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Tuesday June 25th, 2002
Puddle Of Mudd's Wes Scantlin Come(s) Clean about his Les Paul obsession
by Lisa Sharken for gibson.com
For Wes Scantlin, life is a dream come true. After managing to pass off his demo to a security guard at a Limp Bizkit show, Scantlin hooked up with the group's frontman, Fred Durst. Impressed by Scantlin's talent as a singer and songwriter, Durst took him under his wing and signed Scantlin and his band to his new label. As the label's first release, Puddle Of Mudd's Come Clean [Flawless/Geffen] quickly rose to the top of the charts with tracks like "Control," "Blurry" and "She Hates Me" getting heavy play on rock radio. The material has a melodic style and sound with an aggressive edge that's reminiscent of groups like Alice In Chains, Nirvana and Stone Temple Pilots. With so much rap-oriented alt-metal on the airwaves, listeners have eagerly embraced Puddle Of Mudd.
It didn't take long for the group to move from playing small clubs to huge arenas, where they were performing on larger stages and in front of huge crowds, as well as having their shows broadcast on TV. The members sound found themselves rubbing elbows with rock royalty and performing on stage with their own idols, like Jimmy Page. For Scantlin, he truly is living his ultimate dream.
Scantlin spoke about his influences and experiences as a guitarist and songwriter, and provided some insight on his creative process. "Music is my therapy," he says. "My guitar has helped me through everything. It's been like my best friend. I've been playing Les Pauls since I was a kid and I can't imagine ever switching to another guitar. Gibsons are very comfortable and I like the sound. To me, it's the very best and it will always be my main guitar. I really appreciate all the help and support I've gotten from Gibson. I love you guys!"
When did you start playing guitar?I was eleven, almost twelve years old, when I started playing. A friend had a guitar that his parents had bought him and I used to go over to his house, sit around, and watch him play guitar. When he would go upstairs to get something to drink, I would pick up his guitar and basically copy what he was doing. Then I got my own guitar and I think I took about two months of guitar lessons when I was 14 or 15. But other than, I'm pretty much self taught. I get frustrated easily when I'm trying to learn something and I have a lot more fun just being able to write my own music, and not having to go through anyone else's guidelines.
Which players were you listening to when you started?
I used to listen to a lot of AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and Van Halen, although I couldn't play a lot of the Van Halen or Led Zeppelin stuff. Eddie Van Halen and Jimmy Page were just really influential guitarists. Pink Floyd was also a huge influence in my early years and now I listen to them all the time. But I'd say it was mainly Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith, AC/DC, and so many of the old-school bands that I was listening to that had the most influence on me as a musician.
Did these groups influence you as both a player and songwriter?
Yes, definitely. They all influenced me as both a player and a writer. But Led Zeppelin was definitely the biggest influence. I think Jimmy Page is a really great guitar player and even though I couldn't play a lot of his stuff, I'd just listen to it and I think I just subliminally soaked it in. Pink Floyd was another big one. They were a band that I would mainly just listen to because I could only play certain Pink Floyd songs. I guess I had a short attention span as a kid. I was a stoner and I was easily frustrated, so I didn't want to commit much attention. Subliminally, I would soak it up while I was listening to the records. I wouldn't read any sheet music or anything like that. So if I ever learned to play a Led Zeppelin song, it would just be by stumbling across it. I might hear a chord and then recall it as part of a Led Zeppelin song and figure out a part. But then I could only play a piece of a Led Zeppelin song and not a whole song. That's why I turned to writing music - because it didn't frustrate me as much. I could go wherever I wanted to go and hit whatever chords I wanted to hit. As long as my voice matched up with the guitar parts and it created some kind of good feeling inside of me, then I'd think that I might be on to something. That's how I became a songwriter. So the main reason I started writing songs is pretty much because I couldn't play anyone else's stuff! But I was influenced by the music those bands were playing and the overall sound of it. I think that somehow it just soaks into you and seeps into your own music just a little bit. Then that way, you're not really ripping off anyone else's riffs.
Which players influenced your choices in guitars?
I think it was Angus, Jimmy and Joe Perry, and seeing them playing Gibson guitars like Les Pauls and SGs. Those were the main guys for me. I never got to see Pink Floyd, so I never knew what kind of guitars they played. I thought maybe they played Les Pauls. I just really liked the style, the look and the sound of the Les Paul, and I knew that all my main guitar icons were playing Les Pauls. So that was the guitar I wanted. Then when I finally got one, I felt like I'd made it! I just love Les Pauls so much and they have such a great sound.
What was your first Gibson guitar?
The first one I ever had was a red 1990 Les Paul Studio Lite. It was a great guitar and it went through years and years of different shows, playing at many bars and outdoor festivals. I actually gave it to my best friend because it was such a sentimental guitar to me. He's got it, but I plan on recording with it when I go back into the studio. It had accidentally fallen over a couple of times and I've had to reglue the headstock twice now. It's just a really sentimental guitar for me, but I don't want to bring it out on the road. The guy who has it is saving it for me. I like to write on that guitar. It has a lot of emotions inside of it and I've come up with a lot of good riffs on it. So he will definitely loan it back to me if I need it.
How are your Les Pauls set up?
I like the action set a little bit high because it gives me a chance to hit cool harmonics. I like the sound of harmonics on a guitar. My fingers are really strong after playing guitar for 20 years, so it doesn't really bother me to have to press down a little bit harder and put in a little more effort to hit the frets. I'm using light top/heavy bottom strings, which are .010-.052. The light top/heavy bottom set works really well for me. It brings out a lot of the warmth in the lower power chords and when you're hitting a really nice augmented chord, it brings out the highs and the lows. I just recently got into using that gauge. Before that I was using a regular light gauge set that was .010-.046.
What kind of picks do you use?
I use a 1 mm pick and it's got a scratchy surface on it that's a grip.
Tell us about the backline rig you're using onstage.
Paul [Phillips, Puddle Of Mudd guitarist] and I are both playing through Mesa/Boogie Triple Rectifier heads, but I go through some Marshall cabinets with Celestion speakers and Paul uses Boogie cabinets. I go through a Hush noise reduction unit, a Boss CH-1 chorus pedal, a Crybaby 535Q wah pedal, an Electro-Harmonix Small Stone phase shifter, and that's about it. I don't really get too intricate with my effects because I'm singing and playing at the same time, and I can't really busy it up too much more. So Paul takes care of a lot of the overtones and the delay stuff, and I try to keep my parts a little bit more simplistic. I'm basically just the riff guy and I'm the songwriter of the band. There's some stuff I definitely can't sing and play at the same time because it's impossible to coordinate when I'm playing live. So I keep my parts kind of simple. Paul also plays through two Vox combos for his clean tones, but I've got my Mesa/Boogie heads set up for clean and dirty sounds. I'm using the Fishman piezo pickups inside of some of the Les Pauls, so I have the most amazing acoustic guitar sound coming out of my Les Paul. It's just a switch to push, so now I have the option of starting out one of our songs with a clean acoustic sound and then switching to a dirty Les Paul electric sound, which is really cool. People freak out on it.
What did you think of the Custom Shop Les Paul Acoustic model you tried?
I freaked out when I played it. I just fell in love with that guitar. I would really love to have one. I need to have that thing! I would definitely play it onstage. I only had it for a few minutes when I tried it, but I wrote a song on it immediately! I was bummed when I had to give it back. I thought it was just the coolest guitar that I'd ever seen with the way the bridge is carved into the top and the way it curves up. Other than that, it looks and feels like a regular Les Paul. It sounded great, too. On the next record, I'd like to use the Les Paul Acoustic for more of the acoustic sounds.
You recently had the opportunity to play a Led Zeppelin cover with Jimmy Page. What was that experience like?
I've actually met Jimmy like three different times now and I played in Frankfurt with him and Fred Durst at the European Music Awards. We did "Thank You." It was the most amazing experience of my whole life. The other most amazing experience was seeing him standing on the side of the stage and watching us play, then clapping and screaming for us after we got done playing. After the show, we got to hang out with him, Roger Daltrey, Paul Weller and Robert Plant. My life is like one big cool dream now!
Did you learn any cool riffs from Jimmy?
Jimmy Page actually taught me and my bass player, Doug [Ardito], his secret C6 tuning [low to high, CACGCE].
Did Jimmy show you any songs in that tuning or did he just give you the notes for the tuning?
He just showed us the tuning. We just took it and said thank you! Me and Doug are really into that kind of open tuning stuff. We just want to learn all the open tunings. "Piss It All Away" is this song on our record that's in an open tuning, where the first through fourth strings are tuned to A# and fifth and sixth are tuned to D#, which is a Chris Cornell/Soundgarden tuning. He's obviously influenced by Jimmy Page, too. I'm going to write another song in that tuning and maybe write one in the C6 tuning, too.
When you're writing, how do you document your ideas?
They're all just in my memory. I've just got a really amazing photographic memory and people are sometimes freaked out by it. I don't usually record anything or document things in any way other than just to remember them. But I'm going to have to start doing it for legal reasons. I have to start documenting things from when they are created, so people can't say anything like I didn't write that song. I don't want to have to deal with any crap like that. So it's all for the lawyer-type stuff. But all my songwriting is really just basically done in my brain and Doug remembers a lot of stuff for me, too, if I happen to forget anything.
How do your songs typically start off? Do you usually begin with a riff or a chord progression?
It always starts off with a guitar riff. Then sometimes I'll try to create a haunting overtone and from there, I start coming up with the melody. Then I come up with lyrics that fit the melody. That's basically how I write songs. A majority of the time, it starts on an acoustic, but some of the heavier songs spawn from the electric. Usually, it's all done on the acoustic and that way I can do everything acoustically, then make it more rocking on the electric. I always like to be able to perform a song acoustically and really hear the bare bones of the song.
How do you and Paul differ as players?
I'm the main songwriter and my guitar parts are all pretty basic. I never plan on using any weird stuff, but that sometimes happens in the studio. Paul is a thinker and I want to use him as more than just a guitar player in the band. He uses a lot of different stuff to get a variety of sounds and he comes up with lots of different ideas. He'll take an overtone that I've written and he'll kind of change it, and make it a little bit more cool. I'm just a carefree guy. I write the music, then I just go in the studio and record it. He's the kind of guy who wants to take two or three weeks to practice and get stuff down. I'm the kind of guy who writes the song and then I'm in the studio that same day to record it. I don't wait three weeks. I like to get the natural, immediate creation of the song down. He's a little more of a technical player and he's thinking about the parts. I'm more of a carefree, off-the-top-of-my-head player, where it just comes right out and it's more about how it feels. I like to capture the originality of the music and if I feel like I'm messing with that at all, I feel like I'm going to lose the edge and lose the passion of the song. So I'm really critical about trying not to mess that up. That's just the way I am. I don't know what it is about me and writing music, but when I create it, I've just got to do it. I can't wait around for anybody to analyze it and figure out what's going on inside my mind with the guitars and the vocals. If I have to, I'll run away to a studio and start recording it myself.
Do you have a home studio?
That's something that I will get very soon. But at this point, I do not have a home studio. I don't even have a home! I live on the road - I live on a bus. We do have a tape recorder, but it's not used very much. I did actually have my own tape recorder at one time, but somebody stole it from me, so I'll have to go and buy a new one.
How do you prep for a gig? Do you go through any warmup routines?
I do vocal warmups and go over vocal patterns. It takes me five or ten minutes to go through the vocal patterns that I do. I play a little bit of acoustic guitar, too. Then I'll shake my arms around and do air punches to get the blood flowing through my arms. I'll also move my fingers around a lot and shake my hands around to get them limbered up. But that's about it. I've been playing guitar for so long that my fingers are ready to go at any time, without any preparation. And after playing acoustic, picking up a Les Paul feels pretty easy, even though I do play pretty hard. I do try to take care of myself so I'm always at my best and ready to go at any time. We have a lot more touring to do and we're all just trying to keep things together by eating properly and trying not to smoke or drink or do all those crazy things that everybody thinks rock stars do. I've got to watch what I do because of my voice.
What types of music do you listen to for enjoyment?
I hadn't been a big CD collector for all of my life because up to a point, I didn't have any money to go to a store and buy a lot of CDs. I'd rather buy a guitar or some strings. But now I can buy some CDs and I do have my favorites. I have the Led Zeppelin box set and all the Zeppelin CDs, and I listen to that a lot. I listen to a lot of Radiohead and I've got all of their CDs, all the Pink Floyd CDs, every AC/DC CD, Alice In Chains, Soundgarden, Nirvana, Pearl Jam - that's what I listen to. But I'm trying to find the next cool band in all the new stuff that's coming out. I'm definitely into the new Coldplay CD, Parachutes. It's great. I'm a guitar player and I'm also a singer, and I really appreciate passionate vocals. So if I hear something that's passionately done, I'm totally into it.
How does Puddle Of Mudd compare to other new bands that are out now?
Well, I think that we're a straight-ahead rock band. There's no DJ and it's basically all guitar-oriented songs. I think that people are actually enjoying the fact that we're not using that kind of electronic and programmed stuff. We're just sticking to the guitars and we're trying to make the vocals as passionate as possible. A good song is a good song. Even if it's not heaviest song in the world, people are going to react. They'll still go crazy and mosh out, but we don't really worry about that kind of stuff. We want people to come to our shows and actually listen to the music and appreciate the songs rather than to mosh their brains out and kill each other. It's the music that's most important. When I'm writing a song, I'm trying to get under peoples' skin. Do you ever listen to a song and get a tingling feeling up your back because of the way that the guitars and the vocals are infused? I'm trying to get under peoples' skin and I'm trying to jump in their hearts. I'm trying to twist them around, turn them upside down and make them feel good. That's my goal when I'm writing a song. Now if I come up with something, I can usually feel it if it's super strong and I can tell that it's going to be great live.
Have you started writing material for the next record?
Yes. Actually, it's almost complete. At this point, I have four or five of the main songs done and my record company has been telling me how much they like the material, which is really cool. The next record is going to be basically the same kind of passionate music. I'm not really planning on changing it. Like everyone says - if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it. It's going to have rock and roll music with great guitar riffs, passionate vocals with some cool overtones. I'm just trying to make peoples' skin crawl a little bit with these haunting melodies, haunting guitar riffs and haunting guitar overtones.
What did you learn from the experience of making your first record?
I like to keep everything simplistic - I'm just a simple guy. I don't usually think about things too much and I just like to get the ideas out there while they're fresh. But I did really learn a lot while we were in the studio. Instead of going in for two days, I actually got to spend about three months working on the sounds. There was a lot of downtime though, especially for a singer, so I actually sat there and wrote a lot of songs for the next record. I also wrote a song while we were in the studio that got onto that record. It was "Never Change." But I did learn a lot during the whole process.
What advice what you give to another musician on becoming a better songwriter?
A long time ago, before we got signed, an A&R guy told me not to listen to other peoples' music when I'm writing. To be a songwriter, you have to write your own music. I think that he was right. By not listening to a lot of music or having a CD collection, I could actually sit down and play my guitar, and come up with my own music that didn't sound like other peoples' songs. You have to just sit in your room, play your guitar and try to write songs without outside influences. You're going to write some crappy songs and you're going to write some good songs, but you just have to keep working at it. There are some songs that I've thrown away because I thought they sucked, but I just keep writing and I know when I'm onto something good. You should also play your guitar all the time and that will help to inspire you. That's my advice.
For more info, check out the group's official website at www.puddleofmudd.com.
Lisa Sharken is a New York City based freelance writer. She regularly contributes to national guitar and music media as well as gibson.com.
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