Joey Castillo, the final drummer in late rock singer Scott Weiland‘s solo band The Wildabouts, recently touched on the Stone Temple Pilots vocalist’s death in an interview. In fact, Castillo said it was he who first discovered Weiland’s body. He added that the frontman had been plotting new music at the time.
Castillo, a former Queens of the Stone Age and Danzig member, explained as much during a March episode of One Life One Chance, the podcast hosted by punk musician Toby Morse, lead vocalist of H2O. Weiland died on Dec. 3, 2015, from an accidental overdose on The Wildabouts’ tour bus.
On the podcast, Castillo says, “It’s tough for me to even talk about because I found him when we were out on the road.” (This admission surprises Morse, who says he didn’t know the detail.) The drummer continues, setting the scene, “We were on tour, working our way back. … We had a day off when it all went down.”
When the public learned of Weiland’s death at 48, the rock community responded in numbers. What’s more, Weiland had further plans for music. On One Life One Chance, Castillo discussed a proposed Weiland album he was in the early stages of helping along.
That’s because the singer “had a lot of ideas and a lot of stuff he wanted to do still,” the drummer says. “He was really coming up with some great ideas. … I said, ‘Yeah, I can help you out.’ And he had me reach out to a few people who he wanted to work with. And without hesitance, every single one of them said, ‘Yes, I absolutely want to do this.'”
Castillo adds, “He was super stoked with all this. I was kinda being his, at that moment, like, ‘Hey, this person said they’re down.’ It was something that he was really excited about. And then, sadly, you know.”
A 2015 police report said it was Weiland’s tour manager, Aaron Mohler, who discovered the singer, per CBC. The report added that Mohler then called Castillo, who subsequently couldn’t find Weiland’s pulse. According to Fox 9, a 911 transcript indicated Mohler went to check on the vocalist after Weiland’s wife, Jamie Wachtel, was worried she hadn’t heard from the rocker who also once fronted Velvet Revolver.
Weiland formed the Wildabouts as his backing band following a five-year reunion with Stone Temple Pilots. Castillo joined The Wildabouts in 2015, succeeding drummer Danny Thompson; Castillo currently plays in The Bronx and Circle Jerks. Wildabouts guitarist Jeremy Brown also died in 2015. Weiland’s 21-year-old son, Noah Weiland, is also a musician; he recently released Last Kiss Before Detox.
Castillo addresses Weiland’s death about an hour into the video below.
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Joey Castillo Talks to One Life One Chance – March 28, 2022
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