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After his release from a six-month stretch in L.A. County Jail's Biscaluz Recovery Center for violating probation on a felony heroin charge, 32-year-old Stone Temple Pilot Scott Weiland is no less the rock star. He's still the thin tattooed duke [And have you seen the Sour Girl video?-Ed.] But these days, he's looking more like a rock star with a gym membership than the guy with a $100-a-day heroin habit and an arrest record to rival O.D.B. Michelle Lee sat down with Scott in Manhattan recently so he could wax poetic about grunge, his new life as a family man and what makes his hair stand on end
an interview with scott weiland by Michael Lee

ML : You were married recently. Was it a traditional wedding?


SW : It was traditional, yeah. White dress, but very free-form flowing. We had someone help us get the details together. For weddings, I know that the details tend to be more important to the bride than to the groom, but this really meant a lot to both of us. We had high expectations of how the day would go and I'd have to say our expectations were exceeded. It was probably the most beautiful experience of my whole life.

ML: How was it different from your first wedding?

SW: The first time I was married, the whole day was a blur. I think for most people it's that way. Mary [Forsberg] and I have been in love for a long time. Just the fact that we have such a deep love and trust for each other it's like finally after all these years, we're able to be together. It was just an amazing day.

ML: So what did you wear?

SW: I had some stuff made for me. One lucky fringe benefit of being a quote-unquote rock star is that you end up befriending some amazing fashion designers. And Mary knows quite a bit herself. Weirkstat, the boutique that made her dress, is actually here in Soho. They make handmade dresses. I'm friends with the guys who own Lord's. They handmade me a suit. Black, kind of simple. I didn't want it too rock. It was a little bit rock. Then Richard Tyler made me a monochromatic shirt and matching tie that was in sort of a dusty rose which is the color that her bridesmaids wore.

ML: Shoes?

SW: Shoes were Prada. Actually, the shoes I was going to wear were Gucci, but our personal assistant forgot to check what time the shoe guy closed shop the day before the wedding and she got there after they closed. So I was shit out of luck for a few moments there. I was going to wear an older pair of Gucci loafers -- not feeling too confident about it -- but a friend of ours who photographs our band strutted into the hotel where I was staying the night before because I didn't want us to stay together the night before. That part was traditional. I had to wait a night for the prize [smiles]. He came in that morning and he was sporting these brand new Prada lace-up loafers. I spotted them and I was just kind of like, "I've got a proposition for you: How about if I wear your brand new Prada shoes to my wedding and you wear my two-year-old Gucci loafers?" He obliged and it all worked out.

ML: I bet you looked great. So how does one go about looking like a bad-ass rock star? How do you do your hair?

SW: I like Toncho Stick. For years, I used Murray's Pomade. But over the last year and a half I got turned on to this Toncho Stick. It's pretty much the same consistency but it's just easier to apply. I apply it in the shower when my hair is wet, kind of push it back and when I towel it off it goes everywhere. And it's not stiff, not greasy; it's more of a wax and it doesn't matter what kind of shampoo I use. Any kind of shampoo goes.

ML: What about your skin?

SW: For soap, I like Cetaphil. I know a lot of this is because I married a model and she knows how to take care of her skin. There wasn't much taking care of my skin when I was on those numerous chemical adventures. I seemed to spend a lot of my time picking at my skin then. And as far as moisturizer goes, the stuff that I really love is -- do you know of a salon in Sunset Plaza called Ola Henrickson? They do facials and stuff. It's their only place. It's not a chain -- they make their own skincare products and they have this amazing eucalyptus creme and it's not too greasy. I don't have any with me right now because I ran out and I've been forced to use other stuff. Actually, I seem to breaking out a little bit.

ML: Yeah, I think it's the weather. It's humid.

SW: Really? Well, that moisturizer seems to work for me. I also like Clinique Moisture Surge.

ML: Well you look fabulous. Married life must be treating you well.

ML: I've been hearing great things all day about these bad-ass pants you're wearing [white leather with red flames down the sides].

SW: Yeah, do you like them? I just got 'em today. I was here with Michael Hilfiger last night and he told me to come down. They just finished their rock star line and they had some leftovers from fashion shows. I was going through them but didn't come across anything that was vibing me. Then I saw these and said: "These are definitely very Evel Knievel." They're hip huggers and they're boot cut, so I'm into it.

ML: Leather suits you much better than flannel. Did it piss you off that you were considered "grunge" for so long?

SW: Yeah. We were never grunge. We came out at a time when there was a very healthy infusion in rock 'n' roll because it was so stale for so long. In the 80s, bands like Poison and Winger dominated. There were only a couple bright spots there -- Guns 'N Roses' first album, maybe one or two Motley Crue records, Metallica, then Jane's Addiction at the end of the decade. So when we came out, we were part of a movement in rock that brought hope to a lot of young people. I think we echoed a lot of feelings and emotions and frustrations that young people felt a kinship to. The grunge tag was sort of just lumped in with all those groups that came out then.

ML: And grunge was more about style than the music, in a way.

SW: Right. Grunge's fashion sense was about the whole anti-star thing. That definitely said something. But that's not where we were at. Musically, lyrically and idealistically, we were very similar to other groups. But the newly successful/former underground bands that were starting to get big like Jane's Addiction and the Chili Peppers were into a whole other thing and there was always sort of an element of fashion involved.

ML: What are you most passionate about these days?

SW: It sounds kind of pompous, but I'd have to say leisure. As I've gotten sober -- not locked in my own cell of addiction -- I've really come to enjoy having the opportunity to experience life. I used to dread going on vacation because it was a sort of false sense of reality. I wasn't on vacation. I was still strung out and a slave to chemicals now I'm really able to experience what it's like to take a vacation. To just live moment to moment. That's like to eat and swim and scuba dive and surf.

ML: Will you have any time off on tour?

SW: Not for the next few months. We have a ten-day break between the two legs with the Chili Peppers. Mary will probably be about six-and-a-half months pregnant by that time. She's four-and-a-half months pregnant now.

ML: I'm so happy for you. Do you know if it's a boy or girl?

SW: It's a boy. I'm glad that I'm in a time in my life where I can do this for real. I'm also grateful that I'll be a young dad. It's something I've always wanted to do to have a child when I'm young enough to really appreciate him and participate in his life. I think our break comes right before the end of Mary's second trimester, so we're looking to try to take a vacation somewhere in the Caribbean, somewhere that's not too populated. I want to experience different cultures, different foods, clean air and enjoy being alive.

bron : papermag.com