Mike Patton

Mike Patton is an American musician and vocalist known for his wide vocal range and experimental musical nature. He is most famous for his work with Faith No More but he has played with several other bands, including Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, Fantômas, Lovage, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Peeping Tom. He often produces side projects in collaboration with other musicians, such as John Zorn, Dan the Automator, Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E., Melvins, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Melt-Banana, Sepultura, X-Ecutioners, Merzbow, Team Sleep, Lovage, Maldoror, Weird Little Boy, Rahzel, and Kaada. Along with Greg Werckman, he co-founded and runs Ipecac Recordings. He performed live with Amon Tobin, 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.

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 (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 video for the song "Epic."

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 the 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 people's 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."

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 (Angel Dust; King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime; and Album of the Year), Faith No More officially disbanded in 1998.

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 was titled California, and was widely 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 saxaphone 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 Kool-Aid Party, 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.

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 "Angel Dust"), which Patton wrote and recorded 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.

Peeping Tom has now finally seen an official release after spending several years as nothing but leaked demos. The set was pieced together by Mike 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."

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?'"

Patton married Italian artist Titi Zuccatosta in 1994. They separated in 2001. During an appearance on the radio show, LOVELINE, Patton said that it was a case of two people wanting different things and hinted that his excessive work habits may have been a factor. "It's very hard. It's a daily struggle", he commented in regards to the rigors of juggling a busy music career and a marriage. "It had to happen... Even though we knew each other really well when we got married, it doesn't get easier." He later added, "We're trying this. See what happens. There's still hope." Relatedly, Patton used to own a home in Bologna, Italy (which he sold around the time of the break-up), and speaks fluent Italian.