Bowie’s done it. The first icons out there,” said Weiland. “A lot of musicians have been able to do it. Not to downplay anything that I may have achieved. Life’s a roller coaster ride. It’s a path. That’s one thing I’ve learned about success too is that it’s not just the destination or else I would’ve arrived a long time ago. It’s a continuous thing and it ebbs and it flows but once you’re in that place where you’re secure in the ebb and flow, that’s when you have established yourself as an artist who can leave an imprint for music. That was always the goal, really.”
Things have definitely changed for the better in Weiland’s world both on stage and off it. For instance, it’s no longer about getting crazy and brandishing a devil-may-care attitude behind the scenes. “I don’t act on tour the way I acted when I was in my 20’s. I’m not out every night looking for some sort of trouble,” he said. “I just don’t go out to clubs and act a fool. I’m single now but I still don’t go out to clubs looking for girls and trying to meet women. I stay home most of the time and I work every day.” The most important thing to pull off on the road these days, he says, is finding the motivation night in and night out. “My life is pretty average really except when I’m on the road. It’s definitely not your average lifestyle. It’s hard and you’ve gotta get yourself up for the show every night. To do a nearly two-hour show, even when you’re not feeling well or if you’re not necessarily in the mood because you’ve been playing the same song, you can’t let the audience know that,” he continued. “You have to put on your game face and push on through.”
You have to go back to a stint in college to find the roots of Scott Weiland’s music career. It was a crossroads decision between going after a higher education or taking a chance on sheer talent which marked the beginning of an era. It goes without saying, which path was taken. “My best friends (and I) formed a band in high school and we played back yard parties. That’s when the dream began really. After going to college for a couple of years, I made the decision that I was gonna go full on towards music. I just didn’t want to give myself a (reason) to not excel at either one,” said Weiland of his early days. The original incarnation of STP was called Mighty Joe Young and eventually Shirley Temple’s Pussy. “I wanted to put a hundred percent at one thing or the other so I asked my parents if I could take a year off and they let me and we got further and I asked them if I could take one more year off and then within that time period, we ended up getting a deal.” And Stone Temple Pilots was born.
Being back with STP and currently touring with his longtime friends is something Weiland takes seriously and is grateful for. “STP is a big thing. It’s a big four-headed monster. It brings in a lot of income and I’d say the best times I have are when we’re making records. I love touring too. Doing a show, performance is fun,” he said. It’s definitely a different world than it was in the early ‘90s when the band was striking a chord with rock starved music fans. Today, every little movement made by the rock star is chronicled, sometimes falsely, by makeshift rumor mills and bloggers who fancy themselves as journalists. “I think we live in a world with too much information and too much misinformation,” said Weiland. “Everybody thinks of themselves as a blogger. Just because you have a computer you have the ability to put information out there, which I don’t think is necessarily good, really. It’s a little disturbing, I find.” Weiland plans on telling his story first hand in an upcoming book and admits that his biggest hurdle came in remembering everything that happened. His ex-wife Mary Forsberg has just released her own autobiography detailing her days with Weiland. Instead of feeling jilted, he is happy to offer praise of her novel, saying “I’ve read excerpts from her book. It’s a good book.”
Weiland is celebrating the recent release of his own clothing line through English Laundry (www.englishlaundry.com), and is finding out first hand the correlation between writing a good song and designing a memorable wardrobe. “Making this line is like making an album,” explained Weiland the designer. “It’s going back and forth with different designs. It’s like you go back and forth with writing a song and producing a song. To see it finally come out to the point where we’re doing shows, it is very gratifying ‘cause it took a long time to get all the pieces together from all the shirts, which have a lot of detail and are all hand sewn and very English looking. Right down to the ties, to the patterns of the suits, the patterns of the vests. In a way, it was kind of like making a record. I think all art is basically the same process really.” His inspirations come from, well, himself. Asking the question “What would Scott wear?” the designs were born quite organically. “We go through swatches and swatches of fabric and I give them pieces of clothing that I like. Stuff from my wardrobe and we kind of work together on designing suits and ties that look like stuff that I would wear,” he said. “It’s all based on late ‘60s, early ‘70s sort of Savile Row but with a rock and roll edge. Kind of what the Stones or David Bowie would’ve worn.”
English Laundry Apparel - Story Continued Below
What if you took away the clothing line or stopped a tour cycle or nixed the upcoming book? Do you think you’d find Weiland kicking back on the sofa watching football? Not likely. “I’d be able to spend more time painting. I’d be able to spend more time producing other artists because I own my own recording studio. I’d be able to spend more time writing solo stuff,” said the ever busy artist.
It’s rare to find stand out rock frontmen who have hit the scene in recent years. It’s a dying commodity, replaced by the constant need for instant gratification. “A lot of it has to do with the Internet. If someone’s in a new, hot band, people these days want information so fast that as soon as there’s a new hot band, then there’s another hot band hot on their heels. The band that was so hot isn’t so hot anymore and then they are kind of left on the wayside,” he continued. “The record industry has changed so much. They’re not really into building careers. They’re into building singles. When we came out at the same time as Pearl Jam and Soundgarden and Nirvana, they were about building careers. It was a different mentality back then, but that was before the whole entire Facebook generation.”
As he continues to celebrate the release of his latest solo record, “Happy in Galoshes,” and looks forward to unleashing a new STP album on fans, Weiland looks to his idol, David Bowie and sees hope. “The way he’s grown and how he’s aged so gracefully. He still makes great music. He still looks amazing. His eye for style is still amazing. He’s just an icon. All those faces and now is a very eloquent and classic rock star.”
It’s often said that what doesn’t kill you can only make you stronger. In the case of Scott Weiland, you better believe that his experiences with hitting rock bottom have helped him to become a stronger person. “I think it’s given me a lot more intestinal fortitude and I know myself and my limits. Earlier decades when I was in my 30’s, I was searching. I didn’t know at all who I was in my 20’s. I was just a kid. Now that I’m in my 40’s, I’m about to turn 42, I know who I am now (but) it doesn’t say that the journey’s over.”
All wardrobe furnished by English Laundry.
To view the enitre Weiland Collection, visit:
www.englishlaundry.com
Credits: Words by Patrick Douglas and photo by Michael Vincent
Transforming himself into a walking tribute to David Bowie every night, you’ll find more than just visual comparisons linking Scott Weiland and the former Ziggy Stardust. There’s the attention to style and fashion, the ability to mesmerize an audience with unequaled charisma and the ability to channel alter egos at will. Perhaps the most important comparison should come with the disclaimer “not intended for all audiences” as both men were able to overcome the devil, drugs and the vices that have pulled many a musician to an early grave. “I know who I am now,” says Weiland. “I know what I wanna do and I need to do and I have to do."
While Weiland compared reuniting with STP with coming home, there’s not as much hope of reconciliation riding on the Velvet Revolver front. A much publicized rift between Weiland and certain members of VR not only left the group searching for a new vocalist, but left Weiland having to defend himself against accusations of being a difficult frontman. “I’m not a difficult frontman at all,” said Weiland. “No. I actually was in the band with those guys and we had a great time until the end when we didn’t have a great time, then I knew it was time to bail out. I heard a lot of stories about a certain singer (Axl Rose, maybe?) who everyone knows about and sometimes I wonder if all those stories are all true or maybe there’s another point of view.”
