Q & A with Scott
Playboy: You're such a tremendous rock frontman. Who are some of your favorite frontmen in rock history?
Weiland: There are five guys who, if I threw them into a cup I would call that cup the holy grail of rock and roll. They're James Brown, David Bowie, Jim Morrison, Iggy Pop, and Mick Jagger.
Playboy: Have you met all five?
Weiland: The only one I haven't met is Bowie. He's probably my greatest icon, not just as a frontman but as a musical artist. He's grown older gracefully, and he continues to raise the bar. He's a style icon. I've always respected the way he takes fashion to the level of an art form. That's something I try to do. Rock-and-roll clothes are fun, but that's just one aspect of my appreciation of clothing and fashion. My meeting with Jim Morrison was on a psychic level while I was high on opium.
Playboy: In the "Fall to Pieces" video you re-create some of the lowest moments from when you were hooked on drugs. Was it hard to go back there?
Weiland: Yeah, it was. To do it convincingly I had to reach down inside and pull those feelings back up. I had to go to that lonely, bleak, blank, empty, dark place. It was like being in a pit that you cannot crawl out of. The video could have turned out cheesy, but I think we pulled it off.
Playboy: Why do you and your bandmates have so much onstage chemistry?
Weiland: Because we've lived all our lives to the hilt. We have each other's back. When you have five ex-junkies in a gang anything can happen at any time to any one of us. There's tension, energy, angst and sensuality between us. There's danger in the music. That's why people are so attracted to it. There isn't a lot of realness and truth in rock music today. So much of it is canned and controlled.
Playboy: You have two kids. Do they know their father is a rock star?
Weiland: They do, and they're totally into it. My son, Noah, is four, and he thinks he's in the band. When he comes to our shows we hook him up with a mike, a mike stand and a monitor on the side of the stage. He sings along and dances to the entire show. He even has some of my moves down.
Slash's Top 5 Songs for Sex
1. Let's Get It On (Marvin Gaye)
2. Love To Love You Baby (Donna Summer)
3. Head Like A Hole (Nine Inch Nails)
4. No Quarter (Led Zeppelin)
5. California Love (Tupac feat. Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman)
