The Bob Rivers Show with Bob, Spike & Joe, on KZOK 102.5FM

October 11, 2004

BOB: After a three-year hiatus, Scott Stapp returned to the recording studio to express through music how he felt after seeing Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. The former Creed lead singer has just released a song titled Relearn Love, and you can find it on a compilation CD The Passion of the Christ: Songs, original songs inspired by the film.

BOB: Scott Stapp, welcome to the Bob Rivers show.

SCOTT: Hey, what's up? How are you?

BOB: Not much, how are you doing?

SCOTT: I'm doing wonderful. Doing wonderful. I'm on the expressway right now, so if I go out, just give me a minute.

BOB: OK, got it. Well I appreciate that, Scott. Are you in the Pacific North West right now?

SCOTT: I'm in Seattle actually.

BOB: Oh great, we know how good the hills are with all the phone coverage. It's going to be wonderful.

[laughter, overtalk]

JOE: He knows too.

BOB: Scott, just for the heck of it, because we kept reading that Creed was breaking up, Creed was breaking up. And after a while it was sort of like "The Britons are coming. The Britons are coming." And...they're not coming. How long has it been that Creed has officially been broken up, because the tabloids got ahold of it a long time ago.

SCOTT: Pretty much, I guess, 2002, is when Mark and I decided we were going to work on separate projects and go our own way. I mean, Mark and I had begun talking about doing side projects since the end of the Human Clay tour. Mark was growing as a song writer and an artist. And at the time he really wanted to sing and front his own band. You know, I think it's pretty much natural for two guys that have worked together and written songs together for a decade to want to experiment and do things with new people, or different people. I think the only thing that didn't end up working out for Mark was him singing on his record. I know that was his plan. But he ended up... I had already begun doing some other things, some acting and things of that nature, so once he turned in his CD, I believe, he decided that he was going to let someone else sing. And I was working on my own stuff so, it just kind of... we didn't get a chance to get back together.

BOB: You could've maybe been the singer on that.

SCOTT: Well I probably wouldn't have on the music that he has now. Because we were cohorts, you know? We were writers in crime, so to speak. I did the arrangements and the melodies and the lyrics and he did the guitar parts. And that's kind of how we wrote. And so it would've been weird for me. I would've felt like I was in a cover band, you know? And so at that time he needed to find another singer. And we always liked Mayfield Four, which is what Myles Kennedy sang in. And Mark really liked the fact that Myles could sing really high, kind of an eighties style voice. And that's what Mark had really been in to...

BOB: Without the hair. {laughter]

SCOTT: And so, it worked out great for him. And it worked out great for me. You know, I'm getting a chance to also develop as an artist, in terms of playing guitar and piano and getting to try different styles that I really felt like, when me and Mark were writing together, we had developed a style and a sound that we really... you know, I wanted to do some things that didn't fit in with our collaboration and I'm sure he felt the same way as well. And so it just kind of worked out that way. But the door is always open to the future, and there's no telling what could happen.

JOE: Now I became aware of you, Scott, as lead singer of Creed and when you guys started selling tons of records I wasn't that familiar with your history or anything. And they said, "Oh yeah, they were a Christian band and then they crossed over to rock." Did you guys make like a conscious effort to be that, or were you doing Christian music before?

SCOTT: No no, not at all.

JOE: Yeah, that's what I thought.

SCOTT: That was a big misconception. We never started out as a Christian band. I'm a Christian myself and I battled with that belief a lot when I left home, when I was 17. And kind of dealt with it on a few songs on each record. And I think immediately when people were trying to define what we were, because they would hear some of the analogies that I would use, and some of the song writing that had spiritual references, they assumed that "oh they must be a Christian band". And, you know, even though we weren't a Christian band, we had no agenda trying to make people believe the way we did, and we weren't trying to proselytize or anything, you know, it's something that stuck with us. Just like a lot of people think my dad's a preacher but he's really a dentist.

BOB: He's a dentist? How could they confuse that?

SCOTT: Yeah, there's a lot of rumors and stuff that float around that sink in.

BOB: Alright, let's debunk a few more... by the way you guys started as high school buddies in a band, isn't that the greatest feeling of all, to be high school buddies, make music... I didn't know you left home at the age of 17, that seems awfully young. But all of the success came fast - four number one songs on your debut album. How drastically did your life change at that time?

SCOTT: Oh it changed dramatically, and drastically is the right word. So fast that it was hard to keep up with and, you know, we were young guys, this was the first band that I was ever in. So I was still learning how to write songs and learning the ropes. And with quick success comes a lot of criticism. And, you know, we were young, we were 22 years old, or 21 years old, and sometimes we were so nervous we didn't know how to handle things. So we learned a lot of lessons publicly. But also it was the greatest experience of my life, up to this point, aside from my son being born, and I wouldn't trade it for the world.

BOB: All musicians have influences, all musicians... most are happy to credit them. And yet you guys are taking some flack from people with regards to who your influences might be. Just for the record, because we've read stories in the tabloids and stuff, who would you like to give credit for influencing your music, and who would you like to say didn't influence your music?

SCOTT: Well, growing up, I was... I grew up in a real strict Christian home and I really wasn't allowed to listen to any secular, so to speak, rock and roll music, and so vocally at the time, believe it or not, Elvis. And U2. I convinced my parents that U2 was a Christian band.

[applause, laughter]

BOB: Sunday Bloody Sunday.

SCOTT: And Joshua Tree really... I don't think I kept that CD out of my CD player for probably two years because I really felt like the band was speaking to me, and my life. And so I think that affected my approach to how I was going to write songs in terms of the meanings and how I approached lyric writing. The Doors in terms of approaching my lyrics as more than just to fill in the blanks, as poetry so to speak, as substance - I think that's where I got an influence from. I didn't get introduced to Led Zeppelin until I was 21 years old, 20 years old, but they were a big influence. And in modern day, I think the whole movement that started here in Seattle with Pearl Jam and Nirvana and Sound Garden, I think those guys were definite influences on me. I mean I think it was really obvious early in my career, with My Own Prison, that they definitely influenced me. But it was more about their passion and substance and less about trying to sound like them. Even though, early on, that was a big comparison, that we reminded people of Pearl Jam. But I think as we developed and as we grew into our own, I think we really developed our own sound and our own style.

JOE: I know you mentioned your son, his name is Jagger. Now did you name him after Mick and if so, with your Christian parents, what would they have thought of that? I'm assuming that's not Mick Jagger.

SCOTT: [laughs] Well actually Jagger... we're... I'm Cherokee Indian and Italian, and Jagger, in the translations that I looked up, means "a message carrier". And his middle name is Michael, which means "sent by God". And the Cherokee Indian translation is "one who carries a message sent by God". And so that's why I named him Jagger.

BOB: Fascinating. Now you are an artist who has become more in touch with your faith and I admire you for not running away from that, and being involved with this Passion of the Christ thing. There's another artist who's been in the news lately who's in touch with his faith and he's on the 'no fly' list. I'm curious, did you read Cat Steven's denouncement of terrorism and proclaiming of his love for peace and faith? How do you feel about an artist who's not allowed to get on an airplane like him, do you have any thoughts?

SCOTT: You know, I don't know the details surrounding that, but if he's strictly not allowed to get on an airplane, or in any way not allowed to express his freedoms and his faith and his beliefs, and he's punished for it, in America, that's just wrong. You know, I stand up for anyone - whether they have faith in Christianity as I do - for anyone's belief systems, and they have the freedom to practice it in our country and express it however they would like. With what I know about his situation, you know, I really feel that it was wrong. But under the times that we're living in... I know when I go to the airport, everytime I go, they basically strip search me.

SPIKE: You?

SCOTT: You know, we're living in a tough time. I don't know if he changed his name, because I know they do some kind of profiling with certain names and various things like that. So I don't know the details of why they did that to him but if it was for something as simple as his beliefs, then I think that's wrong.

JOE: And you did... the song you wrote was for the Passion of the Christ, being so moved after seeing it. Has any other movie ever influenced you to write? Animal House... ?

SCOTT: [laughs] One thing I think a lot of people don't know, I had written Relearn Love, begun writing that song prior to seeing the film. I hadn't written the verses for the song yet, nor the bridge. And so, I had begun in my personal life kind of a transformation in terms of... really brought on and inspired by my son as well as my beliefs, where I finally came full circle in my faith, and finally started looking back to it for strength. And I really felt jaded in my heart and I would look at the purity in my son's heart and see how he just loved and gave without expecting anything. And it was just pure and I really wanted that back in my life and in my heart. And when I saw the film, it really helped in driving home the sacrifice and the pure love, which is the message behind the sacrifice in that movie. The movie really gave me direction and a source of a way to complete the song.

BOB: Mel Gibson nailed it then.

SCOTT: Yeah, it kind of nailed it home. And for me, being spiritual and involved in my faith, and in making kind of a... taking a 180 degree turn, or a 360 degree turn for that matter, to my faith, after running from it for so long, that was kind of like a final confirmation, when that project was dropped in my lap, that I was on the right path.

BOB: Scott, you're a straight up dude. Scott Stapp, who by the way has not ruled out - made that very plain in the beginning - not ruled out a get together again of Creed, maybe perhaps another album, something in the future. Took three years off from the recording studio, and then back in for this Passion of the Christ songs album. Scott, a pleasure to speak with you.

SCOTT: Hey, it's a pleasure to speak with you guys. And I look forward to seeing you guys when I'm touring next year, and just thank you for your time.

BOB: Alright, and I apologise, because as a rock guy I've made fun of you once or twice.

SCOTT: Hey man, I don't mind being the butt of anybody's jokes. [laughs]

BOB: You seem like a really straight up guy.

SCOTT: Man, they're funny too. Sometimes I hear guys and I laugh, you know?

BOB: Well, we have a funny song about you, we could play it for you.

SPIKE: No, come on, it's gone so well.

SCOTT: I'm sure... What is it, With Legs Wide Open?

SPIKE: Oh that's a good one. We didn't do that one, no.

BOB: We did another one. Actually if you could hear that one, you could definately hear ours.

SCOTT: Because I think those are hilarious. I do the same with my own music. So it's, you know, it's fun.

BOB: Well I must say you're a straight up dude. Thank you very much. 102.5 KZOK, we'll play the tune for you, you can either laugh at us or send a team of lawyers to our door. Thank you Scott.

SCOTT: Hey, thank you guys.

BOB: Scott Stapp of Creed and now of course with his solo project. I know Scott has already heard this. Scott, we were just kidding, but...

[plays WAWO parody, "My Mouth's Not Open"]

BOB: There you go. Who knew Scott would be so nice? By the way, if you're still with us Scott, when we played that, your fans brutally called us up and redressed us. Hated us. They said, "Don't you know this guy knows God real well?"

[laughter]

BOB: But anyway, thank you for that nice interview.

JOE: I'm glad to hear that his dad was a dentist. It makes that Novocaine joke really work. [laughter] He probably appreciated that.

BOB: What I like is that he was... and by the way it was just a joke. Because the idea is everybody is influenced by somebody. He has a great voice. People used to tease them about Pearl Jam.

JOE: They ripped them apart. We've made plenty of our own too, Scott. We've made lots of Pearl Jam ones as well.

SPIKE: That's right, we've made fun of all our artists too.

JOE: What a nice guy. I tell you, what he said about his kid, I feel that so much too.

BOB: Look at you Joe, you had a tear.

JOE: Yeah, it's so genuine, he's got a six-year-old...

BOB: It was a fake tear though. We were there with an eye dropper, but it was really...

JOE: No, I have a five-year-old. And it's the same thing. Such unconditional love they give, you figure there has to be something big. And I can see how you can rededicate yourself. You get jaded as an adult, you know, when you see the little ones in the world.

SPIKE: Most rock stars think about DNA testing when looking at a kid someone says is theirs.