Roddy Bottum
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Roswell Christopher Bottum (born July 1, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the keyboardist for the San Francisco
alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music that combines heavy metal with influences from alternative rock and other genres not normally associated with metal. Alternative metal bands are often characterized by ...
band
Faith No More Faith No More is an American Rock music, rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before September 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/rhythm guitarist ...
. He is also guitarist and co-lead vocalist for the pop group
Imperial Teen Imperial Teen is a San Francisco–based indie pop group made up of Roddy Bottum (Faith No More), primarily on guitar/vocals; Will Schwartz (also of Hey Willpower), primarily on guitar/vocals; Lynn Truell (née Perko, formerly of Sister Dou ...
, best known for their 1999 single "Yoo Hoo" used in the movie '' Jawbreaker.'' In addition to popular musical career, Bottum also scored three Hollywood movies and composed an opera entitled ''Sasquatch: The Opera'', which premiered in New York in April 2015.


Early life

Bottum was born July 1, 1963, in Los Angeles, California, to Roswell ("Ros") Bottum II (1936-1993) and Mary, née Hustead, both natives of
South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state, state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Dakota people, Dakota Sioux ...
. Bottum has three sisters, Catherine, Elizabeth, and Stephanie. His father was a
federal prosecutor An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gov ...
for the
United States District Court for the Southern District of California The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (in case citations, S.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are ap ...
, who later went on to found the law firm Bottum and Feliton in 1981. His paternal grandfather was the South Dakota lawyer and politician Roswell Bottum; they descended from the farmer and politician Roswell Bottum, of Orwell, Vermont. Bottum was raised
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
. As a child, he studied classical piano. Bottum attended Loyola High School, a
Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
Catholic school in Los Angeles, from which he graduated in 1981. He moved to San Francisco shortly after graduating to attend
San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...
in 1981 as a film major.


Career

Joining his schoolfriends
Billy Gould William David Gould (born April 24, 1963) is an American musician and producer. He is best known as the bassist of Faith No More. Biography Early years Gould was born on April 24, 1963, in Los Angeles, and he is of Scottish and Hungarian desce ...
and
Mike Bordin Michael Andrew Bordin (born November 27, 1962) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Faith No More. He has amicably been known as "Puffy", "Puffster" or "The Puff", in reference to the afro hair style he wore in ...
in Faith No More in 1981 (replacing Wade Worthington), Bottum remained in the band until its demise in 1998. In 1985, Bottum wrote the words to Faith No More's first internationally-recognized song, "We Care a Lot". However, after 1992's '' Angel Dust'' and its ensuing tour, Bottum's input into Faith No More was reduced significantly. His keyboards, previously prominent in the band, were almost absent on '' King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime'' (1995). Bottum later explained that he suffered a
nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness, a mental health condition, or a psychiatric disability, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. A mental disorder is ...
in this era and "all of that imeis a real blur for me." He was addicted to heroin and also experienced the death of his father and witnessed the aftermath of
Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – ) was an American musician. He was the lead vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter, and a founding member of the grunge band Nirvana (band), Nirvana. Through his angsty songwriting and anti-establis ...
's suicide on
Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, Love has had a career spanning four decades. She rose to promi ...
(Cobain's wife and Bottum's close friend, and also an early singer for Faith No More). In 1994 and 1995, Bottum formed
Imperial Teen Imperial Teen is a San Francisco–based indie pop group made up of Roddy Bottum (Faith No More), primarily on guitar/vocals; Will Schwartz (also of Hey Willpower), primarily on guitar/vocals; Lynn Truell (née Perko, formerly of Sister Dou ...
with Lynn Perko, another Bay Area music veteran. The band's mainstream pop sound was a stark contrast to the aggressive metal of Faith No More, and is perhaps best known for their single "Yoo Hoo", used in the 1999 film '' Jawbreaker''. In 2009, Bottum returned to Faith No More for a reunion tour, and in 2015, the band released their seventh studio album, ''
Sol Invictus Sol Invictus (, "Invincible Sun" or "Unconquered Sun") was the official Solar deity, sun god of the late Roman Empire and a later version of the god Sol (Roman mythology), Sol. The emperor Aurelian revived his cult in 274 AD and promoted Sol Inv ...
''. In 2013, Bottum moved to New York City and produced an opera, ''Sasquatch: The Opera''. He wrote the music and libretto for the piece about the elusive beast of the forest, describing it as a dark and gothic fairy tale about a backwoods family and the relationship between a caged woman and Sasquatch. The opera premiered in Brooklyn in 2015 and went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the summer of 2016 for a month of shows. Bottum also wrote a short-form opera called ''The Ride'' about the AIDS LifeCycle Ride, a charity bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, a ride Bottum participated in twice. The piece was staged with two stationary bicycles onstage. In 2016, Bottum joined the art music collective Nastie Band. The group features 85-year-old singer Chris Kachulis and Bottum's long-time friend, visual artist Frank Haines. In 2018, Bottum made his acting debut in Sebastian Silva's feature film ''Tyrel'', about racial tension in America. The ensemble cast features Jason Mitchell, Chris Abbott, Michael Cera, and Caleb Landry Jones. The film premiered at
Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...
and had a theatrical release through
Magnolia Pictures Magnolia Pictures LLC is an American independent film distributor and production company, and is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in ...
in 2019. Also in 2019, Bottum formed the band Crickets, a Brooklyn-based band, with JD Samson and Michael O'Neill. They released their eponymous debut record on Muddguts Records in 2020. In 2020, Bottum released the song "Daddy" under the name Man on Man, with partner Joey Holman. The video for "Daddy" was banned by YouTube for "violating rules of sex and nudity". The video was re-instated a month later on YouTube after receiving much criticism from the band and ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'' magazine. The second Man on Man single and video, "Baby, You're My Everything", was released by Bottum and Joey Holman in August 2020. Man on Man released their self-titled debut album via Polyvinyl Record Co. on May 7, 2021. Their second album, "Provincetown" was released via Polyvinyl on June 16, 2023.


Film and TV scoring

Bottum composed the music for Craig Chester's gay romantic comedy film ''
Adam & Steve ''Adam & Steve'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by and starring Craig Chester, who also wrote the screenplay. It deals with the lives of two gay men, played by Craig Chester and Malcolm Gets. The film had its UK premiere on N ...
'' (2005) and scored '' What Goes Up'' (2009). He also composed the music for the 2007 film '' Kabluey'', starring Lisa Kudrow and Scott Prendergrast. Bottum scored '' Gigantic'' (2008), a film by Matt Aselton, starring Zooey Deschanel and Paul Dano. In 2010, he scored the documentary '' Hit So Hard'' about drummer
Patty Schemel Patricia Theresa Schemel (born April 24, 1967) is an American drummer and musician who rose to prominence as the drummer of alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998. Born in Los Angeles, Schemel was raised in rural Marysville, Washington, ...
. In 2010, Bottum also scored '' Fred: The Movie'' for
Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...
. He has gone on to score the sequel to that film and '' Fred: The Show'' for the same network.


Personal life

Bottum revealed his homosexuality in a 1993 interview with
Lance Loud Alanson Russell "Lance" Loud (June 26, 1951 – December 22, 2001) was an American television personality, magazine columnist, and new wave rock-n-roll performer. Loud is best known for his 1973 appearance in '' An American Family'', a pione ...
for ''
The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...
''. In a 2001 interview in ''The Advocate'', Bottum stated that "I would never have thought as a gay teen I'd be in a band that would be considered heavy metal or hard rock." A 1999 article in ''The Advocate'' said of Imperial Teen, "With lyrical allusions to wearing lipstick and male pronouns used to address love objects, Imperial Teen serves up a gay sensibility that ordinarily surfaces only from straight bands like
Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit * Pulp (band), an English rock band Engineering * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture ...
or
Pizzicato Five Pizzicato Five (formerly typeset as Pizzicato V and sometimes abbreviated to P5)Yang Jeff, Dina Can, Terry Hong, (1997) ''Eastern Standard Time'' pg 277 New York: Mariner Books was a Japanese pop band formed in Tokyo in 1984 by multi-instrum ...
." Bottum noted "I think there's a resistance from gay artists to go that route just because it's so predictable. But it is annoying to see bands play it as safe as they do these days." Before he came out as gay, Bottum was involved in a brief heterosexual relationship with
Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, Love has had a career spanning four decades. She rose to promi ...
in the early 1980s, concurrent with the time she sang for Faith No More. The two remain friends decades later.


Discography


References


External links


Soundtrack.net interview
July 22, 2001 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bottum, Roddy 1963 births 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American keyboardists 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American keyboardists 21st-century American LGBTQ people Alternative rock keyboardists American alternative rock guitarists American alternative rock musicians American alternative rock singers American gay musicians American heavy metal keyboardists American male guitarists American male singers Faith No More members Guitarists from Los Angeles LGBTQ people from California Living people Loyola High School (Los Angeles) alumni Singers from Los Angeles