This is a transcript of an interview first aired on Thursday, July 8, 2004 on NewsRadio 938 in Singapore:

Strap on your rock ‘n’ roll bandanna, squeeze into your heat-seeking leather pants and start head-banging to the thunderous sounds of Velvet Revolver from the US of A. Some say that Velvet Revolver is the ultimate supergroup to emerge from the ashes of late eighties to early nineties rock. That’s because Velvet Revolver is part Guns N’ Roses and part Stone Temple Pilots. Guns N’ Roses was the ultimate heavy metal band of the eighties, and Stone Temple Pilots was one of the nineties’ ruling grunge rock groups.

Velvet Revolver comprises Guitar God Slash, bassist Duff McKagan and drummer Matt Sorum from the Guns N’ Roses camp, and from Stone Temple Pilots, enter flamboyant lead singer Scott Weiland. Completing the line-up is guitarist Dave Kushner from Dave Navarro’s band. Velvet Revolver was formed about 2 years ago, when the 3 ex-GNR members decided to reform and start anew. After a near exhaustive search, they settled on Kushner and Weiland - and Velvet Revolver was born. They started jamming and promptly recorded the track ‘Set Me Free’, for The Hulk movie soundtrack. After that, they proceeded full-steam ahead to record ‘Contraband’, their debut album. I spoke with Scott Weiland recently over the phone, and asked him to describe the sonic essence of Velvet Revolver…

Weiland: “It’s a rock ‘n’ roll band, but at the heart it’s based on the blues but it’s so much more than that. We don’t sound like any other band. We are constantly trying to push the envelope, sounding modern. You know, there’s that punk rock progressive movement beyond the 21st century. Within this band’s context, it’s a hard rock album, and while in that context, we try to push the envelope sonically.”

No matter how he looks at it, 35 year old Weiland can’t slither away from being compared to the notorious flame-haired Guns N’ Roses frontman, Axl Rose. When I asked him if he’s bothered by these inevitable comparisons, Weiland was quick to retort.

Weiland: “ I don’t think so. He’s a fat f***. I’m not here to talk about other singers. I’m here to talk about Velvet Revolver’s records. He’s got his own deal, his own band and his own issues. If people want to see Axl Rose, they’ll go see his version of Guns N’ Roses.”

Axl Rose legally owns the rights to the Guns N’ Roses name and has been threatening for years to release the now mythical GNR album: “Chinese Democracy”. Weiland has another thing in common with Axl Rose, and that’s drugs. Weiland was arrested thrice for possessing drugs like cocaine and heroin. And during the recording of ‘Contraband’, Weiland was reportedly zipping in and out of rehab. I asked Weiland if he’s tired of those who keep prodding him about his narcotic wrongdoings…

Weiland: You know what, it’s just sort of something that comes along and I suppose it will never end, those questions. Keith Richards - to this day - still gets asked questions about his heroin use. He still gets asked questions about his drug arrests. You know, the guy is 65 years old. So I accept the fact that it’s never going to stop, these questions. I live in Hollywood. It’s everywhere. I just choose to live the way I want to live right now. It’s been almost a year since I shot heroin, since I shot dope. I kicked my heroin habit almost a year ago. I’m not too worried about it right now.

OK, so drugs are definitely out of the picture. So what about indulging in other vices like drinking? Weiland says the life of a teetotaller beckons….

Weiland: “No, I don’t drink. I drink non-alcoholic beer. It’s something that me, Duff and Dave enjoy every once in a while. There’re some pretty good ones, actually. Some European imported ones; they’re pretty good. The problem with me drinking, is: I drink beer and my fingers start doing the walking onto the cellphone and magically, my dope dealers seem to find me. But who knows? Maybe there’s some scientist who will one day come up with some kind of pill that will create a way where I’ll be able to enjoy fine pint of beer like the average gentleman.”

Melanie: “So that means your greatest vice would be smoking?”

Weiland: “Yah. I smoke too much and I drink too much coffee. My wife’s trying to get me to quit smoking too. So sometime soon probably I’m not gonna have that either. “

Melanie: “So what is it gonna be? Chocolate?”

Weiland: “No. Sex!”

Three years ago, Weiland pleaded guilty to beating up his wife - something that still haunts him today. Weiland says 'Fall to Pieces' (the second single from the brilliant ‘Contraband’) is dedicated to his wife, who has stuck firmly by his side for the past four years..

Weiland: “It’s about how I failed my wife and continuously, everytime I try to stand as a man, to make things right. I self-sabotage myself and fall back down again. It was hard, writing the lyrics, and when I recorded the demo; when I first sang the demo.”

Melanie: “But does she hears you, Scott, she feels for you now. You’ve got it going again right?”

Weiland: “Yah. Things are so much better now. But it has taken a long time. I have to work really hard to build the trust back again. I’m still in the process right now.”

Weiland added that another Contraband song ‘Loving the Alien’, was also written directly about his wife, a song he confesses, was just as emotionally difficult to sing.

What many don’t read about is that Weiland is a loving father of two kids. Noah, who’s 4, and Lucy, who’s 2 years old. Weiland wryly observed that although he’s performed in front of tens of thousands of raving fans eating out of the palm of his hand, he somehow always loses in the popularity stakes when it comes to a certain purple dinosaur..

Weiland: My daughter is actually a huge Barney fan. My wife and I just took my daughter and son to go to see Barney in concert. Barney and his crew were performing at the San Diego Sports Arena. We had pretty close to front row seats. It was an hour and a half performance. My daughter was completely in awe. I think she was much more impressed with seeing Barney perform than she would be seeing me perform. So I don’t think there’s any competition there. I think Barney wins hands down.

When I asked Weiland about what he thinks of the American Idol phenomenon, he spat out this reply:

Weiland: “Americans and British are just fascinated with seeing people self-destruct, right in front of their eyes, on TV. It somehow validates people in their own lives and makes them feel self-important. It makes them somehow feel better about themselves. Because people don’t actually want to see people succeed. Actually why they’re tuning in to television for is to watch people fail.”

Weiland is also a member of the Androgynous, Sinewy-framed, Flamboyant Rock Star Club. Like the Mick Jaggers and Perry Farrells before him, Weiland too is not averse to smearing on heavy eyeliner and wrapping a feather boa around his skinny bod. And so I asked him if it’s OK to call him a metrosexual…

Weiland: Um. I don’t know. Am I?

Melanie: Well .. I wouldn’t say that you’re a man’s man. But you can be androgynous. Do you think that?

Weiland: “Yeah well, I think I’m confident with my sexuality. It’s all in the performance. Being on stage is performance art that’s what it is. I like to push the boundaries of stage performance. I’ll do what it takes to inspire awe, to push that envelope, to sort of shock people. If I feel like wearing women’s bondage gear, then that’s what it will be.”