Mike Patton (born January 27, 1968) is an American musician.

He was lead singer of Faith No More from 1988 to 1998. Also lead singer of Mr. Bungle, Tomahawk and Fantômas. He often produces side projects in collaboration with other musicians, such as Lovage, Maldoror and Weird Little Boy . Co-founder of the record label Ipecac Recordings .

He has worked with prominent musicians such as John Zorn, Dan the Automator, The Melvins, Dillinger Escape Plan, Melt-Banana, Sepultura, and Merzbow.

Mike Patton's remarkable vocal talents and avant-garde leanings have earned him a large and loyal cult following, although he has yet to truly find a commercial niche. His voice demonstrates a huge range of textures and styles, from Sinatra-esque crooning to anguished death metal growling.

In Eureka, California, Mr. Bungle was formed by Mike Patton and friends circa 1985. The band soon released a few demos and earned a small, local following. With some trepidation, Patton was picked up in January of 1989 by Faith No More (based in the San Francisco Bay Area) to fill the vocal void left by the unreliable and recently fired Chuck Mosley (Cement). The Real Thing was released the same year. Their hit video for the song Epic, heavily aired on MTV, launched the album to a top ten position on the charts.

Patton continued collaborating with Mr. Bungle. His status on the charts helped secure them a record deal with Warner Bros. They released a self-titled album (produced by John Zorn) in 1991, and the highly surreal Disco Volante in 1995.

Faith No More would never again garner the stellar record sales produced by The Real Thing. After a series of interesting, but poorly promoted albums (Angel Dust; King for a Day, Fool for a Lifetime ; and Album of the Year), Faith No More split up in 1998. Mike Patton seemed ill affected, immersed in other projects.

These include two "experimental" solo albums on John Zorn's Tzadik label (Adult Themes for Voice in 1996 and Pranzo Oltranzista in 1997). He's appeared countless times on other Tzadik releases with Zorn and others.

He now, along with Greg Werckman , runs a record label called Ipecac Recordings .

External links

• http://www.ipecac.com
• http://www.cv.org