Mike Patton

Michael Allan Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, producer, and voice actor, best known as the lead vocalist of the American rock bands Faith No More and Mr. Bungle.

Noted for his vocal proficiency, diverse singing techniques, wide range of projects, style-transcending influences, eccentric public image and contempt for the music industry, Patton has earned critical praise and influenced many contemporary singers.

In addition to his most popular endeavor, Faith No More, Patton is also co-founder and lead vocalist of Mr. Bungle, and he has fronted and/or played with Tomahawk, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Fantômas, Moonchild Trio, Kaada/Patton, Dead Cross, Lovage, Mondo Cane, the X-ecutioners, and Peeping Tom.

Consistent collaborators through his varied career include avant-garde jazz saxophonist John Zorn, hip hop producer Dan the Automator and classical violinist Eyvind Kang.

He has worked as a producer or co-producer with artists such as Merzbow, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Sepultura, Melvins, Melt-Banana, and Kool Keith.

During the late 1980s, Mr. Bungle released a number of demos on cassette only: 1986's The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny, 1987's Bowel of Chiley, 1988's Goddammit I Love America and 1989's OU818.

Eventually, the four musicians joined up and established Mr. Bungle in 1984.

In November, they performed its first show in the adjacent town of Bayside, California.

Dunn, Spruance and Patton "pretty much hated everyone" at school and hung out alone next to the tennis courts outside campus.

To pass the time, they often engaged in late night freighthopping, getting off at nearby towns or remote, wooded areas, and relying on hitchhiking to find their way home.

While they disliked the cultural vapidness and degradation of the area, they appreciated their school teachers who nurtured their artistic interests; an English teacher turned Patton onto Marquis de Sade and The Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosiński, while Dan Horton, their music teacher, let them use the music room after school and even joined them as a temporary horn player at a show.

Patton enrolled in Humboldt State University, located in the nearby town of Arcata, California, to study English literature with plans to become a writer.

He performed very well in college and wrote numerous short stories of varied genres, while at the time music was an enjoyable yet not-too-serious hobby for Patton.

At Humboldt, Patton met his future band Faith No More during a 1986 show at a pizza parlor, where Mr. Bungle played numerous times.

After the performance, Spruance, who had invited Patton to the show, gave drummer Mike Bordin Mr. Bungle's demo "The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny".

After the members of Faith No More heard Mr. Bungle's second demo tape in 1987, they approached Patton to audition as their lead singer in 1988.

The band tried out more than fifteen singers to fill the role, including Chris Cornell from Soundgarden, but they settled on Patton in view of his versatility.

From school to college, Patton also worked part-time at the only record store in Eureka until he joined Faith No More in 1988.

Due to his father's profession, Patton grew up as a sports enthusiast and practiced them regularly until his touring career began in 1989.

One of his early musical memories was listening to his father's records by Earth, Wind & Fire and a Frank Zappa one, yet at the time they did not leave a significant impression on Patton.

In elementary school he was a good student and athlete, but had very few friends due to his focus on getting good grades.

As an "escape valve", he regularly asked his parents to drop him off at the movies, where he secretly watched slasher films and Star Wars, and the latter's soundtrack impacted him deeply.

He and his bandmates have consistently credited their early years in Eureka, a relatively isolated city in the far north of California, to the intense curiosity that would drive their future career paths (Eureka being one of the few big towns between San Francisco and Portland, and surrounded by dense redwood forests).

Although his family did not have an artistic background, Patton was thankful for the freedom they granted him which led him to music.

Patton studied at Eureka High School where he met bassist Trevor Dunn and later guitarist Trey Spruance, both members of its music theory class and jazz ensembles.

Patton got to know Dunn through trading records and they bonded over their studiousness, sarcastic humor and disaffection.

Both were part of the cover band Gemini that performed songs by popular heavy metal groups.

They quickly gained interest in heavier styles and joined the thrash metal cover band Fiend, but were kicked out and subsequently recorded a death metal tape under the name Turd, with Dunn on vocals and Patton on the instruments.

Although Patton was "pretty well-adjusted and well-liked by [his middle school] peers", he had a "hyper geek" personality and felt increasingly alienated from sportspeople; ultimately, he found a supportive environment in the death metal music scene where he shifted his focus from sports to art.

He and Dunn also had punk friends and started to branch out to that subculture; neither musician wanted to be associated with the drug epidemic in Eureka nor the school's party scene, thus soon self-identified as straight edge.

On the other hand, Trey Spruance, who is a year younger, and drummer Jed Watts were members of Torchure, a Mercyful Fate-inspired band that had played with Patton's Fiend, and they formed another two-piece extreme metal band called FCA.

The last three feature tracks that would later be included on their 1991 debut studio release.

He co-founded Ipecac Recordings with Greg Werckman in 1999, and has run the label since.

He saw his largest success with the group Faith No More; although they scored one US hit, they scored three UK top 20 singles.

Patton is an outspoken, even mocking, critic of the mainstream music industry and has been a champion for non-mainstream music that he says has "fallen through the cracks."

Patton has been cited as an influence by members of Coheed and Cambria, Deftones, Five Finger Death Punch, Hoobastank, Incubus, Killswitch Engage, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Queens of the Stone Age, Lostprophets, System of a Down, and Slipknot.

Mike Patton was born in Eureka, California, to a social worker mother and a physical education teacher father.

Patton's home was strictly secular.

During his first years, his family had an apartment in San Jose, California, in which they spent much time before they permanently relocated to Eureka.

Patton says he has written recreationally for as long as he can remember.