John Borja’s friend skunkyfunk made several posts on Below Empty’s forums that appear to allude to Borja not getting the job singing for STP. Pete Murray and Jeff Gutt have been other names rumored to have auditioned, with a shot at being STP’s unnamed singer they are currently working with.
“Regarding Borja:
1) He IS NOT a Weiland Clone. Yes he does sing in a rock band doing covers 4-5x a week, prolly 40 songs a night for a measly $20 a night. That is a step up from his measly $8 per night shows. That is his source of living but…
2) He has been in MANY original music bands, INCLUDING METAL BANDS. This alone puts him in a different light and gives an additional palette for STP should they go heavier.
3) He also has a balladeer background. In his much earlier years (pre-teens and early teens), he had won singing contests for cheapass money singing the likes of James Ingram and those cheesey 80s music.
4) HE COMPOSES DIFFERENTLY but is more of a collaborator. (This I can discuss further if you are truly interested)
5) BORJA can do EVERYTHING STP can ask him to do, musically. Soft music? Go. Catalog? go. Heavy music? Go.
I just wish when we saw that Delta Deep Show last year at the Coach House, John showed himself sitting in the audience. We were at the farthest part from the stage. When we had the chance to meet Rob at the parking lot after the show (hence the photos) Rob said if he only knew John was in the audience, he would ask him to join up on stage and do a jam.”
“If you think Mick Blankenship was a better singer then you are entitled to that. I saw him as a bigger competitor than most of the other mentioned in the news as well. Still wondering why he did not get the call to do a live audition though.”
“BTW, there is absolutely no way Borja could have made it to the news other than catching many people’s attention. If that is not success in itself then I do not know what success is for a singer or musician (and this is no autotune baby you are talking about).
Dean mentioned that the band had a certain “criteria” how they selected the singers for auditions. At this point I am confused if “sending requested material” qualifies as an ‘audition’, or an audition simply means “being in the same room with the band”.
I wonder how everything went for everyone who had a callback or an email request.”
“What exactly does he mean by singer submissions?
I understand that some people who got a callback were given a chance to send in requested material. I dunno if that meant STP may consider choosing someone who merely does the auditions virtually (online) aside from those who make it in person.
This brings me to the question: when a singer makes a personal appearance, does he automatically not become a “singer submission” candidate? Because being a live auditionee and singer submission candidate are not mutually exclusive.
Anyway, are you excited? Stay put.”
“This is all about honor, not just to front one of the biggest rock and roll bands in the 90s, but also honor to word.”
HUTEYE posted:
