Mike Patton
Mike Patton is many things to many people, but regardless of whether he’s singing, scatting, acting, growling or swearing, he’s a Renaissance man in the truest sense of the word. From his teens spent with genre-defying alternatives acts like Faith No More and Mr. Bungle, his various collaborations with avant-garde musicians, the deconstructed-pop music he created with Peeping Tom and currently cultivating a career as a film composer while simultaneously launching Crudo (an urban-skewed duo also featuring Dan The Automator) and Mondo Cane (an Italian language, orchestra driven pop standard project), there seems to be no limit to what Patton can do—and while his expansive career trajectory is difficult to express on paper, the brief biography which follows will probably turn obsessive Patton fans onto a few projects they never knew existed.
Born in 1968 in Eureka, California, Patton formed Mr. Bungle when he was 17 (a band he would work with on and off until 1999), which married experimental rock with, well, just about every other musical genre to create a unique brand of rock that’s still been impossible to imitate (though many try). From there, Patton joined the aforementioned Faith No More, which despite being best known for crossover hits like “Epic” and “Falling To Pieces” (and their respective music videos), the group also flirted with orchestral pop (i.e., Angel Dust’s “A Small Victory”) and soul (see their brilliant cover of the Commodores “Easy” recorded around the same time). While with FNM he received worldwide commercial acclaim and recognition.
Mike Patton could stop here and still have a musical legacy that would live on for decades—however in reality those two acts, while highly influential, are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. In 1998, Patton formed the experimental noise act Fantômas with former Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn, Buzz Osborne of The Melvins and Dave Lombardo from Slayer; a few years later he joined Tomahawk, a very alternative rock band founded by Duane Denison of the Jesus Lizard, Kevin Rutmanis of The Melvins and John Stanier of Battles, ex-Helmet; and, collaborated with house music and trip hop trailblazers Dan The Automator and Kid Koala in Lovage, who released the still-groundbreaking “Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady” in 2001. In 2007 he supplied the musical score to the short film “A Perfect Place” and is in discussions to continue his interest in film and television scoring.
In addition to all these ongoing—and seemingly disparate projects—Patton has also worked with a diverse roster of some of the most groundbreaking musicians in the world, releasing full-length records via collaborations like Maldoror (with Merzbow), Kaada/Patton, General Patton vs. The X-ecutioners and Fantômas/Melvins Big Band and working with John Zorn, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Björk, Subtle, Rahzel, Amon Tobin, Team Sleep, Massive Attack, Fennesz, Zu, Norah Jones, Tanya Tagaq, the Qemists and Kool Keith, to cite a very small cross-section. He notoriously has maintained a continuous touring cycle playing in front of crowds of all sizes with his various acts and collaborations in all corners of the world. Oh, and instead of, say, catching up on his sleep, in 1999 he founded the record label Ipecac Recordings alongside manager Greg Werckman, which has gone on to release most of Patton’s own recordings in addition to releases by The Melvins, Isis, Josh Homme and many others, and has developed a loyal following.
However, like all true Renaissance men, Patton hasn’t limited himself to just music. From his first appearance on Saturday Night Live in 1990 to his feature role in the motion picture thriller Firecracker (which was nominated for best film in the Raindance Film Festival) to his voiceover work in the videogames The Darkness, Bionic Commando, Portal, Left 4 Dead, to giving voice to the creatures in the Will Smith film “I Am Legend”. Patton has proved that the one constant in his career is that he’s willing to try almost anything, constantly challenging himself and those trying to follow his eclectic career.
Whether Patton is shredding his vocal pipes in Fantômas or singing Italian arias at the head of the orchestra pit, Patton always sounds like himself. Sure, his musical trajectory can seem mystifying, nonsensical and even schizophrenic, but ultimately all of these projects add up to create the clearest vision there is of Patton’s twisted genius.
Chances are, the best Patton project you’ve never heard of is lurking below, just waiting to be discovered.
DJ QBert
DJ QBert, born Richard Quitevis, is widely regarded as the most highly skilled skratching dj that has walked this planet. His long-standing career of innovating the DJ culture has set off a worldwide generation of DJs who are now regarded as musicians and not just DJs that play records, from A-Trak to Craze to C2C to Z-Trip; they would testify to DJ QBert’s influence in their sound and successful careers.
DMC World Championship appearances since 1991-1994 gave global exposure to DJ QBert’s unbelievable skills and performances. Since then no other has matched his command of the DJ scene on and off the turntables. Hailed as the ambassador of skratching for today and to the future, he has been recognized by his peers as innovating more styles and systems of skratching. He comes from the era of experimental battle DJs who in the mid-90’s gave shape to the infinite sounds of 2 turntables and skratching vinyl. Honorably knighted “Grandmixer” by legendary pioneer GrandMixer DXT. An honor dignified by hip-hop’s most hallowed Knighting tradition; securing his place as one of hip-hop’s living legends.
As a founding member of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, he has been the focus of two major documentary films Scratch and Hang The DJ, both of which were selected at Cannes and Sundance Film Festival. DJ QBert’s acclaimed first album, Wave Twisters was reverse engineered from sound into visuals also becoming his first feature film, which was also selected into the Sundance Film Festival.
Through his partner Yogafrog and company Thud Rumble, QBert has been able to expand his influence in the culture; designing and releasing innovative DJ products, collaborating with the most successful DJ companies in the industry seeking his stamp of approval, teaching on his online DJ school QBert Skratch University, appearances in various video games including DJ Hero 2 and doing post -production for the animated feature Turbo.
His latest albums, which started as a Kickstarter project, is the most successful hip-hop project to date and Top 20 all-time music project on the popular crowdfunding platform. Partnering with iTunes, Morning Breath Inc. and Novalia UK, DJ QBert will be changing the way music albums are presented. The possibilities are endless as the culture continues to grow far and wide with DJ QBert leading the way.
DJ QBert was officially awarded the title America’s Best DJ in 2010. With a well-documented and successful DJ career, he is considered as one, if not “The Greatest DJ Of All Time”.
“Whatever it was QBert displayed, it was more than just a hard-won modesty. QBert is a world-class musician in a world overwhelmed with the novelty of celebrity and the distraction of success.”
Martin Azevedo, Rolling Stone Magazine
“Qbert had earned a reputation for putting the jockey into “disc jockey,” manipulating records in a rhythmic way that spun a path for talented DJs to finally be seen as musicians. With a scratching style that was more percussive than, say, the average rock drummer..”
Delfin Vigil, San Francisco Chronicle
DJ YODA ON WHY QBERT IS THE GREATEST DJ OF ALL TIME:
“Why is Qbert the best? It comes down to one thing: scratching. Ask anyone involved in rhythmic manipulation of records and they’ll tell you the same thing: no one is coming close or has ever come close to Qbert. My first exposure was through his mixtapes when I was learning to scratch aged about fifteen. He’d put film samples on top of classic B-boy breaks and cartoon samples and scratch up random spoken word stuff. Without that I wouldn’t be doing what I do now. The cool thing is his whole focus has been on developing the art form of turntablism. Qbert’s out there keeping it real and passing on that knowledge and creativity to a younger generation through his online scratch academy, which is really important.”
Mike Patton
Mike Patton is many things to many people, but regardless of whether he’s singing, scatting, acting, growling or swearing, he’s a Renaissance man in the truest sense of the word. From his teens spent with genre-defying alternatives acts like Faith No More and Mr. Bungle, his various collaborations with avant-garde musicians, the deconstructed-pop music he created with Peeping Tom and currently cultivating a career as a film composer while simultaneously launching Crudo (an urban-skewed duo also featuring Dan The Automator) and Mondo Cane (an Italian language, orchestra driven pop standard project), there seems to be no limit to what Patton can do—and while his expansive career trajectory is difficult to express on paper, the brief biography which follows will probably turn obsessive Patton fans onto a few projects they never knew existed.
Born in 1968 in Eureka, California, Patton formed Mr. Bungle when he was 17 (a band he would work with on and off until 1999), which married experimental rock with, well, just about every other musical genre to create a unique brand of rock that’s still been impossible to imitate (though many try). From there, Patton joined the aforementioned Faith No More, which despite being best known for crossover hits like “Epic” and “Falling To Pieces” (and their respective music videos), the group also flirted with orchestral pop (i.e., Angel Dust’s “A Small Victory”) and soul (see their brilliant cover of the Commodores “Easy” recorded around the same time). While with FNM he received worldwide commercial acclaim and recognition.
Mike Patton could stop here and still have a musical legacy that would live on for decades—however in reality those two acts, while highly influential, are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. In 1998, Patton formed the experimental noise act Fantômas with former Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn, Buzz Osborne of The Melvins and Dave Lombardo from Slayer; a few years later he joined Tomahawk, a very alternative rock band founded by Duane Denison of the Jesus Lizard, Kevin Rutmanis of The Melvins and John Stanier of Battles, ex-Helmet; and, collaborated with house music and trip hop trailblazers Dan The Automator and Kid Koala in Lovage, who released the still-groundbreaking “Music To Make Love To Your Old Lady” in 2001. In 2007 he supplied the musical score to the short film “A Perfect Place” and is in discussions to continue his interest in film and television scoring.
In addition to all these ongoing—and seemingly disparate projects—Patton has also worked with a diverse roster of some of the most groundbreaking musicians in the world, releasing full-length records via collaborations like Maldoror (with Merzbow), Kaada/Patton, General Patton vs. The X-ecutioners and Fantômas/Melvins Big Band and working with John Zorn, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Björk, Subtle, Rahzel, Amon Tobin, Team Sleep, Massive Attack, Fennesz, Zu, Norah Jones, Tanya Tagaq, the Qemists and Kool Keith, to cite a very small cross-section. He notoriously has maintained a continuous touring cycle playing in front of crowds of all sizes with his various acts and collaborations in all corners of the world. Oh, and instead of, say, catching up on his sleep, in 1999 he founded the record label Ipecac Recordings alongside manager Greg Werckman, which has gone on to release most of Patton’s own recordings in addition to releases by The Melvins, Isis, Josh Homme and many others, and has developed a loyal following.
However, like all true Renaissance men, Patton hasn’t limited himself to just music. From his first appearance on Saturday Night Live in 1990 to his feature role in the motion picture thriller Firecracker (which was nominated for best film in the Raindance Film Festival) to his voiceover work in the videogames The Darkness, Bionic Commando, Portal, Left 4 Dead, to giving voice to the creatures in the Will Smith film “I Am Legend”. Patton has proved that the one constant in his career is that he’s willing to try almost anything, constantly challenging himself and those trying to follow his eclectic career.
Whether Patton is shredding his vocal pipes in Fantômas or singing Italian arias at the head of the orchestra pit, Patton always sounds like himself. Sure, his musical trajectory can seem mystifying, nonsensical and even schizophrenic, but ultimately all of these projects add up to create the clearest vision there is of Patton’s twisted genius.
Chances are, the best Patton project you’ve never heard of is lurking below, just waiting to be discovered.
DJ QBert
DJ QBert, born Richard Quitevis, is widely regarded as the most highly skilled skratching dj that has walked this planet. His long-standing career of innovating the DJ culture has set off a worldwide generation of DJs who are now regarded as musicians and not just DJs that play records, from A-Trak to Craze to C2C to Z-Trip; they would testify to DJ QBert’s influence in their sound and successful careers.
DMC World Championship appearances since 1991-1994 gave global exposure to DJ QBert’s unbelievable skills and performances. Since then no other has matched his command of the DJ scene on and off the turntables. Hailed as the ambassador of skratching for today and to the future, he has been recognized by his peers as innovating more styles and systems of skratching. He comes from the era of experimental battle DJs who in the mid-90’s gave shape to the infinite sounds of 2 turntables and skratching vinyl. Honorably knighted “Grandmixer” by legendary pioneer GrandMixer DXT. An honor dignified by hip-hop’s most hallowed Knighting tradition; securing his place as one of hip-hop’s living legends.
As a founding member of the Invisibl Skratch Piklz, he has been the focus of two major documentary films Scratch and Hang The DJ, both of which were selected at Cannes and Sundance Film Festival. DJ QBert’s acclaimed first album, Wave Twisters was reverse engineered from sound into visuals also becoming his first feature film, which was also selected into the Sundance Film Festival.
Through his partner Yogafrog and company Thud Rumble, QBert has been able to expand his influence in the culture; designing and releasing innovative DJ products, collaborating with the most successful DJ companies in the industry seeking his stamp of approval, teaching on his online DJ school QBert Skratch University, appearances in various video games including DJ Hero 2 and doing post -production for the animated feature Turbo.
His latest albums, which started as a Kickstarter project, is the most successful hip-hop project to date and Top 20 all-time music project on the popular crowdfunding platform. Partnering with iTunes, Morning Breath Inc. and Novalia UK, DJ QBert will be changing the way music albums are presented. The possibilities are endless as the culture continues to grow far and wide with DJ QBert leading the way.
DJ QBert was officially awarded the title America’s Best DJ in 2010. With a well-documented and successful DJ career, he is considered as one, if not “The Greatest DJ Of All Time”.
“Whatever it was QBert displayed, it was more than just a hard-won modesty. QBert is a world-class musician in a world overwhelmed with the novelty of celebrity and the distraction of success.”
Martin Azevedo, Rolling Stone Magazine
“Qbert had earned a reputation for putting the jockey into “disc jockey,” manipulating records in a rhythmic way that spun a path for talented DJs to finally be seen as musicians. With a scratching style that was more percussive than, say, the average rock drummer..”
Delfin Vigil, San Francisco Chronicle
DJ YODA ON WHY QBERT IS THE GREATEST DJ OF ALL TIME:
“Why is Qbert the best? It comes down to one thing: scratching. Ask anyone involved in rhythmic manipulation of records and they’ll tell you the same thing: no one is coming close or has ever come close to Qbert. My first exposure was through his mixtapes when I was learning to scratch aged about fifteen. He’d put film samples on top of classic B-boy breaks and cartoon samples and scratch up random spoken word stuff. Without that I wouldn’t be doing what I do now. The cool thing is his whole focus has been on developing the art form of turntablism. Qbert’s out there keeping it real and passing on that knowledge and creativity to a younger generation through his online scratch academy, which is really important.”
show less
