Jeff Gutt discussed his audition process for joining Stone Temple Pilots in a new Detroit News article.
Most were classics from the band’s catalog, modern rock staples like “Plush” and “Interstate Love Song” that helped STP become one of the most successful rock outfits of the 1990s. But one — “Piece of Pie,” an album cut from the band’s 1992 debut effort “Core” — was giving Gutt a hard time.
“It was the only one I didn’t have completely memorized,” says Gutt, on the phone last week from Los Angeles. “So when I walked in, they were like, ‘Which one do you want to start with?’ And I said ‘Piece of Pie.’ They were like, ‘Really? You want to start with that one?’ I was probably literally the only person who said that, because their reaction was like, ‘Whoa!’ But the real reason was I just didn’t know the lyrics that well, and I wanted to get through it first.”
After Gutt landed the STP gig — after an eight month getting-to-know-you period, he played his first show with the group in November — he delved further into Weiland’s life and inspirations. Reading Weiland’s 2011 book “Not Dead & Not For Sale: A Memoir,” he saw similarities. “In the first chapter he’s rattling off his influences — the Carpenters, John Denver — and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, that’s my dad’s record collection,’” says Gutt, a single father whose son, Talon, is 9. “We grew up on the same things.”
