No matter what Mike Patton does, he can't seem to deter the crazy fanatics that worship his every move.  A decade ago it was swarms of young, easy women looking to score with the pin-up heartthrob frontman of Faith No More.

Nowdays it's a different type of fanatic; typically young men, typically of a gekier mold, who argue over every howl, scream, bang, bleep and crash the eclectic musician has laid down on tape for his various projects (Mr. Bungle, Fantomas, Tomahawk, Peeping Tom and his whacked-out solo records).

So which kink of fanatic is worse?

"It's all wired.  It's all totally surreal and hard to take seriously," Patton says. "I think I laughed at it then and I'm pretty much going to laugh at it now.  If you don't laugh at that, boy you're a san son of a bitch"

The topic du jour on Pattonfever.Com (yes, it exists) is the release of the Fantomas second album, Director's Cut, a 16 track collection of butchered film scores from movies like The Godfather, Cape Fear, The Omen, Twin Peaks, and more. The Fantomas - which features Patton on vocals; Melvins' guitarist Roger Osborne; former Slayer/Grip Inc. drummer Dave Lombardo; and Mr. Bungle Bassist Trevor Dunn - are still as heavy as fuck, but with Director's Cut they offer a more dynamic, more coherent sound than their balls-to-the-wall, ADD kid-on-crack, self-titled debut. 

"Since our original music is such a pain in the ass," says Patton, "this record, in the grand scheme of our careers, is really kind of a nice breather; a nice pause before we dump another load of shit on their heads." 

As expected, the tracks on Director's Cut bear little resemblance to the original material.  Fantomas takes every liberty to destroy any notion of standard timing, harmony or timbre that may exist on the originals.

"I don't see much point in tackling anyone else's music unless you're going to just rape the shit out of it," he says.  "I think if someone would do that to my stuff I'd be overjoyed.  People talk about a Faith No More tribute; what a snooze that's going to be.  Unless someone really goes crazy and does something ridiculous with some of the tune, which, hey, could happen, but I'm not holding my breath."

A constant workaholic, Patton is also diving into a couple new projects that ... gasp ... have a more commercial appeal.

The first is Tomahawk - which Patton describes as the most direct rock band he's been in since Faith No More - whose first album should be released on Patton's label, Ipecac, in October.  The second project ( and Patton's main priority right now) is Peeping Tom, a collaboration with fellow San Francisco native Dan The Automator, that will be released by Reprise Records.

"It's sort of pop from my angle,: explains Patton, "but it's not necessarily pop music to the rest of the world.  It's going to be a big mess as usual."  The Fantomas will embark on a us tour in September eventually meeting up with Tool for some dates.  Undoubtedly, many music fans will dismiss the Fantomas as too experimental. 

"The sad thing is, I don't think what we're doing is so weird, is so experimental, is so left of center, Jesus, it's blockheaded shit.  If they're Papa Roach heavy metal, the what the fuck are we?  Chopped liver?"

So, is patton some sort of elitist snop who endlessly cherishes his own contributions to music?  Hardly.

"Sitting around listening to my own records, not a pleasant experience for me," he says.  "It's like sitting around looking at a photo album of baby pictures.  I don't know about you, but that's pretty uncomfortable stuff.  It's not my idea of a good time, you know, sitting around the Christmas Tree, jacking off, looking at pictures of myself.  No thanks."

By Chris Whyte