Puddle of Mudd interview: Carnival of Madness, Volume Four and more

After a decade of cranking out one radio hit after another, it’s still an open question as to whether Puddle of Mudd will ever gain any real degree of grudging critical respect. But it’s never hurt their popularity, and even as the band heads out on the Carnival of Madness tour with several of its contemporaries in tow, they’ve regained something unexpected with the release of their fourth album: the return of founding guitarist Paul Phillips, who had been missing from the previous record. From a first-week tour stop, Paul filled me in on the making of the new album, expectations for the big tour (whose lineup also includes Shinedown, Sevendust, Chevelle, and 10 Years), and how they got away with smashing pretty much everything in their latest music video – but first, I had to ask what brought Paul back into the fold.

Was there something specific that brought you back into Puddle of Mudd, or was it just the right time?

Yes on both of those. I had done some other things musically that I needed to do for myself, and obviously when I left, things weren’t so good with the band members. Oddly enough, the band came through my home town which is Jacksonville, Florida, and were playing at a big radio festival that I go to every year. I was debating on going because I wasn’t really looking forward to seeing my old band play (laughs).

So we went, I got talked into going, and I actually ran into the guys and hung out with [singer Wes Scantlin]. We went to a bar and just kind of sat down and were talking, and having a good time, which is something that we hadn’t had for many, many, many years. So we just started talking on the phone and kept in touch, and a relationship grew that we never really had. And one thing led to another, and then I got a phone call and it was like, “Hey, we’ve got a show next week, let’s do this, let’s get you back on board.

In the past you guys have gone with some short album titles like Come Clean and Famous. This time around it’s “Volume Four: Songs in the Key of Love and Hate” which is ten words long. Where did you get the idea to go with an album title like that?

Volume Four was just because it was our fourth record, obviously. We were just sitting around one day trying to come up with a title, and it was kind of at the eleventh hour, like the record’s not gonna come out. I had “love and hate” in my mind because I just think they’re two powerful words, the most powerful words in the English language to me. And they’re such polar opposites, yet you have to have one to have the other. I think it encompasses a lot of our music, too. It goes from one end of the spectrum to the other.

So I knew I wanted that, and we were just sitting around, and I don’t even know how, it just came to me, Songs in the Key of Love and Hate. So we put the two together and that was it. We called it in, and that was the title (laughs).

Was this an easy record to make?

We stretched it out over awhile, because we were touring at the same time, and we were just recording in our off time. But the actual time we spent in the studio was only like five, five and a half weeks, which was the quickest we’ve ever done a record. It was the easiest record as well, just being that the vibe was so much better than it used to be, and the fighting was next to zero, which used to be a problem.

It was very democratic, and everybody had their opinions, and everybody’s opinions got listened to, and it was actually fun. We were actually in the studio having a great time making our record, which wasn’t always the case back in the day.

Speaking of having a great time, I watched the video for Stoned, and I think it’s one of those moments where fans say “I wish I was in a rock band” because you get to smash everything to pieces. I know you get pitches for video ideas. At one did one of you just say screw it, let’s smash everything?

A lot of times we have a lot of input, but that one was actually a full-on director. We were super busy with rehearsals and getting ready for a tour, and just didn’t really have time to put it together. They came to us and said “Yeah, you just have to smash a lot of stuff and there’s gonna be girls and you guys are gonna rock,” and I was like cool, I’m in, sounds good. And they gave me a sledgehammer and I went to work. I’d much rather do that than play the song over and over fifty gazillion times.

I do have to ask, you’re back in the band, but now [bassist Doug Ardito] has left. I guess the question everyone is curious about is what happened there.

It’s really unfortunate, but it’s the same thing when I left. Sometimes things are better that way, and I think it was a mutual thing that had been coming to a head. Doug, he’s got some musical things that he wants to do, and some things were kind of getting weird and a little heated, and I think it was a move that had to be made. And who knows, like I came back, maybe he’ll come back. I would love to have the original four of us. But sometimes it just doesn’t work, and sometimes to move forward creatively, you’ve got to make the move, and it’s unfortunate for fans who have a vision of the band and what the band looks like and who the band is, and they don’t always understand that. But at the end of the day we’re gonna keep trucking and doing what we’re doing, and hope everything works out for the best.

As far as the Carnival of Madness tour, were some of these other bands already friends of yours, or how did the lineup come together?

The only band I hadn’t met was 10 Years. They’re a little newer and I just never crossed paths with them. But all these other bands, we all kind of came up around the same time. Sevendust was a little earlier. But we’ve all played together so many times on radio shows and toured together and what-not.

Your new single “Keep It Together” has an acoustic vibe. Is there a story behind it?

Yeah, that’s a song that I had sitting around in a somewhat different fashion, but it’s something that I had for awhile, and I always liked. But I’m not really a singer per se, so I can’t really take things from Point A to Point B, I need help. So that was one that I presented to Wes, and we made a couple changes on the arrangement, and his vocal pattern came really, really quick. We were just sitting around at his house late one night and hashed it out. We were having a few drinks, and luckily I had a little handheld recorder.

So I put the little handheld recorder down, and we came back the next day. We would do this a lot, and sometimes it would be just complete garbage (laughs), and then sometimes it would be something that we’re proud of. And that was the one where we listened to it the next day and thought wow, we’re really onto something there. So we took it into the band and hashed it out, and that was one of the first songs we recorded for the record, actually. It’s probably my favorite song on the record.

It’s been a tough year for touring in general. Are you guys seeing a decent crowd out there?

Yeah, we’ve been fortunate, ours have been pretty good. I know a lot of people have been canceling tours and what-not, a lot of big name artists. But I think we put together a good package of a lot of bang for your buck, so to speak. So I think that’s really helping us out.

Learn more at PuddleOfMudd.com • iTunes • Facebook • Twitter • Carnival of Madness

photo by P.R. Brown

Beatweek issue #75: Ozzy Osbourne interview and top 75 accessories for iPad, iPhone, and iPod

In this special commemorative seventy-fifth issue of Beatweek Magazine:

• Ozzy Osbourne cover story interview

• the top seventy-five accessories for iPad, iPhone, and iPod

• interviews with OneRepublic, Adam Lambert, Felicia Day, LMFAO, and Chevelle

• hands on with iOS 4

• Dweezil Zappa talks Frank Zappa

• and much more

Read this issue now

Read this issue with GoodReader on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad

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Orlando Earthday Birthday Festival to include Korn, Sevendust

Orlando radio station WJRR will hold its annual “Earthday Birthday” rock concert festival for the seventeenth time on May 1st at the Tinker Field baseball stadium located on “Tampa Avenue” in downtown Orlando, the street name apparently having been chosen just to try to confuse people. The event is scheduled to offer an all-star lineup of rock artists headlined by Korn, along with fellow rockers Papa Roach, Sevendust, and Chevelle among others. The festival gets its name for its close proximity to Earth Day on the calendar, which just took place last week.

Tickets are general admission and are available for $45 apiece in advance. Full lineup for the May 1st event is available on the event’s official website.

Look for Earthday Birthday performer Sevendust on the April 27th cover of Beatweek Magazine.

Sevendust, Chevelle at Rocklahoma

Some of the biggest names in rock will make their way to Pryor, Oklahoma next month for the Rocklahoma festival, a three day camping event on Memorial Day weekend whose featured acts will include Chevelle, Cinderella, ZZ Top, Godsmack, and Sevendust. Single day tickets for the event will go on sale this Monday, starting at $45 per day. Rocklahoma first set up shop back in 2007 and has since evolved to encompass a broader mix of newer and established rock acts. More details at Rocklahoma.com.

Beatweek spoke with Rocklahoma headlining act Chevelle in 2009 in an interview about the release of the band’s latest album Sci-Fi Crimes. Beatweek Magazine’s April 20th issue will feature an interview with Sevendust lead singer Lajon Witherspoon, whose band’s new album Cold Day Memory is set for release that same day.

iProng Magazine #47: Brooke White, Chevelle, A Fine Frenzy, Joey DeGraw, Civilization, Howcast and more

Chevelle interview

iProng Artist of the Month for November 2009

iProng Magazine chats with Pete Loeffler, lead singer of the Chicago-based rock trio Chevelle, whose new album Sci-Fi Crimes debuted at #1 today on the iTunes rock chart…

interview by Matt Saye

Chevelle formed in 1995 in Illinois and are best known for their singles “The Red” off their 2002 release Wonder What’s Next, “Vitamin R (Leading Us Along)” from This Type of Thinking Could Do Us In (2004), and “Well Enough Alone” from Vena Sera (2007). Their fifth album, Sci-Fi Crimes, has just been released.

Your new album Sci-Fi Crimes is just now making its way into the hands of fans. Before I begin, would you like to say anything about the record?

Sure. Well, it is a different sounding album than we’ve put out before. It’s kind of like the best of Point #1, which was our first record and the best of our second album Wonder What’s Next. We went for a really raw live sound and some bands say that but we really meant it. We went into this record thinking “let’s do a different sounding album” and it’s pretty raw. We tried not to tune a lot of vocals. I sang these songs until they were right and there’s a lot of vibe on this album. I think it’s different and it came out great but it’s not perfect in any way. That’s what we were trying to avoid: a perfect sounding processed album. In this day and age I think it’s going to stand out from the other rock albums this year.

You said you went for “not processed.” Does that mean you recorded it live in the studio?

Yeah, we always record together as a band. That’s the only way to get the real vibe is to perform it together. There’s always overdubs, but if you’re going for that live sound you have to play together.

Overall, what was the recording process like?

I started out with an acoustic guitar and I wrote all these lyrics and got the melodies down and then I brought them to the guys. Then we hashed it all out. So we agree or disagree and form the song together as a band. That’s really pretty much how we do it. It works for us.

I’ve seen that you’ve been streaming “Jars” on your website for a few weeks now. What made you choose that as your leadoff single?

Yeah I didn’t really choose it. We left that up to the label. If I had my druthers it would be a heavier track, but you have to let them do their job. They’re ultimately going to push it hard and I believe that they have our backs. So really, we don’t put out any music that we don’t love, but I just basically finish the album and give it to them and if I’m happy with it I’ll be happy with what they pick. I think that song’s just got a strong chorus. It’s short and sweet. So that’s probably why they chose that.

You’ve titled this album “Sci-Fi Crimes.” Is there a story behind the title?

We went to Australia and we had some crazy experiences with some people we met out there and started delving into the whole UFO experience. Dean [Bernardini, Chevelle's bassist] is a pretty talented guy and he painted the cover. A lot of the songs talk about sci-fi situations, like “Highland’s Apparition” and “Roswell’s Spell.” It’s not like we believe it all, but we want to. We’re just talking about situations we’ve been in and things that have happened over the years with people.

To go back to something you mentioned earlier about trying a new sound, people are always trying to compare one band to another, but in terms of this album, were there any new or different influences you looked to?

When I got together with Brian Virtue [producer of Sci-Fi Crimes] we sat down and I said what do you want to do? And I said “I know you’ve worked on Jane’s Addiction albums. Let’s go down that road. Let’s bring up what you did way back when it wasn’t all about ProTools and making a record sound perfect.” I’m a huge Jane’s fan so we listened to a lot of Ritual de lo Habitual and Nothing’s Shocking and later stuff he had done with the band and we sort of took that kind of vibe and incorporated that into what we do: like not just be heavy all the time. Don’t forget the melodies and don’t take too much out of a song. If it’s a part and it’s weird and only happens once, let’s not necessarily take that out. We don’t want to just follow a format with songs that are just verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge format. We gelled really well and worked really well together.

When it comes time to making an album, how much does the digital availability of music factor in?

Actually I don’t really ever think about it. I’m all for getting our music out there but I guess I’ve never thought about it much. I know a lot of bands will be against selling singles on iTunes. People are going to get your songs half the time for free from their friend and they’ll listen to one song and that’ll be it. I think people are overwhelmed. Obviously that’s hurt record sales, but honestly I’ve never made money off record sales, so in a way I want people to have our music. I want them to buy the album for the artwork and to feel like they’re getting something tangible, but I don’t care if they get it online either. I just want them to have it so they come to our shows. That’s how my career keeps going. It’s our connection with people every night that keeps it going. I just want people to like this band and to search us out on their own.

I see that you’ve been on tour for awhile now. Have you had a chance to try out the new material live?

Yeah, we’ve played three new tracks about every night. On the Stimulate This tour that we’ve been on, we’ve only had a 35 minute set so we can’t necessarily put three new tracks in there that people don’t know. So basically it’s all singles except for one song, “Sleep Apnea,” which is the first song on the new album. On this tour we’re playing to a lot of new people. It’s a very Top 40 mainstream tour and we’ve never been in that market, so we play a couple new ones and the old ones that they know. But when we get our headline set [on the next tour] we’ll be playing a lot more new stuff. Maybe even an acoustic song or two to switch it up.

What’s your approach when it comes to performing a live show? Do you try out new things on stage or just try to play the songs as they were written?

You know, we do try to reproduce what people know and love. If they came to your show, they probably want to hear what they know. I think it’s fine to go off on a tangent in a bridge or whatever or extend the ending of a song. I think that’s really cool, but as far as when it comes down to certain things, like the melody of a chorus. we don’t change that. I toured with a band that did that and it just killed the vibe, so I learned early on that that’s not a direction I want to go. I feel like I want to give people what they know. It’s that familiarity that we go to a show for, right? Unless you’re the Mars Volta, where they just do anything.

With so many albums under your belt, how hard is it to come up with a setlist – to decide what to put in and what to leave out?

It is tough. With five albums, we have a lot of “pickens.” It’s so much easier when we have our own show. We’ve been swapping songs in and out a lot on this tour, but it is tough to make a setlist. Once we get to our headline run we’ll probably play a lot of older things and we’ll probably have to play a two hour setlist at least, so it’s gonna be fun.

•••••

Chevelle is currently touring on the Stimulate This tour, and will be headlining their own tour this Fall.

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Sci-Fi Crimes is available in iTunes now. Learn more at ChevelleInc.com

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