Weiland goes for a different sound

Scott Weiland says his upcoming album with The Wildabouts has a different feel from his previous albums.

The record, tentatively titled Blaster, has no firm release date, but the frontman says the material they’ve been working on is a “whole new experience” for him.

He tells Songfacts: “This album is different. When I was with Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, one of the guys would have a song idea and we’d suss it out with the band. Then I’d write my melodies and then write my lyrics to the melodies.

“As a solo artist, I felt free to go off and explore different musical styles and find some sort of cosmic melting pot for it. That was fun, but it was more difficult to bring that to the stage because we had to have more players and a lot of effects.

“This is much more of an indie-sounding record but it still is very much a rock and roll record – there’s big, fuzzy riffs and it’s a whole new experience.”

Weiland also explains why he decided to create the band, featuring guitarist Jeremy Brown, bassist Tommy Black and drummer Dan Thompson, rather than work with session musicians – and reveals life in the group “feels really good.”

He continues: “Instead of just going about it as a solo artist, I decided to make it a band. We’re a four-piece now, no longer a five-piece, so there’s a lot more space between the notes.

“Instead of getting amp distortion, we’re using vintage fuzz boxes and stuff. Ultimately, it comes down to the melodies and we have some great melodies and it’s a new experience. It’s a new band and it feels really good as a four-piece.”

Weiland recently slammed Stone Temple Pilots’ work with Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington, and said he would like to rejoin Velvet Revolver to “make easy money.”

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in the summer of 2014 before moving to the e-commerce team in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.