Seeing as it’s a Faith No More-fest in Australia at the moment, it seems like a good time to take a trip down memory lane and check out a Recovery interview with Mike Patton and Roddy Bottum when they were last in town, in 1997.
Thanks to mikepatton.cl
Bonus vid. Bungle Recovery interview in ‘96
So following on from that rumour we announced, the details for the second Melbourne Faith No More show are finally out thanks to Bill and Roddy via twitter:
Those lucky South Americans. This one’s an interview with Roddy at elcomerco.com.pe:
Faith No More: “Concerts in South America have been milestones in our history”
“I think none of the members of the band ever thought that a reunion of Faith No More would be possible,” explains Roddy Bottum, founder and keyboardist of Faith No More, by phone from his home in San Francisco, California.
“We spent too much time together, more than 15 years. It is very difficult for a group of people to maintain harmony spending so much time together. It was also a very intense moment in the lives of all of us in the band. I think none of us should be closed as this episode of our lives. After we parted, I stopped talking for a long time with Billy (Gould), who was my childhood best friend, someone I grew up since age 9. We needed to set a distance from each other. But what no one imagined was that one day would reunite to play together. But when we did, when we returned to see the faces, the magnetism of the old days was maintained, and we think that the idea of gathering FNM was not so ludicrous. We’ve all matured a lot.”
The videos on Internet of the latest performances of the band show that you are sounding better than ever, how did you feel when you returned to play FNM songs on stage after so long?
It was terrifying. I do not know if it ever happened to you: to have the nightmare of going to college and discover that you have not studied it for a test. Something similar happened to me before the first concert of the tour: I dreamed that i was up on stage and did not remember how to play the songs by Faith No More. The truth is that we rehearsed a lot for these concerts. We were very prepared. I think Mike is singing even better than before. We have not played together for 11 years but have been involved in music, looking to improve on what we do.
How is that you quote in concerts hits as the pop of Lily Allen or Lady Gaga? In “Live at Brixton Academy, almost two decades ago, you did it with New Kids on the Block and Technotronic Is it improvised?
Yes, absolutely. When we started this new tour, again in Brixton, we played many songs, over two hours. Since then we try to better select the repertoire for each concert, for contrasts between the ages, but the references to popular themes emerge almost instantaneously on the phone from Mike (Patton). It’s not something that we plan in advance.
You have played in very specific places in your previous tours of South America, from Rock in Rio in Brazil until the Festival of Viña del Mar, Chile …
Many of our previous concerts in South America have been landmarks in the history of FNM. The first time we played Brazil we were all surprised at the magnitude of the Rock in Rio festival. We had no idea how many people would go to see us, the importance of this show was great, because we had a great time and it opened many doors, especially in Brazil. The people there are very friendly, always treated us very well. You are very crazy Latinos: until we visited South America for the second time, never before had we needed a bodyguard. And that concert in Vina del Mar was delusional: he knew nothing about anything until we left to play, we saw this very strange man dressed in suit and wonder “what the hell are we doing here?”. We felt trapped in a program like “Bailando por un sueño”
Let’s talk about Imperial Teen. The last album by the band ( “The Hair the TV the Baby and the Band”) came out in 2007 …
Well, Imperial Teen has maintained the same lineup of 90. Recently we got a disc for Merge Records, a major label They recently made their anniversary party for their 20 years, where we played, and told us it was time to work on a new album of the band. I’ve been working with Imperial Teen during breaks in the FNM tour.
Chuck Mosley, the former lead singer of FNM. Do you know what he thinks of this reunion tour?
I think he would have liked to be part of the reunion in some way. When we started, he was always a very important part of FNM. At one point we thought it would have been great for him to accompany us along with Jim Martin (another former member of FNM) in our first show in England. But neither of them could. Chuck, for example, had lost his passport and was unable to get a new one soon. But from the beginning we wanted to include everyone in this tour, but it did not work.
Roddy and Mike program ABC’s Rage in Australia in 1995.
Roddy has been chucking up some cool pics of the band on twitpic recently:
Joining our good friend Mr Gould to twitter is the legend himself, Roddy Bottum! Follow him for tidbits from the FNM reunion and more.
Oh and some more good news for aussies straight from Roddy:
“REaLly appreciating the FNM attention. NZ, Brazil, down under, yes to ALL of yous. I’ll post dates soon!!! Big Hug!!!!!!”
FNM.com have released Faith No More’s official statement regarding the reunion. Mike Patton, Roddy Bottum, Billy Gould and Jon Hudson have all signed up for another ride on the FNM filly. Official word:
“Faith No More has always stood out as some sort of unique beast; part dog, part cat–its music almost as schizophrenic as the personalities of its members. When it all worked, it worked really well, even if the chemistry was always volatile. Throughout our 17years of existence, the mental and physical energy required to sustain this creature was considerable and relentless. Though amicable enough, when we finally split, we all followed paths seemingly destined to opposite ends of the universe.
Yet during the entire 10 years that have passed since our decision to break up we’ve experienced constant rumors and requests from fans and promoters alike. Nevertheless, for whatever reason, none of us kept in regular touch, much less to discuss any possibilities of getting together.
What’s changed is that this year, for the first time, we’ve all decided to sit down together and talk about it. And what we’ve discovered is that time has afforded us enough distance to look back on our years together through a clearer lens and made us realize that through all the hard work, the music still sounds good, and we are beginning to appreciate the fact that we might have actually done something right.
Meanwhile we find ourselves at a moment in time with zero label obligations, still young and strong enough to deliver a kickass set, with enthusiasm to not only revisit our past but possibly add something to the present. And so with this we’ve decided to hold our collective breaths and jump off this cliff….
BACK, GOD FORBID, INTO THE MONKEY CAGE!!!We can only hope that the experience of playing together again will yield results erratic and unpredictable enough to live up to the legacy of FNM.
Who know where this will end or what it will bring up…only the future knows. But we are about to find out!FAITH NO MORE are:
Mike Bordin, Roddy Bottum, Bill Gould, Jon Hudson and Mike Patton“
