Thirty four years ago Faith No More released their first single from Angel Dust. The worldwide release of Midlife Crisis was Tuesday 26 May 1992. In an article on Consequence Of Sound ranking all Faith No More songs from worst to best, Midlife Crisis took the number one spot. The quintessential question of what is Faith No More’s single best song has, far and away, the easiest answer imaginable. By 1992, Angel Dust had done a complete 180 away from the sound generally synonymous with Chuck Mosley to what FNM is known for now: triumphant Mike Patton vocals that shine in every register, every pitch; the fluid harmonization of Martin and Bottum’s guitar/keyboard combos; perfect drum and bass coordination; blends of dark tones and obscure subject matter that leave the listener desperate for resolution. “Midlife Crisis” is allegedly about Madonna’s grasping at straws in her ’90s career, and that may be true, but this song has metal, pop, avant-garde, a musically united front with more facets than a diamond. It’s addictive and throbbing, your head on cocaine, your heaven and hell. It’s the Faith No More song. Angel dust, indeed. When released MC was received by most critics and fans with great enthusiasm. It charted highest in Austria at number 9, number 10 in the UK charts and number 1 in US modern rock chart. 'Midlife Crisis twists into a new kind of melody. The difference lies in the tunefulness, the variety of styles within the song - elements we've come to know and love with this band, but not to this degree.' - Raw Magazine 'Musically and lyrically, Faith No More aim for an oxymoronic mix of beauty and brutality with this single' - The Observer 'Lead vocalist Mike Patton growls, screeches, and roars his way through song making not-so-subtle commentary on greed, complacency, and selfishness, It's easy to laugh at the skewering of a thirty-something character in the mid tempo funk-rocker 'Midlife Crisis'. But not all of Faith No More's targets are the rich and powerful.' - Time 'On 'Midlife Crisis' Patton starts with a snide, sibilant rap, swoons upward in a jazzy, Al Jarreau-ish arc, then slugs it out in a close combat cut and thrust that's pure hardcore. The lyrics lash and lambaste some middle-class, lard ass, play-safe type who's built up a cocoon of security and comfort. The line 'Your menstruating heart' - doubtless aimed at 'wet liberals' and people who profess to care a lot - is deeply revealing. For FNM, feelings of tenderness, empathy and solidarity are threatening, female and fluid, a loathsome discharge.' - Melody Maker The mood of MC shifts between eerie verses and brilliantly euphoric choruses. Mike Bordin's perfectly timed rhythm introduces the song. This percussive snap is one of those signature drum parts that Puffy does so well, instantly recognisable like We Care A Lot and The Real Thing. The beat includes a sample taken from Simon and Garfunkel's song Cecilia. "It was one of the first songs I heard when I was a kid and I think I sampled it cause I had a funny relationship with it. the song was kind of built around the rhythm of that sample." - Roddy Bottum Bill Gould described his bass line on MTV's Post Modern in 1992 as "a lesson in discipline, I literally play one note throughout the song", this one note is the systematic backbone of the song. The haunting string sound of Roddy's keys add colour, however shadowy. While Mike Patton's hoarse whispered vocal rolls in synchronisation with the percussion. Patton chooses words that are sharp and clear, and like a snake spiting venom at its prey he seems to over pronounce each syllable. His harmonies throughout the song are clever and precise, much more adventurous than those on the previous album. Jim Martin's guitar crunch leads the chorus and brings the first light of a major key which lifts the melancholy feel. During which a familiar Patton voice gives us the most inspiring yet twisted lyrics on the album, sung with such vigoUr you can taste the sarcasm. The middle section is flooded with samples, there are noises whirring from left to right, taken from Beastie Boys song Car Thief. A screech drops us into the breakdown, which is a glorious melodic outburst that makes the listener want to stand up and thank the stars for stereo, volume and Faith No more! MC fades out with perfectly with multiple layers of Patton's chorus lines. "Everybody's responsible for this one. It was a keyboard part that started it....it was a period of time when everyone was waiting for us to come up with another record and promising us the world. All we had to do is what we do, but the way they saw we were a little defiant, which I think the lyrics reflect in a way. From my position I wanted to do a song that had only one note to the whole thing, but would still be a song. So I wanted it to have one bass part that never changed. It wasn't until we recorded it that our producer saw where I was trying to go, but at the time it seemed like shooting yourself in the foot y'know." - Bill Gould FNM have always thrived from the inner tensions caused by the different personalities of the members, it's always been a part of the process. Most of all during the writing of Angel Dust the relationship between Jim and rest of the band is documented to be highly strained. This can be heard literally within the song itself, Roddy's electronic pop sounds versus Jim's earthy rock guitar chords. The turmoil between light and dark. Like a stormy sea raging while clouds roll gracefully along high above. The band have described the track as their attempt to make a slick pop song and were surprised to find it described as dark and heavy by critics. In testament to this the song actually had the working title of Madonna which was continued be used on set-lists. "The song is based on a lot of observation and a lot of speculation. But in sort of a pointed way its kind of about Madonna...I think it was a particular time where I was being bombarded with her image on TV and in magazines and her whole schtick kind of speaks to me in that way...like she's going through some sort of problem. It seems she's getting a bit desperate." - Mike Patton 'You're perfect yes it's true, but without me you're only you.' This unforgettable line of prose surely stands out as some of the most powerful and poetic of all Faith No More's lyrics. MC doesn't obviously play out a story with characters as is the case with several songs on Angel Dust, it rather creates a mood which intensifies and shifts like Patton's schizophrenic vocals. As with most of his lyrics Patton has never really elaborated on the meaning but he has said that its not so much about a midlife crisis, as he couldn't empathise in what it would feel like, but ''it's more about creating false emotion, being emotional, dwelling on your emotions and in a sense inventing them.'' His references to Madonna we would guess are to deceive and mock the press. However Patton's preference to using a word due to it's sound rather than it's meaning seems to be the case here. As fans and critics ourselves, and from a need to gain better understanding of Patton and a song of we will analyse to attribute meaning. It's easy to recognise the theme of age or more precisely different stages of life regularly occur on Angel Dust. MC can be interpreted in many ways, one popular theory is that song is a story of child abuse and violence passed on inherently from father to son. This behaviour resulting in self loathing and an uncertainty of ones self control. The video for MC is arguably the best FNM videos of all time. Directed by Kevin Kerslake it is dark, dramatic and cinematic abstract, a perfect visualisation of the song's temperament. In the video each member of the band is dressed in a random outfit, Bill sports a 50s gangster style fedora and Patton welds a shovel like some movie serial killer. Religious icons, choirboys and images of horses quartering a torso are all in the mix of onscreen drama. The use of soft focus close ups, overexposure and time lapse filmed sequences produces a polished artistic video that can't be likened to any for the rock genre previously. The styling of this video sets the precedent for many to follow, A Small Victory, Digging The Grave, Another Body Murdered and Ashes to Ashes in particular have similar direction. Even though it seems America didn't embrace this in the same way they did Epic, European and Australian MTV played MC on heavy rotation. “Oddly enough, I grew up with Billy Gould and Roddy Bottum. We were neighbours and our parents actually went to school together, so I had a life long relationship with those guys. I was also a big fan of Faith No More. We never talked about the root or the theme of this song, so I have no idea what it’s about, but the overall flavour of the video is torture. There are some lyrics in the song about somebody who’s lost all four limbs, so that’s where the idea of having somebody being quartered came from. When we started putting the shoot together, one of the things we quickly learned about horses is that they’re pack animals, so when you face four horses in opposite directions their instinct is not to go forward. Typically, there’s a lead horse and all of the other horses follow him. So we had this guy attached to all four horses and one of the horses reared up as another horse started charging forward. The effect of that was that one horse was actually pulling the other horse on its back, and the stuntman was right below him. Thankfully, he was very agile and he got out of the way in time, but it was pretty hairy for a minute there." - Kevin Kerslake 2016 Midlife Crisis has been a permanent fixture on FNM's setlist ever since 1992 and transfers perfectly to the stage. It's always eagerly awaited by the crowd who join in the chorus along with Patton with a sense of joy and pride.

On May 24th 2011 Bill Gould released the album The Talking Book via Koolarrow Records. 'The atmosphere that haunts the world of The Talking Book is as palpable as the dust that clogs the grooves of the grainy, crackling vinyl that Bill Gould & Jared Blum have mined for this, their first collaborative work. The Talking Book has the melancholy, sepia-toned feel of a faded old photograph found in a strangers house, full of old ghosts, almost-forgotten memories and a real sense of encroaching decay.' Bearded Magazine | 2011 The original project is the combined vision of Bill and conceptual artist Jared Blum, of the SF based mid-fi sound collage label Gigante Sound. The pair met in 2005 standing in line on Hamburger Tuesday in the Lower Haight San Francisco. They began to discuss music and eventually Bill was drafted in to help Jared with mixing and mastering on various projects. Inevitably the two musicians moved from production to creation and The Talking Book was born. The Talking book is essentially a collection of abstract expressionistic recordings which play like the soundtrack to a movie. It is dark and atmospheric yet still retains an underlying warmth with rich sonic textures and distinctive melodies. 'If you're familiar with musique concrete, or experimental or ambient-ish music, you can hear it in there, so that's probably an easy way to describe it. But it has differences here and there; Jared's pretty proficient at it. I've listened to experimental music for a long time, maybe thirty years, but never really applied myself to it. So I wanted, as a novice in this experience, to bring some of my own aesthetic into something that somebody else does ... and it was a real and true collaboration.To describe Talking Book to somebody else, I guess I'd say: if you listen to a soundtrack with some of my own creative aesthetic, I guess' Bill Gould | SF Weekly | 2011 The duo developed a unique way to present the soundscapes to a live audience - 'blending real visuals and human spontaneity with the rich textures and deep sonic fabric that characterized the album.' However to complete their vision and bring their noise to the stage they required a third like-minded member, Dominic Cramp (AKA Lord Tang!). A visual accompaniment was projected behind the working musicians created by Roland Quelvin. In 2015, to celebrate the 5th anniversary of this wonderful recording we had a chat with Jared Blum about the album production and working with Bill. Jared Blum Interview It's been five years since 'Talking Book' was released. When was the last time you listened to the album? Hmm. Not in a while! I tend not to listen to my older records that much usually because I hear stuff I would’ve done differently and it’s distracting…but I have listened to some of the live shows we’ve played over the past few years. Actually, just the other day we (Dom, Bill and I) just listened to some sections of a live show we did in Araraquara, Brazil in 2013… Three quarters of the show was all new stuff we wrote for that tour. So we went back and picked out the ones we are going to attempt to re create for the next project. Would you agree there is a timeless quality to soundscapes such as these? Absolutely…that record and most of my soundscapey- avant stuff tends to be less “modern” sounding. I like the sound of old and dusty. Tape is your friend. Would you say the album is more artistic expression or mechanical experiment? A bit of both I guess. The mechanical stuff is just the turntable playing the records super slow…the artistic side is finding those little bits to work with. Using slow records can be tricky because a lot of it can sound like mud, but there might be one little riff or loop off on entire record that can be gold. Then you can build a song off of one sample. Back to mechanical, you can then take some of those slow sounds and sample them and turning them into drones, which are what gives the sounds texture. You can’t get that from a synth or a preset. Can you explain how you went about creating the various sounds on 'Talking Book’? Well, the focus of the record at first was to utilize this old turntable I have (The Talking Book Record Player for the Blind) that plays records at 8 1/3 and 16 1/3 RPMs. I had been doing a project called Beaks Plinth which was basically a collage of these sounds from it. It basically turns any record into instant doom! But we weren’t going for a doom thing necessarily. We sampled old exotica, easy listening, world records from Japan, Africa, Aboriganial, Korea, Cambodia, some Brazilian percussion stuff and just crap i found at the SF library, thrift stores and Amoeba music for a $1. Then cut that stuff up, collage and overdub. We then added layers of guitars, synths, pianos and drum machines to fill out the sound. The album is distinctly melancholy in feel and yet still radiates an underlying warmth. Did you draw on any particular influences to create the mood? I think that’s because it’s not just a doom/drone record. It’s got a lot of subtle melodies and shifts parts a lot and progresses. There’s movement to it, so you kind of go down this sink hole with us…Sometimes you come up for air until the next wave comes and drags you back down. In terms of influences, compositionally; no one in particular. It's more cinematic collage or a radio play soundtrack.. Actually for this one I kept thinking about Tarkovsky films, Russia in general. Desolate spaces, Chernobyl type places. I tend to write long flowing sessions pretty freeform, going into a lot of directions. I then go back and split things up and work on them separately. In terms of influences sonically, I guess at that time...Tim Hecker, Osaka Bondage, Philip Jeck, Edward Artmiev, Focus Group and Vladimir Ussachevsky were what I was listening to when we did this. The sounds themselves tend to be the influences really. I think the “warmth” also has to do with it not being a synth album where things are quantized and tightened.. It has a looseness to it, a very human quality. The sounds are jangled and a bit fucked which informed us on how we wrote parts around them. How did Bill adapt to a radically different way of working than he was used to? He always seemed really comfortable with it. I basically had a lot of the sections worked out, and then he came in and thew a guitar part on top or a synth thing and it changed the whole feel of it. Then we’d remix stuff and it would be transformed. We also started a couple of tracks from scratch. On “The Morass” he over dubbed 5 Ebow guitar harmonies into this amazing cluster of drones. Sort of a Frippotronics thing. I don’t think he was used to improvising as much and just letting go as much. Certainly live in front of an audience. Since then he’s gotten more into mutating old samples and making amazing melodic pads and textures out of them, which adds a lot to our sound. The tour we did in ’13 had a lot of that going on as well as his guitar parts throughout. How do think Bill's previous musical experience lent itself to the album? A couple ways actually. Obviously he’s a great songwriter and instrumentalist, as a well as being able to mix records pretty damn well. FNM always did stuff in their own way never really conforming much to the radio crap and MTV. Especially when using synths and samples. But for me just having that second set of ears, opinions, and compositional ideas was really big. Also, he plays with a lot of feeling in a way I don’t, so all of that combined is huge. He’s also a big fan of older industrial/ experimental stuff ie. Throbbing Gristle, Suicide, Einstürzende Neubauten so it wasn’t that much of a stretch to go there with me. Did working with Bill change the way you worked on projects thereafter? Yes. Definitely in terms of mixing and then learning that less is more. No matter how many times you hear that it always helps if someone else tells you that as you’re working. Learning to build stuff up and strip things back has way more impact. I would say that FNM's recent album 'Sol Invictus' has cinematic moments. Do you think Bill's experience with 'Talking Book' has developed his song writing techniques? That’s a question for him I guess…I think a lot of those demo songs were actually written before Talking Book actually. I’m not sure though. I think cinematic music has always been with him and the group. This was just an extreme form of that. Were you surprised with the positive reaction the album received from FNM fans? I was never quite aware of the FNM fanbase reaction actually. They liked it? Ha. I read some descent reviews from critics, so I was happy about that. I guess the real test was doing it live and the reaction we got from the shows. I think most were all really positive because it was a different then what some FNM fans may have seen live I imagine, and we pulled off a pretty heavy set. The fact that Patton or Trey have been doing experimental music for years probably warmed up some people’s ears to this world I think. What kind of challenges did you overcome to bring the music to the stage? We never really thought of it as being a live thing. It happened because Patton heard the record, liked it, and asked if we wanted to do a show with him and Pivixki at the Great American Music Hall in SF. We had no idea how to do it live. I knew we’d need to do play some of it live and improvise or stretch out the stuff. I didn’t want to stand there and “DJ”. So we got Dom whom I was already playing with for years to help out. We had to figure out what was going to be played live and what would be triggered. So we basically did that. Went in and stripped out the sessions and rehearsed. It was pretty good actually and quite heavier than the record! We have the soundboard of that show, one day we’ll release it. Then as we went on it got a lot easier and by the time we got down to South America in ’12 we were improvising a lot and by and ’13 we were doing a lot of new stuff we created in the rehearsal space...so it was all very natural. It's interesting to watch the group interaction during those live shows after seeing Bill's energy in rock bands. You almost seem like a conductor. Even though the sounds are mostly digital there is a orchestral (if that's the right term) feel to it. Would you agree with that comparison? Ha. Yeah. I’d love to get to that point of the energy FNM get in their shows or even 1/8 th of it. And actually that has been a big topic in our talks about making new stuff and doing it live. Its tough when you don’t have a live drummer. The energy is so different. Locking bass and guitars with electro drums just doesn’t have that same power. Also there’s no human interaction. Anyway, a lot of the samples or sounds that fuel the songs were in my control so I kinda have to make sure we all hit the changes together. Plus, I tend to be quite animated live. Do you think the accompanying visuals were essential to the live experience? Oh yeah. The videos we used for the 2 tours were both pretty weird and visually exciting. They fit the music perfectly. Unless you want look at 3 schlubs standing in front of their laptops and a couple of synths, it’s integral. Bill described the album as 'a soundtrack with his own creative aesthetic'. How would describe it? Have you as a group considered scoring movies? For sure, it’s total soundtrack stuff, it just goes a bit further where soundtracks don’t usually go. I mean basically music that’s slower, instrumental, moody often get grouped in the “soundtrack” genre. In my case pretty much all my music, even my recent 80’s pop stuff is soundtrack inspired. Both Bill and I have done soundtrack stuff separately over the years, and we’ve been contacted to do some scoring stuff in the near future. Would Dominic Cramp be involved in the writing process for future projects? Yes sir.

Detroit Punk Collective The Armed invited Patton perform four songs at their Regency Ballroom gig on Sunday in San Francisco. Mike joined the band for The Music Becomes A Skull, All Futures, An Iteration and Liar. Check out some footage below. Photos By Raymond Ahner

Faith No More's seventh studio album was released eleven years ago, on 19 May 2015. To celebrate the anniversary of this astounding comeback record we have put together an A to Z for everything need to know about Sol Invictus. A IS FOR Amoeba In November 2014 Faith No More surprised fans with an intimate show at Amoeba Records, San Francisco, to celebrate Record Store Day Black Friday and the release of Motherfucker on 7" vinyl. The set consisted of five songs including two from Sol Invictus. 'Most of the band’s Bay Area family — including their teenaged nieces and nephews — crowded along the side of the stage. Said nieces and nephews mercifully did not roll their eyes when others in attendance explained they had been following the band since they were “their age.” ' - SF Weekly B IS FOR Brothers Johnson & Boz Scaggs Each era in FNM’s history seems to include its own particular ad-libs featured in the breakdown of various songs. A favourite of Chuck Mosley's was Led Zeppelin's Stairway To Heaven, whereas Mike Patton famously dropped in Pump Up The Jam by Technotronic and Vogue by Madonna. During the Sol Invictus tour as the band halted Midlife Crisis mid song, Patton crooned the 1971 song Strawberry Letter 23 by Shuggie Otis (made popular by Brothers Johnson in 1977). In the same spot FNM would also break out into the 1976 song Lowdown by Boz Scaggs. C IS FOR Cone Of Shame In November 2015 Faith No More released the fourth single from Sol Invictus. Cone of Shame was accompanied by a gritty video directed by Macedonian Goce Cvetanovski, who had worked with Bill Gould previously, and produced by Lynx Animation Studios with Faith No More. “This is one of those tracks that had to be a video, really, because it lends itself so much to visual imagery. Given the song’s sense of Americana, it would have been easy to shoot this in Arizona or New Mexico, but having been to Macedonia several times, there’s a vibe there that I felt wouldn’t be out of place as a backdrop to this song. Goce Cvetanovski, as a director, understood this immediately; he knew exactly what to do with it, and along with an amazing cast, has managed to create something very dark, and beautifully cinematic.” - Bill Gould 2015 "My first impressions were more horror-like. Lyrics like “I like to peel your skin off, strip the bones off,” etc, gave me images of some cannibalistic druid kind of ceremony. But after talking with Bill, he explained me that the song is more about a love gone wrong, wrong decisions and jealousy. We also discussed the spaghetti western ambient of the music, if you listen carefully you’ll find a bit of Ennio Morricone influence in the guitar. The story developed from there and I was listening the track in loop for days, while working on the script." - Goce Cvetanovski | FNMFollowers 2015 D IS FOR Dementia Faith No More also shared a video for the track Separation Anxiety. A compilation of footage from the 1955 American black-and-white experimental horror film Dementia (Daughter of Horror) directed by John Parker. The video was edited by Finch Lynch. E IS FOR Estudio Koolarrow Sol Invictus was the FNM first album to be fully self recorded at the group’s rehearsal space and Bill’s studio, Estudios Koolarrow, in California. "Everyone said, ‘Well, why don’t we just produce it ourselves? Why don’t you produce it?’ and I was just like, ‘Oh god, man, that’s a responsibility! I mean, my stuff’s going to get stacked up next to Andy Wallace’s stuff and Matt Wallace’s stuff!" - Bill 2015 “You have to understand, it was recorded by us… written, arranged and performed obviously. Mixed by us, in our place. I mean, this is really about as self-contained an effort as you’re gonna get and I’m super proud of every guy that did it. To me, the result… I couldn’t make it any better. And I want people to hear it for themselves.” - Bordin | Drum Magazine 2015 To realise their vision the band called on their old friend Matt Wallace to help with the mixing and production. "We didn't even have an engineer when we recorded it. It was just us. There was only one other person who came in, and that was Matt Wallace, who finished the mixing. Having an extra perspective and an extra set of ears was really important at that point, and Matt goes back with us back to 1982—he's like a family member" - Bill Gould | Revolver 201 F IS FOR Followers The News of Faith No More's first album in eighteen years and subsequent tour prompted a group of super fans to establish the ultimate FNM fan club. Faithnomorefollowers.com was created as a non-profit hub for all things Faith No More related, reporting news and chronicling past events with accuracy. In 2020 we upgraded to the webpage you see now. Over the past ten years our group has been supported by the band and their management. The team includes members from Europe, Australia, South America, Mexico and the USA, all who have been active participators in the online fan community since the 90s. In 2018 members of FNMFollowers joined Podcast Croissant the only dedicated Faith No More podcast. G IS FOR Gimp In February 2015 Faith No More revealed to the world the title and release date of their seventh studio album accompanied with a photo of the band dressed in black gowns heavily shadowed by candle light. Dustin Rabin's cult-like photographic vision for FNM would be included on the sleeve for Sol Invictus. 'In some early discussions about ideas they said they wanted something dark and almost horror-like, so I suggested doing some Film Noir lighting.' - Dustin Rabin | FNMFollowers 2015 Some of Dustin Rabin's album promo photos revealed FNM’s dominant nature with the addition of a gimp! Straight out of Pulp Fiction the leather clad character accompanied FNM on their first run of shows. At The Wiltern in LA the gimp suit was worn in secret by none other than GnR bassist Duff Mckagan! “Their ‘Gimp’ guy got stuck in traffic or something — something like that — and Patton asked if I’d be the ‘Gimp.’ And I’d just gotten to the gig, me and another friend. I’m wearing all black, and everybody else was wearing white. ‘Cause they play in white, and everybody backstage, their crew, they all have white on. The guy I came with, Jerry Cantrell [Alice in Chains], he wore white, because he had gone to the show the night before. I picked him up, [and I said], ‘What are you doing wearing all white?’ He’s, like, ‘Faith No More white, dude.’ [I was, like], ‘Oh, yeah, I blew it.’ But being the only guy dressed in black, I was the instant ‘Gimp.'” - Duff H IS FOR Hyde Park The band made a return to the live stage after a full year's break at British Summer Time Festival in Hyde Park, London. The set included the premiere of Superhero and Motherfucker. “We knew that we were making a record at that time, for sure. That was the first time we played those songs though, so it was kinda high stakes. The decision to wear the priest outfits and play Motherfucker right then felt pretty bold. We had been working on this stuff behind the scenes but we weren’t ready to tell anybody. Then again, anyone who saw us play that day with Sabbath would’ve figured out what we were up to.” - Roddy Bottum | The Skinny Dec 2015 I IS FOR Ice Hockey New York Rangers defenseman and Faith No More fan Dan Boyle joined FNM as a roadie during the East Coast swing of the tour. Much to the approval of Mike P and Mike Bordin who are both huge hockey fans. “It was an amazing experience. I didn’t do too much the first night; I was pretty much just watching. But by the fourth show, I was helping out every which way I could – dispensing VIP tickets, decorating the stage, bringing guitars and basses out.” - Dan Boyle | Rolling Stone J IS FOR Joe Lynch The band hired American film and music video director Joe Lynch to create a film for the third single release of Sunny Side Up. The video is a hallucinogenic tribute to One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest featuring a cast of geriatric mischief makers in the roles of the band members. ‘Funny enough, I’ve been trying to make a Faith No More music video since I fell in love with the 'Angel Dust' album back in 1992. I wrote a video treatment for every single track on that album and sent them to Slash Records, I never heard back…’ - Joe Lynch | FNMFollowers 2015 K IS FOR Kimmel Live! During tour Sol Invictus Faith No More performed on radio and TV to promote the album. Their first TV appearance in twenty years was was on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show in May. In June FNM recorded a set of six songs live at BBC's Maida Vale studios. On September 3rd Faith No More performed five songs on Jimmy Kimmel Live! dressed in tuxedos. L IS FOR Lump Straight after the performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! FNM took to the stage for a secret show at The Troubadour in Hollywood under the pseudonym Lump. The gig stood out in the 2015 run as the band took a more casual approach ditching the white outfits and the gimp. ‘No gimp! Whaaaa? Just a lot of instruments, sneakers and sweat. The entire band was in good spirits. It was weird for everyone. It was glorious madness. Patton crowd surfed many times and ended up on the bar in the back with, unfortunately, a shot of Jack Daniels. Almost the entire Sol Invictus album was played along with highlight “Be Aggressive” and after a band meeting, ending with “As The Worm Turns.”' - LA Record M IS FOR Mystery Song The seeds for Sol Invictus were sown as early as 2011 when FNM premiered Matador their first original composition in fourteen years - known then to fans as Mystery Song. "I was like, This is great that we’ve all connected, but I need to do creative stuff. I was always hands-on where this band is concerned. I’m just that guy, and if I’m putting all this energy and effort into it, I need something. I need some oxygen. It was one of those things like, Don’t ask. Don’t tell. Don’t bring up new music. Don’t talk about it. Finally I thought, Fuck it, man, I’m just going to fucking say it: I got a song. Do you guys want to hear it? Stop talking about fucking covers all the time and think of doing some fucking music? And everybody was like, Yeah, sure, great." - Bill Gould | Small Victories Mystery Song, became the subject of much discussion between fans who at the time labelled it an unheard leftover from a previous album. The band performed the song in Buenos Aires and it became a regular fixture in the set for the next few years. "Honestly, 'Matador' felt so obvious. Not in a bad way, but like a comfortable shoe. It felt like somewhere we go typically as a band. We have this language among the four of us that's sort of unique and inherent to people who sort of grow up together; we have a go-to language that we all relate to really well. So hearing it was like, 'Oh yeah, that. I get it!'" - Roddy Bottum | Revolver April 2015 "Bill brought in a new tune that he wrote, and said: 'Shall we try this? And when we heard it, yep, we knew what to do exactly, boom boom boom. It's like a secret society when you're in a band, with your handshakes and your lingo, and even after all that time, you still understand it. It's part of you. We started playing that one song live, and it felt good. So okay, let's proceed." - Mike Patton | Classic Rock July 2015 N IS FOR New New Song Fans brimmed with excitement as our friends at fan page FNM 2.0 revealed Faith No More's new new song on May 12th 2015. The song turned out to be a spectacular parody created by St Sanders. The FNM shred was arranged by Bill who had previously met Sanders at a show. O IS FOR Ossian Brown The images used throughout the sleeve of Sol Invictus are taken from a collection of anonymous Halloween photographs from c.1875-1955 curated by English musician and artist Ossian Brown in the book Haunted Air. The eerie vintage photos used compliment the dark tones of the music. Martin Kvamme’s distinctive graphic design on the album cover sits perfectly amongst FNM’s catalogue. P IS FOR Periscope For the first time Faith No More utilised the power of social media, opening up to fans a glimpse of life on the road. FNM launched their official Twitter account in mid 2014 with the exciting news - ‘Hey! Stay tuned for more Tweets from Twats!!! The reunion thing was fun, but now it's time to get a little creative.’ Facebook and Instagram followed as did Periscope on which Roddy Bottum presented his post gig show called Tour Talk! During these 30 minute live chats Roddy spoke with his band mates and various people close the band. A highlight was when Roddy and Bill recounted the story of them taking revenge on a Safeway by calling in a bogus bomb threat, at the age of 12! Q IS FOR Quality Time Faith No More releasing their first album in eighteen was a huge deal for fans, music press and for the band themselves. FNM had no idea whether they would release a new album so rehearsals were conducted in secret, the band didn't even tell their wives they were working on new material. “We kept it in-house and behind closed doors. And we were fortunate to be able to keep it as insular as we did because we had no expectations or deadlines. Really, it’s a chicken shit way to do it. But at the same time it allowed us freedom.” - Roddy | Billboard May 2015 Faith No More recognised that fans would be concerned about the music living up to the legacy they had created. "A lot of people are afraid of us making a new record, and I get that. There's a template to this, I think: You were a good band, you break up, you get back together and you put out a shitty album. But we tried really, really hard to resist that template. We kept our minds sharp and we still have a lot to offer. But people like the stuff we did in the past. We're older now and they're afraid of what we might put out as an older band. They're worried that the music we might make today might not hold up. But even if this new record fails, I'm still a lot happier doing something creative and productive than I am just going to work and playing the old songs." - Bill Gould | Kerrang! April 2015 R IS FOR Reclamation Records In keeping with their DIY attitude Sol Invictus was released via Patton’s label Ipecac Records with the aid of Bill’s label Koolarrow. FNM created their own imprint called Reclamation Records. S IS FOR Sonarworks Sonarworks revolutionised audio mixing with new software to make headphone listening much clearer. FNM worked with the software on various songs from Sol Invictus. 'In a nutshell, the idea behind their software was to compensate for imperfections in mixing rooms in order to provide a more accurate listening environment. As a band we try to take chances and explore new concepts all the time, and realized in this FNM tradition, that it might be cool to include some of our fans in on the experiment—as far as I know, no one has done anything like this before.' - Bill Gould 2016 T IS FOR Trollfoot Patton’s unlikely friendship with Hollywood actor Danny DeVito began when DeVito’s son took his pop to a Fantômas show in 2005. Danny soon became a huge Patton fan and even starred in a Peeping Tom video. DeVito was first spotted at Coachella in 2010 watching Faith No More. In 2012 he made an onstage appearance at Hammersmith in London. We most recently saw DeVito's famous social media alter ego Trollfoot appear side stage at The Wiltern in 2015. U IS FOR Unconquered Sun Sol Invictus takes its title from a Latin phrase meaning "unconquered sun," which was also the name of a Roman religious cult. "We just won't go away! And when you think about where we are, and what we've accomplished over the course of so many years, there's a timeless, regal, etched-in-stone quality of that title that really works for us." - Roddy Bottum 2015 V IS FOR Vulcan Studios Although Patton has never discussed the name of his home recording studio Vulcan can be traced as far back as 1999 - 'electronics, voice, additional overdubs on She by Maldoror at Vulcan Studios'. Mike has recorded or engineered vocals for many of his projects in the San Franciscan hold-up including albums such as Tētēma, his collaboration with Jean Claude Vannier and more. Patton recorded is vocals for Sol Invictus at Vulcan. “I hate to be unromantic here, but the lyrics to me are just another instrument. I see them as such, and there's a reason we don't really print them on our records. I don't think we ever have. Maybe we did once or twice and that was just under duress. I feel that the words are really up to you. I'm giving them to the public, and I think that, you know, whoever's listening should be able to interpret them the way they want. From word to word and sentence to sentence, if there's a grand meaning, you come up with it, because I certainly can't. I don't have one. I'll tell you. I don't have a grand plan. I write lyrics based on music, on a musical flow, and what sounds good at the time. If I can fit a them into that, then hey, I'm lucky. If not? I don't care. They're just words. If they're political, if they're antisocial or god knows what — if they were, then that's not my problem. I just write them, and it's up to the world to decide what they are. That's my position.” - Patton | NPR May 2015 W IS FOR Wiltern LA Faith No More toured Sol Invictus for eight months, they played sixty nine gigs in twenty five different countries. During this run of shows many of the band's sets were professionally captured on film including Download in the UK, Pinkpop in Holland, France's Hellfest and many more. Pro footage from The Wiltern in LA was shared on the Carson Daly show. X IS FOR X-Rated Motherfucker was released on November 28th 2014 on 7" vinyl limited to 5000 copies. In typical FNM fashion their first single in 17 years was unplayable on the airwaves because of its x-rated lyrical content. Between them Roddy Bottum and Mike Patton chant the phrase 'mother fucker' approximately twenty five times. "It felt like a really nice statement to put out into the public, to let people know we’re not playing any games. We don’t really care if it’s on the radio. It’s sort of offensive and playful and bold and maybe a little bit antagonistic. Just the word itself was a fun thing to put out there. But yeah, it’s totally different than the rest of the record. It’s me singing on it, which is a little bit different, and it’s really simple and stripped down. Something called “Motherfucker” just felt like a nice place for us to kick off a new chapter for Faith No More." - Roddy Bottum | Noisey | March 2015 Y IS FOR Yahoo! What needs to be said other than - Faith No More live at The Fillmore full set via Yahoo! Z IS FOR Zombie Yeti Alan Forbes, Junko Mizuno, Tara McPherson and Zombie Yeti are just some of the artists responsible for the amazing graphic poster designs from tour Sol Invictus. Many of them were available signed by the five members at concerts and are still for sale in the Secret Serpents store.

Faith No More released the first single from Album Of The Year on May 19th 1997. "It's kind of like when you eat something and all the ingredients fit together. You can't really say why you like it but it's just you know you like it. To me that song has size, it has the scope and it has the melody and it has the impact. It gives me all those things I need that make me feel good." - Bill Gould 2016 1997 was a bit of a dull year for rock and metal music, it was the beginning of a nu metal era with bands trying to re imagine the early nineties movements. Elsewhere electro dance music was interesting, the happy hippy techno beats had been replaced with more brutal and funkier bands like The Prodigy, Fatboy Slim and music to do heroin to whilst watching trains. It was the first time since the 60's where being British was cool, Brit pop and The Spice Girls took over the world. There was certainly change in the air. Faith No More had changed. After a brief tour supporting King For A Day... the band had gone separate ways, Mike Patton focusing on Mr. Bungle, Roddy Bottum starting up Imperial Teen and Mike Bordin drumming with Ozzy Osbourne. "I guess the point is try to find new reasons to keep making music. We could have broken up. But when you get to that point you ask yourself, 'Is it worth it or not?'. If the music's still getting you hard, it's worth it." - Mike Patton 1997 Yet, amidst rumours that the band had split up, in 1997 FNM surprised fans by returning with a new guitarist and attitude to producing music. After only around seven years of commercial success FNM were now considered as innovators, fathers of a new breed of metal music and were back to prove they still had one more album of great songs to give. "It takes a lot of work, but the bottom line is that if we weren't totally committed to making music as FNM, we wouldn't still be here today....It's not like we don't have anything else to do." - Bill Gould 1997 Ashes To Ashes was the premier single released from their sixth studio record Album Of The Year. The song performed well in the charts, number 8 in Australia, 7 in Finland, 15 in the U.K. and 23 in the U.S. ATA is less punchy and chaotic than music from KFAD, more polished and refined, whilst retaining the full bodied sound that only FNM can achieve. 'While the Bungle-like experimental-ism of the King For A Day album alienated a lot of the band's fans, new and old, the first taste of next month's album (drolly titled Album Of The Year) returns to the musical ethic that won them all those lovely fans in the first place. Expansive, dramatic and swathed in Roddy Bottum's widescreen keyboards, it delivers a killer tune with bite, storming rhythms and the best vocal of Mike Patton's career. Truly, err, epic.' - InPress magazine Jon Hudson's guitar brings the metal riff of Jim Martin's days back to FNM after an album of Trey Spruance's eccentric brand of six string magic. It sets us up for a track we know will fall into the unmistakably FNM category. The sweeping waves of Roddy's keyboard are reminiscent of those found on Angel Dust, and they add colour to Bill and Mike B's ever dependable rhythm section. There is hardly a trace of antagonism in Patton's voice as he croons like Sinatra. The composure of all five musicians make for sophisticated sound to match their pressed tuxedos. The song was written, like most of AOTY, by the band sharing music in the post. In fact no more than two members of FNM were in the studio at the same time. "The bulk of that song was written the first week. We arranged it here, and then we sent Patton a tape. He was in Italy, but he came up with the lyrics and the singing right away. It was one of those songs that just clicked -- one of those songs that we do most naturally. That's our sound." - Bill Gould 1997 The main difference with this music compared to earlier songs was that it was entirely produced by FNM with Bill on engineering duties. Roli Mosimann brought in for advice. "This record took a year and a half to make -serious hard work. I mean, the reason I'm the producer is because I've been living with this thing every step of the way. I couldn't rest until this record was finished. Angel Dust was like a hurricane coming - a big, ugly storm. King for a Day was like when the storm was hitting you, with all this stuff flying all over the place. And this record...this record is kind of like digging through the wreckage and pulling out bodies afterwards." - Bill Gould 1997 The video was directed by the late Tim Royes. It retains the dark themes of FNM's previous film clips but introduces the new suited and booted look that they paraded during this era. Ashes To Ashes remains a fan favourite and it is still a regular song within FNM's set lists.

Primus’ second studio album Sailing The Seas of Cheese was released on 14 May 1991. Primus and Faith No More’s history has been intertwined throughout the years so we have detailed some of their connections. Apart from Mike Patton sporting a Frizzle Fry shirt for most of the FNM tour of Brazil in 91, the bands have played together on at least four occasions, the most recent in 2010. Mr Bungle have also shared the bill with Primus also. 'We’ve known those guys for many, many years. Mike Bordin is one of my oldest friends. And Mike Patton, he’s an incredible talent. All those guys are great guys. We started playing with them around San Francisco in the ’80s.' - Les Claypool | AV Club | 2010 Mike Bordin and Les Claypool have been friends since the 80's and Bordin appears in the credits on many of Primus' releases. On the first Primus album Frizzle Fry, the following credits appear: ‘Special thanx to Susan and Howard for letting us spill bong water into their console (the Exxon/Puffy conspiracy)’. Faith No More are thanked on the 1989 live album Suck On This, ‘Hugs and Kisses to Faith No More’. In the liner notes on Primus’ 1991 album Sailing The Seas Of Cheese Bordin is credited as playing the Two-Skinned Foreskin Drum on track 13, Los Bastardos. He is also listed as one of the Bastardos under drums and vocals as 'Puffster. In the 1995 song Over the Electric Grapevine Primus mention Introduce Yourself: Then 'Introduce Yourself' came on as they barreled through the fog." Also FNM ex axe man Jim Martin plays guitar on Eclectic Electric, a track on Primus' 1999 album " Antipop. Bordin is also famously the subject of the Primus song Mr Krinkle. ‘Mr. Krinkle is basically about conversations I used to have with Mike Bordin. Mike Bordin, his hotel room name was "Mr. Krinkle." If you read the lyrics or listen to the song, it's basically about conversations with Mike. He's a huge San Francisco Giants fan, and there was all this talk that the Giants were goingto move from San Francisco. So, "Hey there, Mr. Krinkle, how are youtoday? Seems the rumors are abound your team might move away." And he was really pissed off about this! "Hey there, Mr. Krinkle, let's cruise the bastard boat"— we used to go out on my boat. The thing about Mike, he is one of these guys like Mike Watt — he has a very interesting perspective on things, and he's really good at tossing out these colorful little quips, on how he perceives things. So we would have these great conversations on the phone." - Les Claypool | 2012 In a Rolling Stone article from 1991, it states that Les sang on the song Epic! ‘With Faith No More leading the way, San Francisco is the epicenter of the thrash-funk scene. And everybody there seems to know one another. Claypool's good friend Mike Bordin, drummer for Faith No More, was a guest on "Seas of Cheese"; Claypool sang on Faith No More's hit "Epic." And Primus shares a sensibility, show bills and side projects with such up-and-coming Bay Area bands as the Limbomaniacs, Fungo Mungo and Psychefunkapus; Primus has also befriended stylistic compatriots, such as Jane's Addiction, Living Colour and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.’ This is a claim the presenters of Podcast Croissant put to members of FNM. Bill Gould replied. ‘You know...he might have. There was a big back ground vocal party singing 'It's It"' Mike Bordin had similar hazy recollections. ‘My first impulse is that we did "gang vocals", Matt's words, for Surprise, and also Epic. I do know that Les and also Larry were around at that time, so I don't think it too far fetched that one or both gathered around the mic with us and yelled. I lean towards a yes, but maybe just not 100% sure of it.’

The second single from Faith No More's fifth album King For A Day Fool For A Lifetime was released on May 1st 1995. Unbelievably this song almost didn’t make the cut, but was included at the insistence of Mike Bordin. "That's my favourite song. I was sort of a fuckin' weasel, and... that wasn't gonna be on the record, but that song turned out so great that it pushed another song off the record. I think it sounds great, I love that song. I really love the choruses, where it gets really big, and it really takes off... I love that song. And that was the last song we wrote, as well. That was the 20th song that we wrote for this record. So I think it's really fitting that the first song that we wrote for the record and the last song that we wrote are both on it." – Bordin 1995 | Kerrang! The noticeable lyric ‘running twice as fast to stay in the same place’ resembles a line from Lewis Carol’s Alice Through The Looking Glass. It is often discussed whether the lyrics refer to the death of Kurt Cobain – the working title for Ricochet was Nirvana and the words could certainly be compared to the circumstances of Cobain's suicide. "It was written the day that Kurt died. That's just why it was called "Nirvana." (Pause.) I like that one. The vocal harmonies are really great. And those are my favourite lyrics on the record." – Roddy 1995 In February 1995 Mike Patton addressed the meaning of his lyrics with NME. Several lyrics on 'King' seem to snarl against the trap of celebrity, entrapment and the ageing process. But Patton dismisses any suggestion that the Kurt Cobain saga had any effect on him ("I didn't know him or anything"). As a singer in a rock n roll band who may have gone through some of the same things that he did, you had no thoughts or feeling about the whole business? "What can I say? (Laughs). What can I say? I'm sorry? Bad things happen, y'know? I'm sure it wasn't as great as everyone thinks it was." What wasn't? "His suicide, I'm sure wasn't such a glamorous event." The video to accompany the single release was directed by Alex Hemming and featured footage filmed during the band's show at Paris’s Élysée Montmartre. #faithnomore #ricochet #kfad25

Faith No More's bass player, CEO of Koolarrow Records, and importer of Balkan rakija Billy Gould birthday is today. We are celebrating with an alphabetical run through of some of his coolest endeavors. Photo Ryan Tuttle A IS FOR THE AUDACITY OF HYPE Jello Biafra, the legendary lead singer of The Dead Kennedys, and Bill first worked together in the Mexican metal band Brujeria during the early nineties. Biafra then asked Faith No More to contribute a cover of Let's Lynch The Landlord to Alternative Tentacles 100th album release. For Biafra's 50th birthday celebrations he collaborated with guitarist Ralph Spight, drummer Jon Weiss and bassist Bill in the band Jello Biafra and The Guantanamo School of Medicine. The band recorded the record The Audacity of Hype before Bill left to rejoin Faith No More. "I was a major Dead Kennedys fan in my high school years, and I first met Jello when I was 16 years old at The Whisky [a Go Go] in Los Angeles. We told the people guarding the backstage that we were guests, and he saw us and said,‘yeah, they’re okay, come on in.’ He hung out with us, even though we were kids. But also, in playing in his band, I was just a bass player and I had to do my job.at the time, that was perfect for me: liberating in a different way.” - Bill B IS FOR BUMBLE BEE Bill is not afraid to dress for the occasion - from dresses to diner suits. However his most famous ensemble is surely the bumble bee costume worn during Faith No More‘s performance of Everything’s Ruined on the UK TV show The Word in 1992. C IS FOR CASTRO SINATRA In April 1998 Faith No More announced they were no longer a band. The five members pursued different projects but two years later Bill, Mike Bordin and Jon Hudson reunited to write new music under the name Castro Sinatra. Unfortunately the band only lasted eighteen months and none of the music was released. "We got into a little bit of a whirlpool or a wormhole with that one. It just wasn’t right. It wasn’t good enough." - Bill D IS FOR DAVID BOWIE At the age of ten Bill attended his first rock concert accompanied by his father - that show was David Bowie at the Long Beach Arena in 1973. Bowie became a major influence on Bill as a young musician and after Bowie's death in 2016 Bill shared his favourite Bowie songs with us. E IS FOR EASTENDERS Bill has always been fascinated with different cultures from around the world and has found sanctuary in foreign countries such as Chile, the Balkans and the UK. Bill first crossed the North Atlantic Ocean at the age of eighteen to promote his first band and then returned again to England with FNM in 1988 for his first overseas tour. Bill's preoccupation with Eastenders, a British TV soap opera set in London's East End, was revealed in 2009 when FNM covered the theme tune during their sets at Leeds and Reading Festivals. In 2012 FNM were back on tour and Bill was photographed on-set visiting the Queen Victoria pub in the fictional borough of Walford. He has since shared social media status' referring to plot twists and characters. F IS FOR FEAR AND NERVOUS SYSTEM Fear and the Nervous System is a project set up by Korn guitarist James 'Munky' Shaffer in 2008. The band recorded one album which was released in 2012. Bill featured on bass. "My guitar tech for 15 years used to tech for Faith No More. He was Jim Martin’s guitar tech back when Jim Martin was back in Faith No More. Him and Billy had a relationship and I was saying, “Man, I gotta get someone to play bass on this thing,” and he said, “Do you want me to ask Billy?” and I said, “Well, yeah! I’m a huge Faith No More fan!” Ever since they had Chuck Mosley in the band and the first record, I’ve been a fan. So, that goes way back. And Korn and myself and everyone that has anything to do with this band have been Faith No More fans. And Billy said, “Let me come down and I’ll fly down.” He came down and I picked him up from the airport. He liked a lot of the tracks and started working on them later that night. So that came together." - Munky G IS GUERO SIN FE A Spanish phrase translated as 'white man with faith' ... aka Bill Gould. This is the pseudonym Bill adopted whilst amongst the ranks of Mexican extreme metal band Brujeria. Founded in 1989 by Bill and Brujeria's singer John Lepe, alias Juan Brujo, the group also featured members of Fear Factory, Carcass and Napalm Death. Bill left the band in 2002 and had this to say: "I was involved from the beginning, and it's just a different band now. I left around the same time that Ray did. What I really liked in the beginning was that nobody really said who was in the band, it was something done purely out of fun, and it didn't take itself too seriously. It ruffled a lot of people's feathers too, so it was all really positive. At that time, Mexico didn't really have death metal bands, and it was great to be involved in something that was interesting on so many levels. I think the way the band turned — I can't stop other band members from giving their names and saying who they are — it changes the focus of the whole thing, and it becomes just a typical rock band that really doesn't have any meaning that interests me." H IS FOR JON HUDSON In 1993 Bill produced a demo for Jon Hudson’s band Systems Collapse. A year later Bill sent Jon the King For A Day Fool For A Lifetime demos and Jon recorded some ideas. After FNM chose to work with Trey Spruance Jon landed a job as head guitar tech for Monster Magnet. In 1996 when FNM were again in need of a guitarist, Bill approached Jon for a second time. There was no audition and Jon started to work with Bill straight away. Jon contributed a lot of ideas that made it onto Album Of The Year, including Stripsearch and Ashes To Ashes. I IS FOR INTRODUCE YOURSELF Faith No More released their second album on April 23rd 1987. Ahead of it's time and reinventing keyboard driven guitar music with genre shifting complexity. This record forced the music industry and press to think up a completely new class to describe it - coining the phrase 'funk metal'. For fans it is the foundation of FNM's sound - a raw punk and funk energy that would be polished and expanded over the band's next five albums. The album has all the musical ingredients which create that familiar FNM noise however it is Bill that shines above the rest. The song's are driven by his trademark bass grunts and grooves. J IS FOR EPSEN J JORGENSEN Espen J. Jörgensen is a Norwegian filmmaker and musician who has collaborated with Bill on several projects. Bill was mixing a Kultur Shock record in Oslo when the two met and Jörgensen went on the direct videos for other Koolarrow artists including German metal band Harmful's Elaine (featuring Bill on guitar). Bill composed the soundtrack to Jörgensen's comic book documentary film The Sequential Art released in 2012. A year later the two released an EP of experimental hip hop sounds called Fugly. K IS FOR KOOLARROW After FNM had parted ways in 1998 Bill became disillusioned with being part of a band, he concentrated on music production and in 1999 founded his own label Koolarrow Records. Koolarrow specialises in international non English speaking music. Bill himself has recorded and produced many of the records released also occasionally lends his bass playing skills. Not only are many international cultures represented on KA but also varied genres, for example: the Chilean hip hop of Como Asesinar a Felipes, Bosnian pop outfit Dubioza kolektiv and the hardcore metal of US based Flattbush. L IS FOR LOYOLA HIGH Bill and Roddy Bottum met in 1972 when they were both aged nine. The pair were classmates at St Brendan Elementary School, and were in the same Boy Scout troop. Their Catholic education continued at Jesuit Loyola High School where they were taught together by nuns. "Everything else was extremely conservative about them, except they wouldn’t wear the habits. They might as well have. They were sadistic; they were particularly intense and would create in our class a jailhouse mentality where we were the inmates and we stuck together. We learned to do things clandestinely. We had these little acts of rebellion." - Bill M IS FOR MAUSOLEUM OF IMPERFECTION Mausoleum of Imperfection is a collection of picturesque and satirical portraits by the Balkan artist Slavko Krunić. Bill contributes to the book with accompanying stories inspired by Krunić’s work. "This is something I’ve never done before, or even considered, but decided to do my best and channel some of what his paintings were telling me. I’m still wrapping my head around the fact that I even did it." - Bill N IS FOR NAKED IN FRONT OF MY COMPUTER Bill recognised the advantages of using computer technology in music during the mixing of Album Of The Year. "Until now we every time we did an album...we recorded that on tape and mixed it then..roli changed our point of view. he copied all the stuff to the computer and we started to edit it then. we didn't do to much of that...we just really fucked up one song in the computer. most we did were little things that really improved much. and Roli also mixed the album and his extreme mixing style was really good for us." - Bill "I've done a lot of interviews where they'll ask how I wrote a song, and I'll say on a computer. 'No way!' They just can't believe that our band would do stuff on a computer." - Bill O IS FOR DIRTY O’KEEFFE Dirty O’Keeffe is a band featuring: Christian Martucci from Stone Sour (Guitar, vocals), Lagwagon’s Dave Raun (drums), Steve Shepard from Trash n Privilege (guitar) and Bill on bass. The collaboration was the brainchild of Raun to help out of work stage crews impacted by covid-19. The first song Brick or Bullet was released in February 2021. P IS FOR PRODUCER Bill first received production credits on Brujeria's 1990 EP ¡Demoniaco!, and then went on to produce other music for Alternative Tentacles. He practiced his production skills on a selection of B-sides from King For A Day Fool For A Lifetime which were recorded in his basement. In the same basement Bill produced Faith No More's sixth record Album Of The Year with guidance from Young God’s Roli Mosimann. He returned to the mixing desk in 2015, this time with a little help from Matt Wallace to co-produce Faith No More's comeback album Sol Invictus. Since then Bill has handled the production of many records for his own label including bands such as Talking Book, Kultur Shock, La Plebe, Como Asesinar a Felipes, Flattbush, Naive and more. Other bands he has worked with are CMX, Beatsteaks, Harmful and Elvis Jackson. Q IS FOR CITY OF QUARTZ In 2012 the Danish/American composer, producer and musician Mads Heldtberg released an instrumental album called City Of Quartz under the name House Of Hayduk. This abstract soundscape featured Bill, experimental drummer Charles Hayward, BJ Miller, Dean Hurley (musical producer of David Lynch), Timba Harris (Estradasphere), Anders Trentemøller and Peter Peter. Heldtberg was the guitarist with Danish metal outfit Düreforsög who released two albums on Koolarrow Records. R IS FOR ROCKABUL RocKabul is a documentary film which follows the story of District Unknown, Afghanistan’s first and only heavy metal band against the backdrop of war and Islamic terror. Produced between 2009 and 2016 by Australian filmmaker Travis Beard and Executive Producer Bill Gould. “Well, to me they’re a band that’s very naive, very innocent and very rough. But, if you consider that when they started out they didn’t even know they had to tune a guitar, I give them a pass, they get an A+ for effort. There’s kind of a fearlessness to their music-making, and that coupled with the innocence really appealed to me.” - Bill S IS FOR SHANDI'S ADDICTION Shandi's Addiction was a short lived supergroup who recorded a cover version of Calling Dr. Love for a Kiss My Ass tribute album. Bill played and produced the song with Tom Morello and Brad Wilk (Rage Against the Machine) on guitar and drums, and Maynard James Keenan (Tool) on vocals. T IS FOR TALKING BOOK Talking Book is an instrumental soundscape project featuring Bill, conceptual artist Jared Blum and Dominic Cramp of Gigante Sound. They have released two records, the first is dark and atmospheric yet still has an underlying warmth with rich textures and distinctive melodies. The second explores abstract foreboding sounds deeper, giving the listener an otherworldly experience. U IS FOR UNDERGROUND EMPIRE During the early nineties Faith No More’s preferred technique for evading the music press was to talk about anything except the music. This led to interesting and sometimes troublesome conversations involving Milli Vanilli, Bjork, Guns N Roses and more. Whereas Mike Patton would confuse journalists with talk of masturbation, Bill would often discuss murderers and the criminal underworld. Here are a few quotes from a 1989 Kerrang! interview with Steffan Chirazi. "I like to read a lot actually, that's correct, and my main obsession right now is with organised crime, arms trading and drug smuggling. I've read several books on these topics, one James Mills called 'The Underground Empire' which is the best of the lot. There's another called 'The Cocaine Wars' about the Triads in Hong Kong, and it talks about getting into heroin smuggling techniques, bribery at a government level. Also there's a book called 'Manhunt' which I'm really into, it's about an ex-CIA guy who sold stuff to the Libyans. Those kinda books really get me off." "I'm very interested in murderers, but I'm more interested in organised crime. The murderer is fascinating because he's irrational but there's really no monetary value in becoming a mass murderer and many of them don't have much money— so there's very little chance of elaborate means of escape through political channels. I'm much more interested in guys like this dealer in Mexico known as 'Choci-loco' which means 'crazy pig'. This guy has millions of dollars and is a mass murderer too. Once he got a guy, cut him up little by little so he wouldn't die too fast and fed, pieces of his fat to this pack of dogs to show he was slowly killing the guy whilst he was alive. Cochi-Loco is still alive and has not been arrested. Those type of murders fascinate me more." V IS FOR V V is the fifth (v) album by Chilean hip hop outfit Como Asesinar a Felipes. This and the band's seventh album Elipse were produced and mixed by Bill and were recorded at Bill's own Estudios Koolarrow in Oakland. Bill went on the mix the next two CAF records and in 2018 joined them on tour. W IS FOR WAYNE KRAMER In May 2018 Wayne Kramer, the original guitarist from Michigan rockers MC5, announced the MC50 tour to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kick Out the Jams. The all-star line-up included Soundgarden's Kim Thayil on guitar, Fugazi's Brendan Canty on drums and Bill on bass. The band toured the world for two years. X IS XTC When Bill is asked to list his early influences he often refers to his discovery of punk at the age of 15. The Sex Pistols, The Germs and English new wave post-punkers XTC are often mentioned when describing Bill’s first band The Animated. This featured his Boy Scout group friends, Mark Stewart (guitar), Paul Wimms (vocals/guitar) and Kevin Morgan (drums). Chuck Mosley also lived in the same neighbourhood and would often play keyboards with them. The Animated released a four track EP in 1981, recorded in Silver Lake. "I also learned about bands like The Fall, Pop Group, XTC, Joy Division from them [The Animated] ; to look back on it now, they probably saved my (musical) life! Meanwhile, I got into more aggressive punk stuff too, maybe a bit more than them, but it created an interesting dynamic that made the music part Buzzcocks, part XTC, part "I don't know what". - Bill Y IS FOR YEBIGA "Not a lot of people know this, but from decades of touring and travelling the Balkans I have become very attached to a popular spirit called rakija. It's been made for centuries in the area but it seems that not many people in the US know what it is; and if they do, they seem to only be familiar with the nasty stuff." - Bill Yebiga is a fruit brandy or rakija created by Bill, brewed in Serbia and imported to the U.S. Rakija is an important part of Southeast European culture. Drunk during religious ceremonies, weddings and funerals. When drinking "for the soul" of the deceased, one spills some rakija on the ground, saying "For the peaceful rest of the soul", before drinking the rest. Z IS FOR ZON Bill has been playing the same Zon Sonus bass since 1992 and it is partly this make and model of instrument that gives him his distinctive sound. In 2015 Zon released the Sonus BG4 Billy Gould Signature Bass which was designed in collaboration with Bill. "...the most distinguishing feature of the BG4 is the on-board, touch-sensitive, distortion circuit, designed for this bass by Roy Zichri of Greenhouse Effects. When engaged, this circuit gives a grit and edge to the tone of the bass providing Bill’s distinctive sound. The BG4 is the first bass on the market to incorporate this feature." You can pick up a Bill Gould guitar for around $35oo!! Happy birthday Bill!

The second Faith No More record and the final to feature Chuck Mosley on vocals was released thirty seven years ago on April 23rd 1987. "....A colossal, oppressive and obsessively violent rock noise. That's intimidating and disturbing in the extreme..." - Melody Maker "A tremendous piece of work, unpredictable, explosive and unclassible." - The Real Story Voted as one of Sounds Magazine's most important albums of the year in 1987 and considered an inspiring masterpiece by many... Introduce Yourself was released thirty three years ago. Recorded over two weeks at Studio D in Sausalito California, it was produced by FNM and Matt Wallace - while Steve Berlin (of Los Lobos) was drafted in to supervise. Ahead of it's time - reinventing keyboard driven guitar music - with genre shifting complexity, the record forced the music industry and press to think up a completely new class to describe it coining the phrase 'funk metal'. For fans it is the foundation of FNM's sound, raw punk and funk energy that would be polished and expanded over the band's next five albums. Fans of the album include Robert Plant, James Hetfield, members of Korn. Press Photo David Wilds Press Release FAITH NO MORE is not to be confused with faithless. This iconoclastic quintet believes in just about anything. INTRODUCE YOURSELF is a demonstration in all that is forsaken. Chaotic power is infused with an emotional undercurrent that gloriously crests and mercilessly crashes. INTRODUCE YOURSELF is a dare made with two clenched fists. FAITH NO MORE was christened in 1982 and managed to operate from a San Francisco / Los Angeles base. Singer Chuck Mosley was anchored in Los Angeles and would commute to and from San Francisco, where the other prophets resided. In December of '85, FNM recorded their first LP for Mordam records. An obligatory tour followed and they returned after spreading their cacophonous beliefs across the U.S. The hardships of travelling this expansive continent in a '66 Dodge and stolen Jartran trailer is what they endured to establish their name on college radio and dance charts. Mission accomplished. FNM converted a few folk with the tune "WE CARE A LOT". With its pounding backbeat and unforgettable chorus, "WE CARE A LOT", displays cynical naivety using haughty lyrics and edgy bump and grind playfulness. It was re-recorded for INTRODUCE YOURSELF, with updated lyrics that address today's pressing social issues. Taking their dance antics into a rapturous philosophy is "ANNE'S SONG", which holds a solid bass groove while it bobs and weaves through lacerating drum punctuations as if crossing a mined field. The songs "SPIRIT" and "DEATH MARCH" obliterate notions of naivety and cast a melancholy shadow around FNM's confrontational perseverance. INTRODUCE YOURSELF leaves no room for passivity. Credit the fact that this contemptuous posse have very different and varied histories. Keyboardist, Roddy Bottum, joined FNM after 10 years of classical piano training. Drummer, Michael Bordin preferred the tribal, primitive rhythms and was studying African drumming when he was recruited. Guitarist, Jim Martin, enlisted after a bout with Vicious Hatred, a San Francisco metal band. Singer Chuck Mosley, grew up listening to Motown and was inspired by Devo. Billy Gould had been playing in a band with Chuck and cites the Sex Pistols and Germs as his main role models. These volatile influences assail each song, affirming FNM as the sonic touchstone for each individual member. INTRODUCE YOURSELF is a record that bridges the extremes. It is the acknowledgement and unification of everything between heaven and hell. Witness the riveting alchemy FNM possesses on INTRODUCE YOURSELF. Reviews Sounds | 03.10.1987 | ★★★★★ Neil Perry FAITH NO More hail from California. Their members include a classically trained pianist, a guitarist who served time in an obscure San Francisco metal band called Vicious Hatred and a drummer who was studying African rhythms when Faith No More recruited him. The result is as powerful and as full of nuance as you could possibly hope for. 'Introduce Yourself', the band's second album, is chiefly concerned with extremes; emotional, lyrical and spiritual. It combines metal thunder and hardcore rap and dance floor polish and, believe me, it moves. Hell, even Metallica wear their t-shirts, and there's a band who appreciate the finer points of punishing musical power. From the blend of 'Chinese Arithmetic' - twangy funk and total onslaught - to the mutated hip hop of 'We Care A Lot' ("It's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it") FNM make a type of music that escapes any of our beloved little boxes. Their words are mostly personal and painful, coming to terms with all sorts of situations, and are backed by some of the most vengeful guitar and drum attacks to have made it onto vinyl this year. With 'The Crab Song', FNM almost boil over ("love. It hurts, it kills, like a motherfucker. Like a sonofabitch") yet this is nothing compared to the two tracks that follow (and close the record), the freedom charge of 'Blood' and the punkish fury of 'Spirit'. Enough. Faith No More say "KICK and SCREAM!" I say buy this record. Sounds | 1987 Steffan Chirazi BITTERNESS. ALCOHOL. Skate-boarding. Anger. Jim Martin (guitar), Bill Gould (bass), Mike Bordin (drums), Chuck Mosley (vocals), Roddy Bottum (keyboards). We're Playin' a little game of 'association' here, and all the above have one common, binding link... the Faith. Oh I know that you lot don't know what the bloody hell this is all about, but believe me I ain't religious, it's obsessive and extremely caustic. Each is a vital component of one of the best oiled new cogs on the big new music wheel. Introduce yourself... Faith No More. Now I don't as a rule push my luck with employers, but when Boss Banon murmured something to me about not being too sure about his FNM pre-release tape of the spanking debut LP 'Introduce Yourself', things had to be said. "Don't be so damn stupid man," I thundered, eyes bulging down the fragile transatlantic line, "put the bloody thing back on now and listen to it loud and stop being so .. .so.. .so measly!" The guitar. A grinding weapon, a swirling mass of six-string aggression, signs of the Sabbath creeping in, yet not without a small dash of the mighty Metallica here and there. But as if to contradict that, within those very same grooves be the most haunting, melodic and poignant keyboards. Add to it all a murderously solid rhythm and a voice that could become one of 1987's great wailing larynx's and you have here a band that are certain to interest everyone from mincing wimpos to stomping death thrashers from hell. " Washington Boulevard, East Bound....33, can I get a transfer man? 95 cents fuck you I'll skate to the beach. And I'll look better getting there." The start to the song 'Death March', complete with Martin and Bordin beating bongos behind Chuck's melancholic tale of woe in LA. Faith No More believe in themselves, they know it's tough, but they will tour the USA for three months in a hire truck to get there. That's why they are enjoying a sudden delayed surge of interest in the USA. The albums already been our for some three months there. Here in Blighty, London records have only just released the aforementioned LP. But with FNM being new to Europe, I guess you wanna understand just where the faith is coming from. Let's start in LA 1980 with Chuck Mosley and Bill Gould. Both were on the LA circuit, both in an LA band looking for the breakthrough. Chuck was always going to be in a band. He too was in LA, and having sober school days with Fishbone and played in Alice Cooper's Hollywood Vampires baseball team, t'was inevitable that he would join up with Bill and look for that magic mix. Gould had gone to catholic and grammar school with Roddy Bottum, and Bottum had trained as a classical pianist....the third member was there. Mike Bordin was plucked from Berkeley University, where he was studying the arts of African rhythms among other things. Add a guitarist to this lot, and you have the first solid incarnation of FNM, a band based in LA and SF. The guitarist at the time was not working out too well. Cliff Burton (late Metallica bassist), a long time pal of Bordin's and Jim Martin, repeatedly suggested that if they were unhappy they should try Jim. Everyone knew weirdo Jim. Jim the strange. Jim the erratic. Him the brilliant malevolence behind Bay Area punishers Vicious Hatred. And one day Cliff's advice was taken, Bordin was reunited with his old pal and the real missing ingredient joined the melting pot. The Faith as we know it today was born. The heavy gigging started in earnest, FNM finding big college radio interest throughout the USA. They were signed by SF indie Mordam Records and released a self titled debut effort done on minimal budget, which received wide acclaim from the underground. The States and it's various piss hole clubs were seen from two transit vans, while FNM's underground following grew and grew via the performances. sometimes in places akin to broom cupboards. Faith No More hit college 'God' status for life, weaseled into dance charts and hooked Metal fans with their blatant volume and crashing rhythms. "I'VE ALWAYS really been my African beats and styles for their intensity," explains Mike Bordin, "and slowly I think the other guys got to see that there's a lotta power in that style. Bill's picked it up too, and it certainly makes for a stronger song." Bordin further states the advantage of having Martin, a guitarist who could become some sort of perverse 'axe hero'. "Visually we just do our own thing, we don't ever try and rehearse. And before anyone asks us about our hair (Bordin and Bottum have big, puffy dreaded lumps of hair), it's like that 'cause we want it like that. It's just us, not a 'band look' or anything pussy like that. We do things for us, and I guess that's the bottom line." It is a recent development that has seen the bigger boys leap for the Faith. Bob Biggs, president of Slash Records (the label for Los Lobos, and a Warner Bros affiliate) took a huge liking to the death-charged, bombastic power of FNM, and signed them quickly. He gave them a budget, had Lobos' Steve Berlin co-produce, and got a video on MTV for the first US single. 'We Care A Lot'. BIGGS, the man behind much of the early LA punk scene, has openly declared his faith in Faith, and London Records snapped them up for European distribution. The latest word is that Warner Bros might very well take Faith all to themselves. The final icing? The interest of Quiet Riot manager Warren Entner, who has just undertaken officially management duties. Moreover, FNM aren't about subtlety. "Subtlety is for old people," drawls Jim, "subtlety is for people who blow their noses into handkerchiefs in the bathroom. We're not subtlety 'cause we blow our noses through OUT mouths onto the sidewalk. No way are we in with that subtlety shit. The record company mentioned that our record had to have a subtle sleeve, so that what I said back. I'm doing the next sleeve though." If you see a guy with a bottle in a brown paper bag, a pencil and sketch pad, it's Jim Martin. If you see an example of human combustion in front of you, chances are that person was listening to FNM. They tour Britain soon: the feeling live is just as painful but much more pleasurable. Introduce Yourself is the next big thing early. Classic Rock | January 2017 Rap, heavy metal, post-punk, new wave and funk. Somehow, someway, Faith No More made sense of these five tricky musical ingredients on their second album, Introduce Yourself. While quite a few alt rock bands of the same era were starting to lean - albeit cautiously - towards the 'rockier' side of things, FNM were one of the first bands of the genre to feature unapologetic Sabbath-style guitar riffing, from the great Big Sick Ugly Jim Martin. A re-recording of the title track of their debut album, We Care A Lot, earned FNM their first bit of radio/MTV play, the title track was their most explosive yet, while Martin's guitar was front and centre on The Crab Song. Add singer Chuck Mosley's on-key/off-key vocals to the mix and you had a daring sound unlike anything else circa 1987.

On April 18th 1988 Faith No More released their second single Anne's Song . The song featured on their second album Introduce Yourself . 'A dancing 12 inches of pure abnormality that rips around the room accompanied by one of the finest voices ever to come out of a broken vocal pipe. It just bludgeons its way along hitting everything form its path and grinning inanely while doing so. One day all absurdities will be made this way. Single of the week. Brilliant.' Sounds 1988 The lyrics to Anne's Song stand out on Introduce Yourself due to their first person setting and autobiographical content. Written by Chuck Mosley with a little help from Roddy Bottum they tell the story of Anne ......' Anne, dagnabbit, island princess...' But who is Anne? We asked this question before and Chuck enlightened us. "Anne's song was quite simply, a pep talk that i got from my friend Anne, when I was down in the dumps about not getting along, or seeing eye to eye with my band mates at the time. It's also an introduction to all of our friends and family in New York, an epiphany about making the best of any situation, and appreciating what you have. I could be wrong, but I think that if I had applied the advice to my situation better at the time, things might have turned out different, but, no regrets..." Who better to discuss the lyrics to this song with than the subject, Chuck's dear friend Anne D'Agnillo . How far back do you and Chuck go? How did you meet? Chuck and I go back to 1979..We met while working together at the NUART Theater, a revival house type of movie theater. Did Chuck tell you he was writing a song about you? No, Chuck never told me he was writing a song about me. I heard it first after it was done and dusted. It was an incredible and surreal experience hearing it the first time, on a car tape deck.... trying to catch the lyrics that sounded already so familiar.... Like "....do whatever the hell you want to do. Now is the time when you can do anything. Everything you do, anything, it will still turn out great. You've got the world at your feet." Did he use artistic licence or are these words of advice you uttered to Chuck? Hahaha - Chuck did not use artistic license with those lyrics! That is the advice I give most often, to this day, to anyone who will listen. How did Johnny, Vinnie, Lucy, her boyfriend and Jamilia feel about being made famous by FNM? Everyone in the song basically just jumped into it for Chuck! If it worked for Chuck, we were in. We were thinking of keeping Chuck famous..... Did you have the hots for Ricky? I still have the hots for Ricky- that’s my husband’s name! You are of course in the video, where was the party shot? Only half the video was shot in my apt. Only Chuck from the band was in the part filmed here. There is also Vinny, Jon E Edwards, Clara Pollini, Leo Klein, Toots and Stan, Judy and Jimmy, Lucia ( Lucy), and Subee..... The song was rarely (if ever) performed by Mike Patton, it is Chuck's song as well as Anne's. How did it feel seeing him perform it with FNM in 2016? I really wish I had been there in 2016. I love the version. It was an honor to hear it and feel the glow.... We all miss him. What do miss most about Chuck? What I miss the most is his unconditional love.... he was a very loyal friend for almost 40 years. And I miss the inside jokes, the nicknames we would assign people, the mean girls moments. Hehehe.....

WADE WORTHINGTON Founder and original keyboard player/backing vocalist with Faith No Man, who became Faith No More, 1979-1983 Metal Hammer | 5 Mar 2026 “My first band was The Spectators, but that fell apart and then there was Sharp Young Men, which then became Faith No Man. I had this ad up in the local record store in Berkeley [in the Bay Area], and the first person to answer was [bassist] Bill Gould. We’d been at a frat party and seen [drummer] Mike Bordin play. We ended up at his family home. In the hallway there was a picture of him with this huge afro, and I think that’s why he got nicknamed Puffy at some later date. “Bill got us a show at a club called Frenchy’s in the adjacent town of Hayward. I couldn’t hold a tune but I would sort of scream. We recorded a demo [as Sharp Young Men] at [future FNM producer] Matt Wallace’s garage at his parents’ house. That led to more gigs – I remember one show that was like an art gallery with a trapdoor and a ladder that was a deathtrap to get your gear down. We were standing outside, and these kids jumped out of a low-riding car and started attacking Mike. We jumped in the van and ran a red light and drove to Bill and Roddy’s [Bottum, future FNM keyboardist] apartment, which might have been Courtney Love’s place as well at that time. “I was hoping to hide my shyness in my performances, but I didn’t like what I saw and I didn’t like my singing. I was trying to graduate and I wanted to do this trip with my sister, riding round Ireland on bikes, so I apologised and told them I was leaving. I let them use my garage while I was away and even let Roddy, who didn’t have a keyboard at that time, use mine. “We did this show at this club called The Sound Of Music in San Francisco, and I played half the set then passed the baton to Roddy. I really thought they were going nowhere. I remember seeing Bill some time later and he took me to his rooms. There’s a dead rat hanging in my face, a guy in a loincloth and turban playing a flute in the corner and this lady, belly dancing topless. “In the 90s I totally tuned out. I was working at a frame shop and talking about bands I’d been in, and mentioned Faith No Man. They said, ‘You mean Faith No More?’ I had no idea that they were popular. That was a big shock. I probably had regrets. Everybody wants to be famous but I’m very grateful to have had those experiences and I’m really happy for them.”

The Mike Patton and Avett Brothers collaboration kicked off their eighteen date North American Tour yesterday (April 10) in Lousiville, Kentucky. The setlist included original songs from the AVTT/PTTN album but also some covers. The group played a great rendition of the classic Commodores song Easy (of course made extra special by Faith No More ), a version of Mr. Bungle 's Retrovertigo , a full band cover of Digging The Grave and Patton dueted with piano on Ashes To Ashes.