Mike Patton

Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock bands Faith No More and Mr. Bungle. He has also fronted and/or played with Tomahawk, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Fantômas, Moonchild Trio, Kaada/Patton, Dead Cross, Lovage, Mondo Cane, the X-ecutioners, and Peeping Tom. Consistent collaborators through his varied career include avant-garde jazz saxophonist John Zorn, hip hop producer Dan the Automator and classical violinist Eyvind Kang. Patton saw his largest success with Faith No More; although they scored only one US hit, they scored three UK top 20 singles.

Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techniques, wide range of projects, style-transcending influences, eccentric public image and contempt for the music industry, Patton has earned critical praise and influenced many contemporary singers. He has been cited as an influence by members of Coheed and Cambria, Deftones, Five Finger Death Punch, Hoobastank, Incubus, Lostprophets, Killswitch Engage, Korn, Queens of the Stone Age, System of a Down, Papa Roach, Mushroomhead, and Slipknot.

Patton has worked as a producer or co-producer with artists such as Merzbow, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Sepultura, Melvins, Melt-Banana, and Kool Keith. He co-founded Ipecac Recordings with Greg Werckman in 1999, and has run the label since. Patton is an outspoken, even mocking, critic of the mainstream music industry and has been a champion for non-mainstream music that he says has "fallen through the cracks."

Early years

Mike Patton was born in Eureka, California, to a social worker mother and a physical education teacher father. Patton's home was strictly secular. During his first years, his family had an apartment in San Jose, California, in which they spent much time before they permanently relocated to Eureka. Patton says he has written recreationally for as long as he can remember. Due to his father's profession, Patton grew up as a sports enthusiast and practiced them regularly until his touring career began in 1989. One of his early musical memories was listening to his father's records by Earth, Wind & Fire and a Frank Zappa one, however, at the time, the artists never left a significant impression on Patton. In elementary school he was a good student and athlete, but had very few friends due to his focus on getting good grades. As an "escape valve", he regularly asked his parents to drop him off at the movies, where he secretly watched slasher films and ''Star Wars'', and the latter's soundtrack impacted him deeply. He and his bandmates have consistently credited their early years in Eureka, a relatively isolated city in the far north of California, to the intense curiosity that would drive their future career paths (Eureka being one of the few big towns between San Francisco and Portland, and surrounded by dense redwood forests). Although his family did not have an artistic background, Patton was thankful for the freedom they granted him which led him to music.

Patton studied at Eureka High School where he met bassist Trevor Dunn and later guitarist Trey Spruance, both members of its music theory class and jazz ensembles. Patton got to know Dunn through trading records and they bonded over their studiousness, sarcastic humor and disaffection. Both were part of the cover band Gemini that performed songs by popular heavy metal groups. They quickly gained interest in heavier styles and joined the thrash metal cover band Fiend, but were kicked out and subsequently recorded a death metal tape under the name Turd, with Dunn on vocals and Patton on the instruments. Although Patton was "pretty well-adjusted and well-liked by is middle schoolpeers", he had a "hyper geek" personality and felt increasingly alienated from sportspeople; ultimately, he found a supportive environment in the death metal music scene where he shifted his focus from sports to art. He and Dunn also had punk friends and started to branch out to that subculture; neither musician wanted to be associated with the drug epidemic in Eureka nor the school's party scene, thus soon self-identified as straight edge. On the other hand, Trey Spruance, who is a year younger, and drummer Jed Watts were members of Torchure, a Mercyful Fate-inspired band that had played with Patton's Fiend, and they formed another two-piece extreme metal band called FCA. Eventually, the four musicians joined up and established Mr. Bungle in 1984. In November, they performed its first show in the adjacent town of Bayside, California. Dunn, Spruance and Patton "pretty much hated everyone" at school and hung out alone next to the tennis courts outside campus. To pass the time, they often engaged in late night freighthopping, getting off at nearby towns or remote, wooded areas, and relying on hitchhiking to find their way home. While they disliked the cultural vapidness and degradation of the area, they appreciated their school teachers who nurtured their artistic interests; an English teacher turned Patton onto Marquis de Sade and '' The Painted Bird'' by Jerzy Kosiński, while Dan Horton, their music teacher, let them use the music room after school and even joined them as a temporary horn player at a show.

Patton enrolled in California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt, located in the nearby town of Arcata, California, to study English literature with plans to become a writer. He performed very well in college and wrote numerous short stories of varied genres, while at the time music was an enjoyable yet not-too-serious hobby for Patton. At Humboldt, Patton met his future band Faith No More during a 1986 show at a pizza parlor, where Mr. Bungle played numerous times. After the performance, Spruance, who had invited Patton to the show, gave drummer Mike Bordin Mr. Bungle's demo ''The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny''. From school to college, Patton also worked part-time at the only record store in Eureka until he joined Faith No More in 1988.

During the late 1980s, Mr. Bungle released a number of demos on cassette only: 1986's ''The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny'', 1987's ''Bowel of Chiley'', 1988's ''Goddammit I Love America'' and 1989's ''OU818''. The last three feature tracks that would later be included on their 1991 debut studio release.

Music career

Faith No More: 1988–1998; 2009–present

Remembering Mr. Bungle's first demo tape, ''The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny'', the members of Faith No More approached Patton to audition as their lead singer in 1988. The band tried out more than fifteen singers to fill the role, including Chris Cornell from Soundgarden, but they settled on Patton in view of his versatility. Over the next few months, they performed a few live shows together. Patton would be officially announced as their new singer in January 1989, replacing Chuck Mosley; this forced Patton to quit his studies at Humboldt State University. Mosley subsequently formed the bands Cement and VUA, and had several special "one-off" performances at shows with Faith No More and Patton before his death in 2017.

Faith No More's '' The Real Thing'' was released in 1989. The album reached the top 20 on the US charts, thanks largely to MTV's heavy rotation of the "Epic" music video, (which features Patton in a Mr. Bungle T-shirt). Faith No More released three more studio albums—'' Angel Dust'', '' King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime'', and '' Album of the Year''—before disbanding in 1998. In one interview, Patton cited what he perceived as the declining quality of the band's work as a contributing factor to the split.

On February 24, 2009, after months of speculation, Faith No More announced they would be reforming with a line-up identical to the '' Album of the Year'' era, embarking on a reunion tour called '' The Second Coming Tour''. To coincide with the band's reunion tour, Rhino released the sixth Faith No More compilation, '' The Very Best Definitive Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection'' in the UK on June 8. The same line-up eventually released a new album called ''Sol Invictus'' in 2015.

Solo work and band projects: 1984–present

During his time in Faith No More, Patton continued to work 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 experimental '' Disco Volante'' in 1995. Their final album, ''California'', was released in 1999. The band ceased being active following the 1999–2000 tour in support of the ''California'' record, although their disbandment was only officially confirmed in November 2004. Mr. Bungle reunited in 2019 with three original members (Patton, Dunn and Spruance) plus drummer Dave Lombardo and guitarist Scott Ian to re-record its first demo from 1986 '' The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny''; the album was released on October 30, 2020.

Patton's other projects included two solo albums on the Composer Series of John Zorn's Tzadik label, ('' Adult Themes for Voice'' in 1996 and '' Pranzo Oltranzista'' in 1997). He is a member of Hemophiliac, in which he performs vocal 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 has appeared on other Tzadik releases with Zorn and others, notably as part of the "Moonchild Trio" alongside Joey Baron and Trevor Dunn, named after Zorn's 2006 album on which the trio first appeared, '' Moonchild: Songs Without Words''.

In 1998, Patton formed the metal supergroup Fantômas with guitarist Buzz Osborne (of The Melvins), bassist Trevor Dunn (of Mr. Bungle), and drummer Dave Lombardo (of Slayer). They have released four studio albums. In 1999, Patton collaborated with Japanese experimental musician Merzbow on the album ''She'', released under the name Maldoror.

In 1999, Patton met former The Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison at a Mr. Bungle concert in Nashville, and the two subsequently formed the band Tomahawk. Tomahawk's straightforward rock sound has often been compared to '' Album of the Year''/'' King for a Day'' era Faith No More.

In 2001, he contributed vocals to Chino Moreno's group Team Sleep and released the album '' Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By'' with the group Lovage, a collaborative project consisting of Patton, Dan the Automator, Jennifer Charles, and Kid Koala.

Patton performed vocals for Dillinger Escape Plan's 2002 EP, '' Irony Is a Dead Scene''. That year, he joined violinist Eyvind Kang and his ensemble Playground to play the piece '' Virginal Co Ordinates'' at the in Bologna. The performance would be release as an album in 2003.

In 2004, Patton worked with Björk and the beat boxer Rahzel on the album '' Medúlla''. That same year, Patton released the album '' Romances'' with Kaada and contributed vocals to the album ''White People'' by Handsome Boy Modeling School (Dan the Automator and Prince Paul). In 2005, Patton collaborated with hip hop DJ trio and turntablists The X-Ecutioners to release the album '' General Patton vs. The X-Ecutioners''.

In February 2006, Mike Patton performed an operatic piece composed by Eyvind Kang, based on the 1582 work ''Cantus Circaeus'' by Giordano Bruno, at Teatro Comunale di Modena in Modena, Italy. Patton sang alongside vocalist Jessika Kenney, and was accompanied by the Modern Brass Ensemble, Bologna Chamber Choir, and Alberto Capelli and Walter Zanetti on electric and acoustic guitars. The singer remarked that it was extremely challenging to project the voice without a microphone. This performance was later released as the record '' Athlantis'' in July 2007, through Ipecac Recordings.

Patton's ''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 Dan the Automator, Rahzel, Norah Jones, Kool Keith, Massive Attack, Odd Nosdam, Amon Tobin, Jel, Doseone, Bebel Gilberto, Kid Koala, and Dub Trio.

In 2008, he performed vocals on the track "Lost Weekend" by The Qemists. In December 2008, along with Melvins, Patton co-curated an edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties Nightmare Before Christmas festival. Patton chose half of the lineup and performed the album '' The Director's Cut'' in its entirety with Fantômas. Patton also appeared as Rikki Kixx in the Adult Swim show ''Metalocalypse'' in a special 2 part episode on August 24.

In June 2009, Mike Patton and Fred Frith performed in Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, England as part of that year's Meltdown Festival.

On May 4, 2010, ''Mondo Cane'', where Patton worked live with a 30-piece orchestra, was released by Ipecac Recordings. The album was co-produced and arranged by Daniele Luppi. Recorded in 2007 at a series of European performances including an outdoor concert in a Northern Italian piazza, the CD features traditional Italian pop songs of the 1950s and 1960s as well as a rendition of Ennio Morricone's "Deep Down".

On June 18, 2010, Patton performed the 1965 work ''Laborintus II'' by classical composer Luciano Berio in Amsterdam, along with the orchestra Ictus Ensemble and vocal group Nederlands Kamerkoor. This show would be released as an album on July 10, 2012. On October 8, 2016, Patton and Ictus Ensemble played this piece in Krakow, Poland, preceded by a performance of the album ''Virginal Co Ordinates'' the previous day, alongside its creator Eyvind Kang.

Patton is a member of the supergroup Nevermen, alongside Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio and rapper Doseone (with whom Patton had previously collaborated on the Peeping Tom side project). In 2016, the group released an eponymous debut album on Patton's Ipecac label.

In August 2017, Patton released an album with the band Dead Cross, a supergroup that includes Slayer and Fantômas drummer Dave Lombardo and Retox members Michael Crain and Justin Pearson.

On December 27, 2017, Patton performed his collaborative EP, '' Irony Is a Dead Scene'', as well as a cover of Faith No More's "Malpractice," with the Dillinger Escape Plan live at the band's first of three final shows at Terminal 5 in New York City.

In May 2018, Patton performed two concerts entitled ''Forgotten Songs'' in Modena, Italy, with the American pianist Uri Caine. The setlists of the concerts varied and included songs from Olivier Messiaen, Elton John, Slayer, Violeta Parra, George Gurdjieff, and many others. They also performed a new song called "Chansons D'amour" from an album Patton would later release with French musician Jean-Claude Vannier, '' Corpse Flower'' of September 2019. The shows were recorded, but it is not certain if the material will get a release.

On January 25, 2020, Patton joined Laurie Anderson and Rubin Kodheli at the SFJAZZ Center for a performance based on the 16th century military manual '' Quanjing Jieyao Pian'' by Qi Jiguang.

In September 2021, Faith No More was scheduled to play shows. However, the dates were cancelled due to Patton citing mental health reasons.

Other ventures

Film work

In 2005, Patton signed on to compose the soundtrack for the independent movie ''Pinion'', marking his debut scoring an American feature-length film. However, this had been held up in production and may be on the shelf permanently. His other film work includes portraying two major characters in the Steve Balderson film ''Firecracker''.

Patton provided the voices of the monsters in the 2007 film '' I Am Legend'' starring Will Smith.

He also worked on the Derrick Scocchera short film " A Perfect Place" for the score/soundtrack, which is longer than the film itself.

In 2009, Patton created the soundtrack to the movie '' Crank: High Voltage''.

In the 2010 film ''Bunraku'' Patton voiced The Narrator.

Patton composed the soundtrack to the 2012 film '' The Place Beyond the Pines''.

In 2016, Patton provided the voice to lead character Eddy Table in a short animated film, ''The Absence of Eddy Table''.

In 2017, he scored the Stephen King movie '' 1922'' for Netflix.

Video game work

Patton is an avid video game player, especially with PlayStation consoles. In 2007, he provided the voice of the eponymous force in the video game '' The Darkness'', working alongside Kirk Acevedo, Lauren Ambrose and Dwight Schultz. Patton reprised the role in '' The Darkness II'' in 2012.

He also had a role in Valve's 2007 release '' Portal'' as the voice of the Anger Sphere in the final confrontation with the insane supercomputer, GLaDOS. He has another role in the Valve title '' Left 4 Dead'', voicing the majority of the infected zombies. He also voiced Nathan "Rad" Spencer, the main character in Capcom's 2009 video game '' Bionic Commando'', a sequel to their classic NES title.

On March 11, 2021, Patton lent his voice to a remake of the 1987 ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' theme song that was released as the trailer for the video game '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge''.

Artistry

Voice, techniques and style

Throughout his career, Patton has utilized various different genres including, avant-garde, alternative metal, experimental, experimental rock, art pop, contemporary classical, funk metal, and thrash metal. Mike Patton's vocals touch on crooning, falsetto, screaming, opera, death growls, rapping, beatboxing

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