SplatterTribe: How did you find out about the whole situation?

Paul Phillips: Uh, actually our manager called us and said Stone Sour had to cancel, and you guys are gonna fill in. We’re like, “Great, we’re in”…

SplatterTribe: You guys have toured with Stone Sour, correct?

Wes Scantlin: We just did a show in Jacksonville, yeah…

SplatterTribe: So are you tight with Roy?

Wes Scantlin: I’ve known that guy for a while. I haven’t seen Roy for, probably years. We used to hang out in Mel Rose and Los Angeles all the time over at our (buddy's) house. They would be over there. (It was always) a bunch of musicians just writing stuff. I didn’t even know he was a drummer. I didn’t even know that…
Paul Phillips: He didn’t even know. I told him that. He’s like, “Who’s Roy?” I was like, “Roy, he used to hang out over at (our buddy's) house. He was like, “That’s Roy? Oh My God…”
Wes Scantlin: He was a guitar player back then, when I first met him. I just figured the whole thing out today… I’m like, “OK, I got it now…”

SplatterTribe: It’s been hard to find out what’s going on with you guys right now. I know you were recording a new album. Is it completed?

Wes Scantlin: Yeah, it’s done.
Paul Phillips: The album is done. It’s actually a covers record. We got together at the end of last year, after our last record cycle and decided to set down and write. We decided that it just wasn’t time. It just wasn’t worth doing it (at the time). There was a lot of bad things going on in the camp.

So we had the idea of going in and recording a couple of covers, to send to radio, that we do live all the time; like TNT (AC/DC) and The Joker (STEVE MILER BAND). (Then) one thing led to another and we ended up doing a whole record of like 70’s garage band (songs); the Stones, Zeppelin, Elton John, just crazy, unexpected stuff that people aren’t going to expect.

It’s cool because we’re gonna do a tour to coincide with the release, as well. We’re gonna do 45 minutes of covers and 45 minutes of our stuff.

It was cool man. It was a good vibe. We had a lot of fun. We got to stretch out musically and do things that we can’t necessarily always do on a Puddle record. We got to do different stuff. We had backup singers come in, piano players…It was fun.

SplatterTribe: Are these songs you already knew or did you have to learn some of them?

Paul Phillips: Oh yeah, we had to learn a lot. We had to do some homework, practicing about 3 weeks; all day, everyday learning all of these songs. It was tough. It was challenging, but that was part of the reason we wanted (to do it). I mean me, as a guitar player, I wanted to challenge myself. I know vocally Wes was challenged by a lot of the singers.
Wes Scantlin: Hell yeah…
Paul Phillips: That was part of the fun too. It was just like, “Wow, can we pull this off?” I mean, we pulled out an Elton John song… It was fun…

SplatterTribe: What are some of the songs that will be on there?

Paul Phillips: Let’s see, we got Give Me Shelter by the Stones. We got    

TNT, obviously, by AC/DC, Old Man by Neil Young…

Wes Scantlin: Stop Dragging My Heart Around by Tom Petty and Stevie Nicks, Rocket Man by Elton John…

Paul Phillips: Dyer Maker by Zeppelin…

Wes Scantlin: Yep…We did Every Body Wants You by Billy Squire. Shooting Star (Bad Company)…

Paul Phillips: Alright Now by FREE.

Wes Scantlin: Yeah and (Eric) Clapton…I don’t think Clapton with Cocaine made the record. But it is good. We’ll probably put that on a B-side or something. It really came out well.

SplatterTribe: How many did you record for the album?

Wes Scantlin: 13 or 14
Paul Phillips: We recorded 14 but cut it down to 11. There will be 11 on the record.

SplatterTribe: How did you come up with the songs and how did you narrow the finalist that actually made the album?

Paul Phillips: Yeah, that was a big 3 month process; email to emails, you know?
Wes Scantlin: We just threw out song ideas and just…
Paul Phillips: Wes and I and our producer and our manager got like, a list of 30 songs. That was just like VH1 Classic and like Classic Rock Radio all day for 3 months. We’d (hear one and) be like, “Oh, That’s a cool one” and (we’d) put that one on the list. Then we just weeded it out to 14 songs. You know, there were songs Wes was like, “I’m not gonna sing that song.”
Wes Scantlin: I stayed out of it after the whole original of 30 were picked. I was like, ‘I’m out…You guys can pick and if I can sing it, I’ll sing it.’

SplatterTribe: While doing an album, like a cover album, are you still writing at all during the process?

Wes Scantlin: Yeah man, we’re always fiddling around with guitars, writing lyrics, doin melodies...I mean, as a musician you’re always doing that anyway. We did have to concentrate really hard on the recording and doing (the cover CD). It’s interesting; I have to sing like some of the classic, historical singers (songs). So after that, it’s a pain to write. (laughs)

SplatterTribe: Was it challenging vocally?

Wes Scantlin: Dude (shaking his head side to side vigorously and grinning)… It’s (shakes his head up and down in a 'Yes' manner)..
Paul Phillips: Yeah, he was dying. He was hating it.
Wes Scantlin: I was dying man…

(both laugh)

SplatterTribe: You mentioned 'Tom Petty' and 'Stevie Nicks' 'Stop Draggin' My Heart Around', will that be a duet?

Wes Scantlin: Yeah, there’s a girl named BC…uhm
Paul Phillips: BC Jean…That Clive Davis signed. Great singer and very nice person. (She) came in and killed it. She did great. They sound awesome together, man. It worked out really well.

SplatterTribe: What about a single?

Wes Scantlin: That’s the hardest thing. I’m out of that dude. I’m out.
Paul Phillips: The hard thing is when you make a record of songs that were already hits…You know what I mean? So I have no clue, no idea yet…

SplatterTribe: You also have that element that some people are critical when their favorite songs are covered.

Paul Phillips: I can say this man, we stayed true to’m. I mean, obviously we used our amps and it’s modern equipment. So it sounds a little more modern but the arrangements and everything…The vocals…We tried to keep it as much (to the original as we could). I mean, who am I to go and change a Stones song? You know what I mean (laughs) I mean, who am I to do that? Say, “Oh, you did it wrong, so I’m gonna do it like this…” SO we tried to keep everything as true as we could to how it was and pay respect to it.

SplatterTribe: You guys feel the same about it?

(Directed to guitarist Adam? and drummer Ryan Yerdon)

Ryan: Yeah

Adam: Absolutely, it’s a beautiful album. The arrangements are perfect. It definitely has a lot of that modern punch, feeling in the songs, but as far as the structure, It’s tried and true. I mean, you can’t mess with these songs.

SplatterTribe: So, what’s this whirlwind going be like? Will this be treated like a regular album cycle?

Paul Phillips: Uhm…probably not… I mean, like I said, we’re gonna do like two weeks of shows in July. To do the half and half thing and maybe revisit around Christmas time, and that’s about it. Hopefully about early next year we’ll be serious about getting in the studio and doing a new record.

SplatterTribe: Do you have anything at all ready for the next original record?

Paul Phillips: Just starting to write a bit now, like I said we came off the last record cycle and just wasn’t ready man. That’s why the covers thing was perfect. It was a blast. It was challenging but it wasn’t like stressful at all. We had a great time doing it. So we’re just kinda getting in that mode now, so hopefully at the first of the year we’ll be ready to go.

SplatterTribe: Puddle Of Mudd has a lot of hits. I mean, you're fans will know most everything, but there are a lot of Puddle Of Mudd songs that just about everybody that hears it, knows it. What is that wall of sound like when you pull the songs out that the parents in the parking lot know, as well as the people in the concession stands?

Wes Scantlin: (laughs) They sing it man. They’ll jump around and sing it. (They) help me out.

SplatterTribe: How do you go about making up a setlist that features those hits?

Paul Phillips: You got to anchor it; start strong and then you kind of go deeper. Then you got to throw another one in there to get everybody rockin that is lost. It’s like you said, some people are there because they have all the albums. They know every word. They own the t-shirt. Then some people like Blurry and Psycho and that’s all they know. (They’re like,) “Oh that’s that band that does that, I’m gonna check them out.” So you kind of got to throw them in there and space them out good.

Yeah, it’s very fortunate to have those songs…when you think about it…It’s like, a friend of mine pointed it out to me, he’s like, “if you’re our age, pretty much everybody knows Blurry and Phsyco. EVERYBODY knows those songs, whether you like the band or not. It’s a pretty crazy thing to have an effect like that on that many people. So we’re very lucky…

SplatterTribe: You probably get asked this a lot, but does the pressure of having to have at least one single pop on each album ever come into play?

Wes Scantlin: You just got to go with the flow. If it feels good, it feels good. If the song sucks, it sucks. If it’s like catchy and cool…you know, take a really clever and awesome verse and shape the lyrics and do strong chorus’s and just keep the whole song in time. You’re either gonna win-win or you’re just gonna throw’m away…

SplatterTribe: Do you worry more or less about those things when you are this far along in your career?

Paul Phillips: I mean, you can’t…There’s some people that can set down and go, “I’m gonna write a hit song today” and those people are the one’s that write for Pop singers. Their called the ghost writers. Those people set down a t a piano and go, “OK, I’m gonna write a hit song. Here I go.” We just kind of get in a room together and some’s good and some’s bad. I mean, we never go, “Ready, 1, 2, 3, we’re gonna write a hit.” The songs we have when we get in a room…The songs he (Wes) has when he’s setting on his couch singing…That’s what we sound like.

SplatterTribe: Is that how it usually starts? Someone writing the idea and then bringing it in?

Paul Phillips: Yeah, pretty much all of them do, believe it or not, yeah. I mean, a lot of Rock bands are in a room jammin’. We’ve never really been that band. We try and jam to write songs we go in 300 different directions and nothing gets done. So it usually starts with him or me or whoever and once we have a good idea, then we bring it in the room and hone it in, get the arrangement down and get all the parts and everything.

SplatterTribe: As a touring band, do you guys feel the down economy?

(everyone shakes their heads yes)
Paul Phillips: Well, yeah, I mean, gas is gonna effect (things) extremely. It’s crazy man, driving around on that bus and gas going that high, it’s gonna effect the bottom line. So everybody is gonna feel that. Then you see also, people competing for ticket sales. I mean now, how many festivals are out there? You’ve got so many because, it’s like, are you gonna go see Puddle of Mudd on Thursday, or are you gonna go Friday and see this band, and that band. It’s like this festival, you know what I mean? You’re gonna spend it on this and get 2 days worth of stuff, you know? You’ve got to give them the bang for their buck now. That’s why there are so many big bills and big festivals coming around.

SplatterTribe: Another thing that is taking the hit these days is the idea of a whole album. Do you ever wonder what the digital age may mean for full lengths?

Paul Phillips: No I honestly believe that it’s only gonna go back to the way it was in the old days with singles. You release a single and a B-Side. That’s how they used to do. You had that little record and on one side was the single and the other side was the B-Side. I think that’s what’s gonna happen again. It’s going so digital, why make a record? There just gonna go download the single we have.

SplatterTribe: Any closing comments concerning anything?

Wes Scantlin: I just want to say thanks to all of the fans. It’s been 10 years and we’re gonna keep going and going...