Two sources have told Alternative Nation that Stone Temple Pilots held multiple auditions during their singer search at Foo Fighters’ Studio 606, and at one point booked the studio for 4-5 days of auditioning singers around September 2016.
During part of the audition process, the band would give 2-hour slots to singers to audition, and at some points played with multiple singers on the same day. One singer performed around 7 tracks with the band, while the other played old tracks and the band played some new song ideas to test the singer’s songwriting skills. Singers were required to sign NDA’s, and the auditions were filmed.
One singer received a call from Dean DeLeo that he wouldn’t get the gig, and that the band were choosing between two other singers. Another received a call from DeLeo, but also got follow up calls months later making him think he still had a shot at the gig.
Pete Murray, Jeff Gutt, John Borja, Einar Villberg, Jesse F. Keeler, and J. Lynn Johnston were reported to have auditioned (with Pete Murray and Jeff Gutt having the most buzz in 2017), though it’s unclear if the two hour slot auditions may have specifically been for people who were discovered online.
After Chester Bennington informed STP in summer 2015 that he would be leaving the band, they researched out to Highly Suspect frontman Johnny Stevens who turned down the opportunity to meet with the band. They later launched a worldwide online singer search in January 2016, but the singer they picked is not from any online submissions, ruling out Borja and other candidates.
