PUDDLE OF MUDD Vocalist On His Sobriety: 'It's Been A Long Road, But It's Well Worth It'

August 17, 2019

PUDDLE OF MUDD vocalist Wes Scantlin recently spoke with Andy Hall of the Des Moines, Iowa radio station Lazer 103.3. The full conversation can be streamed below. A few excerpts follow (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET).

On his newfound sobriety:

Wes: "It's been a long road, but it's well worth it... It was definitely God. He was there the whole time. It really started to kind of get boring, sort of, doing this and that. It just started to get kind of old, and I think my body and my mind and my soul, it just got kind of got really, really old, man. I didn't really want to even do it anymore. The kick in the butt would be getting in trouble and breaking the rules, and then they really just smack it down on you. It's comical, but Judge Corne saves PUDDLE OF MUDD. That's my judge. It's a woman judge who's a really, really awesome judge, so extra, extra, read all about it — Judge Corne Saves The MUDD."

On his musical comeback:

Wes: "I didn't really ever stop making music and recording. I was on tour — we were touring a lot — and I was going through a lot of changes. I really just needed a break anyway. It's a combination platter of a lot of things that kind of needed to happen. I got to take a little bit of a break."

On the title of the group's forthcoming album, "Welcome To Galvania":

Wes: "Since I've been writing music, my parents have been really supportive. My dad, that's how he would grade the songs that I wrote — through the galvanic skin response. Basically, [if] my dad's kind of like got goosebumps, and the hair stood up on the back of his neck and his arms, he would kind of look at me and he'd be like, 'This is a winner. That's an amazing song.' He's a really smart guy... He didn't really always get the goosebumps, so I basically would just throw those songs away and start from scratch and see if I could get the goosebumps on my dad's little arms."

On whether it was easier to write without being under the influence:

Wes: "[Ideas] just come when they come. You can't ever really force it. I even kind of do the same kind of test that my dad does too. If it ain't galvanically really just like, you know, going crazy for me, I know it's probably not the greatest song. It took some time, but they just come to you, you know. That's basically it. Pretty much, when everybody else goes to bed, that's when you want to start writing songs."

On new single "Uh Oh", which makes prominent use of the word "fucked":

Wes: "That's a big word, man. Everybody loves that word. Everybody hates that word too. I don't know, man — that's just the way it went down... That was basically a combination of me and the other writer on the record. We're just basically poking fun at ourselves."

On the prospect of "winning back" the fans he lost:

Wes: "It's been happening for, like, the last two, three years, and I think we've been doing really well at winning them back over. But you could see for a while there where people were just, 'Okay, let's see what you got,' you know? They just want to see that you're in a good place."

"Welcome To Galvania" will be released on September 13 via Pavement Entertainment.

Find more on Puddle of mudd
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • reddit
  • email

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).