Raw | February 1995

FAITH NO MORE GUITARIST STILL IN QUESTION!

THE INVOLVEMENT of guitarist Trey Spruance with FAITH NO MORE was always al tentative arrangement, and has in fact now concluded following the completion of work on the band's new album, 'King For A Day...Fool For A Lifetime', with producer Andy Wallace at Bearsville Studios in New York.

Spruance, a former band-mate of FNM frontman Mike Patton in Mr. Bungle, had originally become involved with Faith No More as a co-writer when work began on 'King...' Without Jim Martin, the band needed the perspective of a guitarist in putting together songs for the record, and things worked out so well in the studios that Spruance was invited to join the band.

Bassist Billy Gould had performed much of the guitar work on 1991's 'Angel Dust' sessions, due to the degree of estrangement between the band and Jim Martin even at that early stage, but this was obviously not an option in planning the recording of the new album. Spruance was to play on 'King...', and a decision on his future with Faith No More would be made.

The upshot of the situation is that Spruance has left the band, with the age-old 'musical differences' being cited as the reason. His replacement is Dean Menta, a one-time member of FNM's road crew.

The band are currently engaged in pre-release promotion for the album, which will be released through Slash/London on March 15.

Meanwhile, guitarist JIM MARTIN has completed work on putting together his post-FNM outfit, GOATLEGS, which has already recorded a series of demos. Described as a logical development of the metal side of FNM, the band is a four-piece fronted by "Bob - he's a great big fat bastard from Oakland".

Martin seems to be keeping his cards pretty close to his chest at the moment in terms of how much information he is prepared to reveal on the band, but we do know that he is free from ties to Slash Records, and will be looking for a new deal for Goatlegs.