'I Just Let Him Have Free Reign' - Jimmy Allen Dives Into New Music With Sebastian James, Looks Back on Early Days of Puddle of Mudd

On Thursday (Dec. 11), songwriter and guitarist Jimmy Allen joined Loudwire Nights to celebrate brand-new music he's working on — as well as reflect on what it was like founding Puddle of Mudd in the early-'90s.

Listen to the full conversation in the player near the end of this article.

"It was so much fun, the Kansas City scene was real vibrant, so many bands and everything," Allen shared with host Chuck Armstrong about the early days of Puddle of Mudd.

"Wes [Scantlin] and I were in our 20s, we're young bucks trying to make it in the world. But it was a great time."

Allen's contributions to Puddle of Mudd are still heard by fans all over as he was part of some of their biggest hits, like "Drift and Die," "Blurry" and "She Hates Me."

"Creating the band and everything happened in 1993," he said.

"The Missouri River flooded our practice space. That's how we got the name Puddle of Mudd. Everything kind of fell together."

Jimmy Allen + Sebastian James Partner Up For New Music in 2026

Beyond Puddle of Mudd, Allen has stayed busy over the years as a songwriter, guitarist and collaborator with countless artists. Most recently — and the news broke during the conversation on Loudwire Nights — Allen teamed up with Sebastian James for his 2026 release, 1992 EP.

"This kid has been bouncing around, I've seen him grow up basically, coming to shows — either I would be at a Puddle of Mudd show or something and he would show up with his dad or I'd go check him out in his other band, I think they were 13 or 14 and they were so good," he said.

Last year, Allen reconnected with James thanks to his interview on Loudwire Nights.

"I was flying home from somewhere and I was listening to Loudwire Nights and I was like, 'OMG,' I was so happy that I texted him."

That text led to James asking Allen if he had any songs he wanted to work on together and Allen started sending him stuff.

"He was bouncing ideas back really quick," Allen recalled.

"I pretty much had the songs all recorded, all the arrangements worked out and everything like that. I had ideas, but I just let him have free reign and he sent me some stuff back and it was awesome."

The 1992 EP will be out in 2026 and the first taste of it is a song called "Dead Man Walking" which will release in early January.

"It's just good old fashioned rock and roll," Allen said about the song and EP.

"We've got some really good people behind it, too. We got Barry Pointer, he was the producer and just a master of tone. That's the guy you want working on your tones — and he's from Kansas City ... We had John Humphrey from Seether play drums, which is amazing. He's a beast, that guy, and the nicest guy ever. Just a sweet dude."

Allen said everything came together quickly and he and James hit it off right away.

READ MORE: Shaun Morgan Looks Back at Earliest Days of Seether - 'We Had to Claw Our Way to the Next Level'

"Everybody worked really well and we did it at my buddy's studio in KC, B-24 Studios, which is probably one of the best studios in the country," he said.

"Sebastian knows what he's trying to do. He's trying to rock and just trying to get out there and do his thing. The music business is a tough deal these days, [but] we clicked pretty good and I can shoot a song over and it hits him."

What Else Did Jimmy Allen Discuss on Loudwire Nights?

• What else is cooking for him and Sebastian James beyond the 1992 EP: "I think there's a couple more things that we really just haven't touched on all the way because we're all busy and doing stuff."
• The other projects he's working on: "I'm working on a project right now that'll probably come out and it's going to be kind of my own thing that I'm trying to do. I had the band Against All Will for awhile and it's kind of in that vein where it's just rock. There's some stuff that'll probably pop out next year that I've been working on."
• Why he likes working with other artists: "I usually come in with my ideas pretty fleshed out but it really makes me happy when somebody can kind of bounce an idea back and forth. The whole collaborative [process], I really love it."

Listen to the Full Interview in the Podcast Player Below

Jimmy Allen joined Loudwire Nights on Thursday, Dec. 11; the show replays online here, and you can tune in live every weeknight at 7PM ET or on the Loudwire app; you can also see if the show is available on your local radio station and listen to interviews on-demand.