Everyone is a work in progress, whether we know it or not. We may think we have arrived at where or who we want to be, but if we are honest, we know there is always room for improvement.
Living life in real-time, Wes Scantlin has seen a great deal but finds refuge from the noise and chaos within the music. Just himself, an acoustic guitar, a piece of paper, and a pencil, the emotions pour out the medicine called song. A blessing he has begun to appreciate more as time has passed, Scantlin’s raw songwriting skills have led his band, Puddle of Mudd, to the top of the Modern Rock world, with millions of albums sold and a list of mainstream Rock hits.
A fantastical journey that began over thirty years ago, many recall the enormity of albums such as 2001’s Come Clean and 2003’s Life on Display. However, since that time, Scantlin and Puddle of Mudd have consistently put out solid music, culminating in 2025’s Kiss the Machine.
The eighth overall Puddle of Mudd studio album, Kiss the Machine, is a mark of a new beginning for the band, which sports an entirely new supporting lineup and plans for even more music coming sooner than later. An exciting time for Scantlin, the singer-songwriter humbly sat down to reflect on success, the work put into the new album, and growing as a person.
Cryptic Rock – Simply put, you have been involved in music for a very long time. Having a good deal of success with Puddle of Mudd, you have kept the band going strong through the years. The big question is, how would you describe your journey with Puddle of Mudd?
Wes Scantlin – Oh, dear. It’s been a crazy little ride, for sure. You know, I’ve had a lot of people come and go on their own accord. Since I was just a little kid, man, I’ve just been writing and writing and writing. And I’m just a singer-songwriter. People come, and people go.
When I got my deal with Fred Durst from Limp Bizkit and Interscope and Geffen Records, they said, “Keep writing.” I was like, “Okay. I’ve got no problem with that. I’ll just keep on writing,” I think they handed me an acoustic guitar, put me in a hotel or wherever the hell I got put, and they said, “Keep writing.” Jimmy Iovine looked me straight in the eye and said, “Keep writing.”
Cryptic Rock – And you still do keep writing. You mentioned the record deal with Fred Durst’s Flawless Records. Before that, you had put in many years of hard work. What was it like seeing all that pay off?
Wes Scantlin – That was like God came down and just zapped me. I was actually going to stop, and then Fred called. Right when I quit, God was like, “No, you’re not done yet.” It was amazing. I said, “I’m done, God. Thank you.” And it was like, “Nope, you’re not done.” It was a blessing. Angels surround me, and God surrounds me. I keep God first always.
Cryptic Rock – That is very positive to hear. It is good that someone was looking out for you. You were going to quit, but the band took off from there. This included being nominated for awards, consistent touring, and playing among Hard Rock’s elite. It is a fantastic story.
Wes Scantlin – It’s crazy, the way it went down. I was at the end of the rope, and I was just like, “I’ve got to take care of my kid, and I’ve got to pay my child support.” I was just going to move to New Orleans.
I went to the Family Values concert with Korn, Limp Bizkit, Ice Cube, Filter, and all these other bands. I was with a demo tape and a fake backstage pass. Then I was with my ex-girlfriend, who was picking her daughter up, and that’s when I got the call. I don’t know, man. I just got blessed.
Cryptic Rock – It’s pretty wild. As you said, members have come and gone, but you have kept Puddle of Mudd alive regardless. An aspect that has always stood out in your songs is the sincerity in the lyrics. They come from your heart. It seems like you are pouring your heart out. You don’t mince words when you write.
Wes Scantlin – Yeah. I’m just taking it in; I take life in general when I write. I just write about different situations in life and different emotions. It’s all about different emotions and different people that you see. You can feed off other people, and you can kind of catch a vibe. There’s been plenty of muses in my life.
You catch a muse, and sometimes, there’s some craziness going on in relationships that you go through. I’ll basically pick up a guitar, and I’ll write about it. Most of the time, it’s just really seriously about love, anger, and emotional distress. It’s just all kinds of different emotions.
As a songwriter, you just kind of vibe off that. You can feed off anything you want to feed off of emotionally, and then you just go with it. You have a pencil, a piece of paper, and a guitar. I just sit down, and I wait for everybody to go to bed with their opinions. That’s basically my thing.
Cryptic Rock – That is a good way to be. Whether you are a songwriter or a listener, music can truly save your life. It is something that helps us through hard times.
Wes Scantlin- That’s what I’ve been trying to do. Sometimes, lately, I’ve been trying to make other songwriters mad at me for writing really awesome shit. (Laughs).
Cryptic Rock – (Laughs) There is nothing wrong with that. In the past years, you released two other studio records leading up to Kiss the Machine. So, what has this period been like for you?
Wes Scantlin – I had to let go of some people because they were stealing from me. I’ve had a lot of theft and stuff in my life. So, I had to let some people go just due to thievery. I’ve truly been blessed and surrounded by angels and God. Now I’m in Torrance, Redondo, California, just chilling.
For Kiss the Machine, I made sure that I was in the studio the whole time. I was in Madonna and Toto’s old studio. I just found the studio magically. I wrote the whole record there, sitting on a couch. I had all the necessary gear and musical equipment there.
I just sat down with the acoustic. I really was happy to be there and be able to write all the songs. I also wrote a lot of stuff in Big Bear in a cabin up there. As long as I ain’t getting bitched at, everything’s going to be all right.
Cryptic Rock – The new record sounds good. There is a rawness to it, which is refreshing. Many modern Rock records are overpolished. You do not have to find that with this or past Puddle of Mudd records.
Wes Scantlin – I got to work with Erik Covin. That’s when we started piecing the band together. Everything got put together. I was blessed by Danny Wimmer, Jordan Schur, Jimmy Iovine, and Fred Durst. Everybody came together and helped put the new crew back together, which has changed, but it was an interesting time. Erik Colvin was there with an ADAT machine. That is where we pieced everything together. I did the whole entire record with him.
I’ve also got another onslaught of songs coming out with Universal Music Group through another guy named Eric Johnson and a couple of other guys. We’ve got extra songs. We’re going to slap those as an extra addition so people can hear that, too.
We’ve got a bunch of songs. I have kind of been taking a little bit of a break, but it’s well worth it. I’m staring at an acoustic guitar right now, and it’s like looking at me like I’m a jerkwad.
Cryptic Rock – (Laughs) You mentioned other songs. Hopefully, we will get to hear them sooner rather than later. It seems like you are in a good place right now. Do you feel good with the people you have around you at this point?
Wes Scantlin – I do, yeah. I got Michael Anthony Grajewski, Miles Schon (he’s a wonderful guitar player), and John Smith. It’s a good lineup, and I’m really happy with it. It might not be OG, but there’s nothing I can do. People walk away, too. Seriously, people walk away. It’s like, “Where are you going?” They say, “I don’t want to do this anymore.” So, I’ve had to regroup so many times. It’s heartbreaking, but it has to be done because this band will never stop.
Cryptic Rock – It is always difficult to change your lineup, but you keep it going. Miles Schon is the son of Journey’s Neil Schon.
Wes Scantlin – Yeah, that’s Neil’s son. He’s my guitar player, and he’s a really great buddy. He’s freaking amazingly amazing. I mean, he’s a great guitar player. He’s also a great singer, by the way. It’s always nice for me to have another great singer in the band.
Cryptic Rock – Very cool. And you have a few shows lined up for the summer. Is that right?
Wes Scantlin – Yeah. We’re going to be rocking. My manager, Barbara Papageorge, is always working, and she’s the hardest-working girl in the world. I call her Miss MTV because she worked for MTV for a long, long time.
Cryptic Rock – That is great to hear. You also have a new single out, “Beautimous,” which has a fun music video.
Wes Scantlin – Yeah. We did that on the way to Vegas. I just saw this fireworks store on the way. So, my chick and I pulled over, and we bought like $15,000 worth of fireworks. They had a launch site in the back, about 15 feet behind the store. It was a big complex, and all the truckers were there. You can just light fireworks off there. I’m from Kansas City, and when you’re in California, you can’t just light fireworks off. It’s a fire hazard. When you’re in the middle of a desert, you can light as many fireworks off at this place as you want to! So, I just bought a bunch of them, and we just sat there and lit fireworks off. That was basically the video. (Laughs) It was really fun.
Cryptic Rock – Very cool. So, you sort of set up your own pyrotechnics for your music video there.
Wes Scantlin – Yeah. We were doing pyro. It was awesome. When I saw the fireworks thing, I was just like, “Okay. We’re pulling over here right now.” And then I walked into the store, and I seriously dropped like fifteen grand. And it was buy one, get one free. So, my whole van was completely full of fireworks. I still have a bunch of them in my van right now. They’re awesome. They’re the big ones, too. I’m talking big.
It’s fun to light those suckers off. It makes you feel good. Everybody likes fireworks, man! You just can’t do it in Cali. I bought my van in Compton on the 4th of July. There were kids in the middle of the street blasting fireworks. It was just hilarious. If you ever want to see a fireworks show, go to Compton.
Cryptic Rock – (Laughs) Noted! You mentioned how you are originally from Kansas City. How would you compare the Midwest to the West Coast?
Wes Scantlin – The weather is really, super, duper nice here a lot of times. I kind of miss tornadoes, and I kind of miss the weather back in Kansas a lot of times. I get to see a lot of different types of weather and stuff anyway, just from touring and such. The weather in Southern California is really nice. I’m maybe three minutes from the beach. I can walk there in flip-flops.
Cryptic Rock – Sounds beautiful. You said you believe angels and God surround you. That is inspiring. Would you say you have a close connection with faith at this point in life?
Wes Scantlin – Yeah, I’m surrounded by God. He’s always with me. I pray every day, probably two or three times a day. I’ll get down on my knees and I’ll thank him for everything that he’s done for my life.
I always say thank you for surrounding me with all these angels and all this great stuff. At this point right now, I’m totally drug-free. I don’t do any drugs. And I thank God for that. And there’s a lot of other people that have helped me through a lot of hard, a lot of dumb stuff that I did. My hat’s off to all those people who kept me in line. I’m basically completely sober now.
Cryptic Rock – That is very great to hear. It is a tough world out there. We all know it. People are very critical, but they should look at themselves in the mirror before they start throwing stones at others. What is like for someone such as yourself in the limelight?
Wes Scantlin – I went to this place called Landmark Forum. It was a class that I took. It was for seven or eight days. It was fifteen hours a day. It was about putting the past behind you, moving forward, and doing better. It was about – I am the possibility of being a loving father, a successful musician, a songwriter, and the best person that I can be. That was a really nice class.
Anything weird or negative that happens, I just kind of throw it away and move forward. Life is freaky, and you’ll come across people who are shady. You just have to get rid of the shady people, remain positive, and move on with your life. Just don’t worry about nothing and just continue to be successful.
Cryptic Rock – That is a good outlook. That is a problem with many of the things we do. We dwell on the past sometimes, and people dwell on the past, but dwelling on the past is no good for anyone. How are you ever supposed to make a step forward if you are constantly dwelling on the past?
Wes Scantlin – Right. I do not dwell on the past at all. I’ve had a lot of crazy stuff happen in my life, but I don’t do that.
That’s one thing that I got from the Landmark Forum classes – you don’t need to hold grudges; you can move forward, and you can just keep positive. That’s basically it. It’s really simple. A lot of people hold grudges for many, many decades. I’ve seen a lot of breakthroughs in these classes. It’s a very good class. I was already kind of like that anyway because I don’t really hold grudges. I just try to move on.
Cryptic Rock – Negativity feeds negativity.
Wes Scantlin – Yeah. I try to be encouraging to people. And I’m always trying to help other people and heal other people, too, who have those kinds of situations that they hold on to with these weird moments of their life for years and years. It’s weird to see the breakthroughs. The instructors in these classes are geniuses.
Cryptic Rock – Very fascinating. Here is something that is very valuable to think about. We need to think of ourselves as a stone in a river. Instead of letting the negative feelings go through us like water, we need to let go around us like water to the stone. In other words, we should try and be like the stone and let things flow around us, not through us.
Wes Scantlin – Yeah. I agree.
Cryptic Rock – Right, we should appreciate the positive in our lives and focus on that. What does holding onto the negative do?
Wes Scantlin – Nothing. It’s not going to do any good. Just let it pass by, do your thing, and just let that stuff go.
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