It's Still Durst's Best Move
POM Find Continued Success

>> Puddle of Mudd >>

>> It's a hard choice: was Fred Durst's best move ever (a) signing Puddle of Mudd to his Flawless imprint or (b) nailing Britney?  It's a tough one, but if you base your decision on which one has the most lasting effect, then (a) is the easy choice.  The Fred/Britney stories are old news, yet POM are back on the charts and finding the fans very receptive to their latest release, Life On Display.

The Kansas City quartet are back out on the road, and the road is being good to them.  Seeing them again, and listening to the entire room chant, "She fuckin' hates me," is a beautiful thing.

We had the chance to speak with POM singer Wes Scantlin and talk about having his life on display.  Here's how it went down...

VOX: It’s been two years since Come Clean was released, and we hadn’t heard anything from you guys in a while.  What’s been going on with the band?
Wes Scantlin: We’ve been in studios, recording music, for the most part.  We’ve recorded our brains out.

We were out on tour for 18 months, and then took maybe two and a half weeks off to relax, and then our producer was ready to go.  There really wasn’t a lot of time where we just sat on our asses and enjoyed life.

VOX: Have there been any major changes in the band, personally or professionally?
Wes: Yeah, if there was really time for other stuff, there might be, but personally and professionally, Puddle of Mudd is Puddle of Mudd – it’s what we do, and we might have to get dragged back kicking and crawling, but in the end, the is what it’s all about for all of us.

The biggest change for us has been having the record out there.  It’s all we’ve been focused on for the last 6 months, so that’s it.

VOX: How was making this record different from the first one?
Wes: Really, there wasn’t too much of a difference…writing, getting back in, recording…it’s sort of the Puddle of Mudd way, and I don’t think we know anything else.  It’s all about staying up late, writing songs and working at it until we’re al satisfied.

VOX: Was there some pressure to have the same level of success?  Any concern about a sophomore slump?
Wes: It’s all the same to me.  I’ve been at this for eleven years, and I’ve lived and breathed it for so long…I’m a songwriter; this is what I do.  It really hasn’t changed me and I don’t feel like I can worry about numbers and what other people expect.  I don’t think you can worry about all that and last in this business.  You control your own destiny – it’s all about work ethic and pushing it and doing your best.

I know some bands think that because they have a hit they can take it easy or do whatever their label says and they’ll make it.  We write our own stuff and do it our way, which seems to work.  It’ll always be that way.

VOX: Right now downloading is on everyone’s mind in the industry – how do you guys feel about the issue?   What’s your take on it all?
Wes: I’m old school, man.  I couldn’t imagine walking into a record store and taking what I want just walking out.  That’s really what it is.  How can anyone think it’s anything less than that?  It does force bands to put out solid records and have their shit together before they release a record.  In some ways it’s very confusing, because we’re really caught in the middle between fans and the record companies, and we want to continue to be able to make records.  At the same time, we want everyone to hear the music we’re making.   It’s kind of like a party going on out of control, and you can’t stop it, so you just have to join in and try not to make too much of a mess.

VOX: How do you feel Life on Display differs from Come Clean musically?
Wes: We’re definitely tighter as a band and we’ve all grown as musicians.  If we hadn’t, it might be time to hang it up.  It’s like a kicker in football, you practice, you’re out there kicking 50 to 100 balls every day, you have to get better with the practice.  It’s the same for me – I’ve gotten better as a songwriter and as a guitar player.   We’re better live now and tighter than we’ve ever been.  I’ve been doing this for eleven years, and this version of Puddle has been together over five years, and I think it the best that it’s been.

VOX: “Away From Me” was the first single – what’s the song about?
Wes: It was written…I was going out with this girl, and things were pretty down, and there are these ugly, sinister thoughts going through my head, and I was thinking of these things she could do to me, and this is what came out.   It’s about being with someone who isn’t in it for the long haul.  I wanted nothing more than to stay with this chick and I thought she was a solid thing in my life, but she wasn’t looking at it from the same direction and the more I checked things out, the more I found out.  Most of it was stuff I didn’t want to know, and at the same time, I didn’t want to lose her.   It’s a heavy song.
VOX: Damn.  No kidding.    >>