Scott Free — The legacy of Scott Weiland

I keep a journal of memories. I'm feeling lonely, I can't breathe... Every time I'm falling down. All alone I fall to pieces.

Scott Weiland’s memorable lyrics from his song with Velvet Revovler — Fall To Pieces — seem to almost foreshadow his own death, and when news broke out on December 3 of the singer’s tragic death, it was met with sorrowful and almost remorseful response from the rock music world.

“We experienced a good chunk of life with Scott, and even in his darkest times, we all had hope and love for him,” wrote his former Velvet  Revolver bandmate Slash in a Facebook post the next day, adding, “It’s just so sad and brutal from any perspective.”

Scott began his career with the Stone Temple Pilots, a grunge rock band whose roots go as far back as 1985, but only found real success in 1992 when their debut album Core released, featuring one of their biggest hits Plush.

With the band falling into the latter end of the grunge-rock era, their sound was widely appreciated but also criticised for sounding too much like grunge biggies Pearl Jam and Nirvana. “Stone Temple Pilots were often derided as Pearl Jam clones, but I always differed on that opinion (it’s like saying the Clash were clones of the Sex Pistols),” says Indian music composer and actor Luke Kenny, “In retrospect we now know that what made them stand way apart was the songwriting, which was very different from Pearl Jam. Long after the grunge sound lost its bite, the Stone Temple Pilots plunged ahead with their sound mutating just enough to stay raw and strong.”

But the deeper he went into his music, the more Scott seemed to cross the line with his alcohol and drug abuse, something musicians today attribute to not just the pressure of performing, but a need to find an escape. Ameeth Thomas from Junkyard Groove says, “It’s hard because at the end of the day, only when you make music you’re happy but you need an escape as well. I know a lot of guys who do massive amount of drugs just to escape; it’s not as simple as people make it sound to be. It’s got nothing to do with the belief that ‘rock and roll is like that’, or because of the limelight.”

“It’s like this, when people work a full-time corporate job, they turn to other things to give them some peace of mind... maybe you turn to music as your relief or your catharsis,” explains All The Fat Children’s Vickram Kiran, “Some the biggest musicians in the world right now, they have these things they do on the side — some of them play golf, some of them take up art, some produce movies. But when you don’t have the money to have these releases that’s when you have the urge to engage in these things.”

Even with his troubles, Scott managed to keep his songwriting and vocal skills on top, when he began collaborating with Guns ‘N’ Roses alumni Slash, Duff McKagan and Matt Sorum, and guitarist Dave Kushner. The band’s most memorable singles include Slither and Fall To Pieces from their debut album Contraband, and while the band didn’t last very long it introduced a more mainstream audience to Scott Weiland’s lyrical prowess, thanks to their more hard-rock sound.

Luke believes says that Scott’s legacy with the two bands is what will most people will remember him by.” Scott's short yet extended life is somewhat a kind of proof that he didn't want to give up on his music, seeing as he went from Stone Temple Pilots, to Velvet Revolver to his solo efforts to his current band The Wildabouts," he says, adding, "He was definitely a gifted talent, and it’s sad that it turned out to be his curse.”

As his Stone Temple Pilots bandmates wrote in a joint statement: “We know amidst the good and the bad you struggled, time and time again. It’s what made you who you were. You were gifted beyond words, Scott. Part of that gift was part of your curse. With deep sorrow for you and your family, we are saddened to see you go.”