Exclusive Interview (2)

Bside: Anyone who’s listened to the Fantômas remixes would be surprised to learn that most of the stuff I play and make is purely house.. I’ve found over the last couple of years that I really enjoy remixing, and it now takes up at least half of my music production time. I think my remixes actually turn out better than my originals most of the time. I’ve been a huge Mike Patton fan since Faith No More’s “Epic”, making sure I get everything he’s had a hand in. As far as I’m concerned, he’s a fucking genius.. When I heard the first Fantômas album, it was, to my ears, another complete genre in itself. Mike had created another style of music. Everything about it appealed to me.. the musicians, the music, the artwork, the story behind it, everything! When Fantômas played in Sydney for the first time, I went with a mate who was as smitten as I and found that the only sane response to seeing them for the first time is laughter. We laughed ourselves stupid for the first half of the show! It was brilliant, insane and inspired – and live!.. Anyhow, I decided to do those remixes for myself. I think I was originally just going to use parts of the track as samples, but started to get into it and kept going. The first one was obviously so much fun, I decided to do another! I used Pro Tools Free on a G3 Powerbook for those.. They’re relatively simple and if I were to do them again, I’m sure I’d do them differently. I had an occasion to play a party not long after that where we were asked to play hard-techno and so I did get a chance to play it out. The response was incredibly positive, and when the whistle kicks in, it got a big cheer! Most satisfying! I sent it to Ipecac in the hope that they would listen to it. I got a response back saying that they were good and Mike thought they were “funny”. When Fantômas came out to Sydney the second time, they did an in-store signing and I took my copy of “The Director’s Cut” and the remixes along for them to sign. Had a bit of a chat to Mike when he realised who I was. Dave was next to him and asked what it was, Mike explained it and then said, “I’ll play it to you in the van”. So I was a bit chuffed that they already had a copy in the van! Those remixes were an homage to Fantômas and also an attempt to get it played where it normally wouldn’t.. I reproduced “The Holy Filament” in Reason, pretty much as an exercise in orchestration. I sing for a Frank Zappa tribute act called Petulant Frenzy, and I’ve also recently started a genre-less band called “Thanks For Tiny” which owes a lot to Mike Patton and Fantômas.

Exclusive Interview (3)

Mojovision: I’ve been a huge Mike Patton fan since I heard The Real Thing, and when I first heard Mr. Bungle, I knew I was hooked. I can honestly say that this man is a genius, he can sing to any kind of music.. Some people might think that all the Fantômas and noise albums are crap, and that they wished he went back to singing like in Faith No More. Faith No More was great, but life goes on, and either you stick to the same formula year after year, or you try something new and really push musical boundaries.. I think that’s what he has done with Fantômas. It’s a combination of everything Mike Patton has done so far, and making it at the same time fresh and exciting. His ideas are just out there, I really think he will always be remembered as the madman with the voice. The idea of making Fantômas remixes came about while speaking with Justin Sanvicens. I had already heard the Jugalo Mix and the AssFantom remixes, and I was really impressed. At first I thought it would be difficult to make something like that. With some encouragement from Justin, I thought I’d give it a try. I had never done any real remixing before. I had used CoolEdit before for recording and editing music, but never tried to take pieces of music and mix separate tracks. I started working with CoolEdit Pro and I realized that it is possible to remix Fantômas´ songs because of the way the songs are constructed. It has many breaks and it’s just not your typical album. If you play around with pieces of their tracks, you’d be amazed what you can do. I really encourage others to try it out. It’s a great hobby, and now that Justin and I have started the Fantômastique project, I’d love to hear other people’s interpretations. I’m still happy I can create something out of Mike Patton’s music, and just be busy with music in general. When I try making a remix, I try to mix pieces that fit together with each other so it all flows from beginning to end. I do use some effects but still try to make it sound recognizable. I think the remixes I’ve made aren’t perfect.. but if I can do it, I’m sure others with more experience with music editing can do a better job. If you are an amateur like me, you’d surprise yourself!