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Mike Patton

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File:Mike patton2.jpg
Mike Patton

Mike Patton (born Michael Allan Patton, January 27, 1968, in Eureka, California) is an American musician. He is best known as the lead singer of Faith No More from 1988 to 1998, but has also handled lead vocals for Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, Fantômas and Peeping Tom. He often produces side projects in collaboration with other musicians, such as John Zorn, Dan the Automator, Björk, The Melvins, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Melt-Banana, Sepultura, Kool Keith, The X-Ecutioners, Subtle, Rahzel and Kaada. Along with Greg Werckman, he co-founded and runs Ipecac Recordings. In May of 2006 he released his newest album "Peeping Tom" which is a collaboration of efforts from several other musicians. It is considered Mike Patton's version of a pop album, it took him several years to create/release. He performed live with Amon Tobin, a.o. at the 2005 Dour Festival.

Patton possesses a wide range of vocal textures and styles, ranging from falsettos, Sinatra-esque tenors and even death metal style grunts and screeches. This diversity has earned him the respect of numerous critics and fans, who consider him one of the most talented rock vocalists to emerge in the 90s.

Early Years

Growing up in Eureka, California, Patton and friends formed Mr. Bungle circa 1985. They recorded a few demos and earned a small local following. Patton joined Faith No More in January of 1989 and filled the vocal void left by the unreliable and recently fired Chuck Mosley, who moved on to the band Cement. Faith No More's The Real Thing was released later the same year. The album reached the top ten on the charts thanks largely to MTV's heavy rotation of the Epic promo.

Faith No More

Patton was known for bizarre stage antics and commentary. He was known to occasionally douse himself in urine, and gained notoriety for flopping around like a fish during an MTV Video Music Awards appearance. Patton also was referred to by bandmates as a "shit terrorist" as he coped with the pressures and demands of fame by terrorizing hotel rooms while on tour with his fecal matter, hiding it in air vents or blow dryers for the unlucky to find. "That was just my way of deflecting a lot of that attention, by throwing it back in peoples’ faces in sort of a grotesque light," Patton explained. "Sometimes it didn’t work, it just made things worse, but nonetheless that was my way and it got me through what I needed to get through."[1]

In the United States, Faith No More would never again match the commercial success of "The Real Thing." After a series of interesting but poorly promoted albums, namely Angel Dust; King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime; and Album of the Year, Faith No More officially disbanded in 1998.

Bungle and Beyond

During the long demise of Faith No More, Patton had resumed collaborating with Mr. Bungle. His success in mainstream rock and metal ultimately helped secure Mr. Bungle a record deal with Warner Bros. The band released a self-titled album (produced by John Zorn) in 1991, and the highly surreal Disco Volante in 1995. Their final album California (considered their most accessible) is regarded an essential record by such mainstream publications as Maxim and Rolling Stone.

Patton's other projects have included two solo albums in the Composer Series on John Zorn's Tzadik label (Adult Themes for Voice in 1996 and Pranzo Oltranzista in 1997). He is member of Hemophiliac where he does voice effects along with John Zorn on saxophone and Ikue Mori on laptop electronics. This group is billed as "improvisational music from the outer reaches of madness". He has also guested on Painkiller and Naked City recordings. He's appeared many times on other Tzadik releases with Zorn and others.

There have also been several projects over the years that have not seen an official release, although some live bootlegs do circulate. These projects include House of Discipline (with Bob Ostertag and Otomo Yoshihide), Moonraker (with Buckethead and DJ Eddie Def), and Patton & Rahzel. Patton contributed vocals to the Team Sleep song Koolade, but the song did not make it onto the final album. This is likely due in part to the unfinished album having been leaked very early onto the internet.

Recent production

Recently, Patton has worked with Björk and the beat boxer Rahzel. He is often featured on new releases, and is regarded as extremely hard working. Faith No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum remarked about Patton "caffeine is the only drug he does", in reference to the Faith No More song Caffeine from the album Angel Dust, which Patton wrote while in the middle of a sleep-deprivation experiment.

In 2005, Patton signed on to compose the soundtrack for the upcoming independent movie Pinion, marking his debut scoring an American feature-length film. His other film work includes portraying two major characters in the Steve Balderson film Firecracker. He will also compose and perform music for the upcoming Rockstar videogame Bully and has expressed his desire to compose for film director David Lynch.

Patton's long-gestating Peeping Tom album was released on May 30, 2006 on his own Ipecac label. The set was pieced together by swapping song files through the mail with collaborators like Norah Jones, Kool Keith and Massive Attack.

"I don't listen to the radio, but if I did, this is what I'd want it to sound like," Patton says of the project. "This is my version of pop music. In a way, this is an exercise for me: taking all these things I've learned over the years and putting them into a pop format."

Reactions to Fame

Patton is highly regarded in alternative musical circles, and seen as something of an idol in the eyes of modern alternative youth for his air of mystique, his constantly-changing musical sensibilities, his impressive vocal range, and his experimental nature. He remains an elusive figure in music, rarely giving interviews and characteristically dismissive of his contribution to Faith No More in particular. In an interview with the British music magazine Select he complained:

"I've had people write to me saying "I hate my parents, I'm doing drugs and I'm thinking about killing myself. What are you going to do about it?"

His reticence and apparent cynicism towards his own career has done little to detract from his remarkable vocal skills and enduring popularity with budding singers.

Patton has been married to his Italian wife, Titi Zuccatosta, since 1994. He used to own a home in Italy(which he sold about 5 years ago), and can speak fluent Italian. [2]

Outrageous Mike Patton Moments

  • During the 1992 Angel Dust tour with Guns N' Roses:
    • At one show in Lisbon, Faith No More invited the audience to throw garbage on stage. Patton then rummaged around and ate some of the trash. video
    • At another show in South America, the crowd was throwing empty plastic water bottles at Faith No More. Someone threw a bottle on-stage that had urine in it. Mike Patton opened the bottle and poured the contents over his head, plunging the entire audience into shocked silence.
    • Patton defecated in an orange juice carton and then sealed it and returned it to Axl Rose's tourbus vending machine.
  • During the MTV Music Awards performance of Epic in 1990, Patton flopped around on stage like the controversial dying fish from the video. video
  • At a 1995 concert in Chile, the excited crowd began to spit on Faith No More. Patton encouraged this and even invited people to spit in his open mouth while singing. video
  • During a European tour, Patton defecated on a park bench in front of Kensington Palace.
  • During a 1991 FNM concert in Denmark, Patton told the audience that tour-mates, Lenny Kravitz and Sinead O'Conner were copulating in the hospitality tent. Kravitz looked on in horror.
  • Patton became infamous for talking about his self-stimulation habits in the press. He often wore a t-shirt with a grotesque image of a man sitting on a toilet seat, pleasuring himself, and the words "Girls are fine--but they're not the real thing."
  • During a Faith No More concert, Patton took off his boot, urinated in it, and then drank it.
  • Patton regularly did flips while singing on stage. He often landed painfully on his back, but would get right up and continue singing without interuption. video video 2
  • Patton and Faith No More were famous for showing their disdain for MTV...on MTV. This can be seen in the Hanging with MTV performance during the Angel Dust era, where the band continuously interrupted a flustered VJ while she was trying to introduce the next video. video
  • Patton, (whilst with Faith No More) during their encore, played their classic tune EPIC at the Phoenix Festival 1993, Stratford upon Avon, Mike whilst singing - urinated all over the security staff at the front of the stage, infront of a 58,000 strong amused crowd.
  • In 2002, Patton, this time fronting Tomahawk at the London Astoria, again exposed his penis and urinated on a bunch of photographers. Officials at the venue were horrified, but Patton claimed after the show that it was merely a squirting dildo he'd shoved in his pants before going on-stage. The admission seemed to satisfy the press. However, in a recent interview Patton was asked if it was real or not and was quoted as saying, "There's a dick. There's piss. You do the math."

Patton Trivia

  • Patton claimed to be an obsessive fan of crooked televangelist Robert Tilton
  • Patton's right hand is permanently numb from an on-stage accident during his third concert with Faith No More, where he unintentionally cut himself on a broken bottle and severed the tendons and nerves in his hand.
  • Patton was not classically trained and neither reads nor writes music in the traditional sense. Instead, he composes in his home studio and on his computer.
  • The recent General Patton Vs. the X-ecutioners was completely arranged and mixed by Patton on his home computer.
  • Patton was recently one of two guest soloists at an Italian opera. A recording may see the light eventually.
  • Patton has claimed to be a video game junkie.
  • Patton used to collect S&M masks.

Discography

File:Faith No More promo photo 1997.jpg
Mike Patton (middle) and Faith No More in 1997.

with Faith No More

File:Mr Bungle.jpg
Mike Patton (middle) and Mr. Bungle

with Mr. Bungle

File:Fantomas promo 2001 1s.jpg
Mike Patton (right) and Fantômas

with Fantômas

with Tomahawk

Solo Albums

as Peeping Tom

with John Zorn

Album Collaborations

File:Lovage promophoto.jpg
Lovage:Mike Patton, Jennifer Charles & Dan the Automator
  • 1995 - Burn or Bury (by Milk Cult, Patton performs vocals on Psychoanalytwist)
  • 1996 - Roots (by Sepultura, Patton sings on Lookaway)
  • 1997 - Blood Rooted (by Sepultura, Patton sings and co-writes Mine)
  • 1997 - Great Jewish Music: Burt Bacharach (by Various Artists, Patton (vocals and keyboards) collaborates with David Slusser on She's Gone Away)
  • 1997 - Great Jewish Music: Serge Gainsbourg (by Various Artists, Patton sings and plays all instruments on Ford Mustang)
  • 1997 - Fear No Love (by Bob Ostertag, Patton contributes vocals to The Man in the Blue Slip and Not Your Girl)
  • 1997 - AngelicA 97 (by Various Artists, House of Discipline contributes The Art Of Fist-Fucking (1 & 2) and Patton contributes to Romance For A Choking Man/Woman (with Marie Goyette) and cudegokalalumosospasashatetéwaot)
  • 1999 - Memory Is An Elephant (by Tin Hat Trio, Patton sings on hidden track Infinito)
  • 1999 - Tribus (by Sepultura, Patton co-writes and sings The Waste)
  • 1999 - No Coração dos Deuses - Soundtrack (Patton performs Procura O Cara with members of Sepultura)
  • 1999 - Song Drapes (by Jerry Hunt, Patton contributes text/vocals on Song Drape 7 "I Come")
  • 2000 - The Crybaby (by Melvins, Patton sings and plays instruments on G.I. Joe)
  • 2000 - Great Phone Calls (by Neil Hamburger, Patton featured on Music of the Night)
  • 2000 - Down With The Scene (by Kid 606, Patton contributes vocals on Secrets 4 Sale)
  • 2002 - Rise Above: 24 Black Flag Songs to Benefit the West Memphis Three (by Various Artists, Patton performs on Six Pack)
  • 2003 - Patton performs vocals on Koolade (formerly titled "Kool-Aid Party"), an unreleased song originally recorded for the album Team Sleep
  • 2004 - Virginal Co Ordinates (by Eyvind Kang, Patton contributes voice & electronics)
  • 2004 - Medúlla (by Björk, features Patton on Pleasure Is All Mine and Where Is The Line)
  • 2004 - White People (by Handsome Boy Modeling School, features Patton on Are You Down With It?)
  • 2004 - The End of the Fear of God (by Various Artists, Patton duets with Kid 606 on Circle A)
  • 2005 - Oceanic: Remixes/Reinterpretations (by Isis, Patton contributed a version of Maritime)
  • 2005 - Burner (by Odd Nosdam, features Patton on 11th Ave Freakout Pt 2)
  • 2005 - The Long Vein of the Law (by Subtle, features Patton on Long Voice)
  • 2005 - Wei-Wu-Wei (by Corleone: Roy Paci, Patton contributes vocals on Tutto diventerà rosso)
  • 2006 - New Heavy (by Dub Trio, features Patton on Not Alone)
  • 2006 - Trouble – The Jamie Saft Trio Plays Bob Dylan (upcoming album by Jamie Saft Trio, Patton is a featured vocalist)

Filmography

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