As one of the most influential American musicians of my generation, Mike Patton is best known as the vocalist for the groundbreaking rock band Faith No More. It is after that band split up in 1998 that we really got to see all that this musical prodigy is capable of. He has brought us Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk, Fantomas, and now his most listenable project to date; Peeping Tom. For his latest project Patton would write songs with a wish-list of theoretical collaborators in mind, and then hope for a reply in the form of a finished track. "It's an exotic way of working for someone accustomed to a band environment," Patton says. "It was charming, really. None of the usual Animal House stuff. Instead of swapping spit and underwear, we were swapping files." I was lucky enough to sit down with the man himself before the sold out opening night of the tour which took place at Granada Theater last week.
With all of the different musical hats that you wear, which do you feel most comfortable with; producing, writing, playing live, scoring?
All of the above. Too much of one would just grind my gears.
Which of your many projects have been most challenging and which has been most self-fulfilling or rewarding?
Which one? You take one piece of the puzzle out and there’s an empty spot for me. Even though some of the projects sound different, they all have the same meaning to me. They all come from the same place. They are like children, if you have a family and you pick a favorite, that’s not a very good policy. I love them all for what they are.
What are you currently listening to?
(Pauses to think for a moment) The other day I was listening to Astor Piazzola. It’s not new or current or popular, but that’s what I’m listening to.
With all of the special guests on the record, are there any that you asked to contribute who declined or could not due to label restrictions?
Ah, no one flat out declined. A couple of people gave me the music biz brush off meaning, I’m busy or just never got back.
Can you name names?
Yeah, Lauren Hill and Fatboy Slim. She never responded and he said he was really interested, then I sent him a track and he was busy. Maybe he just didn’t like it.
Speaking of collaborations have you thought about a duet with Tom Waits and what song you would do?
I have not, but he’s great. I’m a big fan of his. I’m talking about doing a track for a Tom Waits tribute CD that the Kronos Quartet is doing. It’s all talk right now, but he’d be great to collaborate with.
Ipecac is anything but a traditional record label, did you have to change your business model to accommodate the crossover potential of the Peeping Tom release as opposed to Tomahawk or Fantomas?
Basically the business is what it is. We look at each record as it is its own separate universe. If we put out an electronic noise record, we have a different set of expectations and a different budget. So there is a bit of a sliding scale in that regard but not as much as you might think. This record (Peeping Tom) got a pretty good response right off the bat from radio. Everybody was asking for a video and I was forced to kind of think well, shit, I guess I better try one. Actually for a musician like me a video is a waste of time because they really don’t get shown. If you’re making difficult music, I don’t know if a video is going to help you. At least it really hasn’t for me.
With that being said, are you happy with the way that Peeping Tom is being promoted and the results so far?
Sure, yeah. It’s been a pleasant surprise. It’s nice to see people reacting well to it. I mean I don’t think it’s for everybody. The same way with a lot of my projects, people have their favorites and some people hate them all. This one, for some reason, is a little bit easier on the ears and it seems to put people in a good mood.