Wes Scantlin, singer for Puddle of Mudd, almost traveled down a different career path. Scantlin, a native of Kansas City, Missouri, had been slogging away in the music business since he was a teenager, with pitiful results. Dejected, in 1999, he was ready to move to New Orleans and manage the career of his girlfriend, a stripper. Fate was to intervene, as it so often does, in the form of Fred Durst, who had received a demo tape from Scantlin at a show a few weeks prior. Long story short: Durst signed him to his label, and Puddle of Mudd's rocking yet tuneful debut album, Come Clean, bowed in the Top Ten last September. Despite Scantlin's penchant for "psycho chicks" ("I like it when you chain me to the bed," he sings in "Control"), he's a sensitive dad to his four-year-old son, Jordan. Scantlin phones in during a tour stop in Glasgow.

How goes Europe?

So fun. In London, Jimmy Page saw us play with Staind at the Brixton. He's, like, a friend of mine now. And you know what's cool? There's a different musical television station in each country we're in. London had the weirdest - it was, like, this, like, techno-take-Ecstasy-'n'-shit music. It was all they played.[Yells] Hey, yo, yo! Can I get a lighter, man? OK, I'm back. I'm in this little tiny room filled with towels and just junk. I found a pack of cigarettes in somebody's bag.

How did you guys celebrate when "Come Clean" debuted in the Top Ten?

You know what? We were on tour then, on a long bus ride. The biggest thing we probably did was just drink a beer and be happy.

You drank a beer? Don't you do that every night?

Yeah, I know. Well, we might have had some champagne.

How do you guys pass the time on the tour bus

I'm usually, like, jammin' the guitar. I already got most of the songs written for the next record. It's going to be really awesome. We're growing right now as a band, and it's going in a good direction.

Is it a different direction?

No, not really. I'm just the same kind of guy, you know.

Your song "She Hates Me" is the tale of a girl who "tore your feelings like you had none." Have you heard from her?

That person doesn't even know that's about her, so I don't have to worry about her calling me. I'm not a real supervengeful dude, but if somebody gives me problems, I'll write about it. The song "Blurry" and the video - my son's mom called, and she wasn't very happy. But it has helped us to work through things a little. Basically, the whole video and song is me saying, "Hey, I just want to be a dad and be with my kid as much as I can." She's changing now a little bit.

What's the last thing you and Fred Durst did socially?

I've hung out with Fred a million times. Most of the time when I see Fred, I'm going to a studio. He's always got some new project. We have dinner together, and we talk about stuff.

What's something surprising about Fred that most people don't know?

When he's in business mode, he's definitely a hard-core person. But when he's just chilling out, hangin', he just likes to have a good time. People kind of think he's this angry dude all the time, but there's a little bit of a nice side to him sometimes, too.

"A little bit of a nice side to him sometimes"?

[Laughs] Hey, he's just hard-core, man! It's good to have a guy like that on our team.

You were once a cook - one of your many day jobs.

I mowed lawns, I built houses. I was a plumber for a couple of days and quit, because, oh, God - it was so gross, man. You do whatever you can do to survive as a musician. But you try to have a job that's kind of on your terms, because you're constantly getting fired because you've got shows. That's just something you have to deal with when you're a musician and shit.

Where were you a cook?

Several different places. The funnest was this little greasy diner in Kansas City - it was probably as big as a train car. I cooked breakfast for people. I got to meet some weird, interesting elderly people who would come in and have their coffee and eggs.

So your band's first gig together was a Vivid Video porn party in L.A.?

That was pretty cool. We didn't get any cash - we actually got paid with DVDs and tapes. Everybody else kept all the pornos - I'm not the biggest guy on pornos, man. I don't really like to sit around all day and watch pornos and shit.

Your voice is sometimes compared to Kurt Cobain's.

I am honored to be compared to that guy. I love Nirvana and Soundgarden and Pearl Jam and Alice in Chains - the whole grunge thing. But with my voice, I've got a little bit of my own flavor. I've been screaming and smoking for a while now, and your voice just kind of tears. I've got nodules and shit. I was planning on having them removed, and my doctor was like, "Nah, you don't want to remove those - it's your voice now."

Describe a perfect day in your hometown of Kansas City.

It would probably be right as the summer is getting ready to begin, and you'd want to spend your time somewhere by the water. For me, it would be hanging out at my parents' house on the lake, getting on my pontoon boat and getting some fishing poles and some beer and sandwiches and just cruising around on the lake and going to certain choice spots on the lake that I know, to get bass. Come back home, do some barbecuing. Just some serious peacefulness.

JANCEE DUNN
(RS 892 - Mar. 28, 2002)