Welcome to a collection of profound insights and memorable phrases from one of the most iconic voices in rock music, Scott Weiland. As the enigmatic frontman of bands such as Stone Temple Pilots and Velvet Revolver, Weiland captivated audiences with his distinctive vocal style, captivating stage presence, and introspective lyrics. His words resonated deeply with fans, offering glimpses into his complex psyche and the turbulent journey of his life.
Throughout his career, Scott Weiland grappled with personal demons, battled addiction, and faced numerous challenges, yet he always managed to channel his experiences into artistry. Whether through his introspective ballads or high-energy anthems, Weiland’s lyrics often reflected the highs and lows of the human condition, touching the hearts of listeners worldwide. Beyond his musical contributions, he also left behind a legacy of wisdom and inspiration, encapsulated in the poignant quotes that continue to resonate with audiences today.
I was just a kid in 1987 when I heard of the Pixies, the year after I graduated high school. But I had my band together, and my best friend at the time, Corey Hickock, who was the guitar player in the band that would become STP, Mighty Joe Young, turned me on to the Pixies. Scott Weiland
You have to spend a lot more time on the road these days if you want to make a living with music. Scott Weiland
Life doesn’t make any sense unless you can enjoy the journey, and sometimes I take that for granted. Scott Weiland
When bands got really big and sold a lot of records back in the day and did really well on the road, everyone developed a certain ego. And there’s a certain entitlement that comes with that. And it stops people from communicating the way you used to communicate when you were in a band together and it was all for one, one for all. Scott Weiland
I played in Velvet Revolver, which is a raw, bombastic blues band with a punk rock edge to it. It’s like everything is based around the blues, no matter what the groove is. Scott Weiland
As horrible as jail was, there were some first-rate guys in there. Scott Weiland
When people ask me if I have a hobby, a lot of times my answer is that I like to surf in warm water. I like to ski, if I have the opportunity. But really, I like to go to my studio and write music that I want to write, where there’s no pressure to come up with a hit single. Scott Weiland
To be a great band it’s like you have that telepathy. You know when the bass player’s in back of you without even looking. You know when your guitar player’s coming up to you to lean up to you and sing into your microphone. You just know these things. You feel it. You feel the energy of it. Scott Weiland
Sing the song or keep it inside. Scott Weiland
My favorite hobby is writing and recording songs at my studio. I like to surf, but I don’t get a chance to do that as much as I’d like. I don’t live close to the beach. I also like to ski, but I don’t get to do that much, either. Scott Weiland
I had a period in my life in the ’90s where I was definitely young, dumb, and full of even more dumb. Scott Weiland
Not sure how I can be ‘terminated’ from a band that I founded, fronted and co-wrote many of their biggest hits. But that’s something for the lawyers to figure out. Scott Weiland
I listened to a lot of Bob Dylan songs to see how he works. I’ve gotten into writing story-songs. Scott Weiland
I feel lucky to be alive. Scott Weiland
I suffer from manic-depressive disorder, and I’ve chosen not to take medication for it. Because of that, every once in a while I go through manic episodes and really depressed episodes. Scott Weiland
Dead fish don’t swim around in jealous tides. Scott Weiland
The great thing about kids is the immediate gratification. As soon as I get home from touring, my wife and kids become my life. There is nothing sweeter. Scott Weiland
My family is the most beautiful thing in my life beyond anything else, even music. Scott Weiland
I like wearing fitted jackets mixed with jeans, a button-down shirt and a tie. I like to keep the rock and roll feel but class it up a bit. As far as stage clothes, I prefer John Varvatos and All Saints. They have clothing that is really accessible for wearing every day as well as for wearing on stage. I also love J. Lindeberg’s suits. Scott Weiland
It’s like, hey, some people cook for a living, and some people milk cows. I write songs. Scott Weiland
I prefer to break new ground, but it gets harder and harder with the territory that’s already been walked on. Scott Weiland
When I formed the band and created the Wildabouts with my friends, we decided we wanted to make a band-sounding album, a rock-sounding album. I made two solo albums before that were more experimental albums, and I think that they didn’t really resonate with my fan base because they were too out-there, too artsy. Scott Weiland
One thing that has really influenced me with Bowie where I’ve taken an approach from him is how he changes from album to album and has always modified his sound and his appearance. I think that’s an important thing. Scott Weiland
I think to stay in one sound is a career killer. Scott Weiland
It’s incredibly stressful when the person you love is having a child. Scott Weiland
Bowie is probably my favorite all-around songwriter and performer and personality. His ability to change over the years is such an inspiration. I love ‘Young Americans’ and ‘Fame.’ Scott Weiland
I want my ex-wife and children to be happy. Scott Weiland
I can’t read sheet music, I have to just listen to it, and then just go for it. Scott Weiland
You can’t be seen in your mid-40s wearing leather pants. No leather pants anymore. Scott Weiland
There’s a beauty in being part of a band, when there’s equality and trust. Scott Weiland
I tend to get my hands into all these other things and all these distractions, and after a while I start feeling depleted. Scott Weiland
I don’t want to stay on the road for the rest of my life. I have two kids. Scott Weiland
Any time you’re stepping out on a limb as an artist, it’s scary, especially when you have a lot of success. When you’re reaching a lot of people, the masses, it’s easy to stay in that niche, you know? Especially when you’re making a lot of money and you know there’s a formula, it’s easy to stay in that rut. Scott Weiland
The thing is, unfortunately, I write the best songs when I’m miserable. Scott Weiland
I was on the pro-Nirvana, anti-Pearl Jam bandwagon. Scott Weiland
I still love making records, and I’m able to do it because I own my own studio, and I try to do it as much as possible. Scott Weiland
I prefer a three-piece suit myself. Very sixties rock and roll. But they’re not too quirky. Businessmen could wear them. Scott Weiland
It’s a horrible thing to have someone pretend like they know what you’re about and call you a fraud when they haven’t given you a fair shot. Scott Weiland
Bowie’s obviously my biggest influence. Scott Weiland
But at this phase of my life, I want to write and not have to think about whether a song is going to be a hit. I want to explore the music that inspires me, and I don’t want to ape myself. Scott Weiland
For the most part, rock fans don’t go and buy CDs any more, very rarely. It’s pretty much about downloads and streaming. Scott Weiland
We’re only as big as our experiences. Scott Weiland
Not many people are able to say that they had in their professional career the chance to perform in two bands that won Grammys and were multiplatinum bands. Scott Weiland
In my creative life, David Bowie is definitely an enormous influence on me, being one of rock’s greatest shapeshifters. Scott Weiland
Who you are as a performer is one thing, but when you’re making records, you’re dealing with musicians’ tastes, their goals, their wants, their needs, everyone’s individual pride. Scott Weiland
It seems like everyone’s got an agenda, and the agenda seems to be selling magazines or air time with sensational stories. Scott Weiland
Eventually I want to subsidize my income with other creative outlets that are going to not keep me tied to the road so much. Scott Weiland
Music, as many people have said, is the universal language. Of course points are made which make you think about things, but ultimately it makes you feel. And that’s why people remember more songs that have meant something during their life than films. They start to define periods in your life, and that’s kind of the beauty of it. Scott Weiland
I used to just write about my own apathy, but that youthful, apathetic way of looking at things grew thin as I got older. Scott Weiland
Writing the songs and producing the songs and arranging them and recording them is your canvas and your palette and your brush. Scott Weiland
I really have paid no attention to social media. It’s never been something that I’ve done. There are people that put up tour dates and basically say what’s going on, but I need to get more involved, because I hear about rumors that are absolutely ridiculous. Scott Weiland
When I was around nine years old, I was a fan of Shaun Cassidy’s first album. Scott Weiland
I’ve seen guys on the street who look the part of a rock star just as much as any rock star. If you feel it and you believe it, then you can get away with it. Rock on! Scott Weiland
There was a period of time where I really hated rock music. Scott Weiland
If I was in a zombie apocalypse, I wouldn’t be playing music, because that would attract zombies. Scott Weiland
It’s the same as Keith Richards. People still ask him the same questions they asked him 30 years ago, even though he’s a completely different person. And I’m a completely different person than I was 15 years ago. Scott Weiland
Who you are as a person has to do with what you think and how you feel. It has to do with how you love and how you care for people. Scott Weiland
Well, a lot of successes come by mistake. Scott Weiland
Shoot the bad guys and I’ll gladly sing a tune for you. Scott Weiland
Every single thing I’ve done has made me who I am today. The only thing I would take back is hurting the people that I love, and the people who I love have already read my lyrics and heard my apologies. But the rest of the world, I don’t need to apologize to them. My life doesn’t have anything to do with the rest of the world. Scott Weiland
A lot of journalists like to suck up to celebrities, and then as soon as they’re a safe distance away at their computers, they take shots. But that’s the way society has become, especially in pop culture. Scott Weiland
Computers and the Internet have made it really easy to rant. It’s made everyone overly opinionated. Scott Weiland
Having children showed me a whole different kind of love that I had never known. It was something that had always been missing. Complete love. I would die for them. Scott Weiland
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found that I’m not afraid anymore to throw my influences into making a record. Scott Weiland
When I put out a record or single I don’t allow myself to set up expectations like, ‘This song must be a number one hit. Its got to sell X amount of records.’ Scott Weiland
It doesn’t matter what kind of problems a family is having; it should always stay in the family. Scott Weiland
You know, you’ve got to be careful with how you educate your kids in rock’n’roll fashion. Scott Weiland
The Beatles have always had a big effect on me. Scott Weiland
Processed pig is white trash meat. Some people call it Spam. Scott Weiland
There was a period when STP and I weren’t making music – we weren’t getting along very good at all. But I had my studio, so I was writing and recording a lot of music. But something told me not to put it out. It was all stream of consciousness; it was clever, but it didn’t really have substance. Scott Weiland
I’m one of the luckiest people in the world that I was able to do what I fell in love with and be able to make a living doing it. Scott Weiland
I’m beyond the point of thinking I’m powerful enough to solve my own problems. Scott Weiland
As I’ve gotten older and my life is a lot more stable, I’ve gotten more into storytelling. Scott Weiland
People read things on Google, and they have these perceptions, these misconceived perceptions of who you are. At times that hurts, because they really don’t know who I am. Scott Weiland
Electric red hair is more for, like, people in their 20s and early 30s. Scott Weiland
I’m going to take care of myself because that’s what I need to take care of. Scott Weiland
I want a performance style that’s more cerebral and emotional than physical. I want to be a creative artist, not a whirling dervish. Scott Weiland
I sang in choir as a kid. Scott Weiland
Lyrically, there’s a lot of songs that are influenced by my wife. They’re about my wife and I. Scott Weiland
Great classic music that I’ve been turned on to has not only inspired and influenced me, but it has had an effect on my songwriting. Scott Weiland
Making an album should be an honest experience. It shouldn’t be about trying to gauge where popular music is today; it should be about artistic expression and putting down what you want to put down. Scott Weiland
I had always sung in choirs. Even when it was something to be laughed at or made fun of, you know, in school. And I was always the kid who was picked at the Christmas concert to sing the solo, you know, while the other kids snickered in the front few rows. Scott Weiland
When you become a television personality, it’s difficult to maintain your musical credibility. Scott Weiland
I really didn’t get obsessed with Bowie until my freshman year in high school. I remember listening to ‘Starman’ and thinking it sounded like it was a song for kids, like a lullaby. The Thin White Duke is my favorite look that he created. Scott Weiland
Do I show up onstage late sometimes? That’s something I could definitely work on. I’m human. Scott Weiland
To be appreciated by a whole ‘nother generation of fans, all of a sudden discovering you, it’s kind of what I did with the classic bands I love – the ones that influenced me. Scott Weiland
When you’re in love, you’ve found your soul mate, you think life is going one way, and suddenly it’s completely apparent it’s not. You have to rethink your whole purpose. Scott Weiland
Anytime I feel squeezed into a box, I just lash out. My gut reaction is to strike. It’s a different character onstage: there’s a whole dark sexuality that’s completely different from me. You know, I don’t let anybody know who I really am. Scott Weiland
