BayFest

Puddle of Mudd looks for inspiration in fans

By Stephen Centanni

Music editor

Puddle of Mudd hit the big time with their first major-label debut on Fred Durst’s (Limp Bizkit) Flawless Records. When mainstream radio got their hands on “Come Clean,” rock fans could not get enough of songs like “She Hates Me,” “Blurry” and “Control.”

They quickly followed with 2003’s “Life on Display,” which went gold. After the dust cleared, two members had left the band, and their label had shifted their attention to other bands. After recruiting Christian Stone (guitar) and Ryan Yerdon (drums), front man/guitarist Wesley Scantlin and bassist Douglas Ardito brought Puddle of Mudd from the edge of oblivion with “Famous.”

When I spoke to Scantlin, he was on the edge of taking a well deserved rest after a multitude of dates on the road.

SC: You guys have been touring pretty hard the past year, and you’ll have a week off before you kick it back off again at BayFest. How are going to spend that week?

WS: I don’t do that much stuff, and I really pretty much just hang out with my wife and sit on the couch. Play guitar a lot.

SC: Most people would get burned out being out on the road that much. What’s your motivation? At the end of the day, what makes it all worthwhile?

WS: At the end of the day, when you get to play in front of a bunch of fans and stuff, that’s the main purpose. Of course, you make a little bit of cash along the way, and that’s always nice. I get to buy the wife a little somethin’!

SC: Back in 2005, Puddle of Mudd was on the verge of extinction before rebounding with “Famous.” What inspired you to press on even though you had members leaving and the label turning a cold shoulder?

WS: It’s not the first time that that’s happened in this band for me. I’ve had to recruit different players for many years and stuff like that. I don’t know, man. I just keep writing songs, and sometimes they end up being real good and good songs to hear on the radio.

SC: With your latest release “Famous,” you had a ton of guest producers working with you on it including Black Flag’s Bill Stevenson. What was it like working with that many people on an album?

WS: You know, you just kinda gotta keep your mind open to suggestion. Sometimes people are right, and sometimes people are wrong about different decisions and voice their opinion. It all gets worked out in the end.

SC: It’s been said that you’re an “organic” songwriter, and that you have a habit of creating drama just have something to write about. What the consequences of bringing drama into your life for creative purposes?

WS: Man, you know, I haven’t been doing that very much lately. I finally figured out how to write really good songs without having to put myself in a big pot of stew. It’s a lot easier now after practicing and crafting your songwriting for like, shoot, 20 years. Usually, you don’t have to rely on other people’s methods of doing it, but they did work, you know. I’m not mad about it.

SC: What do you think it is about Puddle of Mudd that keeps people coming back for more?

WS: I don’t know, man. It seems to be becoming more of a type of family type of experience. We’re not up there bum-rushing everybody with the F-Bomb, and the A-Bomb and C-Bomb and all those bad words that somebody said were bad one day. It’s trying to get to a more family-type atmosphere thing. You know, moms and dads can bring their kids, and aunts and uncles can bring their kids. The whole family even the grandma can come down and hang out and watch cool rock music happen. It’s fun, you know. It’s going to be more of a family atmosphere and not a punch people in the face atmosphere.

SC: I had a lot of friends of mine that were big Puddle of Mudd fans that were getting real anxious waiting for “Famous.” When is the next album coming out?

WS: We’ve been talking about it lately. We’re going to try and tackle a couple of live shows that are really nice, and we’re going to do a record where we just play number one hit songs from different artists. Basically, I guess all we really have to do is get their permission for it, which shouldn’t be too hard. Then, maybe we’ll release a live DVD and do another original record. In the meantime, the cover record should be done, technically, pretty quick. The original record will take a little bit more time, even though we have quite a bit of material to use for a lot of different records. We’re gonna keep coming out with new records all the time. That’s what we’re doing here.

Stephen Centanni is Lagniappe music editor. Contact him at scentanni@lagniappemobile.com.

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