STONE TEMPLE PILOTS: New Video Interview With DEAN DELEO

The new lineup of STONE TEMPLE PILOTS — featuring Robert DeLeo (bass),Dean DeLeo (guitar) and Eric Kretz (drums) alongside LINKIN PARK singer Chester Bennington — performed this past Thursday night (May 30) at the ninth annual MusiCares MAP Fund benefit concert at Club Nokia in Los Angeles, California. The show, which honored Bennington and legendary skateboarder Tony Alva, featured additional performances by Mix Master Mike, Slash, Duff McKagan, Tony Alva's CHICKEN NOODLE PROJECT and Ida Maria.

A three-and-a-half-minute interview with Dean DeLeo, conducted on the MusiCares MAP Fund red carpet by Argentinean rock journalist Lucas H. Gordon, can be seen below.

STONE TEMPLE PILOTS issued a statement late last week explaining why they have launched legal action against their former singer, Scott Weiland. After firing him earlier this year, the band filed a lawsuit claiming that Weiland's erratic performances, late arrivals for shows and struggles with addiction had harmed their career. The group said in the statement, "Our purpose in taking this action is not to hurt Scott. We want to move forward productively, and Scott's choices and actions have prevented us from doing that . . . It was beyond time we made some new music, which was impossible in the dysfunctional environment we were in. We've lived in it long enough and have decided to move forward with STP. We wish Scott well."

The band has teamed up with Bennington, debuting the new lineup and a new song called "Out Of Time" last month at a California radio festival. The statement said, "We're really excited about the new music we've been making with Chester, including the song we just released, 'Out Of Time'."

The statement concluded, "We love this band and respect everything it means to you. We want to always give you our best and the choice we made is completely in that spirit."

Weiland told AZCentral last week that his former bandmates were "selfish" and "disrespectful."

Before the MusiCares MAP Fund performance, Bennington told Rolling Stone about his collaboration with STP, "For us the creative juices have just been flowing - we've been writing, we have tons of great ideas. Next week we're going back in the studio and hammering out some more music."

With Bennington still committed to LINKIN PARK as well, he said that STP will focus on releasing one song at a time for now instead of trying to record a whole album. He explained, "All we care about is going out, making the legacy as great as it needs to be, as great as people expect it to be, and coming out with new music that lives up to that standard."