1992-Wes ScantlinVocals, guitar
Doug ArditoBass1999-2014
Paul PhillipsGuitar1999-2005, 2009-2011
Greg UpchurchDrums2001-2005
Ryan YerdonDrums2006-2011
Shannon BooneDrums2011-2014
Damien StarkeyBass2010-2013
Matt FullerGuitar2014-
Michael John AdamsBass2014-
Dave MorenoDrums2014-
Puddle Of Mudd were the first band signed to Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst's label, Flawless Records, although Durst had singed.
After releasing two albums independently, Puddle Of Mudd was disbanded by 1999. Frontman Wes Scantlin was set to leave Kansas City and become a bartender in New Orleans, but when the Family Values Tour came to down, he snuck backstage and gave his last demo tape to Fred Durst's security guard. On his way to New Orleans, Scantlin found out that the Limp Bizkit leader heard the tape and wanted to sign him to his new label, Flawless Records, giving him his big break after he had already called it quits.
After Scantlin got the record deal, he needed all new band members, so the record company found them for him. It was mostly Scantlin's operation: he wrote most of the songs himself and kept the band going through various lineup changes. The original Puddle Of Mudd guitarist, Jimmy Allen, is credited as a co-writer on their hits "
Blurry," "
She Hates Me," and "Drift And Die."
Prior to Puddle of Mudd, Upchurch played in a band with Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell. Scantlin was a construction worker.
Their debut album, Come Clean, outsold all their others combined. After it was released in 2001, musical tastes started to shift, and by the time their next one, Life On Display, was issued in 2003, their aggressive rock sound was on the outs.
Their influences include Tom Waits, Queen, Pantera, and Alice in Chains.
The band name comes from Missouri River flood of 1993 that left much of Kansas City under water. They had to trek throug puddles of mud to get to their rehearsal space, so they decided that should be their band name, with the extra D added for distinction.
Scantlin has nodules in his throat from too much screaming and smoking. His doctor, though, advised him not to get them removed because it could alter his singing voice.
Ardito says the moment he wanted to be a musician was when he went to a J. Geils Band show and saw Peter Wolf's gigantic hickey. Scantlin's moment came at a Van Halen show, for which he skipped a soccer game. He got kicked off the team.
In a
Songfacts interview with Scantlin, he talked about his formula for songwriting success. "I always like to break it down in the middle eight and then erupt it," he said. "Elevate it from ground level and then make it
boom, go crazy, straight to the moon. And have a killer last chorus with an insane outro. Balls to the wall, just blowing your face off."
Wes Scantlin has racked up a long list of legal troubles over the years, including domestic violence arrests in 2002 and 2013, plus incidents involving disorderly conduct, airport altercations, and even police chases.
In March 2025, he was arrested in Torrance after an alleged domestic dispute with his girlfriend turned physical. Police reported visible injuries and said they found a controlled substance on him, leading to charges of domestic violence and drug possession. A year later, a judge approved a deal allowing Scantlin to avoid prison. Instead, he entered a one-year diversion program requiring rehab and court monitoring.
