PUDDLE OF MUDD ***

Puddle of Mudd is an American alternative rock band from Kansas City, Missouri. They achieved success on rock radio and some success in the mainstream, and their major-label debut Come Clean has sold over 5 million copies. To date the band has sold over 7 million albums, and have had a string of #1 mainstream rock singles in the United States.They have released 2 independent and 4 major albums, with their latest being Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate in December 2009.

 

History

Early years

Puddle of Mudd was formed on September 13, 1992 in Kansas City by Wes Scantlin (vocals/rhythm guitar), Sean Sammon (Bass), Kenny Burkett (Drums) Jimmy Allen (lead guitar). The name was inspired by the Missouri River flood, which inundated the band's practice space, and left the floor a big "puddle of mud". The group's first album, Stuck, was released in 1994 on V&R Records. The album, of entirely original compositions, was produced by PoM and E.J. Rose, and recorded at Red House Studio in Lawrence, Kansas.

Minus Jimmy Allen, the group released a second album, Abrasive, in 1997 on Hardknocks Records. It had eleven tracks, all written by the band, three of which would eventually make it on to Puddle of Mudd's first major label release. These would be the only two albums that exhibit a dirtier, grungier sound, compared to the semi-polished sound of later work. Differences of opinion and other factors led to the break up of the original Puddle of Mudd by early 1999, leaving Scantlin as the only original member. Wes and friend from the local Kansas city music scene drummer Dennis Dunbar then decided to reform the band with Jimmy Allen late in 1999 and 2000 but shorty fell into differences once again.

The breakthrough and mainstream success

Scantlin's start in the music business came after a copy of his demo tape was delivered to Fred Durst. Durst contacted Scantlin, and after hearing that his band had broken up, decided to bring him to California to attempt to put a new band together.

One of the first people Scantlin met upon arriving in California was Doug Ardito, an intern at Interscope Records. Ardito was also in a Boston-based band called Throat Culture. When Scantlin found out about Ardito's bass playing, they decided to work together. They were still in need of a guitarist and drummer.

Fred Durst decided to contact a guitarist he knew from his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, Paul Phillips, who had formerly played in a local band there called Happy Hour. After getting the call from Durst, Paul decided to try out for Puddle of Mudd, and was accepted, choosing to leave college in order to join. A drummer was also recruited from Jacksonville. The four began playing together on some of the band's older songs, as well as some new ones. Durst signed the group to another showcase, and then recruited the band to his new record label, Flawless Records. Things did not work out with the Jacksonville drummer, and Josh Freese from A Perfect Circle and The Vandals (and later Guns N' Roses) did the drum tracks for Puddle of Mudd's next album instead. The band later held auditions for a new drummer, which produced Greg Upchurch, an ex-member of Eleven who had also toured with Chris Cornell. Puddle of Mudd released its major-label debut album Come Clean on August 28, 2001. The lead single from the album, "Control" was successful and grabbed the attention of rock music audiences worldwide. It was also the theme song for WWE's Survivor Series 2001.

The second single off the album, "Blurry" Co-written with Doug Ardito, turned out to be Puddle of Mudd's most successful single, reaching #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #8 in the United Kingdom. This song was also used in the game Ace Combat 5, published by Namco. "Drift & Die" was also released as a single and was very successful with rock audiences with the single spending 6 weeks at the #1 on the Mainstream Rock Chart. The fourth single, "She Hates Me", was released in late 2002 and became a massive hit reaching the #1 spot on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, as well as #13 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The group then embarked on a European and American tour as the opening act for Godsmack & Deftones and were also part of the Family Values 2001 tour, alongside the Stone Temple Pilots, Linkin Park and Staind.

Copies of the album were selling well. It was certified Triple Platinum in the U.S. by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on January 31, 2003, and as of late 2006 total sales worldwide were in excess of 5 million copies.

Life On Display

Puddle of Mudd's follow up, Life on Display spawned three singles "Away From Me", "Heel Over Head", and "Spin You Around". The album sold below high expectations. Although shortly after its release, the record was certified gold and to date has sold over 706,000 copies. Some suggested this was the primary cause of drummer Greg Upchurch's jumping ship when 3 Doors Down came looking for a new drummer. Marisa Miller appears in the music video for "Spin You Around". "Away From Me" was featured in The O.C. in 2004. The song "Nothing Left to Lose" was the official theme song of WWE's 2004 Royal Rumble.

Famous

On October 9, 2007 the band released their third major label record, Famous. The first single, "Famous", was leaked through the band's myspace and radio in July before the CD hit stores. Another track "Merry Go Round" was released through ITunes before the official release as well. The following single "Psycho" garnered immense popularity, radio play and topping both the Mainstream Rock Tracks and Hot Modern Rock Tracks charts for 9 weeks. "Livin' on Borrowed Time" and "We Don't Have To Look Back Now" were the final singles released.

Their song "Famous" was the WWE One Night Stand 2007 official theme song and was also featured in the video game WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2008, as well as UFC 2009 Undisputed.

Vol.4 Songs in the Key of Love and Hate

In 2009, former Guitarist Paul Phillips rejoined the band after replacement Christian Stone was let go on good terms. Around this time the band recruited "Famous" producer Brian Howes to begin recording a new record in Vancouver. Prior to the new album's release, band members said the album's name would be called "Jacket on the Rack". However it was changed to Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate. Released on December 8, it has gone on to sell around 100,000 copies. The first single Spaceship was released in October 2009.

The band has been heavily touring for the past year and expected to take a few months off in late summer. On February 10, 2010, a new song, "Shook Up the World" was released. The song was written for Team USA, for use in the 2010 Winter Olympics. All proceeds from the song will go to TeamUSA. Although intended for release during the Olympics, the deadline was missed.

Recently, the band has parted ways with bassist Doug Ardito on good terms. Ardito has been with the band for eleven years. Jacksonville "Burn Season" frontman Damien Starkey will take his place.

The Band have recently hinted at the prospect of their first UK tour since 2002. "Get ready U.K. This is starting to look good!!!" They have since been added to the Download Festival and have hinted there could be a full UK tour later in the year.

Icon-2011

On October 15, 2010, Puddle Of Mudd announced the release of their first "best of" collection. ICON! ICON is a new series of artist compilations, and Puddle of Mudd's was released on November 2, 2010. It features 12 hits including “Famous,” “She Hates Me,” “Psycho,” “Blurry,” “Control,” and 7 more hit songs. As of 2011 Puddle of Mudd are in the studio, working on their next album.

 

Connection with Fred Durst

Due to the notoriety surrounding how the band was signed with Durst, the band is often asked regarding their relationship with him. Singer Scantlin blasted Durst in an interview in 2004 with Canada's chart magazine. He stated, "He doesn't write our songs, he doesn't produce our songs, he doesn't do anything for us. He doesn't do our videos anymore. He doesn't do anything for this band. I don't know what he's doing, I don't know what the guy's like. All I know is that he's like Mr. Hollywood guy, Mr. Celebrity. Like, 'I don't hang out with anybody except Hollywood celebrities'. Every single fucking interview I've ever fucking done, I get asked about that fucking guy..." He added, "And for me to do interviews all the time and be asked about this certain individual... People think he writes music with me or something. He does not do that. I just don't get it. We have nothing in common. He doesn't even call us, he has his assistant call us to congratulate us on our record. Yeah, that's how pathetic he is." Scantlin spoke recently about how the band interacts or doesn't with Durst saying, "...don't know."... "I haven't spoken to that guy for a long time. I tried to say hi to him but he didn't want to say hi, so whatever! I was trying to be a nice guy. We had a falling out for a while. Everything is fine. He's doing his thing."

On January 6, 2011, Durst attempted to get back in touch with Scantlin via a tweet on his official Twitter page. "Who knows Wes from puddle of mudd? I wanna connect w him again. Let me know." Scantlin's reaction to this is not yet known.