New STONE TEMPLE PILOTS Frontman Names One SCOTT WEILAND-Era Song That Is 'Off Limits'

Brad Copeland of Rock 100.5 The KATT's "Rick & Brad Morning Show" conducted an interview with singer Jeff Gutt and drummer Eric Kretz of STONE TEMPLE PILOTS at this past weekend's Rocklahoma festival in Pryor, Oklahoma. You can now watch the chat below.

Asked if there is any song from the STONE TEMPLE PILOTS catalogue that is "off limits" for him to sing out of respect for the band's original frontman, Scott Weiland, Gutt said: "Well, that's more up to these guys [referring to the rest of the group], but I have a particular thing with 'Sour Girl', just because I feel it's written… it's a personal message, so I don't know… To me, that one's a little off limits. But other than that, I'm game."

Kretz was full of praise for STP's new lead vocalist, saying that "now we get to pull out stuff" in concert "that we haven't really busted into in about 20-something years.

"When he came into the audition, man, he nailed it," the drummer added. "He actually came in and sang 'Piece Of Pie', and no one had the balls to come in and hit something that hard."

Jeff said: "I had to do it first song, 'cause it was the one I didn't have memorized. I knew every other song; it was seven songs. Most of 'em I'd been playing for ages. Thank god I did 'Trippin' On A Hole [In A Paper Heart]', like, 10 years before that for many years, so that was like second nature."

Regarding how STONE TEMPLE PILOTS narrowed down the tracks they wanted each vocalist to tackle during the audition process, Eric said: "It's a tough thing, 'cause we wanted to give people a variety of songs to choose from, because some people's voices were great for 'Interstate Love Song', but then when they got to 'Dead & Bloated', they just couldn't hit it. Or something like 'Piece Of Pie'. Whereas Jeff could actually hit everything. You've gotta have razor blades in your throat to [sing 'Dead & Bloated']."

Added Jeff: "And luckily, I do."

STP's self-titled seventh studio effort was released on March 16 and is the band's first with Gutt.

Gutt made his live debut with the band last November in Los Angeles. The band recently did its first round of dates in support of the new album and will join forces with BUSH and THE CULT for the first time this summer for the "tri-headlining" "Revolution 3 Tour". The North American amphitheater trek begins on July 18 in Nashville and will hit an additional 19 cities over six weeks before concluding in Phoenix, Arizona on September 2. Each group will perform a full set in a different order each night.

Weiland died in December 2015 from a lethal mix of drugs and alcohol while on a tour with his solo act, THE WILDABOUTS.