Jeff Gutt: I’m blessed to be part of Stone Temple Pilots

New Stone Temple Pilots frontman Jeff Gutt says he’s “blessed” to be the band’s new vocalist.

Gutt was unveiled earlier this week at a private show at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, with the band launching their new track Meadow to mark the announcement.

And Gutt, who has previously been a member of bands including Dry Cell, Acrylic, Punch and Band With No Name and enjoyed a stint on X Factor in the US, can’t wait to get started.

Gutt tells The Daily Tribune: “I’ve had some time to get used to the idea. I was just sitting on the sidelines watching it all unfurl and knowing what was going to happen before anyone else did. I knew I had a secret I was about to reveal, which was cool.

“It’s a very strange feeling, but at the same time I’m blessed and very honoured. It’s like joining the Led Zeppelin of my generation. I feel like I’m living in a movie.”

Gutt says he doesn’t feel any pressure about being compared to original Stone Temple Pilots’ vocalist Scott Weiland, who died in 2015.

He continues: “I was studying Scott when I was coming into singing myself, and I learned so much from listening to him. It was fun to incorporate all those things in my own way and still sing true to Scott’s stuff and really keep that as true as I could.”

Gutt, along with Dean DeLeo, Robert DeLeo and Eric Kretz, are planning to release an album in spring 2018 which will coincide with a North American tour. And Gutt says he’s ready for the challenge ahead.

“I’ve studied my craft for a long time,” he says. “If anyone’s going to be ready to do it and if anyone’s been trained for this throughout their life, it’s me.

“I’ve had a lot of failures, but it’s OK because it’s all working out now.”

The band’s LA concert will be broadcast this Friday (November 17) at 5pm ET exclusively on SiriusXM and can be heard on Howard Stern’s Howard 101 channel, as well as Lithium.

Stone Temple Pilots also been confirmed for Monster Energy’s Welcome To Rockville, which will take place between April 27-29 at Metropolitan Park in Jacksonville, Florida.

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Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.