10 seconds too late

>> Mike Patton talks about making music that's a pain in the ass and his disgust with hardcore hip pop

by SCOTT C

Mike Patton is best remembered for his exploits with Mr. Bungle and Faith No More, but he has been channelling his creative juices into other pursuits for some time now. Last year he showed up at Victoriaville's annual Musique Actuelle festival and this year he's back for more, slated for a dangerously improvisational show with New York turntablists extraordinaires, the Executioners. I spoke to Patton over the phone about his latest work.

Mirror: I see you're on your way back up to Victoriaville once again.

Mike Patton: Yeah, man. Gonna try that one out one more time.

M: How'd you do? I didn't go up at all last year.

MP: It was cool. I had a real limited amount of time to rehearse this new piece that I had written, and it was pretty hectic. I think I squeezed it into an hour, but it ended up going well.

M: What was it like, though, because I would think that there ain't a whole lot of Mike Patton fans making the trek to Victoriaville for that show?

MP: It was fine. I really don't worry about things like that because if I did I'd be hairless right now. I would have pulled it out years ago. It seemed like people responded pretty well, but from the reviews I saw, the media sure as fuck didn't.

M: So what do you do with yourself when you're not getting bad reviews?

MP: (laughs) I've four or five projects going on pretty much at one time. Trying to keep the revolving door moving on that one. I finally started a record label, which has turned out to be pretty exciting, called IPECAC.

M: And what kind of stuff are you focusing on?

MP: Well, we've already finished our first year and we've done a couple of projects of mine. A group called Fantomas that I tried to bring to Victoriaville this year, kind of a hardcore thing. We put out three Melvins records and a record with me and Merzbow, the Japanese noise guy. This guy called Kid 606 who's a San Diego junglist has a record coming out with us very soon as well.

M: That's not too bad for a year's worth of independent releases.

MP: We've also got some live Ministry records to put out. They're friends of ours and just got dropped from their label, and before they signed to another huge deal, they said they wanted to do something with us.

Executioner's song

M: So tell me the big story about how you and the Executioners hooked up. It's got to be a good one.

MP: Ummm, how did that come about? I think... I don't remember really. I think I called them out of the blue. I had a friend who knew their manager Peter Kang, and asked if they wanted to do one of the gigs I had in New York together. I ended up playing duo with Sinista and it was fuckin' smokin'! We had a blast even though it was really kinda new for both of us, but we said hey, we've got to do this again. He wanted to try it with the whole crew next time and I said, "Wicked." We ended up doing a show in Europe and this show at Victoriaville.

M: I wonder if Montreal's fascination with turntablism can extend to Victoriaville.

MP: I think that what we have in common is that most of what we do is not found within the cage of pop music. My stuff is a pain in the ass to listen to, but it's great fun and I'm really proud of it.

M: What do you mean it's a pain in the ass to listen to?

MP: I tell people if they don't like the record they shouldn't sell it. They should wait until they're having a raging house party and then put it on--and see how many people stay (laughs).

M: Sounds like a great way to promote your record, Mike...

MP: Actually, the next few things I have in mind are more pop-oriented. I speak that language, too.

Korn in his stool

M: What have you got to say about a pop language that has returned to the melding of hip-hop and hard stuff?

MP: Oh God, don't ask. It's pathetic. I think it's nothing going nowhere. I was over that shit 10 years ago. I get asked that a lot but you phrased it in a much better way.

M: What do they usually say?

MP: They say, "How do you feel about all these people who are ripping you off?" or, "Look what you started..." And I say, "What?! Don't blame me for that fuckin' horseshit!" Faith No More did that shit in '88, '89 and it was interesting for 10 seconds. It does nothing for me.

M: It's just a reflection of the fact that everything is just a big blur.

MP: It's like a big chain store. Everybody talks the same, everybody dresses the same. Go to a punk show now and everybody looks like hip hop kids. What the fuck is going on here! Whatever, it's not really the fashion or the particulars that bother me. It's that the concept of melding this and that in music is way over-hyped and usually it fails. With rare exceptions it does work. Those guys are selling millions of records so they can spit on my fucking grave, but it's garbage, fuckin' garbage. :

At Colisée des Bois-Francs, Victoriaville on Saturday, May 20, 10pm, $26