STONE TEMPLE PILOTS bassist Robert DeLeo spoke to Freep.com recently about a number of topics. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Q: Did a reunion feel inevitable as the years went on?

Freep.com: I think enough time needs to go by to kind of heal things. And realistically, when the clock is ticking-- I don't want to be up there at 55 doing 'Dead And Bloated'. (Laughs) But I think this band is still capable of doing what we did 15 years ago just as good if not better now. We owe that to a little wisdom, a little sobriety and a little more focus. There's not that pressure of pleasing the record company and hitting the charts, because there's no new record."

Q: What thoughts went into the tour's set list?

Freep.com: You can imagine that first week of rehearsal and there's five records' worth of material to go through. We're pretty set on doing stuff we haven't done in a long time, even never done at all. There's a lot of stuff to sift through to see what holds up.

One of the things I do find is that musically there are a few things there that make me say, "Eh, I don't know if I'd do it that way today," but so much of it still holds up. At the time we had enough inside of us to know we wanted to write songs that would stand the test of time. That was merely because we're huge fans of music. I think about the songs I listened to when I was 5 that I can still listen to now at 42. There's a reason we did what we were doing, because we grew up on great music. In a way, it's not creating anything new -- it's really just trying to pass that along."

Q: Your songs are still a staple on rock radio. Which of the older hits stands up best for you?

Freep.com: It's pretty amazing. I certainly never take that for granted. If you'd have told me that when I was 10 or 15 years old, I'd probably have laughed. When I was younger, I'd have only wished to create music that would stand the test of time. When I hear AEROSMITH come on, then us, then LED ZEPPELIN after it, I'm pretty humbled by that. I always have a really huge place in my heart for 'Interstate Love Song'. I don't know if "best" is the word, but it's right up there with the best songs I've written. When we were getting knocked for being a grunge band, that certainly wasn't a grunge song. That's a soul song, an R&B; song. It's based around a lot of what I grew up hearing out of Detroit. James Jamerson is my favorite bass player, and the big underlying root of that song is Motown and funk. If that song defines Stone Temple Pilots, then that's enough to make me proud."

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