Scott Weiland speaks about the end of VR

[Bodhi]

Sandy Cohen of The Associated Press conducted a brand new interview yesterday (Monday, April 7) with the reunited STONE TEMPLE PILOTS. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow:

Q: What sort of things had to happen before you could get back together?

Robert DeLeo (bass): A lot has happened over the past five years. We've individually accomplished a lot in our lives. I think we're all proud of that. We're proud of each other. And, you know, things happen for a reason. I don't think there's really any coincidence in life. And this was something that felt ? I don't know if right's the word ? but it felt like we should get together and do this.

Q: Do you feel the passage of time?

Dean DeLeo (guitar): I think it's about getting on stage with these guys and playing loud rock and roll. It feels like no time has gone by. It still feels the same.

Scott Weiland (vocals): Except I think we're a bit smarter, a lot more wiser. Because the music business has shrunken so much and has eaten itself, those survivors out there, they're a lot more cutthroat. You definitely have to watch your back and you have to be smart in order to not get taken advantage of. So I think we've all learned from those experiences.

Q: Are you going to record after this tour? Do you see yourselves putting out another album?

Weiland: Yeah.

Dean DeLeo: That sounds great. Love to.

Q: What happened with VELVET REVOLVER?

Weiland: This happened very organically. It wasn't people trying to angle and beg. It just happened the way it sort of happened. I got a call from Dean. I was on tour. He said, "Man, are you sitting down?" I said "Yeah." He said, "I was talking with our agent, and some offers came through." We'd all been starting to talk more often. I had talked to Slash, mentioned it to him, and things were cool for a while. And this last tour, things just disintegrated really badly. I just came to the point where I decided that ... if I'm going to commit the next 10 years of my life to touring ... then I want to do it with people I want to make music with. People who I get inspired by making music with. ...I have to start weeding out stuff. It's kind of like going through your closet going, "Eh, I don't need this anymore. It takes up too much space." Certain things don't feel good, although it may put money in your bank account, but it doesn't feel good at the end of the day. It became one of those situations. This feels good, it feels right. It's always inspiring. It's always that high.

Read the entire interview from The Associated Press

[overmatik]

I think that this ends the discussion about the break-up, the guys just didn't have fun playing, and it's better to end when the situation comes to this. What a better example do we have than GNR???

I'm a huge STP fan, and I never liked Scott on VR, so I think that this is better for everybody. STP will be back, release a new album and VR will continue with a new singer. I think everybody's happy now!

[lynn1961]

Well, good for Scott if he really feels that way and if he's happy where he's at.    However, if I remember right, I think he had about the same negative energy when he first left STP.  Sort of talked the same positive way about VR.  There's probably a lot of reasons why things disintegrated, none of which we really know about.  STP being back together will probably be a successful thing.  They were good together.  However, I can't help but wonder, with Scott, how long it will last before he gets "disgruntled" again? 

[fuckin crazy]

^Until his next relapse.

[Luigi]

Scott did it for the money? hummm That explains why I always felt like Scott was singing with barely any emotions, no real chemistry in the group I guess. 

[erose]

Scott is such a backstabbing whore. What the fuck is this guy talking about?

Just lost all respect i've ever had for this double talking jive motherfucker. As if this guy is gonnu tour for ten years with stp? Yeah right...

Sorry that was a childish post... Just had to vent... What a cunt...

[kobys]

Scott is such a backstabbing whore. What the fuck is this guy talking about?

Just lost all respect i've ever had for this double talking jive motherfucker. As if this guy is gonnu tour for ten years with stp? Yeah right...

Sorry that was a childish post... Just had to vent... What a cunt...

That's really harsh. Scott has a legitimate mental illness and he can't help that. Bi-polar is really difficult to live with and most people who have it get hospitalized at some time in their life. All this doesn't mean I totally excuse Scott for everything that's happened, I certainly don't. I think everyone has to take responsibility for their actions at some point. I just think that he should take his meds and admit he has some blame for what's happened with VR.

[jak0lantern01]

Weiland is a fraud. Slash said it himself.   

[Bandita]

Scott is such a backstabbing whore. What the fuck is this guy talking about?

Just lost all respect i've ever had for this double talking jive motherfucker. As if this guy is gonnu tour for ten years with stp? Yeah right...

Sorry that was a childish post... Just had to vent... What a cunt...

That's really harsh. Scott has a legitimate mental illness and he can't help that. Bi-polar is really difficult to live with and most people who have it get hospitalized at some time in their life. All this doesn't mean I totally excuse Scott for everything that's happened, I certainly don't. I think everyone has to take responsibility for their actions at some point. I just think that he should take his meds and admit he has some blame for what's happened with VR.

Scott is bipolar now?

[lynn1961]

He always has been. 

[kobys]

Scott is such a backstabbing whore. What the fuck is this guy talking about?

Just lost all respect i've ever had for this double talking jive motherfucker. As if this guy is gonnu tour for ten years with stp? Yeah right...

Sorry that was a childish post... Just had to vent... What a cunt...

That's really harsh. Scott has a legitimate mental illness and he can't help that. Bi-polar is really difficult to live with and most people who have it get hospitalized at some time in their life. All this doesn't mean I totally excuse Scott for everything that's happened, I certainly don't. I think everyone has to take responsibility for their actions at some point. I just think that he should take his meds and admit he has some blame for what's happened with VR.

Scott is bipolar now?

Scott admitted a long time ago that he's bipolar. This is nothing new.

[Bandita]

Interesting, I never knew that.

Even so, using mental illness as an excuse only when things go terribly wrong isn't the answer.

It is a treatable illness with the proper medications and a want to get the help.

[deadtotheworld]

I thought the main issue was that Scott didnt get along with Matt. After seeing that VH1 thing when VR were looking for a singer... Matt looked like a spoilt brat and even Duff called him on it on the show. So I can see where Scott is coming from. I hate to say this about my hero but Slash doesnt seem that great a guy as Id hoped - almost everything in his autobiography that he was involved in or an incident that happened, Slash just says it wasnt his fault or he wasnt there etc... he just never wants to take any responsibility, and seems very two faced. Im guessing Duff tried to either lay low or keep the peace. Scott had obviously had enough and got out - it would have been really shitty if the rest of the band carried on, knowing that there was problems and just too chicken shit to confront him and sort it out.

[kobys]

Interesting, I never knew that.

Even so, using mental illness as an excuse only when things go terribly wrong isn't the answer.

It is a treatable illness with the proper medications and a want to get the help.

Scott has admitted being bipolar but I don't ever recall reading an interview with him where he tried to use that as an excuse. If anything he's not one to admit when he's wrong but he doesn't seem to blame it on his mental illness. On another note, I feel sorry for his young son and daughter, his wife has admitted that she's bipolar also. Who knows what kind of home life they have.

[Atillla]

Scott did it for the money? hummm

And Slash played a boring ballad like Fall to Pieces because he just loooooves it ... 

VR was all about money, nothing more. The second album bombed, then they started stabbing each other in the back...

[deadtotheworld]

Dont know why people are bringing up that Scott did it for the money - when in fact he has quit inspite of the money from VR.

[Atillla]

maybe now is the time GN'R fans will get what they want, Slash + Axl sharing the same stage

Only the ones who live in the past 

I lost all respect for Slash after all the rubbish he released wit Snakepit and VR, no quality anywhere to be seen except 2, maybe 3 songs in the last 13 years... don't forget, the mediocre 5 o'clock Somewhere was gonna be the next GnR album if Slash got what he wanted and Axl hadn't refused.

No fanks 

[erose]

Scott is such a backstabbing whore. What the fuck is this guy talking about?

Just lost all respect i've ever had for this double talking jive motherfucker. As if this guy is gonnu tour for ten years with stp? Yeah right...

Sorry that was a childish post... Just had to vent... What a cunt...

That's really harsh. Scott has a legitimate mental illness and he can't help that. Bi-polar is really difficult to live with and most people who have it get hospitalized at some time in their life. All this doesn't mean I totally excuse Scott for everything that's happened, I certainly don't. I think everyone has to take responsibility for their actions at some point. I just think that he should take his meds and admit he has some blame for what's happened with VR.

Yeah, don't get me wrong, that was a harsh post. Like i wrote, it was pretty childish, but the way weiland has handled this is just out of space... And even tho one's bipolar, which can make people say and do things they really don't mean or whatever, weiland has just acted like a fuckin' idiot over and over again like a broken fuckin' record. And at the same time, he hasn't really been that cool about it either. In my opinion, weiland was out of his league in VR and why slash and duff and matt went along with the weilanistonetemplification of vr, that so clearly came to light on libertad, will for me forever remain a mystery. Excluding cash as the sole reason for vr's existence of course...

[Guitar1281]

I lost all respect for Slash after all the rubbish he released wit Snakepit and VR, no quality anywhere to be seen except 2, maybe 3 songs in the last 13 years... don't forget, the mediocre 5 o'clock Somewhere was gonna be the next GnR album if Slash got what he wanted and Axl hadn't refused.


[/quote]


Not necessarilly, I'm pretty sure axl  would of had more input into the songs which musically i think are great there is some fantastic guitar playing in there, and duff would have contributed as well, i mean look at beggars and hangers-on, thats a pretty damn good song and my biggest complaint with the snakepit albums is the lyrics and axl would have written his own and made those songs fantastic, because the true essence of GNR was the group contribution.

[Smoking Guns]

maybe now is the time GN'R fans will get what they want, Slash + Axl sharing the same stage

Only the ones who live in the past 

I lost all respect for Slash after all the rubbish he released wit Snakepit and VR, no quality anywhere to be seen except 2, maybe 3 songs in the last 13 years... don't forget, the mediocre 5 o'clock Somewhere was gonna be the next GnR album if Slash got what he wanted and Axl hadn't refused.

No fanks 

Atilla, perhaps you are in the wrong section.  We get it, YOU DON'T LIKE SLASH OR VR.  Okay, cool.  Axl like a lot of ideas on Snakepit 1.0 and was mad Slash released the album with out him.  At first he didn't like it, but it grew on him.