Q&A: Scott Stapp talks solo-acoustic tour, Creed's future, Carlos Santana

September 30 2010 Soundspike.com

Creed singer Scott Stapp admits that his solo-acoustic shows will be a challenge, but he's eager to stretch his limits.

"It really, really runs the gamut of my range, from the very bottom all the way to the top," Stapp said of his vocal approach for the acoustic gigs. "I'm singing everything. The growl is [pretty much] lost, [but] of course that'll come out [at] times. I think it's important to sing these songs and deliver them a certain way. I hate to make comparisons, but it's Creed meets the Doors and Incubus. It's still going to be energetic."

Through Nov. 20, Stapp and four musicians are touring North America, performing Creed songs as well as his solo material and selected covers. Stapp also will preview tunes from his forthcoming solo collection tentatively titled "Somewhere in the Middle of Lust and Love."

Ticketmaster news AmazonStapp spoke to SoundSpike about the solo jaunt -- which mainly hits casinos -- the status of Creed and working with Carlos Santana on the song "Fortunate Son." The song appears on the deluxe edition of Santana's "Guitar Heaven" album.

Are you looking forward to your tour?

Scott Stapp: I'm very excited about it. I've wanted to do this for a long time. A lot of fans have communicated to me, "We'd love to hear this acoustic." After rehearsals with the guys for the last 10 days, it's got a great vibe and I'm really excited about the show. It's going to surprise a lot of folks.

Tell me about the show.

I have two guitar players and me at times playing rhythm, a percussionist/drummer and a bass player. It's kind of like... I don't know if you're familiar with Days of the New or when Alice in Chains did it unplugged. They did it as a full band, but unplugged. That's how we're doing it. It really takes me back to how the songs were written. It also allows me add my current spin on something that was written years ago. It's almost like making it new all over again. It's the way that the music inspires me. After years of playing the same songs over and over again, there's been inflection, things that I've done vocally that are fresh and new. It's a pretty challenging show for a singer. But I'm ready for it and it's going to be exciting.

What can we expect from the shows?

I'm digging deeper into the catalog and also into my new solo material and [I] cover tunes I like. So it's going to be fun. I want it to be interactive with the fans. I want to take some time to ask the fans if they have any questions, or anything particular [they want to know] about the songs. I think I'm finally ready to talk about ... what the songs really do mean. For the longest time in my life, I left it up to the listener to interpret and never really talked about it. I think it's important in this stage -- to me and to the people it is important to -- to give some history some background. I really feel the fans deserve that. They've stood by me for so long. I just want to deliver what they want, which is to continue to play music and create. This whole setting kind of sets up an environment and a vibe of creativity. We'll never play the same show twice or the same song the same way. We're also looking to create right there. That's something that's exciting for me. It's kind of letting everybody in on what goes on in my studio. It's five guys sitting around in chairs -- drum kit, bass, guitars -- and jammin' and talkin' and every once in awhile breaking out from a set list into something we feel like vibing on and writing. It's going to be a pretty unique thing for myself as well as everyone there.

Have you been writing new solo material or songs for Creed?

I'm about done with my second solo record. The working title is "Somewhere in the Middle of Lust and Love." I'm looking at putting out a song potentially in the next couple months, if not in the first of next year. I'm really excited about it -- I really feel like I was given the chance to really push the boundaries and explore myself creatively. I'm excited about the end result and ready to share that with all the fans. I recently found out my first solo record, "The Great Divide," is getting ready to get certified two-times platinum by the RIAA. That blew me away. I'm looking forward to what's to come for Creed and my work outside of that.

What is the status of Creed?

We're looking right now at touring in South America in February. Mark [Tremonti, guitarist for Creed] and I have talked. We do want to make an acoustic record and also make a full-length Creed studio album. We've got that in the works. We're balancing our other interests, which I think is important to our long-term relationship. We're all good, and when we're done doing what we're doing right now, we'll call each other. Mark called me the other day and wished me the best for my tour. I did the same for him. Everything's in a good spot there.

Of the singles you've released, which are you most proud of?

Probably "My Sacrifice," "One Last Breath." I gotta throw in "Arms Wide Open." Well, no, "My Own Prison." Wow. "My Own Prison," "What If," "My Sacrifice," "One Last Breath," "Arms Wide Open" are probably the songs I'm most proud of that were singles.

I heard "My Own Prison" on "Lithium" on Sirius Radio and it sounded fresh. It didn't sound like just another '90s song.

We're really blessed that our songs, up to this point, have stood the test of time. It's all you can ever hope for as a writer and as an artist, that your work will have a timelessness to it, a credibility that you hope that for those who didn't see or appreciate it at some point in time, they'll get a chance for it to connect. We've been really blessed in that regard.

What was it like to work with Carlos Santana on his album?

[Laughs] I tell you it was a unique experience -- me recording in my studio in Florida and Carlos being out in L.A. with [producer] Howard Benson. We were communicating a lot through Howard and through the music. When I would send a performance, Carlos would say, "Hey, you've inspired me. Now let me send it back to you. I know you've got more in you, come on." We were inspiring each other with what we were sending out. I look forward to getting a chance to sitting down and hanging out with him. It was a blessing from God above that I got that opportunity. I just feel honored and humbled that I'm on a record with him specifically, and all the great singers of the last 20 years. It's really an honor. I would ask Carlos why he wanted me to be on the record; he said because God told him to. I said, "Well, that's an answer to my prayers." It really is going to have a far-reaching impact, whether my song is used to promote the record or not. Just to do something with such a legend and to have your name tied with someone like that, they can do a lot of things and open a lot of doors to people who haven't heard your music before. It's just another blessing from God to reaffirm to me that I should keep going in the direction I'm going.