Weiland to Front Gn'R Band

Weiland to Front Gn'R Band

STP singer says the new group will be called Reloaded

By Carrie Borzillo-Vrenna
Rolling Stone

After two recorded songs and months of speculation, Stone Temple Pilots singer Scott Weiland confirmed that he will be the singer for the band featuring former Guns n' Roses members Slash (guitar), Duff McKagan (bass) and Matt Sorum (drums). According to Weiland, the secretive group, which has been working under the name "the Project," will be called Reloaded.

"Yeah, I'm in the band," Weiland told Rolling Stone during Marilyn Manson's show at Los Angeles' Key Club on Monday night. "We signed the contract."

Sorum, who attended the Manson show with Weiland, was more guarded about the singer's involvement. "I need to ask my whole band before we can say anything," he said. "We left the studio tonight to come down here to see Manson."

Sorum and company had been searching for a frontman for the better part of a year. In addition to an open call for demo tapes, they tried out a stable of well-known singers including Sebastian Bach (Skid Row), Travis Meek (Days of the New), Kelly Shaefer (Neurotica), Josh Todd (Buckcherry) and A. Jay Popoff (Lit). VH1 has been filming the tryouts and sessions for an upcoming special.

Last month, Weiland seemed to gain the pole position when he recorded a cover of Pink Floyd's "Money" with the band and guitarist David Kushner (Suicidal Tendencies, Wasted Youth) for The Italian Job soundtrack, due May 26th.

According to a post on the Stone Temple Pilots Web site, Reloaded also worked on a new song called "Set Me Free" for The Hulk soundtrack and hope to release a full-length record by February 2004.

(May 13, 2003)

 

Amen to that!

 

Ha! Need a laugh right then, thanks Ken.

I'm looking forward to hearing this group - always been a big fan of Slash.

 

Wasn't Izzy Stradlin associated with this at some point? Or am I confusing this with some other "guys from defunct bands" group?

Ryan

 

Ryan - I read somewhere recently that Izzy co-wrote some stuff with them, but he's not going to be a band member. Slash said something about Izzy not wanting to be a rock star anymore.

 

I like his voice...that's nice.

 

Thanks, glad I'm not crazy. (At least not for this reason.)

It's promising that he's involved in the writing. I always liked his stuff in GnR -- he seemed an important part of the songwriting team.

It's probably a coincidence that they never released any more original material after he left, but maybe not...

Ryan

 

Dependable singer? This is the same singer that has been in rehab several times, abandoned his band in the process so they formed a second band (Talk Show) while he did some solo stuff (his first solo record and another side project, Magnificent Bastards). Rumors are that he is having more substance problems which I hope are not true. I wonder what his STP bandmates think about this. One minute, he's off doing a second solo album, the next minute, he's joining the ex-GNR project.

 

I think I read somewhere Izzy was the main songwriter, or at least the heavyweight of the bands songwriters, which probably explains the lack of material after he quit.

His solo albums are excellent, by the way, too bad many haven't been released in the U.S.

 

Sorry man, I missed the smiley faces...I am looking forward to this project too. I am not sure how his voice will fit in with the scheme of this whole band though.

 

I saw this denial today on anothe site, so I guess we'll see what happens.

"I also got a call from "the Project" camp warning me that Scott Weiland is NOT confirmed as the singer and the new name is NOT confirmed as "Reloaded" even though Scott himself said so. It is not yet a done deal, but obviously Weiland really does want the gig."

 

So what does this mean for the future of Stone Temple Pilots?

 

Josh Todd was supposed to be the slam-dunk choice, but things change... Weiland doesn't really interest me in this context.

STP is "on hiatus" - other members are currently engaged in side projects and production gigs.

 

This could be an interesting project. I hope they have some good material! This is one show I would love to attend. I've given up on ever hearing Axl's new "Guns N' Roses" album. If you ask me, it will never get released.

 

I totally think Joshua Todd was a great choice for this band. Probably not the best singer per se, but boy can that guy scream....then again, look at who he would be "replacing" (Axl). Not too difficult to improve on that.

 

I saw the Axel version of GnR last year and that was quite a treat at MSG. Look forward to this new version too!

I love that GnR sound. Heard "Knocking On Heaven's Door" on the radio this afternoon....what a great version of that classic song.

 

David Lee Roth might be available.

 

You'd might as well count in every other ousted VH singer, too!

 

Just what this band needs...a lead singer with major drug problems! What's worse, Axl's temper tantrums, or a guy who injects drugs into his arm?! Sheesh! I say, go for the gusto.....hire Great White's singer!