Stone Temple Pilots bassist Robert DeLeo is a simple man.
“I play music and I fish, that’s about it,” said DeLeo, asking where the best place to fish in Lethbridge is.
He and the other original members of the Stone Temple Pilots, his brother, guitarist Dean DeLeo, drummer Eric Kretz and flamboyant frontman Scott Weiland play the Enmax Centre, Sept. 18 with the Crash Kings.
“Right now, he’s good, he’s sounding great and we’re starting on time, and we’re playing a great set,” he said agreeing their career has been interesting.
“We’re really happy where it’s at right now. There’s been no worries. It’s exciting. He’s doing great, his voice is sounding great and we’re starting on time,” he said of the often troubled Weiland.
“I don’t think we’ve ever played Lethbridge before, so it’s just going to be a great STP rock show. It’s always exciting to get to a place we haven’t been before,” he said.
The Stone Temple Pilots, who formed in the early ’90s, released their debut CD “Core” in 1992 and won a Grammy award in 1994 for the follow-up “Purple.” They had a string of ’90s hits including “Plush “ Sex Type Thing,” “Vasoline,” “Big Bang Baby,”“Interstate Love Song,” “Creep” and “Sour Girl.”
They released their self-titled sixth CD in 2010.
“We have six albums worth of music to choose from, so we have enough songs to play,” he said adding there are no plans to record new music anytime soon.
“ Not right now,” he said.
“I think it’s nice to put yourself out there and see what the fans want to hear. Some of them want to hear more obscure stuff, others are more hit oriented. So we’re able to mix it up,” he said.
“Tripping On a Hole in a Paper Heart,” from their CD “Tiny Music” is one of the songs DeLeo enjoys playing the most as a bassist.
“ I’m a huge fan of R and B music, so I like the songs that have a lot of R and B in them,” he said.
He said there are no rules for the band when it comes to songwriting.
“There are no rules. Sometimes I’ll bring a song to the band completely finished, other times there’s a riff and my brother Dean will add to it and everybody will add their parts to it,” he said.
While his first instrument is the guitar, he has a long list of bass influences.
“There’s a lot ranging from James Jamerson, who did a lot of things and Sly and the Family Stone’s Larry Graham and of course John Paul Jones from Led zeppelin. Lots of them from the ’60s and ’70s,” he said.
Their success has allowed them a lot of freedom to do what they want.
“We’re in Chicago now and I’ve called up Rick Neilsen from Cheap Trick and he’s going to come on stage and play “Surrender” with us,” DeLeo enthused.
“ Just the fact that he’ll show up and play, I have a lot of respect for him and Cheap Trick,” he enthused.
“Well you can call anybody up, but whether they show up is a different story,” he continued.
“ There’s been so many highlights (of their career),” he said.
He listens to a lot of new bands as well as the bands he grew up with.
“The Crash Kings, who are opening up for us are a really great band and they’re great people. We always like to brings bands we like on tour with us,” he said adding he also enjoys Canadian band the New Pornographers, Spoon, Grizzly Bear and older Kings of Leon.
“ I’m looking forward to playing for people in Lethbridge and possibly fishing in the Old Man River,” he said.
“I’ve been making rock and roll music with my friends for 20 years. And I just feel fortunate I’ve been able to do that,” he said
Tickets for the show, which begins at 8 p.m. in the Enmax Centre, cost either $60 or $70
A version of this story appears in the Sept. 12, 2012 edition of the Lethbridge Sun Times
— By Richard Amery, L..A Beat Editor
