Puddle Of Mudd

Puddle Of Mudd biography

Puddle Of Mudd is an American hard rock band from Kansas City, Missouri, USA. To date the band has sold over 7 million albums, and have had a string of #1 mainstream rock singles in the United States. Their major-label debut Come Clean has sold over 5 million copies. They have released 2 independent and 4 major albums, with their latest being Volume 4: Songs in the Key of Love & Hate in December 2009, and their latest compilation album being "", released in August 2011.

History

Early years (1992-2000)

Puddle of Mudd was formed on September 13, 1992 in Kansas City by Wes Scantlin (vocals/rhythm guitar), Jimmy Allen (Guitar) Sean Sammon (Bass) and Kenny Burkitt (Drums). The name was inspired by the Missouri River flood, which inundated the band's practice space, and left the floor a big "puddle of mud". The group's first album, Stuck, was released in 1994 on V&R Records. The album was produced by the band and E.J. Rose, and was recorded at Red House Studio in Lawrence, Kansas. It spawned 2 radio singles (the first was "You Don't Know", the second "Drift and Die"), thereby making Puddle of Mudd a local favorite among fans.

Minus Jimmy Allen, the group released a second album, Abrasive, in 1997 on Hardknocks Records. It had eleven tracks, all written by the band, three of which would eventually make it on to Puddle of Mudd's first major label release. These would be the only two albums that exhibit a dirtier, grungier sound, compared to the semi-polished sound of later work. Differences of opinion and other factors led to the breakup of the original Puddle of Mudd by early 1999, leaving Scantlin as the only original member. Wes and friend from the local Kansas city music scene drummer Dennis Dunbar then decided to reform the band with Jimmy Allen late in 1999 and 2000 but shorty fell into differences once again

Come Clean (2001-2002)

Scantlin's start in the music business came after a copy of his demo tape was delivered to Fred Durst. Durst contacted Scantlin, and after hearing that his band had broken up, decided to bring him to California to attempt to put a new band together.

One of the first people Scantlin met upon arriving in California was Doug Ardito, an intern at Interscope Records. Ardito was also in a Boston-based band called Throat Culture. When Scantlin found out about Ardito's bass playing, they decided to work together. They were still in need of a guitarist and drummer.

Fred Durst decided to contact a guitarist he knew from his hometown of Jacksonville, Florida, Paul Phillips, who had formerly played in a local band there called Happy Hour. After getting the call from Durst, Paul decided to try out for Puddle of Mudd, and was accepted, choosing to leave college in order to join. Along with Paul, Shane T-bone Webb (current drummer of Blow it Up) from Jacksonville, FL was brought out to play drums and complete the band. The four began playing together on some of the band's older songs, as well as some new ones. Durst signed the group to another showcase, and then recruited the band to his new record label, Flawless Records. Things did not work out with the Jacksonville drummer, and Josh Freese from A Perfect Circle and The Vandals (and later Guns N' Roses) did the drum tracks for Puddle of Mudd's next album instead. The band later held auditions for a new drummer, which produced Greg Upchurch, an ex-member of Eleven who had also toured with Chris Cornell. Puddle of Mudd released its major-label debut album Come Clean on August 28, 2001. The lead single from the album, "Control" was successful and grabbed the attention of rock music audiences worldwide. It was also the theme song for WWE's Survivor Series 2001.

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