Robert DeLeo

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Robert DeLeo
Robert DeLeo @ Bluesfest (cropped).jpg
DeLeo performing in 2009
Background information
Birth nameRobert Emile DeLeo
Also known asRobert De Leo
Born (1966-02-02) February 2, 1966 (age 58)
Montclair, New Jersey, U.S.
Genres Alternative rock, grunge, hard rock
Occupation(s)Musician, songwriter, producer
Instrument(s)Bass guitar, guitar
Years active1985–present
Labels Atlantic

Robert Emile DeLeo (born February 2, 1966) is an American musician, best known as the bassist for rock band Stone Temple Pilots. He is part of Delta Deep and he has also played in Talk Show and Army of Anyone. He is the younger brother of Stone Temple Pilots guitarist Dean DeLeo. He is also the former bass player for the supergroup Hollywood Vampires.

Contents

Early life

DeLeo and his older brother Dean were both born in Montclair, New Jersey, and raised in the Jersey Shore community of Point Pleasant Beach. [1] He graduated from Point Pleasant Borough High School in 1984. [2]

Their older half-brother is actor Scott Marlowe.

Career

DeLeo performing at the Rolling Rock Town Fair in 2001 DeLeo Town Fair 2.jpg
DeLeo performing at the Rolling Rock Town Fair in 2001

Stone Temple Pilots (1985–2003, 2008–present)

DeLeo met Scott Weiland (who would eventually become lead singer of Stone Temple Pilots) at a Black Flag concert in Long Beach. They soon realized that they were both dating the same woman. After she moved to Texas, Weiland and DeLeo moved into her San Diego apartment, where they tried to form a band. They eventually hooked up with drummer Eric Kretz, and DeLeo managed to convince his brother Dean to play guitar in their new band. The band took the name Mighty Joe Young. They played many gigs in Los Angeles bars, and were eventually signed onto Atlantic Records in 1992. However, the name "Mighty Joe Young" had already been taken, so the band was forced to change their name and tossed around ideas like "Shirley Temple's Pussy" and "Sticky Toilet Paper" before changing it to "Stone Temple Pilots", which, according to Weiland, has no specific meaning, other than that it retained the STP initials.

During their years of greatest success in the 1990s, Stone Temple Pilots came to be one of the most successful bands of the decade. DeLeo is credited with much of the band's music, including the famous intros for the songs "Plush" and "Interstate Love Song". Although sales of their records exceeded over 30 million, the band disbanded due to Weiland's ongoing problems with drug abuse.

Stone Temple Pilots reunited in early 2008 and released their eponymous sixth studio album on May 25, 2010. On October 8, 2013, they released an EP entitled High Rise with new lead singer Chester Bennington of Linkin Park fame.

Later collaborations, 1997–present

During Stone Temple Pilots' hiatus in 1997 due to Weiland's run-ins with the law, DeLeo, his brother Dean, and Kretz joined with singer Dave Coutts of Ten Inch Men and formed Talk Show. Released in 1997 on Atlantic Records, their eponymous debut album peaked at #131 on the Billboard 200 and was considered a commercial flop. [3] Coutts was eventually fired and the band disbanded. Weiland went into rehab and released a solo album during this time.

After Stone Temple Pilots' break-up in 2003, DeLeo and his brother Dean joined Filter frontman Richard Patrick and drummer Ray Luzier to form the band Army of Anyone. The group met after Patrick contacted the DeLeos about writing material for Filter's fourth album. The band eventually called in Luzier in for an audition, found the formula worked, and the band was formed. The band's self-titled debut album was released in November 2006. The album became a critical success; some went as far to label the album as one of the best of the year. DeLeo summed up his sound on the album as follows;

I kind of combined bass stuff with some guitar stuff to achieve my sound—I've really been going nuts on eBay! I'm still trying to achieve this one bass sound I keep hearing in my head—kind of taking [Motown legend] James Jamerson's feel and mixing that with John Entwistle's or Chris Squire's sound. So it's a funky bottom, with a really aggressive top. The sound on this record is the closest I've gotten to that. [4]

However, Army of Anyone ended up going on "indefinite hiatus" in 2007 after low album sales and Patrick's return to Filter.

In 2007, DeLeo played bass on songs for Japanese rock band B'z, including two on their album Action . He also contributes bass to five songs on their 2019 album New Love , including "Rain & Dream" which also features Joe Perry. [5]

In 2016, DeLeo appeared with Kings of Chaos.

Solo career (2022–present)

On September 29, 2022, DeLeo announced his debut solo album Lessons Learned and released its lead single "Love is Not Made of Gold", featuring Jimmy Gnecco, the same day. [6]

Equipment and style

DeLeo is known for his smooth style of playing, with infusions of jazz, '60s rhythm and blues, and hard rock creating a distinctive tone. His primary influence is Motown bassist James Jamerson. Other influences include John Entwistle of The Who, Rocco Prestia of Tower of Power, Chris Squire of Yes, and John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin.

DeLeo is a former employee of Schecter Guitar Research and built the prototype of what later became his signature model while working there. The Schecter Model T was his primary live instrument during his years with Stone Temple Pilots. The basses original configuration featured a 34" scale neck and Seymour Duncan pickups in a "P/J" configuration. Schecter has since marketed several variants of this theme, including a 5-string model with a 35" scale length, and models with pickups from different manufacturers. [7]

Although he primarily uses the Schecter bass live, for recording purposes he has used a wide variety of basses, and has a fondness for oddball off-brand basses from the 1960s, particularly short-scale hollowbody basses which he strung with flat wound strings. [8] In Army of Anyone's "Goodbye" video, he played a Rickenbacker bass.

Stone Temple Pilots' debut album Core was recorded with a Jazz-type bass prototype version of his Schecter Model-T bass, a G&L L2000, and an Ampeg SVT amplifier with an 8x10 cabinet. Purple , their second album, was recorded with his live rig. [8] DeLeo's usual studio rig for most of Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop , all of No. 4 , and all of Shangri-La Dee Da , all by Stone Temple Pilots, was more complicated; he split his signal, bi-amping it to a '67 50-watt Marshall Plexi guitar head with '69 Marshall keyboard 8x10 cabinet, and a '59 Fender Bassman amplifier with a custom 1x15 cabinet. This configuration, which DeLeo noted in a Bass Player Magazine article as being an idea he lifted from Chris Squire of Yes, allowed him to use distorted and clean sounds simultaneously and produce more workable sounds on tape by blending the signals to taste. [8]

Production

DeLeo and his brother Dean produced the 2010 Stone Temple Pilots album Stone Temple Pilots , as well as Alien Ant Farm's TruANT in 2003.

Personal life

DeLeo is married to Kristen and has two sons. He lives in Palos Verdes, California. [9]

Discography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stone Temple Pilots</span> American rock band

Stone Temple Pilots is an American rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1989. Originally consisting of Scott Weiland, brothers Dean (guitar) and Robert DeLeo, and Eric Kretz (drums), the band's lineup remained unchanged from its formation until the firing of Weiland in February 2013. Vocalist Chester Bennington joined the band in May 2013 but left amicably in November 2015. In 2016, STP launched an online audition for a new lead vocalist; Jeff Gutt was announced as STP's new lead singer on November 14, 2017.

<i>Core</i> (Stone Temple Pilots album) 1992 studio album by Stone Temple Pilots

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<i>Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop</i> 1996 studio album by Stone Temple Pilots

Tiny Music... Songs from the Vatican Gift Shop is the third studio album by the American rock band Stone Temple Pilots, released on March 26, 1996 through Atlantic Records. After a brief hiatus throughout 1995, the band regrouped to record the album together at Westerly Ranch in Santa Ynez, California, where they also lived at the time. Like all of the band's albums up to that point, production was handled by Brendan O'Brien.

<i>Shangri-La Dee Da</i> 2001 studio album by Stone Temple Pilots

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dean DeLeo</span> American guitarist

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scott Weiland</span> American singer (1967–2015)

Scott Richard Weiland was an American singer and songwriter. He was best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Stone Temple Pilots from 1989 to 2003 and again from 2008 to 2013, recording six albums with them. Weiland is also known for being the lead vocalist of the rock supergroup Velvet Revolver from 2003 to 2008. He also released one album with rock supergroup Art of Anarchy in 2015, as well as four solo studio albums and several collaborations with other musicians throughout his career.

Army of Anyone was an American rock supergroup formed by Filter frontman Richard Patrick with two members of rock band Stone Temple Pilots. In addition to Patrick on vocals, the band featured brothers Dean DeLeo and Robert DeLeo, and Ray Luzier, formerly of David Lee Roth's band, on drums. The band released one self-titled album in November 2006, which was well-received, but sold well short of the members' multi-platinum selling releases of their other bands, even despite the success of their first single, "Goodbye", which peaked at number three on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Songs chart. After releasing a second charting single, "Father Figure", and touring in support of the album, the band went into hiatus in mid-2007, with members returning to their respective bands, except Luzier, who joined Korn. Despite being relatively inactive since 2007, all members have stayed in contact, and have independently shown interest in working on a second album if the logistics and scheduling of their commitments to other bands ever aligned.

Talk Show was an American alternative/hard rock band consisting of Dave Coutts (vocals), Dean DeLeo (guitar), Robert DeLeo (bass), and Eric Kretz (drums). The group was essentially Stone Temple Pilots with Coutts taking the place of Scott Weiland, who was working on solo material and struggling with drug addiction.

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References

  1. ↑ McKeon, Therese. "Flying High", BelowEmpty.com, August 21, 2000. "Robert DeLeo: 98! Actually we were born in Montclair but we grew up down in Point Pleasant Beach – down at the shore (Robert pronounces it 'shaw' in his best New Jersey accent)."
  2. ↑ Voger, Mark. "The Shore roots of Stone Temple Pilots", Asbury Park Press , October 6, 2002. Accessed February 13, 2021. "The DeLeo brothers .- guitarist Dean DeLeo and bassist Robert DeLeo - grew up at the Jersey Shore and played all over the area in their earliest bands. Bassist Robert - a member of the class of 1984 at Point Pleasant Boro High School (and onetime regular reader of the Asbury Park Press) - was born in Montclair and grew up in Point Pleasant Beach."
  3. ↑ Billboard 200 chart history – Talk Show. Accessed on March 6, 2010.
  4. ↑ Archived December 10, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ "B'z、待望のニュー・アルバム『NEW LOVE』5月29日にリリース決定。Robert DeLeo（STONE TEMPLE PILOTS）、Joe Perry（AEROSMITH）ら参加も". HMV Group (in Japanese). April 10, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  6. ↑ "Exclusive: Stone Temple Pilot's Robert de Leo Reveals Debut Solo Album, Shares "Love is Not Made of Gold"". Americansongwriter.com. September 29, 2022.
  7. ↑ "Find the Latest in Music Gear News and More | Harmony Central". News.harmony-central.com. Archived from the original on January 11, 2009. Retrieved July 6, 2011.
  8. 1 2 3 Bass Player Magazine interview, November 2001.
  9. ↑ Thomas, Rich (December 1, 2015). "Stone Temple Pilots bassist Robert DeLeo finds peace and passion on the California coast". TerraneaLife. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
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