Mike Patton
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Mike Patton (born Michael Allen Patton, January 27, 1968) is an American musician. He is best-known as the lead singer of Faith No More from 1988 to 1998, but has also handled lead vocals for Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk and Fantômas. He often produces side projects in collaboration with other musicians, such as John Zorn, Dan the Automator, The Melvins, Dillinger Escape Plan, Melt-Banana, Sepultura, and Merzbow, Lovage, Maldoror, Weird Little Boy, Rahzel, and Kaada. Along with Greg Werckman, he also co-founded and runs Ipecac Recordings.
Patton possesses a remarkable range of vocal textures and styles (from Sinatra-esque crooning to aggressive death metal growling), and his avant-garde leanings have earned him a large and loyal cult following.
Growing up in Eureka, California, Patton and friends formed Mr. Bungle circa 1985. They recorded a few demos and earned a small local following. Patton joined Faith No More in January of 1989 and filled the vocal void left by the unreliable and recently fired Chuck Mosley (Cement). Faith No More's The Real Thing was released later the same year. The album reached the top ten on the charts thanks largely to MTV's heavy rotation of the video for the song "Epic."
In the United States, Faith No More would never again match the commercial success of The Real Thing. After a series of interesting but poorly promoted albums (Angel Dust; King For A Day... Fool For A Lifetime; and Album of the Year), Faith No More officially disbanded in 1998.
During the long demise of Faith No More, Patton had resumed collaborating with Mr. Bungle. His success in mainstream rock and metal ultimately helped secure Mr. Bungle a record deal with Warner Bros. The band released a self-titled album (produced by John Zorn) in 1991, and the highly surreal Disco Volante in 1995. Their final album was titled California, and was widely regarded an essential record by such mainstream publications as Maxim magazine and Rolling Stone magazine.
Patton's other projects have included two "experimental" solo albums on John Zorn's Tzadik label (Adult Themes for Voice in 1996 and Pranzo Oltranzista in 1997). He's appeared many times on other Tzadik releases with Zorn and others.
Recently, Patton has worked with Björk and the beat boxer Rahzel. He is often featured on new releases, and is regarded as extremely hard working.
In 2005, Patton signed on to compose the soundtrack for the upcoming independent movie Pinion (http://www.littlemonkeyproductions.com), marking his debut scoring an American feature-length film. His other film work includes portraying two major characters in the Steve Balderson film Firecracker.
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Discography
- 1996 - Adult Themes for Voice (by Patton)
- 1996 - Roots (by Sepultura, Patton sings on Lookaway)
- 1997 - Pranzo Oltranzista (by Patton)
- 1998 - Weird Little Boy (by Weird Little Boy - John Zorn and Patton)
- 1999 - She (by Maldoror - Patton and Masami Akita)
- 2000 - The Crybaby (by The Melvins, features Patton on G.I. Joe)
- 2001 - Music to Make Love to Your Old Lady By (by Lovage - Patton, Dan the Automator and Jennifer Charles)
- 2002 - Hemophiliac (by John Zorn/Patton/Ikue Mori)
- 2002 - Irony is a Dead Scene (by The Dillinger Escape Plan with Patton on vocals)
- 2004 - Hemophiliac: 50th Birthday Celebration Volume Six (by John Zorn/Patton/Ikue Mori)
- 2004 - Romances (Patton & Kaada)
- 2005 - General Patton vs The X-ecutioners
with Faith No More
- 1989 - The Real Thing
- 1990 - Live At The Brixton Academy
- 1992 - Angel Dust
- 1995 - King For A Day... Fool For A Lifetime
- 1997 - Album of the Year
with Fantômas
- 1999 - Fantômas
- 2001 - The Director's Cut
- 2002 - Millennium Monsterwork 2000 w/The Melvins
- 2004 - Delìrium Cordìa
- 2005 - Suspended Animation
with Mr. Bungle
- 1986 - The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny
- 1987 - Bowel of Chiley
- 1988 - Goddammit I Love America
- 1989 - OU818
- 1991 - Mr. Bungle
- 1995 - Disco Volante
- 1999 - California
with Tomahawk
- 2001 - Tomahawk
- 2003 - Mit Gasde:Mike Patton