SCOTT WEILAND On Being Sober: 'Being Clean Is Actually Being Closer To The Edge'

VELVET REVOLVER frontman Scott Weiland spoke to the Las Vegas Review-Journal ahead of the band's appearance New Year's Eve at Vegas' Hard Rock Hotel. Several excerpts from the interview follow: On his approach to living life: "My life is amazing. I'd say I'm pretty well-grounded. But still, I am who I am — I have my right foot firmly planted in reality, but my left foot is always hanging over the precipice. But that's the way I like it. "That's how I keep my edge. I would never want to become boring, because that would make me like every other boring, lazy sod. And I would fear that would take away my ability to write good songs." On being sober: "You definitely don't need to ingest major quantities of narcotics or alcohol to write good songs. In fact, my last few years of my narcotic-mix adventures, it became increasingly harder to tap into that cosmic musical stream of consciousness. "After a while, drugs are just like a big, wet blanket that sort of keeps you from feeling the raw emotion of the music. So in a sense, being clean is actually being closer to the edge." On taking drugs to self-medicate his bipolar condition: "Having bipolar condition is enough of a problem all in itself, but it's also a blessing in dealing with being an artist. And that's enough of a roller coaster ride. It keeps life on the edge. "I can go through a period of time where I'm completely stable, and I don't have any idea when I'm gonna flip out. And it can happen during a show, and it has happened. "Those are a lot of the reasons I self-medicated (for) so long. I've probably taken more narcotics than a small country has. It's weird, 'cause I don't know why I'm still here today. Things that kill other people don't kill me. Despite everything, I'm a survivor. I can only suppose I possess the kind of mentality and psychological makeup that I can handle it. I guess I come from very tough stock." On being diagnosed as bipolar a decade ago: "It wasn't a shock at all, because when I was a kid, probably 6 or 7 years old, I was diagnosed with ADD (attention deficit disorder). My mom never wanted me to take Ritalin or any of those forms of stimulant-oriented medications. ... I was always a real creative kid with a very overactive imagination, which is why the arts always appealed to me — arts and entertaining. So here I am, making a living." On joining VELVET REVOLVER: "I didn't want to just be involved in a super group. I had a huge amount of respect for the guys in the band, and I had a feeling it could be a big moneymaking venture. But coming from a band that had just made such a huge mark on rock 'n' roll and popular music ... I didn't want to get involved with something that would detract from that." "It was a real barnstormer right out of the gate. It was like a neutron bomb, and I think it's gotten a lot more streamlined since then, and a lot more sexual. "But this band has a lot of personalities in it. And I think there are times when we are getting along fabulously, and there are times when we seem to be on the edge of an internal explosion. "I think that's what made up great bands from the beginning of rock 'n' roll. What were the odds of that happening twice, of finding a band where you can have that sort of combination, that chemistry?"