Keep A Lookout For Stone Temple Pilots Next March…
LOOKOUT returns in 2027 with one of its biggest line-ups yet! Co-headlined by global concert juggernauts +LIVE+, Grammy Award-winning rock heavyweights STONE TEMPLE PILOTS, and chart-topping alt-rock trailblazers 4 NON BLONDES, this unforgettable event brings together some of the most influential names in alternative rock. Celebrating an era of music that defined a generation, LOOKOUT delivers a powerful day of iconic songs, electrifying performances and pure rock nostalgia. Soak up the anthems that have stood the test of time and experience the energy of live music as these legendary acts take to the stage.
With over 70 million albums sold, Stone Temple Pilots roared on to the scene in 1992 with their raucous debut, Core. A breakout success, the album peaked #3 on the Billboard 200 chart and dominated radio waves with hits like Sex Type Thing, Wicked Garden, and the Grammy-Award winning smash single, Plush. STP quickly distinguished themselves as a band beholden to no trend. Boasting the inimitable riffs of guitarist Dean DeLeo, the propulsive rhythm section of bassist Robert DeLeo and drummer Eric Kretz, and the charismatic baritone of frontman Scott Weiland, STP ruled airways, video playlists and charts alike over their legendary career. The band released their latest studio album, Perdida in 2020 with new lead singer, Jeff Gutt. Jeff Gutt talks more with Rob Lyon about the tour and future plans.
It’s a huge tour with Live, Four Non Blondes and Australia’s very own Magic Dirt. It must be fantastic to be part of such an awesome festival line-up?
Yeah, it’s going to be great. It’s been a while since we’ve been there, and this time we get to actually do Australia and New Zealand in one run instead of going back and forth like that, because it’s a long flight.
Stone Temple Pilots were here March last year which seems like an eternity ago. Were you blown away by those shows? The Adelaide show, which I was at, was pretty wild. It was sold out, absolutely rockin’. Those shows must have really stood out for you?
Adelaide is stunning, it’s just so beautiful. I remember our hotel rooms were incredible, overlooking all the scenery. It was pretty incredible, so I’m really excited to get back there.
With this tour coming up, is it pretty much a Greatest Hits style of show, or are you focusing on a particular album again this time around?
Not that I know of, but we’ll see. We haven’t really dug into what the set’s going to be when we get there yet. We haven’t started rehearsals for that yet, but yeah, I’m excited to find out myself. If you’re here before me, let me know.
Is the approach for festivals any different than your own headliner shows? Is it just get in there, wow them, and leave them with a bang?
It’s kind of a little bit shorter of time, so you try to fit in as much stuff that you think people want to hear and like I said, we’ll come up with all that and figure out exactly what we’re going to be doing, but yeah, it’s a lot happening, so there’s a lot to choose from, for sure.
In terms of new music, are you starting to feel the pressure of getting something out?
Well, everyone’s been kind of doing their own things. Robert put out a solo record, and Dean had One More Satellite and Trip the Witch, and I’ve actually been working on the record I was working on when I joined STP, because I had to stop making it during the middle of the process. I have really bad OCD, I have to finish things, otherwise I get uneasy feelings. So I’ve been working on finishing that, and when it comes time for STP to do it, it’ll be organic, and it’ll be its own thing, and it’ll probably happen quickly. Even though it’s been a while, it tends to go that way, once everyone gets on the same page and we’re all pushing in the same direction, it happens pretty quickly.
When you talk about your own album, is that a solo album, or do you have another band you play with?
Yeah, it’s called We Are Not Machines. It’s with Will Hunt from Evanescence on drums. We started working on it, and then I had to stop because of the STP thing, which was a long process. I think because I kind of disappeared from their radar a little bit, they were like, what happened to Jeff? And then it came out I was the singer, and they were like, oh, that makes sense. So I think they probably thought I was Looney Tunes for a little bit there. Yay!
Sonically, how would you describe that band?
It’s heavy, it’s… I don’t know, it’s got a little bit of everything. We’ve been working on it for ten years now, when we can, in between his stuff and my stuff, so it’s turned into its own project with its own life. Hopefully that’ll be finished soon.
Is that something you’re likely to tour, or is it too early?
Most likely, yeah, most likely at some point. But we both have… he has Evanescence too, so we both have busy schedules. We fit it in when we can. Most likely, yeah.
Does it fulfil that creative itch you might not necessarily get with Stone Temple Pilots, letting you explore something different?
Yeah, it’s different. It’s very different and it’s kind of like when I was the head of the beast, so to speak, you have to micromanage every aspect of everything. I’m the label, the bank, I’m everything. Oh, there’s a squirrel right there. Sorry.
When you stepped into Stone Temple Pilots, what was the biggest internal shift you had to make as the vocalist?
Knowing that you’re going to get some kind of pushback from a certain group of the fandom. I was a fan before I was in the band, so I completely understood that. I think winning all those people over one by one as much as possible became the goal. Shows have always been great, and there’s never any negativity, but you get online and you can see a bunch of stuff.
Is that always the tough balance, maintaining the legacy while also forging your own identity with these songs?
Absolutely and after you do them for almost ten years now, it kind of becomes… as I was saying to the other guy, I went back and listened to the STP records, and I’m like, man, I sing that completely different now. Or I just kind of do it the way I remember, and the way it made me feel. It’s kind of become my own way of doing it that is me and pure, and I think that freedom on stage is what people connect to.
Judging by what I saw in Adelaide, I thought you were fantastic, you stepped into the role, made it your own, maintained the legacy. I didn’t really get what people were saying online, all the critical stuff. I didn’t understand that at all.
Well, when you make music and you put it out, it’s not yours anymore, and it becomes theirs. They feel a lot of ownership in their love for STP, and I completely understand that. So when something new comes along, something different, it can rub some people the wrong way. But for the most part, it’s been fantastic.
What really stood out for me was the chemistry within the band, how tight you guys are. That must make it a lot easier when you start approaching new material, having that bond?
Yeah, and that’s part of why it took so long during the… I’ll call it the interview process. The whole audition was over a year. They were very careful, I was very careful, and once you become friends and get past all that, it becomes more of a brotherhood and a family. Then it’s a lot easier to communicate, and you’re not as worried about saying the wrong thing. In the beginning you’re minding all your P’s and Q’s because you want it to go well and make a good impression. Then you can finally relax and become yourself, and I feel like we’ve done that, that’s a special thing in itself.
Even in terms of your stage presence, it’s not something you can buy or learn. You’ve either got it or you don’t. Is that pure instinct, or are you conscious of the rock‑moves, or does it just happen?
It’s literally something I don’t think about. Because if you think about it, then it becomes a never‑ending thing. I just try to have a relationship with the people in front of me, and I feel like that’s the best way to approach it.
In terms of new Stone Temple Pilots material, is there a particular direction you want to go, sonically or lyrically?
Me personally… I mean, the last one we did was Perdida in 2020, more of an acoustic, vintage‑instrument thing. So I don’t know, maybe do something the opposite. Something heavier, grittier, raw. That would be my two cents, but they’re not in the room to throw theirs in.
From your own perspective, is there a Stone Temple Pilots deep cut you wish was more appreciated by fans or had a bigger profile?
I love Glide. I love Glide, and we used to play it a lot, and then we stopped for some reason, I don’t know why. I really love singing that song. It’s a very singy song, and it’s fun to approach because there are some technical things in it that are fun to do. So I would say Glide.
Are there any plans to join Live on stage during these shows, maybe a group moment? It just seems like it’s there begging to be done?
Like as a groupie??? I don’t know. Maybe. Ed’s great. Ed’s cool. We’ll see. Maybe I’ll have him come up and do one, and I’ll go up and do one with him. Who knows? We’ll see.
What’s next on the Stone Temple Pilots bucket list for you? Anything you want to achieve or do that the band hasn’t done yet?
They’ve had such a storied career before I even got into it. I mean, there’s a million things I’d like to do. I would love to take them to Jordan to play there, because I was playing in Jordan when they started their singer search, and that’s kind of why I was out of it until I got back, it was months later until I even got involved. I’d love to take them there because I played this old Roman ruin that’s like three thousand years old. The city’s still there, it’s called Charesh, and it’s all lit up with the stone and the stage and the seating at night. It’s so beautiful and amazing. I would love to share that with them, because I got to do that, and it’s something they haven’t done.
Is there anything else bubbling away for Stone Temple Pilots? Any anniversaries or milestones left?
We’re getting there, right? Not that I know of. I know Robert Scott won an award for bass achievement, like a Lifetime Achievement Award, and we’re going next month, I think, to go play that. I’m not sure when it’s happening. But right now we’re on a break, and I’m cool with that, because we were on tour with Godsmack and Dorothy from May until just recently. I’m excited to do nothing for once. Except… when your life is hourly planned every day, you always have something going on. I keep checking my phone going, oh yeah, I have nothing going on today. It’s amazing. So yeah, I’m going to enjoy doing nothing for about a week.
Collectively, it must be exciting that the interest in Stone Temple Pilots is as strong as it’s ever been. A lot of the bands I love from that period still have huge support. That must be exciting in itself, the love is there no matter where you go?
Well, I think it was just a really honest time in music. It was very honest and vulnerable and a little more dark, maybe, than what preceded it, and I think that resonates in today’s world.
Interview By Rob Lyon
Catch Stone Temple Pilots on tour with +Live+, 4 Non Blondes and Magic Dirt on the following dates. Tickets HERE…
