It's not a matter that Kretz glosses over during our interview. The band's problems have become so pedestrian the past few years; the press voraciously gobbles up every drug-stained moment. It got to the point where rumors circulated that the DeLeo brothers and Kretz ousted Weiland from the band until he cleaned up his act. (Note the threesome's 1997 self-titled album, Talk Show, and Weiland's '98 solo project,12 Bar Blues.)
Talking from San Francisco days before Halloween, Kretz remains optimistic about No. 4. "It doesn't have any low points. It doesn't have any filler songs," he says. "Not that we've ever done that, but it's kind of a shame when people go get an album and then they only like one song on the record and the rest is all shit.
"I'm very excited that it's finished. We started doing some press back in late July. When you're doing interviews at that time and you're trying to talk about something that is not completely finished, it's very abstract, and it's very hard to explain even how you feel about it. Now, you can hold the thing in your hand; your friends are calling you on the phone, telling you it is great. It's a lot easier to digest and explain now that it is finished."
Production on STP's past albums was downright wicked. The group's second album, Purple, was recorded in a mere three weeks in 1994. After a two-year hiatus, No. 4 took comparatively longer.
"It took a lot longer because of the proximity of what was going on at that time. When we did Purple, we came off a year and a half of touring from the Core record. All the songs were written during sound checks and whatever available times that we had. So we were able to jump right into the studio and not really have to worry about the rehearsals and the writing aspects. With this record, not only did we have to learn to play our instruments again, we had about 40 [songs] coming into the pre-production, and then we had to decide about 16 to record. Our original idea was to do a double record; unfortunately, things came up, and we got halfway there. It's still a damn good record."
While recording No. 4, Kretz says something clicked with the track "Atlanta," which he deems the standout song on the album.
"What I like about playing in STP so much is that we are one of the few dying breeds of musicians that still not only write but play our own instruments," says Kretz. "We play it live, without the use of computers and everything else. The ["Atlanta"] track that you hear on the record, aside from the strings and the some of the other orchestral stuff, was completely live on the second take. It's so amazing to feed off everybody's energy, and Scott's vocal performance on that song is so amazing. It's one of those things that is hard to describe, but it was a very special place to be, recording that kind of energy, passion onto tape with my three brothers like that.
"It's hard because you don't want to use words like that 'magical moment' because it kind of downplays how spiritual it really is," says Kretz. But I guess in order to surmise it, you have to say that after that take, we all looked at each other and said, "OK, now every other song on the record is going to have to match this."
In the late summer, the pre-press rounds became a little bit ridiculous, Kretz says. The members of STP kept talking about what a great band they were, but in reality, they hadn't played any shows in a while. "It became kinda silly, talking about the fact that we're a rock band," explains Kretz. "'We're a rock band. We're going to conquer the world.' It was almost comical because we hadn't done any shows in a couple of years and we weren't out there in tour de force, and here we were, in some hotel room, talking about what a rock band we are. It got to the point where we were like, 'Let's play a fucking show.' We went the next day and jumped on the [Hollywood club] Dragonfly's house band's equipment and played about eight songs. It was amazing to feel the power again and realize that we're not just spewing out of our mouths; we actually are a truly great band."
For the video for the first single, "Down," the band used footage from their MGD Blind Date concert in Vegas on August 12, 1999.
"We thought ahead and shot the whole show with five or six cameras," says Kretz, describing the making of the video. "We got Robert Hale to come in and help us do some conceptual things to throw in with some of the live footage. His take on it was to re-project it up on a screen, something that really hadn't been done before. With the use of computers now so heavily in the video department, we went with this old-school analog look, re-projecting the images that were already shot and re-filming that in different configurations to achieve effects. It came out very dark and surreal."
With each album, STP continues to pump out chart-topper after chart-topper. If there is one thing for sure, the band cannot be classified as a one-hit wonder. The group's first album, the seven-times platinum Core, spun the hits "Plush" (which received a Grammy), "Sex Type Thing" and "Wicked Garden." Their second album, Purple, contained "Vasoline," "Interstate Love Song" and "Big Empty." Tiny Music spawned "Big Bang Baby" and "Trippin' on a Hole in a Paper Heart." Now, with No.4, "Down" is already climbing the charts, with several other potential tracks soon to follow. When asked about the band's secret to success, Kretz simply says "Robert De Leo" and laughs.
"It's the chemistry that goes on when we all get together," Kretz continues. "It's four independent artists thrown together in a band that has this amazing chemistry when we're all together. When it works, it works really, really well. And when it breaks, the whole damn thing shuts down. It's kind of what you get when you get STP. Unfortunately, it can't run all the time."
Critics have contrasted STP's longevity to the relatively short life spans of other bands that broke in the early '90s, like Soundgarden and Alice in Chains. While the latter two have seeped back into the rock woodwork, STP continues to thrive.
"I can't talk for those other bands, maybe because I don't know exactly what the situations were, but I was definitely involved with the same amount of fighting, complaining and whining that all other bands go through," Kretz explains. "I think for us, taking two years apart from our biggest problems internally kind of all let us rethink, 'Just how bad are these problems, and can I deal with them? And can I grow up a few years to deal with the problems?
"We went through the worst tear that we could of, and now we've all grown up. Now it's more about Scott -- Scott Weiland as a person, not Scott from Stone Temple Pilots. I think once we all kind of made that distinction, it all became a lot clearer, a lot easier for us."
Kretz says that it can become pretty trying to have the majority of the attention being placed on the lead singer's drug addiction and subsequent convictions. "I can say that it is pretty fucking frustrating," says Kretz angrily. "Because growing up and starting to play drums around 10 years old and idolizing rock 'n' roll and idolizing music and wanting to perform and play music with my complete heart and soul, the last thing I wanted to go down in history as is being in the band with the drug addict. It's also very frustrating because I guess, for one, it's not my problem, but I have to deal with it. Things don't always go the way we want it to."
For Kretz, the jury is still out on how MP3s and downloadable music is going to change the music industry. "The implications are absolutely beautiful," he says. "I think the fact that not only can people receive music that would not be able to get a hold of it otherwise because of the conglomerations of the record companies and radio stations is exciting. I'm also really excited about the fact that, worldwide, people in developing countries can get a hold of the same music, the same information as Americans can, even in public high schools.
"For bands like us that are multi-platinum and that sell a lot of merchandise or records, it can either work for us or against us. But for a lot of my favorite types of bands -- the ones that aren't on major labels and aren't getting distribution -- I think it's a great pull for them because if people are looking for something, they can come across these bands. They can get their music out on the Internet. I think it's a great achievement from our U.S government to finally put something like that in use for the good."
What does the future hold for Stone Temple Pilots? With No. 4, most likely several more Top 10s and hopefully a prosperous tour in the spring of 2000.
"With good behavior, Scott should be out sometime in the spring. In California, for good behavior, they reduce your sentence by 50 percent," Kretz explains. "If everyone's health is feeling great and if everyone's mindset is doing great, then we're just going to jump right on the old bus and play, play, play.
"Unfortunately, we won't be playing at a beautiful New Year's Eve concert anywhere. I think a couple days before New Year's Eve, I'm going to finish baking up a cake for Scott with a couple of files in it so I can get him out in time to see the Times Square, big New York bash."
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