FAITH NO MORE | July Interviews

As Faith No More return to the stage this month we have already seen them return to the media spotlight with several interviews.

WALL STREET JOURNAL

In an interview with Mike Patton and Bill Gould the band spoke about the possiblity of an album to follow 'Sol Invictus'.

Dishes Done, Mail Sorted: Time for Faith No More to Hit the Road Again.

By Michael Calia

Mike Patton 

“It’s a matter of choosing. Hey, you’ve got this three- or four- or five-part harmony, we can’t do them all. Let’s figure out an instrumentation or an arrangement where we can still make it work in a live setting. That’s challenging. It’s also really fun.” 

“The one thing that’s different now is I go through more peaks and valleys. I’m older so it’s tougher. I’ll start out fine, then I’ll hit a valley. And then I’ll be great for a while, and then all of a sudden, hey, if you blink or stay out too late one night or don’t take care of yourself, then it can step up and bite you in the ass.” 

“The one constant has been, and it’s a comforting constant: let’s not plan too far ahead, let’s not make any commitments that are going to compromise us in the future. Hey, let’s take it step by step, and we’ll see how we feel after this year of touring. God only knows.”

PASTE MAGAZINE 

Bill talks about the genesis of 'Sol Invictus' and how Faith No More's audience has matured with the music.

The Death and Resurrection of Faith No More.

By Bryan Rolli

Bill Gould

 “It was a pleasure not telling anybody. I didn’t even play the songs for my wife. In our previous experience, it’s like, ‘We gotta bring this guy in from marketing because we really gotta get them on our side, get them pumped up.’ And you’ve got this guy coming in here, and you don’t know where he’s coming from, and he’s got a Tom Petty sticker on his satin jacket, and you’re like, ‘Oh, God.’” 

“By and large, I kind of felt like people weren’t getting it back then. And then we split up and people just cited us as an influence. To come back now, it’s really validating that after all these years, people still actually care about the music.”

“It’s a choice a band can make. People get married and they decide after 20 years they’re not in love with the person, and they just decide to keep going. It happens in life. And I don’t really want to pass judgement on bands that do that; I’m just not ready for that yet. This record is kind of a funeral record and a rebirth record at the same time.”

THE GUARDIAN

A grande article which spans Faith No More's career, and interview with Patton, Bill and Roddy Bottum. A must read, but here are the best lines.

Faith No More: 'We’ve made bad decisions our whole career. That’s why the English champion us'

By Dorian Lynskey

Roddy Bottum

“It’s a little bit too tidy. We’ve made fucked-up decisions our whole career. I think that’s why the English embraced us. It feels to me that the English love to champion fucked-up Americans.”

Bill Gould

 “I traded my classic vinyl collection in for Huey Lewis & the News records just to piss off my friends. It was the stupidest thing I’ve ever done but for about 10 minutes I got a lot of satisfaction out of it.”

Mike Patton

“I don’t know who our fans are. I’m still fucking mystified. I was looking at them last night thinking: ‘Who are you?’”

BASS PLAYER MAGAZINE

A great interview with in Bill in which he talks 'Sol Invictus' and all things bass guitar related.

Faith Restored: Faith No More and Billy Gould Return with 'Sol Invictus'.

By Jon D'Auria

What motivated you to get back together?

People still want to see us live, which always takes us by surprise, and we’re constantly getting offers for shows. We’re not really backwards-looking people, so we figured we might as well get back into our creative spark to put some new material out there for us to play.

Had you been writing throughout the hiatus?

I never stopped writing. Even during our hiatus, I just kept writing and writing to continue getting better at it. When we got together, I brought in a lot of ideas I had been writing over the years, but we wrote collaboratively in the studio a lot, too.

How would you describe your tone?

It sounds like the instrument is grunting. People do it with guitars, but you don’t hear it with bass much. Bass manufacturers traditionally go for a pure, low-end to high-end balance, but to me, that’s not really rock & roll. Even if I lose a little balance with it, that’s fine as long as it has the bite. When my bass is growling and grunting, it feels like I am expressing myself through it. 

What is your advice about recording bass?

 Pay attention to your arrangement and how you write. Make sure your parts are solid, that they’re in the right place, and that you’re locked in with your drummer. No amount of recording or editing will fix something that isn’t arranged right. Second, make sure that you’re not out of phase, that you’re getting the full signal, and you’re maximizing every drop of your instrument. And third, do whatever you want as long as it feels good. Don’t ever be afraid to experiment. When you step outside your comfort zone, a lot of exciting things can happen. That’s how most of the best music is made.

WASHINGTON TIMES

Roddy talks about 'Sol Invictus' and Courtney Love. 

Faith No More back on tour with ‘Sol Invictus,’ first album release in 18 years

By Keith Valcourt

Why did it take six years to record a new album?

At first, all of us being in the same room together playing old songs was a big deal. We did that tour, and more offers came in. Then we played Australia and New Zealand. Then another tour. South America. [We enjoyed] each other’s company [and] playing the old songs. At some point, that became a little bit stale. We decided we were not going to do any more shows unless we had something new to offer. It was too easy to slog around the old songs. So we hunkered down and made a new album.

How has the creative relationship among you guys evolved?

 It is a little more respectful these days. Back when we were making records, it was whoever screamed the loudest got his way. We are now at this mutual respect place with each other. We now sit back and let each other have a place. Everyone brings in ideas, and we collaborate on the ideas. We also are better at making decisions together: what we do, where we play, our stage show. The decisions are made together and pretty clear-cut.