Dean DeLeo of Stone Temple Pilots Claims Band Never Broke Up

During a phone interview the Stone Temple Pilots’ guitarist Dean DeLeo said that the band never broke up.  Although the band has been apart for five years, he does not see this year’s tour as a “reunion.” 

DeLeo explained, “It wasn’t a break up, man…We were shoulder to shoulder for 14 years, man.  And you know, you start getting a little tired of one another’s routines, lets just say.”  Quoting STP drummer Eric Kretz, DeLeo says, “’If somebody’s chewing his food too loudly, you hear that for 900 days over a few years and it starts getting to you.’  Its kind of funny.  It sounds very trite.  But it definitely wasn’t a breakup.  It was a respite.”

Since the beginning of the band’s “respite,” the band members went their separate ways and developed their own projects.  Singer Scott Weiland created Velvet Revolver, which featured three former Guns N Roses members, Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum.  Dean and Robert DeLeo and Kretz worked together with Richard Patrick of Filter and established Army of Anyone.  The group launched a tour in 2007 after a good response from their debut album. 

After each project’s eventual downfall, the group decided to work together after a chance phone call involving Mary, Weiland’s wife.  After speaking with DeLeo about a private party, DeLeo and Weiland were in contact once again.  Weiland agreed to sing with Farm Fur at the party.

“Scott was like, ‘Well, lets do it,’” said DeLeo.  “And I kind of said, ‘You know, man, I don’t know if that’s the best representation for you and I to get back together on stage after all these years.’ And he’s like, ‘Your right.’ So we sat that one out.  And we talked and stayed in contact.  This is line nine months ago.  You know, a couple of months after that, the four of us were in a room together.  A couple of months after that we were in a room again with agents and lawyers, and voila, a 65-date tour is spawned.”

Weiland was let go from Velvet Revolver in April, allowing him to go back to STP full time. 

The Stone Temple Pilots began their summer tour in Mid-May and will continue to tour throughout the United States until the fall.  The band has not denied rumors that the band will record new music after their summer tour.  However, DeLeo did say, “Robert said something – he was doing an interview and I was sitting in on it – he said it so beautifully: ‘You know, STP is sort of like this unmade bed.  Its messy at times.  It can be messy, but its warm and comfortable getting in it.’”

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