The Italian Job

He may have been dubbed 'The Pavarotti of Metal' but, given our subject's lengthy list of achievements, we should probably start calling Pavarotti 'the Mike Patton of Opera'. Outside of the band that he's best known for, Faith No More, he may not have scored too many platinum albums, but the labyrinthine body of work he's established truly boggles the mind. In addition to being a permanent member of Tomahawk (the group you see pictured), Fantômas and Mr. Bungle, he's notched up collaborations with Dillinger Escape Plan, Björk, deviate hip hop producer Dan The Automator and avant-jazz musician John Zorn, whilst maintaining hobbies such as providing voices for video games, monster noises for movies and running his own label, Ipecac Recordings, since 1999.

His latest project Mondo Cane (pronounced “kah-neh”) sees him breathing new life into '60s pop standards and obscurities from the land shaped like a boot, with the aid of a 40-piece orchestra, a choir and a 15-piece band. As a former Bologna resident and fluent Italian speaker it seems a natural enough fit, but surely it would require army style logistics to cart the supporting cast abroad. “Yeees, in a word,“ he concedes with a cackle. “Basically so difficult that I had to record [the album] live and, sort of, re-touch it in the studio, if you will. This is not something I could afford to do; to bring into a studio and record that way. So I recorded some live shows that we did, thinking 'If they turn out well, maybe I'll make a record out of it.' Turned out really well. So it's an unofficial live recording. I was trying to create the illusion that it wasn't live.”

Nonetheless, the full touring band will still be a feast for the eyes. “It's about 25 people onstage,” he confirms. “A ten-piece band and twelve strings. I re-orchestrated everything; me and the guy that arranged the record, Daniele Luppi, who's amazing. It's proved still to be very difficult, but it's much easier with 25. There's many more keyboard players onstage, meaning there's a little bit heavier use of sampling and synthesized sounds. Basically what we had to decide was 'Do we need four trombones?' 'Nah, let's sample that.' Y'know what I mean? The important thing I thought was the violins. We're using mostly violins for the string parts and to be honest those are the ones you hear the most, they're the highest register and they translate the best in a live setting.”

Unexpected perhaps, but this diversion into Italian pop accentuates his flamboyant onstage persona – one that exudes machismo and masochism in equal quantities – whilst making the most of majestic vocal talents. His speaking voice isn't that bad either. Never mind onstage presence, of all the people I've interviewed, he's the only one with genuine telephone presence; commanding, but still friendly with a kind of boyish excitement, possibly fuelled by heavy doses of Italy's finest coffee – caffeine being the only drug he consumes, or so it's claimed.

The Mondo Cane album is not a one-off however; there's another just around the corner. According to Patton it's, “…half done already. I just have to put it in the assembly line and get it done. It basically was done by the same method the first one was done; a lot of tracks were recorded live, taken into the studio, chopped up, overdubbed, to try and create the illusion that it's actually a studio record. It's about the same number of tunes as the first one; ten or eleven. It's basically about half of the repertoire that we play live.” Attendees of the upcoming Harvest Festival will get plentiful helpings of both records, he affirms.

If that's still not enough Latin Patton for you – pick up his collaboration with Belgian outfit Ictus Ensemble Laborintus II; a classical, Italian language work released earlier this year. I ask him if as he gets older he'll be moving away from aggressive music towards comparatively sedate works. “Not necessarily,” he counters. “I just feel that I need to have a balance, and that's part of the reason that I've been doing some film soundtrack stuff [for The Place Beyond The Pines] for the last year and a half or so, and I then felt like it was time to go 'I gotta get Tomahawk.' I felt that void in my life, y'know what I mean? It's like with Fantômas, 'I gotta do another Fantômas record now'. I go where I feel is appropriate at the moment. There are certain things that I do feel; I'd like to tour less, which means obviously maybe less band stuff? Y'know, sometimes I'm home for a while and I feel like touring. That's why I say I think it's more about with me not making a plan for myself. Just maintaining a balance and letting that take me where it does.”

Speaking of Tomahawk, their new album Oddfellows is done. “Today is our last day in the studio,” he explains. “I'm not present. They're doing it there in Nashville. Via email and phone I'm approving mixes and whatnot.” I mention that Tomahawk have been announced to play next year's Soundwave Festival, but he doesn't comment. It seems to be part of his interview technique that he doesn't bite on open ended questions. Famously guarded about his private life, it's an interview that feels somewhat like a game of tactical manoeuvres. Every time he responds you can almost sense he has a road map of where he wants the answer to go and how he's going to get there. He's been known to roast unsuspecting journos for breakfast, but fortunately I seem well prepared enough to be spared that treatment.

What fuels his extraordinary work ethic? “If I knew what it was I probably wouldn't be talking to you now,” he speculates. “I'd probably be at the fountain drinking from it. It's something that feels natural; it feels like something that I need to do. I don't have a typical lifestyle that other people have. It allows me to make the decisions I have made. I've been able to carve out a little place for myself personally where I have the time and the energy to do that and it means making some sacrifices, obviously, and it doesn't make for the best personal life in the world, But, y'know, you deal with the consequences. It's just important for me to work.”

You feel like you've made big sacrifices, I ask? “Yeah, everybody does, in anything they do that they care about. You can't do everything like the perfect human being. You have to say 'What's my priority; what's important to me?' and that automatically eliminates other things. Maybe my social life's not so great. Maybe other things… family stuff, maybe that's not so happening, like other people. But, I've made my decision. This is what I've chosen and I'm committed to it.” But has he made the right decisions? “Yeah, so far,” he muses nonchalantly. “Could change at moment's notice? Who knows? Who knows? Maybe when I'm 60 I'll open up a kennel and start raising dogs.”

Mike Patton's Mondo Cane will be visiting:

Saturday 10 November - Werribee Park, Melbourne VIC
Sunday 11 November - Werribee Park, Melbourne VIC
Saturday 17 November - Parramatta Park, Sydney NSW
Sunday 18 November - City Botanic Gardens, Adelaide QLD

Tomahawk will be playing the following shows:

Saturday 23 February - RNA Showgrounds, Brisbane QLD
Sunday 24 February - Olympic Park, Sydney NSW
Friday 1 March - Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne VIC
Saturday 2 March - Bonython Park, Adelaide SA
Monday 4 March - Claremont Showground, Perth WA