Mike Patton

Mike Patton is many things to many people, but regardless of whether he’s singing, scatting, acting, growling or swearing, he’s a Renaissance man in the truest sense of the word. From his teens spent with genre-defying alternatives acts like Faith No More and Mr. Bungle, his various collaborations with avant-garde musicians, the deconstructed-pop music he created with Peeping Tom and currently cultivating a career as a film composer while simultaneously launching Crudo (an urban-skewed duo also featuring Dan The Automator) and Mondo Cane (an Italian language, orchestra driven pop standard project), there seems to be no limit to what Patton can do—and while his expansive career trajectory is difficult to express on paper, the brief biography which follows will probably turn obsessive Patton fans onto a few projects they never knew existed.

Born in 1968 in Eureka, California, Patton formed Mr. Bungle when he was 17 (a band he would work with on and off until 1999), which married experimental rock with, well, just about every other musical genre to create a unique brand of rock that’s still been impossible to imitate (though many try). From there, Patton joined the aforementioned Faith No More, which despite being best known for crossover hits like “Epic” and “Falling To Pieces” (and their respective music videos), the group also flirted with orchestral pop (i.e., Angel Dust’s “A Small Victory”) and soul (see their brilliant cover of the Commodores “Easy” recorded around the same time). While with FNM he received worldwide commercial acclaim and recognition.

Mike Patton could stop here and still have a musical legacy that would live on for decades—however in reality those two acts, while highly influential, are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. In 1998, Patton formed the experimental noise act Fantômas with former Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn, Buzz Osborne of The Melvins and Dave Lombardo from Slayer; a few years later he joined Tomahawk, a very alternative rock band founded by Duane Denison of the Jesus Lizard, Kevin Rutmanis of The Melvins and John Stanier of Battles, ex-Helmet; and, collaborated with house music and trip hop trailblazers Dan The Automator and Kid Koala in Lovage, who released the still-groundbreaking “Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady” in 2001. In 2007 he supplied the musical score to the short film “A Perfect Place” and is in discussions to continue his interest in film and television scoring.

In addition to all these ongoing—and seemingly disparate projects—Patton has also worked with a diverse roster of some of the most groundbreaking musicians in the world, releasing full-length records via collaborations like Maldoror (with Merzbow), Kaada/Patton, General Patton vs. The X-ecutioners and Fantômas/Melvins Big Band and working with John Zorn, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Björk, Subtle, Rahzel, Amon Tobin, Team Sleep, Massive Attack, Fennesz, Zu, Norah Jones, Tanya Tagaq, the Qemists and Kool Keith, to cite a very small cross-section. He notoriously has maintained a continuous touring cycle playing in front of crowds of all sizes with his various acts and collaborations in all corners of the world. Oh, and instead of, say, catching up on his sleep, in 1999 he founded the record label Ipecac Recordings alongside manager Greg Werckman, which has gone on to release most of Patton’s own recordings in addition to releases by The Melvins, Isis, Josh Homme and many others, and has developed a loyal following.

However, like all true Renaissance men, Patton hasn’t limited himself to just music. From his first appearance on Saturday Night Live in 1990 to his feature role in the motion picture thriller Firecracker (which was nominated for best film in the Raindance Film Festival) to his voiceover work in the videogames The Darkness, Bionic Commando, Portal, Left 4 Dead, to giving voice to the creatures in the Will Smith film “I Am Legend”. Patton has proved that the one constant in his career is that he’s willing to try almost anything, constantly challenging himself and those trying to follow his eclectic career.

Whether Patton is shredding his vocal pipes in Fantômas or singing Italian arias at the head of the orchestra pit, Patton always sounds like himself. Sure, his musical trajectory can seem mystifying, nonsensical and even schizophrenic, but ultimately all of these projects add up to create the clearest vision there is of Patton’s twisted genius.

Chances are, the best Patton project you’ve never heard of is lurking below, just waiting to be discovered.

Mike Patton could very well be one of the most versatile and talented singers in rock music. He may be rock's most valuable player as well, since he has divided his time between at least five projects: Faith No More, Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, Tomahawk and an experimental solo career. Born in Eureka, CA, on January 27, 1968, Patton discovered his vocal talents when he and some high school friends formed the wacked-out Mr. Bungle. The group touched upon almost every musical style imaginable and became popular in their region. The members of Faith No More first met Patton around 1988, when they were playing a show in the area. The group was having problems with their singer at the time, Chuck Mosley, and gave a careful listen to a Mr. Bungle demo that Patton gave the group. They were blown away. When Mosley finally got the boot a short time later, the band set out to find a replacement. Since Patton was quite content with being a college student and playing with Mr. Bungle, he didn't exactly jump at the invitation (interestingly, the band also asked Chris Cornell of Soundgarden). Eventually he did change his mind, but made it clear that he would be a member of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle. Patton proved to be an important addition to FNM, as they gained worldwide fame and notoriety with releases like The Real Thing, Angel Dust, and Album of the Year. Mr. Bungle signed to Warner Bros., due in part to Patton's newfound fame, and released their self-titled debut in 1991 (produced by experimentalist John Zorn) and the critically acclaimed Disco Volante in 1995. Although they didn't acquired massive FNM-like success, they obtained a loyal and constantly growing fan base. Patton continued to work with John Zorn, releasing a pair of solo albums for Zorn's Tzadik label, in addition to guesting on tracks by Sepultura, the Kronos Quartet, and the Boo-Yaa T.R.I.B.E., among others. A year after Faith No More called it a day in mid-1998, Patton launched his own record label, Ipecac. The label's first release was the self-titled debut by the Patton-led, all-star experimental outfit Fantomas, who also included former Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo, Melvins guitarist Buzz Osbourne, and Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn. Patton then returned to Mr. Bungle, contributing to one of their finest albums, the Beach Boys-tinged California. He subsequently joined ex-Jesus Lizard guitarist Duane Denison's Tomahawk (featuring ex-Helmet drummer John Stanier and Melvins bassist Kevin Rutmanis) and formed the R&B/pop/electronic experiment Lovage (a collaboration with hip-hop producer the Automator). He also contributed tracks to Tzadik Records' tributes to Burt Bacharach, Serge Gainsbourg, and Marc Bolan. 2001 saw the release of Fantomas' sophomore effort, The Director's Cut, the debut recording of Tomahawk, and a collaboration with Dan the Automator on the Lovage album. Lovage was met with great enthusiasm to new audiences, inspiring Dan the Automator and Patton to collaborate on more songs throughout 2002 for a Peeping Tom album. And when old friends Dillinger Escape Plan found themselves without a singer that spring, Patton stepped up and helped them put together a new EP, even continuing as a temporary singer after they had filled the position. After six years of perfecting Patton's warped take on a pop album, Peeping Tom was finally released in May of 2006.

Patton also tried his hand at acting in such motion picture projects as Firecracker and Amnesia, and continued to develop his interests outside the music studio, providing voices for the video games The Darkness, The Portal, Left 4 Dead, and Bionic Commando, and using his guttural vocal roars to provide vocals for the creatures in I Am Legend. In 2008, he composed a soundtrack for the Derrick Scocchera independent film A Perfect Place, released on Ipecac. ~ Greg Prato

, All Music Guide