AP Photo/Chris PizzelloThe Stone Temple Pilots are singing the legal blues.
Atlantic Records is suing two of the grunge rock band's members, frontman Scott Weiland and drummer Eric Kretz, alleging they tried to exit their record deal with the Warner Music Group label before it was officially up.
The lawsuit, filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan and a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, accuses the duo of attempting to sabotage their contract by threatening "to stop performing" and seeking to terminate the agreement unless Atlantic amended it to their liking.
The music giant is asking a Manhattan federal judge for a court declaration requiring Weiland and Kretz to fulfill their contractual obligations to record a new album—an album that STP supposedly owes Atlantic—with an option for two more now that they've reunited and are hitting the road this summer.
"They are touring successfully and have indicated their intention to record again," read the complaint.
The label noted that the contract was "written under New York laws and that the musicians are trying to use California laws to terminate it."
The Pilots subsequently issued a statement saying they were surprised and "deeply disappointed" about the suit, and believed themselves to be in the midst of "cordial and positive discussions" with the company about returning to the studio.
"Despite the allegations in the complaint, the band never threatened anything more than remaining away from the studio until equitable terms could be arranged," read the statement. "The precipitous filing of this action is yet another example of the difficulties facing artists in the new music environment, as relationships between artists and their labels fall further and further apart."
The quartet continued: "Eric and Scott have not yet been served and hope that Atlantic will allow cooler heads to prevail, and have the courtesy of shelving this action to permit negotiations to continue in a positive spirit rather than under a dark cloud of hostility. Should everyone operate in good faith, STP are certain that a new album from the band will be available soon. Should Atlantic instead pursue this scorched earth policy towards the band, the ultimate victims will be STP's fans, who will never be able to enjoy a new album from the group."
When Stone Temple Pilots split back in 2002, they had already recorded six albums for Atlantic. The label subsequently released Stone Temple Pilots' guitarist Dean DeLeo and bassist Robert DeLeo, so the brothers could form their own band, Army of Anyone, which garnered little attention or airplay.
After STP's demise, Weiland was named the vocalist for Velvet Revolver, a supergroup made up of ex-Guns N' Roses members Slash, Matt Sorum and Duff McKagan.
But after two successful albums with the band, Weiland's ongoing drug habit and legal hassles, including being dinged with a DUI in December and doing yet another stint in rehab, caught up with him and forced the cancellation of their Australian tour. By early April, Velvet had had enough and fired Weiland, citing his "erratic onstage behavior and personal problems."
A few weeks later, the rocker pleaded no contest to misdemeanor driving under the influence and was sentenced to eight days in a Los Angeles-area jail. But the frontman ended up only serving a few hours in May before he was released. Days later, Weiland reunited with the rest of the Pilots for a headlining gig at Ohio's Rock on the Range Festival, their first show in more than five years.