Our Dreams That Have Come True: Puddle of Mudd’s Wes Scantlin

It all started in 1993 with a band practicing by a flooded river in Kansas City, Mo. They would eventually call themselves Puddle of Mudd. Since then, they have turned out five albums, their newest one being “Famous.” Some of their most famous songs include “Blurry,” “She Hates Me,” “Heel Over Head,” “Famous”, “Psycho”, and “We Don’t Have to Look Back Now.”

High Plains Reader: What would you say are some of your musical influences?

Lately, I’ve been asked this question and VH1 did this show about 80s and it’s like yeah ACDC and others influenced me while growing up, its kind of interesting to think about it because you listen to the radio and watch MTV and you think you’ve been influenced by bands that you can’t even remember.

Puddle of Mudd is a very unique band name, where did it come from?

There was a flood in the Midwest when I lived in Kansas City and it was brutal and we rehearsed down by the river so it was kind of like a puddle of mud.

Do you listen to your own music?

I used to listen to it a lot more, I don’t listen to it as much as I used to, I try to constantly write more stuff.

You have toured with a lot of musical talents, do you have any favorites that you love to perform with?

Yeah, man, we’ve been on tour with so many different bands and it’s hard to just put one of the bands up as coolest, but in all honesty everyone we have played shows with, opened up with, in all honesty it’s like they are all struggling musicians at one point in their life and they just want to share their music with the people and are all special to get to know and cruise around with. Charity events are cool and special, going into them you don’t always know what it will be like and it’s like “Hey man what’s going on?” It’s like a family reunion.

Are there any songs you just love to play live?

Yeah, it’s kind of crazy because there are a few songs that are kind of publicly known and our whole set is full of hit songs that we have to obviously play a majority of the time, “Life on Display,” our new record, they are all different and are not so known and its cool to venture out and do that. It’s fun to play the B-sides.

What is the best part about being a mainstream band touring the U.S.?

It’s really cool lately because the financial market is dropping but playing rock shows, we haven’t really seen a drop-off of the number of rockers and it’s like the fans are really loyal even though the economy is down. It’s fun to get out here and meet different people all the time. We miss our family and friends but it’s what we signed up to do and we love doing it. It’s our livelihood and artistic expression.

Do you have any pre-performance rituals?

Yeah, we got a thing called the Puddle Huddle and we call up our life coach and Pastor Randall Smalls and we circle around and put him on the speaker phone and have an awesome group prayer and thank God for our lives and our dreams that have come true. We just have a really nice prayer and it makes you feel better so you can jam it. Ten out of ten times God is just sitting on that amp, jamming with us.

If you could pick one of your songs for everyone to hear, what would it be?

For the hard rocker I would say “Daddy” or “Castaway.” For a ballad I would say “Change My Mind” or “Time Flies.”

Puddle of Mudd has had quite a few member swaps. Does it take awhile to get the chemistry back with the new guys?

Yeah man, it’s crazy, I’ll tell you the truth. We were hanging out with our old guitarist, Paul Philips, our old drummer, Greg, some people from Limp Bizkit, Evanescence. I was there with my wife and a chick from our first video was bartending, and it was like surreal. I was like “wow man this is crazy.” It was cool because we were like “let bygones be bygones.” The way this band has worked for me is I don’t kick anyone out and if they want to do different stuff, its like if that’s what you want to do, do it. But then you have to go back to the drawing board and get another band member in the band so it’s like being a recruiting officer for the army. I try to stop them, but they do what they have to do. I hope this crew of Puddle of Mudd can stick around for a while though.

You toured Iraq for the troops earlier this year. How was that?

It seems like when you’re going over there and you’re shakey and scared, it’s very surprising that you’re well taken care of and protected, and it seems like last time we went over there the situation seemed mellowed. It seems like the situation in general is mellowed, they have it under control. All the soldiers and everyone in the armed forces take care of you and it’s fun to branch out and see parts of the world. We were 30 kilometers away from where Jesus grew up, it’s very biblical over there. It’s weird, like one of Jesus’ disciple bros hung out over there. It’s all filled with history. War in general is crazy though, but at least the technology today is getting to where we can deal with injuries and situations quicker.

What’s next for Puddle of Mudd?

There might be some cool reality thing we might do with our manager. It would be like an inside rock music show. It would not only show the band writing and working with the producer, but also show behind the scenes through the manager’s point of view. It might show other bands the manager is dealing with too. We are trying to get this thing where it is easy to deal with, without interfering too much with our lives. We also have a live record coming out. As soon as I’m home in a few weeks I want to start on a Christmas record. Another thing we really want to do is a number one hits song kind of thing, like have Puddle of Mudd cover some of the greatest songs of our time. It should be an interesting trip.

If you weren’t with Puddle of Mudd, what would you be doing?

Lord, I don’t know man. I’m getting ready for a solo record and I could do some solo stuff but it’s hard for me to get away and from Puddle of Mudd because my voice is kind of like the signature of the band, not that I want to make myself sound like the reason Puddle of Mudd sounds like it does, but it is a big part. I feel like a leader since I kind of started this whole thing and I don’t want to let my fans or family down. It probably isn’t going to go away anytime soon and we will write cool tunes and high five as many people as we can along the way.

If You Go

What: Puddle of Mudd w/ Red, Ashes Divide & Tempered Cast
Where: The Venue @ The Hub
When: Tues, Nov 25, 7:30pm
Who: All ages
How Much: $25 in advance, $28 at the door
Info: 701.232.6767