Mike Patton 's latest collaboration with the Avett Brothers will perform at Big Ears Festival in Knoxville on March 28th 2026. The festival will also see John Zorn in 12 performances plus regular Patton collaborators Trevor Dunn, Dave Lombardo, Laurie Anderson, William Winant and Tunde Adebimpe. Tickets onsale HERE.

In 2018 Bill Gould took to the road with legendary guitarist and founder of MC5 Wayne Kramer . Photos Jim Newbury Mc50 were put together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Kick Out the Jams , the MC50 lineup saw Bill united with an all-star ensemble of rock innovators – Kim Thayil (Soundgarden) , Brendan Canty (Fugazi), Matt Cameron (Pearl Jam) and Marcus Durant (Zen Guerrilla) . Wayne sadly passed in 2024. The album 10 More will be released on December 5th and features tracks recorded from live shows in Seattle, Cincinnati and Hamburg, Germany. The album spans tracks from all three original MC5 albums. Pre-save the album HERE . The album will be released on CD Digisleeve and LP Sleeve (180g).   Call Me Animal I Believe to My Soul Rocket Reducer No. 62 (Rama Lama Fa Fa Fa) The American Ruse Skunk (Sonicly Speaking) Teenage Lust Looking at You High School Baby Won't Ya Starship

On October 20th 2015 Faith No More released their first video in 17 years for the song Sunny Side Up . Sunny Side up was the third single released from Faith No More's Sol Invictus . The song only saw a promo CD release but the band produced a video which Rolling Stone described as, "Faith No More prove sex, drugs and rock and roll are for the geriatrics as much as the kid". It was was their video first in 17 years, the last being for Stripsearch in 1998 - Warner Bros posthumously released the music video for I started A Joke in 1998 without any band involvement. The video was directed by Joe Lynch who would go on to direct the acclaimed horror movie Mayhem starring Steven Yeun in 2017. On the video's release in 2015 we had the pleasure of interviewing Lynch. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in a hallucinogenic air conditioned nightmare..... It is a stroke of genius and the perfect accompaniment to the song. Well done camp FNM you've done it again. Throughout the video there are clever nods to the real world of FNM: the flower pots front of stage, Patton's megaphone, Puffy's gloves and shorts to name a few. It pretty obvious the direction was handled by a fan. How did this collaboration between yourself and FNM come about? 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, hmmmmmm. But since then it was a dream of mine to do a video of theirs. I kept contacting (i.e ‘bothering’) some of the members over the years, to just work with any of them since I was such a huge fan. When Mike had 'Fantomas' on Ipecac, I lobbied hard to do a video for 'The Director's Cut' album. We came close to putting one together for ‘Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer’ (where we were going to recreate shots and scenes from that iconic horror movie and hint that Mike was the killer’s conscience) but then 9/11 happened and put the brakes on that. I almost worked with Billy on some of his Koolarrow bands but that never worked out, but we kept in touch. When the new album came out I reached out saying “Any song, let’s do it”. I guess it helped that I had a new movie out at the time – Everly with Salma Hayek (Available now on DVD / BluRay / VOD). But low and behold one day I got an email from the band’s manager saying “Hey we have an idea…wanna make it with us?” When your favorite band of all time come calling….you pay attention! Tell us a little about your personal FNM experiences? They were one of the bands I always regretted not seeing live for so many years. When they toured a few years back I saw them in Los Angeles at the Palladium, which was good but we were so far away from the band I didn’t really enjoy as much. But just a few months ago I got invited to that secret show at the famed Troubadour in Hollywood. Dude, greatest show of my life! I took a pic of Mike on the bar when he crowd surfed to the back of the venue to take a shot, all while continuing to sing. At one point he and I locked eyes and I took the pic and posted it. Next morning it went viral! So yeah, it’s been a crazy time lately to be a Faith No More fan, especially in my position where a fan is working with them! I can proudly say that I got to check something off my bucket list. ‘Direct a Faith No More video’ done! FNM don't feature in the video which is only the second time in their career this has happened. Was this their decision from the outset? Yes they had two rules. One, don’t fuck up. Two, we can’t be in the video because we’re touring. They had the initial idea of an older version of the band playing some old folks in a home and the theme of being youthful and reckless even in their golden years, and I just ran with it. But yeah, they didn’t want to be in the video so we had to make sure whoever was visually representing them would bring that FNM energy. And the guys we got did in spades! They rocked so hard on the day we shot I suggested they go out and do an entire tour playing as ‘Faith No Less’ or ‘Alive No More’ the greatest FNM lip sync band ever! How much involvement did FNM have in the video? Well, they trusted me with their first video in almost two decades, but having made a lot of music videos for a lot of artists, I was shocked how wonderfully relaxed and collaborative they were. Usually when you submit a first cut to the band and/or label you get ten pages of notes, most of the time contrasting with each other, and from every member of the band, execs, their girlfriends, the tour bus driver….etc. This was the easiest time I ever had on a music video, but that’s not to say they didn’t care. Oh they did, we were just on the same relative page from day one, so it was a joy from start to finish. How did you find such a charismatic bunch of actors for the roles of the band? Roger Brown as Roddy is particularly great. Central casting! We just put an ad out saying we needed older actors who could play each specific instrument. I knew we could cheat the guitar, bass and even piano at times, but if the vocals and drums weren’t on point and in sync we were doomed. Luckily every single member of the ‘band’, from Richard on vocals to Buddy on drums, Roger on piano, Bruce on guitar and especially Robert on bass (who I had no clue but was a key character in one of my favorite films, the remake of The Blob) were so on-point and brought so much energy to set that day. The rest of the cast were so blown away that they kept asking for encores! Did they watch live FNM footage to get into character? Yes they did! Ah the power of YouTube. Richard in particular was studying mike’s facial expressions and body presence on stage and I know Buddy was rehearsing how to specifically mimic Mike Bordin’s particular drumming style. They knew they had a responsibility because again if the fake band sucked, we’d be sunk. You’d be shocked how many people think that’s the real band under a lot of make-up! That’s a testament to the fake band's performance. The album 'Sol Invictus' seems to deal with themes of resurrection and the later years of life. Did you listen to the album for inspiration in your story and direction? I adore the album. I was hoping to do ‘Separation Anxiety’ as it’s my favourite song on the album but clearly ‘Sunny..’ has become the front runner. I’ve heard that song likely more times than the band at this point and I’m still not sick of it! But it’s a classic Faith No More album, compelling form first to last track. Do you feel that your video has given the song another dimension? And do you feel it fits in with FNM's previous catalogue? A good video enhances a song and of course vice versa. I think the video definitely has the band’s twisted sense of humor, that they are more comfortable showing this side of their career and taking the piss out of ageing in the public eye. Yeah I think it completely fits in the FNM videography, but I’m bias! Who influences your filmmaking? Band's like Faith No More.

I am not sure what I expected before sitting down with The Royal We . Reading the Substack tales from Roddy Bottum were indeed a clue. However, as a feverish Faith No More fan starved of any word from the band for sometime now I hoped for a history of my favourite artists from their perspective. It’s not exactly what I got, and knowing my favourite keyboardist like I do, I was actually quite foolish to hope for it. The Royal We is a weird and wonderful journey, it is the dialogue of a true artist who has travelled that weird and wonderful journey. He has endured its hardships and enjoyed its benefits (maybe that’s the other way around). The fine details that embellish Roddy's text with such poetic romanticism and dark drama could be mistaken for fiction - but of course The Royal We is not. The author travels back and forth to his childhood and teenage years in LA. Roddy describes his struggles with honesty about his sexuality and having no gay role models. Yet he succeeds to find love and passion in the seediest of places. The author tells us of his family - how he looked up to his father, how he bonded over music with his mother and how mischief brought him close to his three sisters. He takes us to San Francisco during the early days of Faith No More and the development of their unmistakable sound. He includes those stories that any respectable FNM should know - Milli Vanilli, the Guns and the Roses (as Roddy refers to them), touring We Care A Lot in a '66 Dodge, the Metroplex and the vats, coming out via the music press, writing Introduce Yourself and Angel Dust . There are no dates, not all of the names, in some parts just hazy memories, there is even the odd venue or city that Roddy gets wrong (in his defence he does say heroin was there to help him forget the details). There are emotions and out of focus scenes played out on the page like the movie version of Roddy's life. Roddy invites us to celebrate Chuck Mosley , Bill Gould , Mike Bordin , Jim Martin and Mike Patton with love and respect. He shares with us how he bonded with each member of FNM and the oddities of their personalities. This is what the obsessed fanboy part of me came to find. In one chapter Roddy describes how his keys were a haunting beauty 'in the midst of all the pummel of thunder and power and macho'. But, there is much more that Roddy reveals about his own journey, his relationships, Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain , and how he becomes a millionaire! Courtney is a constant supporting character throughout the book, and privy to some of the most heartbreaking chapters of Roddy’s life. Losing his father, losing Kurt and getting clean. A recurring theme is death - friends, family, pets. Roddy spent his youth hiding things, his sexuality, his drug habit. The drugs and the drugs and the drugs. He does not spend much time glamourising his addiction to heroin, he instead describes the sickness it provokes and how it almost killed him. The memoir draws to its conclusion in 1996 with the release of Imperial Teen ’s debut record, Seasick . The Royal We feels like the beginning, so much happens but as fans we know there is so much left to say. Can we expect a follow up? Faith No More have always been a cooking pot of very different ingredients. Strange opposites attactracting to create something new and fantastic. Roddy's is one unique, glamorous and filthy story. Reading it made me want to next experience the memoirs of Bill, Mike B, Jim, Chuck and Patton. To complete the puzzle. If you want a history of the band stick to Adrian Harte or Steffan Chirazi . Roddy's memoirs, just like Faith No More’s music are brave, entertaining and unconventional. [The book would make a great Oliver Stone film.]

The new wave hipster band Faith. No Man ceased to exist in late 1983 - born from the ashes was... Faith No More . Photo by Wade Worthington The line up of what would become Faith No More included Mike 'The Man' Morris (vocals and guitar), Wade Worthington (keyboards), Bill Gould , and Mike Bordin . During rehearsals it became more and more apparent that the band differed in musical opinions. Worthington saw the writing on the wall and left, replaced by Bill's childhood friend  Roddy Bottum . But tensions were growing between the band and it's frontman Morris. Mike Bordin | 2002 "We all just kind of quit. We said: 'We're going to start playing without Morris.' We like each other, we've got a vibe. We've got an itch that we want to scratch'. So that's why there was keyboard, bass and drums, and that's why we switched guitarists so much, because it was just us three. The 'Man' was gone - the man was 'No More'." The guitarist and vocalist positions would be filled with various musicians from show to show after the band parted ways with Morris, including Chuck Mosley and notoriously Courtney Love. Roddy’s first ever performance with FNM was at Sound Of Music in San Francisco, most likely on May 13th 1983. Roddy Bottum | 2015 "The first show I ever played was with [first singer Mike Morris]. There was another keyboard player at the time, Wade Worthington, and he said he didn't want to be in the band any more. I was like, "I play keyboards," so we planned this passing-of-the-wand, so to speak. I did my first show at the Sound of Music in the Tenderloin in San Francisco. It was this really seedy, fucked-up, sex workers and drugs neighbourhood. Wade played for half the set, and I played the second half. But for some reason I did speed that night—I'd never done it before—and it was just this overwhelming crazy mix of a lot of things coming together." In 1993 there was discussion about Roddy joining FNM. Bill Gould | 1993 "Roddy fitted in perfectly, and it was only a short matter of time before we realized we couldn't stand the singer. Me, Puffy and Roddy were getting along really well, we were around he same age and had a lot in common, So one day we all 'quit' the band, which is kinda a polite way of kicking out the singer. We had called him 'The Man' because he was older, bossier, he wanted me to dress as some New Romantic or some shit like that. So finally we just told him to fuck off, yet he'd managed to brainwash us into believing that we couldn't write songs. So we were afraid that we might've needed him. That made firing him a big stab in the dark. But then we started coming up with all this cool stuff, where we pretty much threw caution to the wind and said 'if we can't come up with good stuff what the heck we'll have a good time trying?' That's how we came up with our basic first sound, and it was a liberating kind of thing. We didn't give a fuck if we never got a record deal, we didn't give a fuck about anything. We were just playing music we couldn't play with anyone else." Roddy Bottum | 1993 "It was really Mike Morris' band, and he was a terrorist. I am aware that I'm the one who pretty much saw that they left him, if I hadn't joined they'd probably have stuck with him a lot longer. The combination of the three of us was a lot stronger than just them. We were hanging out around each other a lot, talking amongst ourselves, preparing to oust that guy." Mike Bordin | 1993 “ One thing led to another and we both realized that 'The Man' was a slave-driver, a bit of a dick. The keyboard player quit, Roddy came in and he isn't the type to be browbeaten by anyone. We liked playing with each other, there was something going on and it didn't have to be anything. For the first lime it wasn't bad rock, it wasn't bad progressive, it was bad whatever! It was bad 'everything'." On October 7th the newly named Faith. No More played a gig in San Francisco at On Broadway or so this flyer for the show indicates. But, was this the first Faith No More show? A live recording of the night exists but it is labelled October 11th which leaves us guessing the precise date of their first gig. Either the tape is labelled incorrectly or FNM were billed for the 7th and didn't play. Not only was this show the first for FNM but also the first time Matt Wallace was sound engineer for the band. The lineup for this show included Jake Smith on guitar and Joe Pop-O-Pie on vocals. Joe of course was the singer from 80s misfit punk outfit Pop-O-Pies and there is a fascinating story which outlines the origin of the lyrics to the 1987 Faith No More song Spirit .  Joe Pop-O-Pie | 2013 "So I think it was just before we were going to start the first rehearsal for the first FNM show. This was September of 1983. The show was in October of 1983. Roddy and I arrived at the practice space first. It was also used by a band called Crucifix. Jake Smith was the guitarist on that first FNM show. Anyway, we're waiting for everybody else to show up and Roddy got behind the drum kit and started banging away. Jake had his Marshal Half Stack and this awesome new fangled guitar that had to be tuned with Allen wrenches. Well, I fired it up and started playing. The sound I was getting out of this thing was awesome! Very inspiring. Just off the top of my head I started playing this set of power chords that would later become the bass line of my version of "The Words of Jamal" (for the first FNM show we would end up using a different instrumental underneath the words). Ok so I'm strumming away and Roddy's still playing drums and I remembered those words that I had jotted down from that night i NYC. And I started to rhythmically shout them over the chords I was playing. It sounded really good so it stuck. Now in March of 1984, when I was recording the next Pop-O-Pies album we did a version of it. The album is called "Joe's second record" with Bill Gould on bass, Mike Bordin on drums and (the infamous) Mark Bowen and myself are playing the guitars on it. And of course, I was doing the vocals also." (Thanks to Faith No More Gig Database  and Faith No Man  for the details.)

On October the 11th 2005 Mike Patton made his acting debut in the cult film noir Firecracker directed by Steve Balderson . "This is no less than a masterpiece. Remember the first time you saw 'Blood Simple' or 'Blue Velvet' and were blown away? Same thing. ...stunningly rendered. Everything from the cinematography to the music to the acting is nothing less than perfect. It's literally one of the best films I've seen ever."- FILM THREAT The film tells the story of abuse and murder in the small Kansas town of Wamego. Patton and Karen Black both play dual roles, Patton is the abusive and violent David and the cruel circus master Frank . While Black plays a religious doting mother an alluring but enslaved circus performer. The production is stunning the script is engaging and the acting captivating.  To celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Firecracker we are revisiting an interview we conducted with the director in 2015. STEVE BALDERSON How did the casting of Mike Patton come about? I wanted Patton to play the freak show owner’s sidekick, and had intended on having Dennis Hopper play the sideshow owner Frank.  But after we couldn’t find the funding with Hopper attached, I decided to go back to my initial conception of the film, which was originally to have whoever played the mother also play the sideshow singer, and whoever played the brother also play the sideshow owner.  So I decided to replace Dennis Hopper with Mike Patton, and oddly enough we seemed to find the funding overnight. I read that you particularly enjoy casting musicians in your films. How does working with someone from this background differ from trained actor? In particular Mike Patton. Working with musicians is great.  They’re already performers.  They’re acting each time they go on stage.  Each person already does it, the major difference being that acting for film is considerably more subtle than acting from the stage.  But Mike was a total pro.  Working with him was amazing.  And he nailed that subtlety perfectly.  As did Kevin Richardson of the group Backstreet Boys, when he played the abusive cutter in my film THE CASSEROLE CLUB – which won him a best Actor award at the Independent Vision Awards.  Musicians are great actors – look at Dwight Yokam in SLING BLADE.  Amazing. I think Mike Patton's performance as David is much more focused and terrifying than as Frank.  I wonder can you enlighten us on how Patton and Karen Black prepared to play dual roles? We spoke about it a lot before shooting, and we filmed them at totally different times.  We started with all the Frank/Sandra sideshow stuff, and then shot all the David/Eleanor stuff second.  Yes, Frank is meant to be harsh and his voice is so slimy, whereas David is more internal and with a deeper darkness.  If Jimmy invented the freak show world as a way to handle his abuse, it would be natural for him to envision the portrayals of Frank/Sandra in the way they are presented to us as viewers. With him playing such grotesque characters did this affect his mood and that of the other cast and crew off set during the filming? During the takes it was very tense, and sometimes very scary, chilling, and likewise sometimes really dark and emotionally draining.  But after we wrapped the shoot each day, everyone had a ball (except for one crew member who was a total douche). Do you think his own talent for creating and performing bizarre roles in his music helped his acting? Definitely.  Especially finding the vocal quality for each character. Mike Patton has a wonderfully distinctive voice and your direction and script seem to really emphasise this. Was the script written or improvised with this in mind? Mostly everything was written, but as I do in all my films, I let the actors have some flexibility and the freedom to create and improvise if they feel it. Patton also has a demonic stare which the camera fully highlights. Would you define this as acting or direction? Both.  If the direction isn’t spot on, one might miss the moment, and if the acting isn’t spot on, there’s no matter where you put the camera.  Luckily Mike and I worked really well together in that regard. Mike Patton seems to have been born to play a villain. Firecracker was a great start to what could've been a long acting career. However he never followed the path. Any thoughts on why? Perhaps the right project hasn’t come around yet.  I don’t know.  I do know that he really values his experience creating music. Firecracker is set in the town you grew up in and is concerned with real events. How do approach composing a script and directing when the story is already written and the backdrop is so familiar? Well, we had parts of the story clear to us, but there were parts that are still a mystery.  When Jimmy came up for parole the judge sealed the case and esponged his record.  When I went to the court house they showed me the transcripts, but they couldn’t open them and neither could I.  So we interviewed people who were still alive, including the real-life Jimmy.  And I agreed for the respect of his story to change their names and never mention them to anyone.  Although if you ask anyone in Wamego they tell you the real names. The film is shot in vivid colour and stunning black and white sections. Does this relate the constant theme of duality? Yes.  There’s a page on my website called MIRROR IMAGE: BEHIND FIRECRACKER which explains the origins.  One can see that you were influenced by the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Where else do you draw inspiration from? Stanley Kubrick.  What a genius.  And John Huston.  Louis Malle.  Really there are a ton of filmmakers whose perceptions I love to watch and explore. Sadly Karen Black passed away recently. Her performance in Firecracker is outstanding to the point where the audience is convinced that there are two separate actors in those roles. What specifically attracted you to her for the film? She’s incredible.  And was such an incredible awesome person to work with.  I think it was her cat-like look and demeanor that initially drew me to her for the part of Sandra.  At one time I wanted Sally Kirkland to play Eleanor, but when I decided to do the dual roles concept, I had to let go of Sally and put Karen in both parts.  I worked with Karen a couple times – she’s also in my homage to women in prison films called STUCK! co-starring with Mink Stole.  Karen was a great friend, and a wonderful person. Your films are horrific and brutal. What is it that draws you towards such themes? I love exploring all sorts of behavior.  Psychotic people are intriguing.  Why do they decide and chose to do the things they do.  It’s wild to study.  I’ve also made some films that are tender and nice, like OCCUPYING ED or EL GANZO and some that are action driven – like CULTURE SHOCK.  But yes, I have a soft spot for exploring sick and crazy people. You have a very impressive catalogue of award winning films and are always busy! What can we expect from you in the future? Get ready for HELL TOWN – a soap opera horror film.  And the Mexican mystery drama EL GANZO.  Both of those are on the film festival circuit right now and should be out sometime in 2016.  Details and trailers at www.DIKENGA.com And finally. Firecracker was released ten years ago, when was the last time you watched it? (If recently) what kind of emotions did it evoke? I watched it for the first time since its release a few months ago, when I had the high-def 2k scan made of the original film.  It’s just mind-blowing how much detail was there all along but that no one has been able to see until now.  I cried when I watched it.  It was very emotional.  I felt very proud and thankful, like I had nailed it and also it left me feeling very curious.  How the hell did I know what I was doing at that age?  Somehow I knew.  Or maybe I was just on auto-pilot.  (Laughs).  Don’t know.  But, wow, what an experience that film was to make, and to watch.  It oddly seems more current and timely watching it today than it ever has.  That surprised me.  Click to see the 2k scan of FIRECRACKER(which has never been made available to the public) For a little extra viewing check out Steve Balderson's 'Wamego: Making Movies Anywhere' which features behind the scenes footage of Firecracker .

Mr. Bungle released their second studio album Disco Volante on October 10th 1995. Metal Hammer | October 1995 It begins as you might expect when you realise Mr. Bungle is the side project of Faith No More's Mike Patton. "Everyone I Went To Highschool With Is Dead" is a rush of guitar distortion. Then, as one track runs into another forcing you to guess what you might be listening to, things get infinitely stranger, The press release, a document which steadfastly ignores such passing details as when and where the album was recorded and who played on it, claims: "We are absolutely thrilled to play danceable funk-metal for anyone who was frozen in ice four years ago". this is a candidate for most misleading statement of the year. Instead, Mr. Bungle embark on a musical odyssey encompassing (choosing at random) the spirit of 'Ghost Town' period Special's experiments with film music; be-bop horns; a Beach Boys pastiche (without any harmonica); techno pushed to it's limits; and guitars that would cheerfully grace any Napalm Death album. All of which makes perfect sense. Because, while fuk metal has become a generic term, the names that so often get checked in this context - Gang Of Four, Bootsy collins, the Pop Group, whoever - were all innovators who knew how to mix different music. The danger here is self-indulgence, and Mr. Bungle don't entirely avoid this trap. but, mostly, just as your attention begins to wander, a snippet of melody pulls you back or a sketchy, surreal vocal is inserted. At one point, for instance, Mr. bungle announce, "My mom is better than your mom and your dad too / She's there when she needs to be there / That's why I'm here today". They sound like the words of an axe murderer. Or the soundtrack to a slasher because, ultimately, "Disco Volante" sounds like a collection of film music. Not U2's big budget material; Mr. Bungle write soundtracks for 60's B-movies or early John Carpenter flicks. Further information? A phone call to Mr. bungle's press office brings a response along the lines of, "I don't know who's in the band. If I did they'd all be false names, and everything might change tomorrow anyway." so with the exception of the FNM connection, you're forced to judge Mr. bungle without any preconceptions. which is, of course, the way we should react to all music. Nearly ten years ago FNM Followers spoke with Trevor Dunn about Mr. Bungle 's second album. Mr. Bungle's approach to writing music radically changed from the debut record to Disco Volante. Why was this? This album seemed to be driven more by individuals than a team effort. Was this because you now all had more projects on the go?   I’m not sure I’d say our approach was different.  It’s true that instead of hanging out on campus where we were all going to school, by the early ‘90s we had relocated to San Francisco and were individually pursuing multiple music ventures.  I would say that after our first tour of ’92 we were completely done with that music and it took Danny, Trey and I a solid year to even get together in the same room with instruments.  Mike was constantly on the road.  Looking back I think that was a big learning period for all of us.  We were hungry for different music and culture and we used that time to research and absorb, individually finding things on our own as adults in “the big city”.  So once we started trying to figure out what our next musical move was we brought those new ideas to the table.  Ultimately our writing approach was the same, just more informed.   Also I think each of us was becoming more confident and secure as distinctive writers.  It was less about ‘let’s jam and create something’ and more about ‘here’s a concept; here’s what I have in mind’.  —not fully, but heading in that direction, which would solidify by the time we got to ‘California’.   I have often referred to DV as our “identity crisis” album.  I still remember Danny, Trey and I getting together the first time after the ’92 tour.  We sat there in our rehearsal studio with our instruments staring at each other with no idea what to do. The 'Sleep trilogy' was completed on this album. Can you explain a the concept?  I didn’t know it was a trilogy until I wrote parts 2 & 3 and realized I had a running theme that originated with Slowly Growing Deaf.  In a nutshell, that song (with Phlegmatics & Carry Stress In The Jaw) explores corporeal reactions to outside forces; the gradual decline of the human body due to social interactions.  There is also the idea that while we sleep, our bodies recuperate and our minds deal with what has been imposed upon us.  The fruit of that processing is phlegm which accumulates until we wake up and expectorate.  I suppose it’s a sort of digestion on the mental level.   The song Phlegmatics is more about the internal struggle between lethargy and productivity whereas the other two reflect a bit on misanthropy.  The human body deteriorates on it’s own, of course, but as the poet has said, sleep is death’s brother.  It’s a fairly pedantic and existential concept to be honest, but also a very personal one.  “Slowly..” was inspired by the ironic need to wear earplugs while listening to music and also people’s inability to listen.  “Carry Stress…” was inspired by actual teeth-pulling anxiety nightmares and a serious case of bruxism.  Trey said in a recent interview that due to the success of the debut album Warner pretty much left you alone. How did they react to DV?  I seem to remember that they always left us alone. Patton was a big asset to them financially and in that regard it gave us some power because they had to appease him.  That, for one, meant giving him the freedom to work with us as he always had.  I don’t believe any of our records ever recouped which isn’t that big of a deal for a major label who have much larger fish to fry.  For them it is just another tax write-off.  And I have a sneaking suspicion that they possibly believed we would “grow up” musically some day and make them some money.  We never had much of a real relationship with the small group of people who were supposed to be our A&R folks.  Also, there was so much time between our albums that the staff had usually changed by the time we came around again.  I can’t say I really remember their reaction or cared one way or the other.  I do remember that getting the artwork as we wanted was a total pain in the ass and ultimately failed to a degree.  Musically, however, it was a blessing to be left alone. Was any of the album improvised in the studio or did you have the whole thing carefully orchestrated?  The only moments of improv I can recall are some of the foley sounds on “Violenza..” and a few moments of “The Bends” as well as the breakdowns in “Carry Stress..” and “Merry Go Bye Bye”.  The whole record, including those moments, was certainly meticulously crafted starting with early demos and lots of rehearsals.  Once in the studio we had it in lock-out and basically lived there for close to two months.  You guys produced the album on your own was this simply because you couldn't find anyone to share your vision?  I remember driving my pick-up truck to Davis, CA with Zorn in the passenger seat on our way to a Masada gig (there was a short-lived West Coast quartet version with Kenny Wollesen, Ben Goldberg and myself).  On that trip I asked Zorn about producing DV.  I think Bungle had kicked around the idea of having him produce again but we were not 100% sure.  Zorn told me he felt that we didn’t need a producer and that we were capable of doing it on our own.  He was right. In 1994 Trey joined and left FNM, did this situation have any effect on Patton and Trey's working relationship in Bungle?  I can’t really speak on that for various reasons. Suffice it to say rifts were established. The extent of the effect and on who is difficult to measure, but Mike & Trey continued to work together for sometime after that, as you know. There is mystery surrounding 'Spy' or 'The Secret Song'. What is the story? I suppose it will be good to put this in writing as I am often coerced into telling the story. Firstly, it was never called “Spy”.  That is a completely distinct song, “Spy” being the working title.  It was later named “Lemmy Caution” based on a character from the movie Alphaville.  As I mentioned, we basically lived in the recording studio . We would spend entire days and nights in there without seeing the sun.  In addition to this we tried to carry on with some of our normal lives.  I had some jazz gigs in town and one night I had to step out early to go to this gig.  Unbeknownst to me, while I was out the other guys arranged a song and recorded it.  Since I wasn’t there you’d have to ask them how that actually went down, but the song was compiled from our ‘graveyard of riffs’.  The graveyard consisted of countless riffs and orphaned phrases that never found a home.  Anyone could pilfer from the graveyard at anytime.  A few days later I was rummaging around the studio and came across a DAT tape where I discovered a rough mix of this song.  Busted.  Incidentally that is Bär on drums, Mike on bass and I believe Danny is playing keyboards although I’m not 100% sure.  The next level of secrecy was that Mike didn’t know I had discovered the tape.  He wasn’t around that day, but everyone else knew that I knew.  Later, we were in another studio and I decided to record the old man vocals which were for the most part improvised (as if that isn’t obvious).  The plan was to keep these vocals a secret from Mike until the record actually came out.  That would have been a very difficult task to uphold.   It didn’t work and Mike somehow heard the recording with my vocals.  However, the other guys didn’t know that he knew, so when the record came out he pretended to be pissed of about it, saying that the vocals ruined the song.  I was the only one who knew he wasn’t really angry.  We maintained the secrecy of the song by 1) not listing it on the CD (some people continue to think it’s called “Carry Stress In the Jaw”) and 2) hiding it in a hidden groove on the vinyl.  We also never played it live. Do you have a favorite Mr. Bungle album?  Musically I am most proud of California however they each hold a distinct personality/history for me. Certainly they frame entire eras of my life.

On October 1st 1992 Faith No More were tour promoting Angel Dust with support act Helmet at Queen City in Buffalo, New York. However, the show was not the reason they were in the press next morning. After their gig the band performed at a radio appreciation party for 97 Rock which led to arrests and a possible ban on FNM ever returning to Buffalo. Buffalo News | 02.10.1992 PATTON OFFERS NO APOLOGIES FOR LEWD ACTS AT PARTY Mike Patton has caused a national furore with his apparent sexually suggestive performance at a 97 Rock appreciation party in Buffalo, but the lead singer of Faith No More offers no apologies. In fact, Patton enjoyed the show -- during which, witnesses claim, he took off his clothes, exposed himself and then performed lewd acts with a microphone -- and would like to come back and repeat those antics. "I loved it and would do it all over again if I could," Patton and FNM said in a statement to The Buffalo News released Sunday by the metal band's record label, Slash/Reprise. Barbara Balchick, a representative of the Cleveland record label and Faith No More, told The News: "Mike said he had a great time in Buffalo and the band did, too. They view the performance as a total rock n' roll assault. No malice was intended. They'd love to do it again if 97 Rock would let them." That's doubtful because WGRF-FM, owned by Rich Communications, has refused to comment and is red-faced over the incident that occurred at around 1:30 a.m. Friday in the Impaxx Night Club & Theater. The party was heavily promoted to listeners, who had to contact the station to get special invitation tickets. It featured a number of national acts, including Buffalo native Billy Sheehan. A spokesman for the Southside Station said that two complaints were filed after the show, and four witnesses have spoken to the police. Witnesses have said that Patton removed his clothes, exposed himself, turned his back to the crowd, bent down, and then performed lewd acts with the microphone. Also, witnesses said, another member of the band used his guitar neck to perform lewd acts with the singer. "I've been to many rock shows, but I've never seen anything as sick and disgusting as this," John Ganter said. "Everybody there was appalled at what Patton did. They just wanted him to get off the stage and get out." Ms. Balchick said that Patton was injured when several patrons threw beer containers at him. "Mike got hit and cut in the head, and had to have several stitches," she said. Mary Baker, who also attended the event and filed a complaint with the police, said that Patton grew angry with the crowd and hit her friend, who was standing near the stage, with the microphone. She said Patton also vomited and spit at the crowd. "That guy is just plain sick, and his whole act was a disgrace," she said. Jay Desiderio, part owner of the Impaxx, has said that after the incident, the club's security people threw Faith No More out of the club as soon as possible. We asked Bill Gould what the outcome of the situation was and this was his reply.... ' We got the hell out of there before the cops came, it was great, except that Mike P was bleeding pretty badly from two bottles that were thrown at him from close range. Still he got his revenge by throwing the mic like a speedball right into one of the guys faces. I'll never forget that.'

Mike, Jim, Mr John and Andrew Bowie are back! The Faith No More podcast returns after a prolonged absence. The only dedicated FNM podcast presented by Faith No More followers admin and superfans returns to continue their analysis of The Real Thing in their uniquely comical and informative style. With the recent passing of rock legend Ozzy Osbourne the boys delve deep into the FNM cover of War Pigs and the rich history of Ozzy, Black Sabbath and Faith No More. The show topic starts at 0:28:27. Available to download and stream on all platforms. Subscribe below.

It was never gonna be easy playing bottom of the bill with Guns N Roses and Metallica on a cross-states trek - but for Faith No More it's turned out to be something of a nightmare. Thousand mile bus rides and inter band wranglings are just the tip of the iceberg: but, as CHRIS WATTS asked when he stowed away in their luggage rack, could Jim Martin's rock n' roll excesses be the straw that brakes the camel's back? Kerrang! | Issue 410 | 19.09.1992 Testing The Faith by Chris Watts It is a fucking massive tour. It is reputedly the hottest North American rock for years. It looks like it. The luxury trek has crossed Europe and most of America. It will grind to a halt this week, and Faith No More will breathe a sigh of relief. It's not easy touring with Guns N' Roses and Metallica. "It's not a rock n roll tour really," muses bassist Bill Gould, surveying the Texas Stadium in Dallas. "It's a mini empire." Some redneck asshole strolls past. His T-shirt says 'Shut Up Stupid Bitch'. Two micro-skirted starf**kers emerge from one of the 40 equipment trucks on the tour, closely followed by two grinning riggers. The girls are clutching passes for Metallica's backstage complex. It's funny. It's not bad going for a bunch of five upstart Californian pranksters. It's okay that Faith No More go on stage at four o'clock in the afternoon and only get to play for 45 minutes. It's okay that they have to drive 1,000 miles to the next gig in a bus when Metallica and Guns N' Roses fly in a privately chartered 747 and DC10 respectively. It's okay that the band are afforded just one paragraph in the local papers. It's okay that the girl in the ticket office of the Houston Astradome has never heard of them, and it's okay that no one seems to be wearing a Faith No More T-shirt. As Jim Martin comments:   "People who buy Faith No More T-shirts just don't like to wear them in public!" It might just be okay that Faith No More are the Support Band That AxI forgot. AXL ROSE is invisible but his presence is overwhelming. The backstage outer circle is a heaving paranoia of publicists, lackeys and diplomats. Everybody claims to know the little singer. Well, they've never actually met him, but... GN'R arrive at the stadium mere minutes before they are due on stage. As usual they are late. Slash is the only member of the band to walk to the sprawling arena stage. The rest are driven in a transit van to the stage ramp, emerging with minders in tow, then disappearing into their limos almost before the dying chords of 'Paradise City' have been struck. Axl has only ever spoken to Faith No More once, via tour managers. The surly missive relayed a message that if Mike Patton ever asked the crowd to throw beer at Jim Martin again then the band would be off the tour. The crowd take this as a sign of approval and spend the concert hurting projectiles at anything onstage. Axl doesn't like getting his feet wet. "We've had a few close calls," Patton admits. "We're lucky to still be here." "This tour is like a crowning glory for both headline bands," says Mike 'Puffy' Bordin. "There hasn't been a tour like this for years. We're not used to the atmosphere. To me, the atmosphere is not really conducive to this band playing well. It's like the Village People syndrome. Show Business. Mass entertainment." Bill Gould: "It's difficult playing every night to people who aren't interested in us. Maybe some of them do hate us, but that's cool. If they didn't hate us a little bit we'd feel like we were kissing ass." "I feel like a zoo animal up there," Patton comments. "It's like when you fart in the presence of someone you shouldn't. You laugh. It's like a nervous reaction to the whole scale of things out there. It's embarrassing. "You have to take a certain amount of reality out there with you. We just walk out without an intro tape, in the middle of the afternoon, and play stuff. It's like, 'Here we are, people' Time to start!'. "Basically, we are a small band. We are a pubic hair in Guns N' Roses' shower!" FROM THE stage of the Texas Stadium the crowd looks terrifying. The sound is haphazard, but Faith No More cope. Combating indifference is something that Patton enjoys. This afternoon he rounds on Jim Martin. The singer catches the guitarist throwing a plectrum into the front rows. "Is he throwing shit at you?" Patton asks. The crowd cheer. "I think you have the right to throw shit back at him! This is an open invitation to f**k Jim" "F**k me!" growls Jim, standing alone in the middle of a shower of plastic glasses. Behind the scenes, Faith No More's reputation for personal animosity towards each other is starting to get ugly. The enormous scale of this tour is affecting the band. Their reaction to the "Village People syndrome" differs drastically. Patton, Gould and Roddy Bottum return from a backstage walkabout to discover Jim Martin in heaven. The guitarist is standing on a table, trying to persuade a vacant blonde to remove her top for the camera. The band stride past the couple and slam into their dressing room. Patton's furious. "That is f**king vile!" he shouts. "F**k that! God, what an asshole! I don't want anything to do with that. That sucks! Goddamn it, man! F*'k him. That's Bullshit." "It's kind of a hard thing to say," sighs Roddy, "but that's kind of anti what we're all about. All the bad things about this tour are outside the window right now. It's disgusting. It's ridiculous." "Hey, Jim," Patton sneers, "who are you pandering to? Shit. Next question." WHAT'S WRONG with Jim having his photograph taken with a large breasted female? Bill Gould: "Nothing's wrong with it. It's just such a cheesy way out. It's the easy way out. It's the cliche." But the girl volunteered. She wasn't press-ganged. "But that doesn't mean that we have to go along with it," says Patton. "I cannot take that seriously." Bill Gould tries to rescue the situation. "I think you're right," he says. "That is the real world. To 50,000 people in the audience that is the real world of rock 'n' roll." Roddy doesn't care. "But we've never catered for that in the past, so there's no reason why we should pander to it now." Bill: "And you just know that you're gonna pick that shot for the cover! It's not a true picture of what this band is all about. It is of Jim, sure." This from a band who reputedly tied a groupie to a hotel bed and let their road crew piss on her. "Where did you hear that?" Patton exclaims. From someone she now works with in London. Patton: "WHAT? NO WAY!" "We didn't tie her up," admits Bill. "It wasn't the road crew either. Maybe we just look like the road crew! Anyway, she was in the shower. Jim couldn't piss, which is surprising for the amount of beer he drinks! I never thought we'd hear about that again." Patton: "How did you hear about that stuff?!" Bill: "She didn't mind. I think there's a difference between doing that - for whatever reasons - and doing what Jim is doing outside for the benefit of a photographer. It means different things to Jim than to us. That is exactly what Jim is. Jim is the token rocker in Faith No More!" FOR HIS part. Big Sick Ugly Jim Martin is having a ball. In Houston, the guitarist is reunited with his cousins. Bob, Marie, Robert and Wanda are backstage at the Astradome, obviously thrilled with Jim's performance. They take snapshots and swap stories of the band's first appearance in Houston at the infinitely smaller Warehouse club. Robert has never seen the band perform until tonight, but is nonetheless full of praise. "You can tell Jim is an innovator," he says proudly. I do believe Jim blushes. "We're all copying something." "Bullshit!" retorts Robert affectionately. Over a meal of steak and jacket potatoes, the family are full of good old Texan bonhomie. Jim gets his steak doggy-bagged. Marie worries about the crime rate and Wanda tells this joke about back-masked messages in Country And Western music. "They say if you play Tammy Wynette records backwards, you get your girl back, your car back, your dead mother back, your beer back...!" The table groans. Jim looks happy. JIM IS always happiest when he's got a beer and someone to talk to. He genuinely doesn't give a shit about much. He's playing guitar on the biggest rock tour of his career, and sees nothing wrong with embracing the lifestyle with open arms. "It feels like there's the four of them against the one of me. Whatever opinion I take, I end up as the minority. Sometimes I hate those f**kers." He's not kind in his assessment of FNM. Bill is "Patton's personal thug!". Patton blows with the wind and Puffy, he says, could do with a cold bath. "Look at him now," he says, pointing at the drummer talking to fans at the backstage entrance across a wooden barrier. "Puffy's People! Notice he never crosses that barrier. There's always that barrier to remind us that he is a star." When Puffy and Jim are in the same room together, the atmosphere is icy. " Want a beer, Puffy?" Jim asks. The drummer shakes his dreadlocks. "Why not? You always used to drink. What happened to you, Puffy? " "Nothing, man. I just don't want a beer, okay? I used to drink beer, but I was 14!" He leaves. Jim shrugs and cracks open another can for himself. "See what I mean?" SOMETIMES IT'S difficult to figure out why Jim Martin is still with Faith No More. He recently told Guitarist magazine: "I don't think the difference between the parts they wanted me to play on 'Angel Dust' and the parts I actually played was enough of a difference to affect our careers." Without Jim, Faith No More would be half the band they currently are. Jim Martin is a foil for Patton as well as supplying the killer grunge which has always been at the root of the quintet's sound. Jim Martin is a top geezer. I tell the band that Jim thinks they don't know how to enjoy themselves. "Fine," Puffy snipes, "but we're not alcoholics!" The others cheer. Bill: "We're just from different backgrounds. When Jim first Joined the band, it was kind of an art statement." Patton: "I think Jim should get a medal. Jim works really hard at being the official party animal for Faith No More! He does enough work for all of us. What a guy!" SO THE tour is coming to a close. After each of the most recent concerts, GN'R's crew have been throwing parties for themselves. Last night in Houston they organised 20 strippers. Tonight in Dallas there are rumours of a strip-fest involving 50 girls! Jim tries to manipulate a vote to stay in Dallas. He is unanimously out-voted. "I hope you will go in my place and be my official party delegates!" he grunts. We never did make it. The local reviews praise FNM's performance. The Dallas Fort Worth Star reported that 'there was no great outcry for an encore, which seemed to suit Faith No More just fine'. The same paper is less kind to GN'R. Adjectives like 'self-indulgent' are bandied about. The final verdict? 'The  Gunners' show has too many stadium rock touches. Faith No More don't care. Ahead of them are 1 ,000 miles of road before another brief appearance and more audience humiliation. "Our job is just to be ourselves and not to suck corporate dick," says Patton. "But I'm looking forward to playing the smaller venues on our own tour after this. I just can't imagine this band becoming as big as Metallica. I don't think I'd enjoy it. "This tour is not a real thing. The best thing about it is that at the end we can all just pack up and walk away. from it. The other bands on the bill have to live with it."

Testing The Faith Words Chris Watts Photos Mark Leialoha It was never gonna be easy playing bottom of the bill with Guns N Roses and Metallica on a cross-states trek - but for Faith No More it's turned out to be something of a nightmare. Thousand mile bus rides and inter band wrangling's are just the tip of the iceberg: but, as CHRIS WATTS asked when he stowed away in their luggage rack, could Jim Martin's rock n' roll excesses be the straw that breaks the camel's back? It is a fucking massive tour. It is reputedly the hottest North American rock for years. It looks like it. The luxury trek has crossed Europe and most of America. It will grind to a halt this week, and Faith No More will breathe a sigh of relief. It's not easy touring with Guns N' Roses and Metallica. "It's not a rock n roll tour really," muses bassist Bill Gould, surveying the Texas Stadium in Dallas. "It's a mini empire." Some redneck asshole strolls past. His T-shirt says 'Shut Up Stupid Bitch'. Two micro-skirted starf**kers emerge from one of the 40 equipment trucks on the tour, closely followed by two grinning riggers. The girls are clutching passes for Metallica's backstage complex. It's funny. It's not bad going for a bunch of five upstart Californian pranksters. It's okay that Faith No More go on stage at four o'clock in the afternoon and only get to play for 45 minutes. It's okay that they have to drive 1,000 miles to the next gig in a bus when Metallica and Guns N' Roses fly in a privately chartered 747 and DC10 respectively. It's okay that the band are afforded just one paragraph in the local papers. It's okay that the girl in the ticket office of the Houston Astradome has never heard of them, and it's okay that no one seems to be wearing a Faith No More T-shirt. As Jim Martin comments: "People who buy Faith No More T-shirts just don't like to wear them in public!" It might just be okay that Faith No More are the Support Band That AxI forgot. AXL ROSE is invisible but his presence is overwhelming. The backstage outer circle is a heaving paranoia of publicists, lackeys and diplomats. Everybody claims to know the little singer. Well, they've never actually met him, but... GN'R arrive at the stadium mere minutes before they are due on stage. As usual they are late. Slash is the only member of the band to walk to the sprawling arena stage. The rest are driven in a transit van to the stage ramp, emerging with minders in tow, then disappearing into their limos almost before the dying chords of 'Paradise City' have been struck. Axl has only ever spoken to Faith No More once, via tour managers. The surly missive relayed a message that if Mike Patton ever asked the crowd to throw beer at Jim Martin again then the band would be off the tour. The crowd take this as a sign of approval and spend the concert hurting projectiles at anything onstage. Axl doesn't like getting his feet wet. "We've had a few close calls," Patton admits. "We're lucky to still be here." "This tour is like a crowning glory for both headline bands," says Mike 'Puffy' Bordin. "There hasn't been a tour like this for years. We're not used to the atmosphere. To me, the atmosphere is not really conducive to this band playing well. It's like the Village People syndrome. Show Business. Mass entertainment." Bill Gould: "It's difficult playing every night to people who aren't interested in us. Maybe some of them do hate us, but that's cool. If they didn't hate us a little bit we'd feel like we were kissing ass." "I feel like a zoo animal up there," Patton comments. "It's like when you fart in the presence of someone you shouldn't. You laugh. It's like a nervous reaction to the whole scale of things out there. It's embarrassing. "You have to take a certain amount of reality out there with you. We just walk out without an intro tape, in the middle of the afternoon, and play stuff. It's like, 'Here we are, people' Time to start!'. "Basically, we are a small band. We are a pubic hair in Guns N' Roses' shower!" FROM THE stage of the Texas Stadium the crowd looks terrifying. The sound is haphazard, but Faith No More cope. Combating indifference is something that Patton enjoys. This afternoon he rounds on Jim Martin. The singer catches the guitarist throwing a plectrum into the front rows. "Is he throwing shit at you?" Patton asks. The crowd cheer. "I think you have the right to throw shit back at him! This is an open invitation to f**k Jim" "F**k me!" growls Jim, standing alone in the middle of a shower of plastic glasses. Behind the scenes, Faith No More's reputation for personal animosity towards each other is starting to get ugly. The enormous scale of this tour is affecting the band. Their reaction to the "Village People syndrome" differs drastically. Patton, Gould and Roddy Bottum return from a backstage walkabout to discover Jim Martin in heaven. The guitarist is standing on a table, trying to persuade a vacant blonde to remove her top for the camera. The band stride past the couple and slam into their dressing room. Patton's furious. "That is f**king vile!" he shouts. "F**k that! God, what an asshole! I don't want anything to do with that. That sucks! Goddamn it, man! F*'k him. That's Bullshit." "It's kind of a hard thing to say," sighs Roddy, "but that's kind of anti what we're all about. All the bad things about this tour are outside the window right now. It's disgusting. It's ridiculous." "Hey, Jim," Patton sneers, "who are you pandering to? Shit. Next question." WHAT'S WRONG with Jim having his photograph taken with a large breasted female? Bill Gould: "Nothing's wrong with it. It's just such a cheesy way out. It's the easy way out. It's the cliche." But the girl volunteered. She wasn't press-ganged. "But that doesn't mean that we have to go along with it," says Patton. "I cannot take that seriously." Bill Gould tries to rescue the situation. "I think you're right," he says. "That is the real world. To 50,000 people in the audience that is the real world of rock 'n' roll." Roddy doesn't care. "But we've never catered for that in the past, so there's no reason why we should pander to it now." Bill: "And you just know that you're gonna pick that shot for the cover! It's not a true picture of what this band is all about. It is of Jim, sure." This from a band who reputedly tied a groupie to a hotel bed and let their road crew piss on her. "Where did you hear that?" Patton exclaims. From someone she now works with in London. Patton: "WHAT? NO WAY!" "We didn't tie her up," admits Bill. "It wasn't the road crew either. Maybe we just look like the road crew! Anyway, she was in the shower. Jim couldn't piss, which is surprising for the amount of beer he drinks! I never thought we'd hear about that again." Patton: "How did you hear about that stuff?!" Bill: "She didn't mind. I think there's a difference between doing that - for whatever reasons - and doing what Jim is doing outside for the benefit of a photographer. It means different things to Jim than to us. That is exactly what Jim is. Jim is the token rocker in Faith No More!" FOR HIS part. Big Sick Ugly Jim Martin is having a ball. In Houston, the guitarist is reunited with his cousins. Bob, Marie, Robert and Wanda are backstage at the Astradome, obviously thrilled with Jim's performance. They take snapshots and swap stories of the band's first appearance in Houston at the infinitely smaller Warehouse club. Robert has never seen the band perform until tonight, but is nonetheless full of praise. "You can tell Jim is an innovator," he says proudly. I do believe Jim blushes. "We're all copying something." "Bullshit!" retorts Robert affectionately. Over a meal of steak and jacket potatoes, the family are full of good old Texan bonhomie. Jim gets his steak doggy-bagged. Marie worries about the crime rate and Wanda tells this joke about back-masked messages in Country And Western music. "They say if you play Tammy Wynette records backwards, you get your girl back, your car back, your dead mother back, your beer back...!" The table groans. Jim looks happy. JIM IS always happiest when he's got a beer and someone to talk to. He genuinely doesn't give a shit about much. He's playing guitar on the biggest rock tour of his career, and sees nothing wrong with embracing the lifestyle with open arms. "It feels like there's the four of them against the one of me. Whatever opinion I take, I end up as the minority. Sometimes I hate those f**kers." He's not kind in his assessment of FNM. Bill is "Patton's personal thug!". Patton blows with the wind and Puffy, he says, could do with a cold bath. "Look at him now," he says, pointing at the drummer talking to fans at the backstage entrance across a wooden barrier. "Puffy's People! Notice he never crosses that barrier. There's always that barrier to remind us that he is a star." When Puffy and Jim are in the same room together, the atmosphere is icy. "Want a beer, Puffy?" Jim asks. The drummer shakes his dreadlocks. "Why not? You always used to drink. What happened to you, Puffy?" "Nothing, man. I just don't want a beer, okay? I used to drink beer, but I was 14!" He leaves. Jim shrugs and cracks open another can for himself. "See what I mean?" SOMETIMES IT'S difficult to figure out why Jim Martin is still with Faith No More. He recently told Guitarist magazine: "I don't think the difference between the parts they wanted me to play on 'Angel Dust' and the parts I actually played was enough of a difference to affect our careers." Without Jim, Faith No More would be half the band they currently are. Jim Martin is a foil for Patton as well as supplying the killer grunge which has always been at the root of the quintet's sound. Jim Martin is a top geezer. I tell the band that Jim thinks they don't know how to enjoy themselves. "Fine," Puffy snipes, "but we're not alcoholics!" The others cheer. Bill: "We're just from different backgrounds. When Jim first Joined the band, it was kind of an art statement." Patton: "I think Jim should get a medal. Jim works really hard at being the official party animal for Faith No More! He does enough work for all of us. What a guy!" SO THE tour is coming to a close. After each of the most recent concerts, GN'R's crew have been throwing parties for themselves. Last night in Houston they organised 20 strippers. Tonight in Dallas there are rumours of a strip-fest involving 50 girls! Jim tries to manipulate a vote to stay in Dallas. He is unanimously out-voted. "I hope you will go in my place and be my official party delegates!" he grunts. We never did make it. The local reviews praise FNM's performance. The Dallas Fort Worth Star reported that 'there was no great outcry for an encore, which seemed to suit Faith No More just fine'. The same paper is less kind to GN'R. Adjectives like 'self-indulgent' are bandied about. The final verdict? 'The Gunners' show has too many stadium rock touches. Faith No More don't care. Ahead of them are 1 ,000 miles of road before another brief appearance and more audience humiliation. "Our job is just to be ourselves and not to suck corporate dick," says Patton. "But I'm looking forward to playing the smaller venues on our own tour after this. I just can't imagine this band becoming as big as Metallica. I don't think I'd enjoy it. "This tour is not a real thing. The best thing about it is that at the end we can all just pack up and walk away. from it. The other bands on the bill have to live with it."

Roddy Bottum will be taking part in a live Q&A and also signing copies of his new book The Royal We: A Memoir on Tuesday October 28th at Rough Trade in London. Roddy's first book is released via Akashic Books on November 7th and will be available in all major bookstores. THE ROYAL WE is a poetic survey of a time set in a magical city that once was and is no more. It is a memoir written by Roddy Bottum, a musician and artist, that documents through prose his coming of age and out of the closet in 1980s San Francisco, a charged era of bicycle messengers, punk rock, street witches, wheatgrass, and rebellion. The book follows his travels from Los Angeles, growing up gay with no role models, to San Francisco, where he formed Faith No More and went on to tour the world relentlessly, surviving heroin addiction and the plight of AIDS, to become a queer icon. The book is an elevated wallop of tongue and insight, much more than a tell-all. There are personal tales of historical pinnacles like Kurt and Courtney, Guns N’ Roses, and recaps of gold records and arena rock—but it’s the testimonies of tragedy and addiction and preposterous life-spins that make this work so unique and intriguing. Bottum writes about his dark and harrowing past in a clear-eyed voice that is utterly devoid of self-pity, and his emboldened and confident pronouncements of achievement and unorthodox heroism flow in an unstoppable train that’s both captivating and inspirational. A remarkable portrayal of a creative individual in emergence, a gay man figuring out how to be a gay man, and a detailed look at the nuance of 1980s pre–tech boom San Francisco, The Royal We will be greatly appreciated by people who loved Kathleen Hanna’s Rebel Girl, Patti Smith’s Just Kids, Hua Hsu’s Stay True, and other memoirs about the artist’s life. Tickets for the London event are £20 and available HERE.