Puddle of Mudd Biography

    Puddle of Mudd was formed about 8 years ago in Kansas City by lead singer/guitarist Wes Scantlin(27). While Wes was at the second Family Values tour in Kansas he gave the band's demo tape to Fred Durst's head security guard, who in turn, gave it to Durst. He liked the tape and phoned Wes a few weeks later, but the band had drifted apart. Wes tried to get previous members to re-join the group for a showcase but that didn't happen. Fred still listened to Wes and he liked his voice, so he flew him to LA where they recruited new band mates.
      Paul Phillips(26), formerly of the punk band "Happy Hour" got a call from Durst about auditioning for the band. Since he was originally from Jacksonville he had already known Fred for a while. He immediatly went to try out for guitars and got the spot.
     Doug Ardito(27), a past member of the band "Cellophane" was interning at Interscope Records when Fred Durst asked him to try out. He now plays bass for the band.
     They had a drummer that was from Jacksonville too, and they played together on some of the bands older songs and did some new ones. Durst had them do another showcase and this time all went well. He signed the band to his new record label, Flawless.
       Things didn't work out with the drummer the band had, so Josh Freese from "A Perfect Circle" and "Vandals" did the drum tracks on the album. Later they held auditions for a new drummer. Greg Upchurch(28) was the "hands down favorite" and is now with the band. He was previously in the band "Eleven" and toured with Chris Cornell.
     The band members each have diverse musical influences which are brought together by their like of "early alternative and grunge" music. Paul is into "a lot of punk stuff as well as older Metallica, Pantera, and Iron Maiden." Doug prefers stuff like the Beatles and Led Zeppelin. Greg likes a lot of strange stuff that Paul has never even heard of(I thought this was funny), and Wes is a huge fan of AC/DC and likes Led Zeppelin too.
     Do you want to know how the band got the name Puddle of Mudd? Here it is, straight from the band's guitarist:
                       "The name came about as a result of some floods that hit KC
                         a long time ago. The band practiced right next to the
                        Missouri River and it came over the levy and
                        flooded the bottom floor of the building. Luckily
                        the band rehearsed upstairs,but the whole bottom
                        floor was one big puddle of mudd. The name just stuck."

     Are you wondering what your favorite Puddle of Mudd member was doing before he hit it big in the band? Wes was �A construction worker, cook, dishwasher, oh God, weird stuff." Greg was "A promising dishwasher who moved on to painting houses before playing in a band called Eleven and with Chris Cornell." Paul was "A manager of a local record store." And last, but not least Doug was�A troublemaker, accident prone grocery store bagger, jock, pizza delivery boy, bassist for Cellophane."
     Wondering what Puddle of Mudd loves? Wes says he loves his 4 year old son, Jordan. Doug loves his dog, Brando, which is an Akita/Rotweiler/Chow mix. Greg love "The ability to play drums." While Paul loves "My hand -- I mean my band!"