Q&A
Returning with a new solo album, the Creed frontman reflects on his darkest times, and why music keeps pulling him through.
ack in the late 90s, as partner to guitarist Mark Tremonti in post-grunge behemoth Creed, Florida-born singer Scott Stapp enjoyed the best things that fate can throw at a rock star. But across the millennial boundary line, the headlines grew darker: public intoxication, prescription drugs, sex tapes, hallucinations, homelessness. Now, having stared into the abyss and retreated, Stapp, who returns with the alt.rock anthemics of new solo album Higher Power, is a generous interviewee.
You must be pleased with your new album.
Very much. It was probably one of the most difficult album processes of my career, in terms of everything that life was throwing at me. I think ‘life-saving’ would be too melodramatic, but you know how music can be there during difficult times. This album provided me with an outlet to plug in and gain strength through the storm.
Should we interpret these songs as being about your past drug problems?
No, it’s not about those hardships. My last big public slip [with drugs] was over a decade ago. This was more about navigating through life. I’m dealing with betrayal, with realising that not everyone has your best interests at heart. It’s about the pain of the glass breaking and that childhood innocence – that Peter Pan [mind-set] – finally coming off your eyes. It’s about realising that the world we live in is not all unicorns and rainbows.
You’ve also said that Higher Power is about redemption. I started the album with the title track, Higher Power, as me trying to live a life in sobriety and recovery, having battled those demons for years. But then I’m going through a transformative process as the album unfolds, rediscovering who I was at my core through the adversity. Then I tied it up with Weight Of The World. So I start and end the album with God, because that’s the redemptive process for me. I can only be redeemed through the grace of God.
What are your memories of the album sessions? It was kind of stream-of-consciousness, like: “Keep playing that, I’m gonna jump on the mic.” I enjoy creating that way, because you get so in-the-moment and it just flows through you. It was a journey figuring out who was gonna do the duet on If These Walls Could Talk. But when I watched [hard-rock queen] Dorothy live, I knew it in my gut. She laid down her vocal, and I’ll never forget getting the track back. When her voice came in I got goosebumps all over my body – and a tear.
It seemed like Creed were on top of the world in the late nineties. Why do you think things started going wrong for you personally?
When you have everything thrown at you, you can take some wrong paths, and those things can latch on to your soul and take you out. That’s one th
