Scott Weiland Talks Velvet Revolver's Beginnings, Break-Up In New Book

[FunkyMonkey]

Scott Weiland: At First, Velvet Revolver Sounded Like Bad Company

05.15.2011

Rolling Stone magazine has released an excerpt from Scott Weiland?s forthcoming autobiography, Not Dead & Not For Sale. In the passage from the book, the Stone Temple Pilots singer discusses how Velvet Revolver came together.

When Weiland first heard about a group that included Slash, Duff McKagan, Matt Sorum and Dave Kushner, he said: ?Sounds like a lot of egos. Sounds like a lot of trouble.? And he wasn?t too impressed when they sent him a demo CD.

?It sounded like Bad Company-styled classic rock,? he wrote. ?And I never liked Bad Company. But being a nice guy, I said, ?There?s some stuff that?s okay, but just send me another disc when you have a few new songs.?

A week or so later, another CD arrived with songs custom-designed for me. The tunes had STP written all over them.

Duff called and said, "Hey, man, just drop by the studio." I knew Duff from the gym, and I said I'd try. I still wasn't sure whether I wanted to hook up with these guys.

"Look, Scott," Duff said, "there's also soundtrack stuff we've been asked to do. And the money's great."

The money attracted me.

My managers, pushing me to join this band, said, "They're going to cover Pink Floyd's 'Money' for a new movie called The Italian Job. And then Ang Lee wants songs for his remake of The Hulk. This is going to be a hot band. Just give it a chance."

I reluctantly agreed. The idea was just to jam. Couldn't hurt to see if there was any chemistry. Meanwhile, I was still hurting chemically. I was still shooting dope. That's the reason I showed up many hours late.

When I arrived, I was shocked. The guys had set up a major industry event. All sorts of music execs were there. It was being billed as an announcement of "Guns N' Roses with Scott Weiland" and made to look like a done deal, not just a casual jam. I was confused, and, because of my drug habit, I was also a wreck. But what the fuck, I was there and might as well sing.

We sang two songs ? "Set Me Free" for The Hulk and the cover of "Money." I was blown away by the powerful chemistry between us. So was everyone else. These guys attacked rock and roll like a street gang. I liked their ferocity and balls-out commitment. Besides, looking over and seeing Slash playing beside me ? Slash, who'd been an idol of mine back in the eighties ? was a thrill. I knew Dave Kushner from the Electric Love Hogs, an underground rock band. Back in the day, STP had aspired to be on the Love Hogs level. I remember seeing them at English Acid, a hip spot in West Hollywood. I also knew Matt Sorum from rehab; he and I had been in together.

Fact is, I had a lot in common with these guys. We'd been down the dark alleys, gotten mugged, stumbled, fell, and got back up. When I hooked up with them, they were looking good. Through martial arts, Duff had put together eight years of sobriety. Matt had six years. And Dave had over a dozen years. When they saw my strung-out condition, they vowed to do everything in their power to help.

I went back to rehab but rehab didn't work. That's when Duff started talking about his trainer in Lake Chelan, Washington State. "Bring your detox meds and come up there with me," Duff offered. "You'll meet my martial arts master, one guy who can really help you."

Back in 2003, after I joined Velvet Revolver and got straight, I wrote all the lyrics and all of the melodies for our first album, Contraband, which wound up selling over four million copies. The big hit was "Fall to Pieces." Duff and I wrote it at Lavish, the studio I built in Burbank. It was built on a riff by Slash, and somehow in the middle of the night we turned it into a song about coming to terms ? or not coming to terms ? with my heroin addiction. It was also about my relationship with Mary, and how it was falling apart. When Mary wrote her memoir last year, she titled it Fall to Pieces. In the song, I sang . . .

All the years I've tried
With more to go
Will the memories die?
I'm waiting
Will I find you?
Can I find you?
We're falling down
I'm falling

We went on the road for two years, toured the world, and established ourselves as a premier rock band. Velvet Revolver was a powerful force. There was so much energy on that stage that at times it felt absolutely combustible. Anything could happen at any time. We were a bunch of renegades held together by a rough passion that none of us completely understood. We were dangerous. We were on a runaway train, and audiences were drawn to our breakneck speed.

I liked our first record but can't call it the music of my soul. There was a certain commercial calculation behind it. We wanted hits; we wanted to prove that, independent of Guns N' Roses and STP, we could make a big splash. And we did. My fellow STPers ? Robert, Dean, and Eric ? tried a number of musical configurations without me, but none of them were successful. I wished them well, but I have to confess that, as a competitive guy, I wasn't displeased to be in a new band that fans were flocking to see.

From the book NOT DEAD AND NOT FOR SALE by Scott Weiland with David Ritz. Copyright ? 2011 by Scott Weiland. To be published on May 17, 2011 by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster.

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/scott-weilands-near-salvation-velvet-revolver-martial-arts-and-money-20110513?page=1

______________________________________

On Velvet Revolver's 'Commercial Calculation':

Weiland admits to joining the band for financial gain. Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, plus guitarist Dave Kushner, "put some songs on a CD [for me] ? it sounded like Bad Company and I never liked Bad Company. A week or so later another CD arrived with songs custom-designed for me.... I wasn't sure whether I wanted to hook up with these guys. Duff said, 'There's soundtrack stuff we've been asked to do, and the money's great.' The money attracted me. [But] I can't call it the music of my soul. There was a certain commercial calculation behind it. Velvet Revolver was essentially a manufactured product? we came out of necessity, not artistic purpose."

On Velvet Revolver's Breakup:

"I was running wild during the second Velvet Revolver tour [in 2007]," writes Weiland. "At the beginning of the tour, I was okay, but then a single line of coke in England did the trick. I snorted it. And soon the demons were back. Thus began another decline? I was out there again, going to dangerous places to buy substances. All this was done in secret; the guys in Velvet Revolver didn't know I was using. When I told the guys that we'd have to miss a couple of gigs because I needed treatment, their reaction shocked me. They told me I'd have to pay them for those cancellations -- in full. I reminded them that when they had relapsed and needed rehab, I had supported them completely. It made no difference to them.... It didn't matter that Velvet Revolver had sold some five or six million records. I was out."

[Trist805]

Pretty epic.  Scott doesn't seem to hold anything back.   Should be a very interesting read.   

edit:  hmm I looked on Amazon and apparently it isn't getting great reviews.  I'll probably still like it though.

[metallex78]

Interesting that he didn't like the Bad Company style stuff, and so the band compromised and wrote STP sounding stuff, which he then liked...

[Fingers]

I want to hear more of his side about the breakup.

[Bodhi]

Pretty epic.  Scott doesn't seem to hold anything back.   Should be a very interesting read.   

true, but he has also had 3 years to get his story straight about how he wants to present what happened.  So I'm not sure I will believe anything he has to say about it.  If you remember it was him jumping the gun announcing he was in Velvet Revolver in 2003, yet he is acting like they were begging him to join.  Doesn't add up.

[m_rated96]

Yeah I agree Bohdi. Scott's got a big ego; and I can totally see him twisting history a bit. But I think if you consider that when reading, you'll get a good insight into what VR was really like. He's not going to outright lie, he's just going to present the truth in a certain way - which, if you analyse right, might make it even MORE clear as to what happened.

I find very interesting the 'commercial calculation' part. I know he's looking to put down the band a little as not as good as his main project - and I think its totally true, you can hear it in the music - but doesn't bother me. It helps explain alot of what probably goes down behind the doors of songwriting for VR and why its so much more polished than early GnR or STP records.

[FunkyMonkey]

From Scott Weiland:

On Velvet Revolver's 'Commercial Calculation':

Weiland admits to joining the band for financial gain. Guns N' Roses members Slash, Duff McKagan, and Matt Sorum, plus guitarist Dave Kushner, "put some songs on a CD [for me] ? it sounded like Bad Company and I never liked Bad Company. A week or so later another CD arrived with songs custom-designed for me.... I wasn't sure whether I wanted to hook up with these guys. Duff said, 'There's soundtrack stuff we've been asked to do, and the money's great.' The money attracted me. [But] I can't call it the music of my soul. There was a certain commercial calculation behind it. Velvet Revolver was essentially a manufactured product? we came out of necessity, not artistic purpose."

On Velvet Revolver's Breakup:

"I was running wild during the second Velvet Revolver tour [in 2007]," writes Weiland. "At the beginning of the tour, I was okay, but then a single line of coke in England did the trick. I snorted it. And soon the demons were back. Thus began another decline? I was out there again, going to dangerous places to buy substances. All this was done in secret; the guys in Velvet Revolver didn't know I was using. When I told the guys that we'd have to miss a couple of gigs because I needed treatment, their reaction shocked me. They told me I'd have to pay them for those cancellations -- in full. I reminded them that when they had relapsed and needed rehab, I had supported them completely. It made no difference to them.... It didn't matter that Velvet Revolver had sold some five or six million records. I was out."

http://www.spin.com/articles/scott-weiland-rape-heroin-and-courtney-love

[faldor]

Scott was on The Howard Stern Show on Tuesday and the interview started off with talk about the breakup of VR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwKGExRDn-w

[DeN]

When I told the guys that we'd have to miss a couple of gigs because I needed treatment, their reaction shocked me. They told me I'd have to pay them for those cancellations -- in full. I reminded them that when they had relapsed and needed rehab, I had supported them completely. It made no difference to them.... It didn't matter that Velvet Revolver had sold some five or six million records. I was out.

class act 

[Eazy E]

Scott was on The Howard Stern Show on Tuesday and the interview started off with talk about the breakup of VR.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwKGExRDn-w

LOL!!! the timing of the end of part 1 of this video is absolutely hilarious!

"Did you ever see -uh-um that movie -uh-um.. the Adjustment Bureau?"

"No."

[jacdaniel]

When I told the guys that we'd have to miss a couple of gigs because I needed treatment, their reaction shocked me. They told me I'd have to pay them for those cancellations -- in full. I reminded them that when they had relapsed and needed rehab, I had supported them completely. It made no difference to them.... It didn't matter that Velvet Revolver had sold some five or six million records. I was out.

class act 

What Scott seems to forget is that Duff helped him to get sober and the band gave him a reason to stay sober.   
Do people remember how long it took VR to take off properly cos Scott was in court all the time and they waited and waited for him.
I remember video shoots being delayed and the first album being delayed.
I know the others were apparently in rehab as well but im not sure they ever needed to cancel shows because of it?

[Fingers]

He talks so slow it's driving me nuts-was he always this way?

[jarmo]

What Scott seems to forget is that Duff helped him to get sober and the band gave him a reason to stay sober.   

How did he forget?

I went back to rehab but rehab didn't work. That's when Duff started talking about his trainer in Lake Chelan, Washington State. "Bring your detox meds and come up there with me," Duff offered. "You'll meet my martial arts master, one guy who can really help you."

I know the others were apparently in rehab as well but im not sure they ever needed to cancel shows because of it?

Scott claimed at the time that they canceled dates due to Matt being in rehab while Matt kinda blamed Scott for it.



Whoever said that Scott has had a few years to polish his story on VR must've forgotten that the same can be said about certain other books, that deal with the same and other bands. But you had no problems believing those "facts".


Is anybody really shocked at the "revelation" that VR were basically a manufactured product (according to Scott) to fill a void in the market for "dangerous rock n' roll"?





/jarmo

[LongGoneDay]

It doesn't surprise me to hear Scott say $ was the driving force for him. All throughout STP's hiatus there were interviews with band members talking about the money that could be made. I believe one of the Deleo brothers admitted that they are back together because they couldn't turn down what they were offered.

There is no doubt that $ plays a part in what every band does, but I don't believe it was the other members of VR's main focus.
With Scott, it's not only easy to realize because you are hearing it straight from his mouth, but also the fact that the quality of his songwriting and lyrics has consistently declined steadily throughout the years.
No way can I believe that Slash, Duff and Matt were willing to embarrass themselves and put out music they didn't like just for the sake of putting it out and make a quick buck.
I'm not a big VR fan. but at least it was a different sound. It's not cookie cutter rock like STP's latest effort.

The first time I heard No. 4, to me it sounded like Scott was either fresh out of ideas, or his heart just wasn't in it. I'm not expecting him to produce Core again, it's certainly pretty common for bands early work to be their best, but it does give some insight as to what his motivations are, and maybe explains why there was such a drastic drop off in creativity.
He still puts everything he has into the live show(most of the time), but he's lyrically tapped.

If STP wasn't making records for money, they wouldn't have written/recorded Cinnamon.
I'm looking forward to their tour this year, one of the best live bands I've ever seen, but hope they don't subject us to that fucking tragedy again.
Though it does give me time for a beer run.

[Guitar1281]

Cinnamon was god awful.

And STP's reunion was completly money driven, and was admitted as so
STP's output past their third album (which i love) is not great, I tried to like their new album but couldn't do it.
Contraband is awesome, there are good songs on Libertad but its too overproduced and sounds very similarwise to the new STP album in production aspects and lack of an edge and there is one common demnominator there

There is no doubt that $ plays a part in what every band does, but I don't believe it was the other members of VR's main focus.
With Scott, it's not only easy to realize because you are hearing it straight from his mouth, but also the fact that the quality of his songwriting and lyrics has consistently declined steadily throughout the years.
No way can I believe that Slash, Duff and Matt were willing to embarrass themselves and put out music they didn't like just for the sake of putting it out and make a quick buck.
I'm not a big VR fan. but at least it was a different sound. It's not cookie cutter rock like STP's latest effort.

I agree completly if Slash, Duff and Matt were  in it purely for the money they would have picked one of the first singers they could find and made a record as quickly as possible after scott left and not search endlessly for a new singer

[westcoast_junkie]

I think some of the $ thing really is regarded the movie tracks "Set Me Free" and "Money", at least I got that from Scott's interview with Howard Stearn on 17th May. It might be true that VR had ambitions of being arena-rockers once again, because of their need for a lead-singer. Izzy's proposal of he and Duff sharing vocals was turned down. But I don't believe the "super-trio" made VR for money.

Seems like VR got a difficult time with persons with LSD (LeadSinger Disease (read seattleweekly)). A disease wich is necessary for legendary songs!

[faldor]

He talks so slow it's driving me nuts-was he always this way?

Not sure, but he's been that way the last couple times on Stern.  Listeners called in after the interview and slammed him, saying he was so hard to listen to.  Howard, and others, stuck up for him though, saying that was just his speech pattern and he puts a lot of thought into what he says, before he says it.

The interview was really good.  Unfortunately, it seems to me that Scott is quite depressed these days.  From divorce, to money issues, to battling drugs and demons.  It's not an uplifting listen, but if you have a chance to listen to the rest of the interview, I found it pretty interesting.

Part 2 (at about 2:30 talking about how his bands handled him doing drugs and forcing him to pay them when he went to rehab for lost profits)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ll8RxZCn2qQ&feature=related

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tII65SPrLTk&feature=related

Part 4 (rape stuff, Scott gets pretty emotional telling the story)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhTSnffJqEQ

[Bodhi]

Whoever said that Scott has had a few years to polish his story on VR must've forgotten that the same can be said about certain other books, that deal with the same and other bands. But you had no problems believing those "facts".






/jarmo

I was the one who said that, and I always take these books with a grain of salt although I see the point you are making, that applies to alot of people on the board but not me.  For example what Slash said in his autobiography is a lot different then some of his 1996 era interviews regarding GN'R, same with other members.  I am definitely not blinded by my fandom towards some members.  I judge people on their actions, not what they say about it years after the fact, after management and god knows who else helps them with damage control.  Scott's actions in 2006 regarding Axl absolutely sucked, as well as his attitude towards VR and their fans in 2008.

Scott was making it sound like VR was begging him to be in the band and twisting his arm to do things, but he was the one who was  jumping the gun announcing how he was in the band before it was even official, forcing Slash to have to say just that when asked about it. 

VR is Scott's best work since "Purple", so when he makes it sound like the music wasn't that good and he was forced to do it for money it doesn't make any sense to me.  I am not a hater, I like STP a lot, I am actually wearing an STP shirt at work right now strangely enough,  but as with anyone it is easy for Scott to sit back and point fingers at everyone now, he doesn't exactly have the best track record as far as being easy to work with either, ask the Deleo brothers.

[rebelhipi]

i never want to be in a interview with that host

[Fingers]

If your looking for more on VR in Scott's book than you've read here, don't bother-he writes maybe a page if that about it. Skimmed through the book, a lot of it is about his drug history and family, I kind of wanted more abot STP and VR.