Welcome to our collection of quotes by Scott Weiland. We hope you enjoy pondering them and please share widely.
Wikipedia Summary for Scott Weiland
Scott Richard Weiland (né Kline, October 27, 1967 – December 3, 2015) was an American singer and songwriter. During a career spanning three decades, Weiland was best known as the lead singer of the band Stone Temple Pilots from 1989 to 2002 and 2008 to 2013, making six records with them. He was also lead vocalist of supergroup Velvet Revolver from 2003 to 2008, recording two albums, and recorded one album with another supergroup, Art of Anarchy. Weiland established himself as a solo artist as well and collaborated with several other musicians throughout his career.
Weiland was known for his flamboyant and chaotic onstage persona; he was also known for constantly changing his appearance and vocal style, for his use of a megaphone in concerts for vocal effect, and for his battles with substance abuse. Now widely viewed as a talented and versatile vocalist, Weiland has been ranked No. 57 in the Top 100 Heavy Metal Vocalists by Hit Parader.
In 2012, Weiland formed the backing band the Wildabouts. The band received mixed reviews, and some critics and fans noted Weiland's failing health. In December 2015, Weiland died of an accidental drug overdose on his tour bus in Minnesota at the age of 48. Upon his death, many critics and peers offered re-evaluations of Weiland's life and career; those critics included David Fricke of Rolling Stone and Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins, who identified Weiland as one of the "voices of the generation" alongside Kurt Cobain and Layne Staley.
I listened to a lot of Bob Dylan songs to see how he works. I've gotten into writing story-songs.
It's like, hey, some people cook for a living, and some people milk cows. I write songs.
I'm one of the luckiest people in the world that I was able to do what I fell in love with and be able to make a living doing it.
When I'm not completely loaded, it's a much more vulnerable place. I can feel the music, I can feel the energy and I really have to put it out there. When I was loaded, I was just oblivious.
Rock and roll doesn't allow you to grow up -- especially if you're not trying very hard to.
I'd sell one of my songs for any car commercial in the world that paid enough money.
But to stay in the Top Ten for weeks on end when I'm
in my forties by letting Glen Ballard write songs for me? F**k that.
I used to just write about my own apathy, but that youthful, apathetic way of looking at things grew thin as I got older.
I've changed the way I look at things. When I put out a record or single I don't allow myself to set up expectations like, This song must be a number one hit. Its got to sell X amount of records. I have fallen into that trap before.
It's better to not set your expectations high. And that's what happens when you have a long career -- not every album is going to be record setting.
Not many people are able to say that they had in their professional career the chance to perform in two bands that won Grammys and were multiplatinum bands.
It's got big riffs and really it's a rock and roll album. I think Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver fans will relate to that.
I played in Velvet Revolver, which is a raw, bombastic blues band with a punk rock edge to it. It's like everything is based around the blues, no matter what the groove is.
It's the same as Keith Richards. People still ask him the same questions they asked him 30 years ago, even though he's a completely different person. And I'm a completely different person than I was 15 years ago.
It's a horrible thing to have someone pretend like they know what you're about and call you a fraud when they haven't given you a fair shot.
I was on the pro-Nirvana, anti-Pearl Jam bandwagon.
We're only as big as our experiences.
The Beatles have always had a big effect on me.
When you become a television personality, it's difficult to maintain your musical credibility.
I've seen guys on the street who look the part of a rock star just as much as any rock star. If you feel it and you believe it, then you can get away with it. Rock on!
You have to spend a lot more time on the road these days if you want to make a living with music.
For the most part, rock fans don't go and buy CDs any more, very rarely. It's pretty much about downloads and streaming.
In my creative life, David Bowie is definitely an enormous influence on me, being one of rock's greatest shapeshifters.
You can't be seen in your mid-40s wearing leather pants. No leather pants anymore.
Electric red hair is more for, like, people in their 20s and early 30s.
One thing that has really influenced me with Bowie where I've taken an approach from him is how he changes from album to album and has always modified his sound and his appearance. I think that's an important thing.
As I've gotten older and my life is a lot more stable, I've gotten more into storytelling.
Lyrically, there's a lot of songs that are influenced by my wife. They're about my wife and I.
I don't want to stay on the road for the rest of my life. I have two kids.
Who you are as a person has to do with what you think and how you feel. It has to do with how you love and how you care for people.
Do I show up onstage late sometimes? That's something I could definitely work on. I'm human.
People read things on Google, and they have these perceptions, these misconceived perceptions of who you are. At times that hurts, because they really don't know who I am.
I really have paid no attention to social media. It's never been something that I've done. There are people that put up tour dates and basically say what's going on, but I need to get more involved, because I hear about rumors that are absolutely ridiculous.
Not sure how I can be 'terminated' from a band that I founded, fronted and co-wrote many of their biggest hits. But that's something for the lawyers to figure out.
I really didn't get obsessed with Bowie until my freshman year in high school. I remember listening to 'Starman' and thinking it sounded like it was a song for kids, like a lullaby. The Thin White Duke is my favorite look that he created.
Bowie is probably my favorite all-around songwriter and performer and personality. His ability to change over the years is such an inspiration. I love 'Young Americans' and 'Fame.'
I suffer from manic-depressive disorder, and I've chosen not to take medication for it. Because of that, every once in a while I go through manic episodes and really depressed episodes.
I tend to get my hands into all these other things and all these distractions, and after a while I start feeling depleted.
Who you are as a performer is one thing, but when you're making records, you're dealing with musicians' tastes, their goals, their wants, their needs, everyone's individual pride.
Well, a lot of successes come by mistake.
I prefer a three-piece suit myself. Very sixties rock and roll. But they're not too quirky. Businessmen could wear them.
It's incredibly stressful when the person you love is having a child.
As horrible as jail was, there were some first-rate guys in there.
I prefer to break new ground, but it gets harder and harder with the territory that's already been walked on.
It seems like everyone's got an agenda, and the agenda seems to be selling magazines or air time with sensational stories.
It doesn't matter what kind of problems a family is having; it should always stay in the family.
Making an album should be an honest experience. It shouldn't be about trying to gauge where popular music is today; it should be about artistic expression and putting down what you want to put down.
As I've gotten older, I've found that I'm not afraid anymore to throw my influences into making a record.
To be appreciated by a whole 'nother generation of fans, all of a sudden discovering you, it's kind of what I did with the classic bands I love -- the ones that influenced me.
Sing the song or keep it inside.
The thing is, unfortunately, I write the best songs when I'm miserable.
Shoot the bad guys and I'll gladly sing a tune for you.
If I was in a zombie apocalypse, I wouldn't be playing music, because that would attract zombies.
I'm beyond the point of thinking I'm powerful enough to solve my own problems.
Having children showed me a whole different kind of love that I had never known. It was something that had always been missing. Complete love. I would die for them.
Dead fish don't swim around in jealous tides.
My favorite hobby is writing and recording songs at my studio. I like to surf, but I don't get a chance to do that as much as I'd like. I don't live close to the beach. I also like to ski, but I don't get to do that much, either.
I want a performance style that's more cerebral and emotional than physical. I want to be a creative artist, not a whirling dervish.
I can't read sheet music, I have to just listen to it, and then just go for it.
Processed pig is white trash meat. Some people call it Spam.
When I was around nine years old, I was a fan of Shaun Cassidy's first album.
There was a period of time where I really hated rock music.
Anytime I feel squeezed into a box, I just lash out. My gut reaction is to strike. It's a different character onstage: there's a whole dark sexuality that's completely different from me. You know, I don't let anybody know who I really am.
I think to stay in one sound is a career killer.
I had always sung in choirs. Even when it was something to be laughed at or made fun of, you know, in school. And I was always the kid who was picked at the Christmas concert to sing the solo, you know, while the other kids snickered in the front few rows.
The great thing about kids is the immediate gratification. As soon as I get home from touring, my wife and kids become my life. There is nothing sweeter.
My family is the most beautiful thing in my life beyond anything else, even music.
I'm going to take care of myself because that's what I need to take care of.
But at this phase of my life, I want to write and not have to think about whether a song is going to be a hit. I want to explore the music that inspires me, and I don't want to ape myself.
There's a beauty in being part of a band, when there's equality and trust.
When you're in love, you've found your soul mate, you think life is going one way, and suddenly it's completely apparent it's not. You have to rethink your whole purpose.
You know, you've got to be careful with how you educate your kids in rock'n'roll fashion.
Computers and the Internet have made it really easy to rant. It's made everyone overly opinionated.
A lot of journalists like to suck up to celebrities, and then as soon as they're a safe distance away at their computers, they take shots. But that's the way society has become, especially in pop culture.
When I put out a record or single I don't allow myself to set up expectations like, 'This song must be a number one hit. Its got to sell X amount of records.'
Writing the songs and producing the songs and arranging them and recording them is your canvas and your palette and your brush.
Eventually I want to subsidize my income with other creative outlets that are going to not keep me tied to the road so much.
Great classic music that I've been turned on to has not only inspired and influenced me, but it has had an effect on my songwriting.
I want my ex-wife and children to be happy.
I had a period in my life in the '90s where I was definitely young, dumb, and full of even more dumb.
I sang in choir as a kid.
Bowie's obviously my biggest influence.