2019 has been quite a celebratory year in STP land. Not only does it mark the 30th anniversary of Robert, Dean and Eric starting to play music together, it’s also been 25 years since the release of the band’s second album ‘Purple’ and 20 years since the Below Empty fansite launched on its belowempty.com domain name.
On top of that, the band has toured the Americas as well as Europe to an extent not seen since 2010 and recorded a brand new album -tentatively slated for a spring 2020 release- along the way. More than enough reason to catch up with one of the driving forces behind the band’s productivity. I was fortunate enough recently to talk to Dean DeLeo about the upcoming deluxe 25th anniversary reissue of Purple, as well as some other things from the band’s 30 year history (and beyond!) that I and other fans have been wondering about for years.
BE: Congratulations on all the milestones this year, let’s start off with the upcoming deluxe reissue of Purple. The set features a remastered cd album and lp as well as a second cd full of demos and acoustic versions and a third cd with a full concert from the New Haven Veterans’s Memorial Coliseum on August 23, 1994. What can you tell me about the demos and early versions that we get on this set?”
Dean: “These versions are basically the next phase of writing, coming off of Robert or myself writing them probably on an acoustic. These are early versions with the four of us in a room, most likely doing pre production for Purple.”
BE: “When the deluxe edition was announced, Rhino Records released the acoustic version of ‘Big Empty’. Listening to that, it made me wonder if it came from the rehearsals for MTV Unplugged. It has a similar arrangement and singing approach by Scott, but also some instrumental differences that make me unsure. When was that recording done?”
Dean: “I asked Robert the same question. I don’t think it was for MTV Unplugged, because Eric’s drumming is a bit different. I would have to say it’s an early version while cutting it in the studio or close to cutting it.”
BE: “So that puts it right in the middle of the ‘Core’ tour, since ‘Big Empty’ was recorded on May 25th, 1993 when the band was on a break between the European club tour in the spring and the summer Bar-B-Q Mitzvah Tour with Butthole Surfers, Basehead, Flaming Lips and Firehose. How did the Beach Boys cover of ‘She Knows Me Too Well’come about? I know the demo was recorded at the same time as ‘Pretty Penny’, when you went over to a friend of Brendan O’Brien’s house.”
Dean: “Robert initiated that and Scott was ecstatic about it as well. A shame we never got to finish it.”
BE: “Speaking of cover songs, there’s a mention of another one in the STP vaults that I could never find any information about. Did STP ever record a cover of ‘Watchin’ You’ by Kiss, as was mentioned by the band’s former manager Steve Stewart in several media in 1993? The ‘Kiss My Ass’ tribute album first got shelved and was later completed with different bands than previously announced. STP was not on the release anymore. Did you guys ever record it?”
Dean: “Yes, but only live and stereo to cassette in a rehearsal room. We never multitracked it.”
BE: “The live concert disc from the deluxe edition is from the New Haven show. Material from that show as well as the Worcester show from the same tour has been used for promotional purposes in the mid 90’s. Is there a special reason why New Haven made the cut to this release as a full set? Does it have an edge compared to other shows from the tour?”
Dean: “We only recorded those two shows and I’d have to say that I’m sure there were nights from that tour in which the band was better, but we only recorded those two shows.”
BE: “Just like ‘Core’ in 2017, ‘Purple’ was remastered for the deluxe edition release. How much does the sound differ from the original master in your opinion and what aspects should audiophile fans look out for?”
Dean: “I am not a fan of remastering in general… what’s the point? We did remaster it though, really only making it a bit louder. Brendan’s original mixes are so warm and beautiful, it was our duty to retain that warmth and make sure not too much mids got put into it.”
BE: “I didn’t hear too much difference on the Core remaster when that came out, and I’m glad the production value on the Purple release will be retained, that album sounds great as it is. Also not a fan of the modern loudness wars. Now on to some deep STP history and random things. There’s some things that I’ve been wondering about for years and forgot to ask or never got to ask you. Going back to the pre-STP days of ‘Swing’ and ‘Mighty Joe Young’. I know you were not a part of ‘Swing’, but there have been some songs over the years labeled as ‘Mighty Joe Young’ that I suspect are actually not. ‘Wicked Garden’, ‘Only Dying’, ‘Naked Sunday’, ‘Piece Of Pie’ and ‘Where The River Goes’ are clearly ‘later’ MJY, leading up to the release of ‘Core’. What about ‘Fast As I Can’, ‘Spanish Flies’, ‘Super Scary Area’? Are those songs Mighty Joe Young’s earlier work, before the tracks that ended up on ‘Core’?
Dean: “Yes. That was the four of us. Robert, Eric, Scott and myself.”
BE: “How do ‘Love Machine’, ‘Dirty Dog’ and ‘Old Dixie’ fit in? Is that Mighty Joe Young? Did you play on any of that?”
Dean: “No, that’s before my time.”
BE: “Another thing that has fascinated me over the last few weeks is STP’s participation in Lollapalooza ’92. If you look online in certain places now, it seems like STP played many or all of the tour’s 33 stops in North America. That doesn’t fit with some interview quotes from the past, but those do not definitively close the book on the matter. Over the summer I did some research that leads me to believe that the band’s first show as Stone Temple Pilots was Lollapalooza in Phoenix. Scott is quoted in an interview saying he hadn’t sung all summer of ’92 and blew his voice out and that the set was cut short to three songs. Is that correct?”
Dean: “It was about 115 degrees that day and we really didn’t have much of a dressing room, so we were quite exposed to the elements of summer in Phoenix. We stopped after a few songs.”
BE: “Do you recall at how many shows you played in total on Lollapalooza in ’92? Was it just two days, Phoenix on the 8th and Irvine Meadows on the 12th? Or did you guys play all three nights at Irvine Meadows?”
Dean: “I’m pretty sure just 2. Irvine and Phoenix.”
BE: “Last week I stumbled upon an interview with Eric Kretz from early 1993. In it, he states that he played guitar instead of drums for a performance of ‘Creep’ and ‘Plush’ for Dutch tv and radio called ‘2 Meter Sessies’ and ‘Countdown Cafe’. I listened back to it and the chords that are played are different from how you play it. I believe this was done on a promotional press tour of Europe that only Scott and Eric went on. Did Eric perform on guitar while Scott sang?”
Dean: “Yes, thats Eric. I wasn’t really interested in leaving home at the time and Eric loves to travel.”
BE: “On to something totally different. About a decade ago you recorded material for a project called ‘Galaxy Co-Stars’ with Glen Campbell’s son Cal. I’ve heard two lovely and very DeLeo-esque songs: ‘Plans for Dreaming’ and ‘Thank Me’. Can you tell me who played on that?”
Dean: “It’s just Cal and myself, Cal actually wrote ‘Plans for Dreaming’.”
BE: “Any more ever going to see the light of day?”
Dean: “We recently spoke and would love to mix it and release it one day. Also, Robert played bass on a track.”
BE: “I would love to see an official release of that material. Speaking of Campbell, I read an unsettling article in the New York Times a few months ago about the fires in 2008 that destroyed Universal Music Group’s main West Coast archive of master recordings, which included Glen Campbell’s among many others. I don’t think that STP’s masters were stored there, but just to verify: none of STP’s master recordings were destroyed?”
Dean: “TRAGIC BEYOND WORDS!!! We are safe.”
BE: “Thank you for taking the time to get into this stuff with me, much appreciated!”