The world-renowned vocalist and musician scores director Saverio Cotanzo's latest horror drama, and offers an update on his own ever-growing slate of projects

Though The Solitude of Prime Numbers is not readily available in the States, as it has not been released theatrically or on DVD, the soundtrack for both the movie, and the book upon which it is based, will be available in stores and for download starting today, Tuesday, November 1st. It may seem odd that the soundtrack to a film that isn't slated for a US release would be something of interest, until you learn that it was scored by world renown musician and vocalist Mike Patton, who has decided to release the album as a stand-alone solo record; a companion piece to both the movie and Paolo Giordano's Italian novel upon which it is based.

This is Mike Patton's third time scoring a film project, coming after A Perfect Place in 2008 and Crank High Voltage in 2009. It is being hailed as a provocative, genre-defying work that is both beautifully orchestrated and quite a departure from Patton's previous works, of which there are many.

We recently caught up with Mike Patton to chat about the record. And as well, we got an update on quite a few of his upcoming projects, including Nevermen, the new Tomahawk record, the status of Peeping Tom, and the second return of Faith No More. We also found out a couple of other surprises along the way. If you've been needing a good, solid Mike Patton update, this should tide you over for a bit.

Here is our conversation:

In the folklore of your public persona, people understand you to be quite a superstitious fellow. You've even gone as far as to not include the 13th track on past albums. Yet, 13 is a prime number. And you've included 13 as the name of a track on this album. Are you surrendering to bad luck in the name of Prime Numbers?

Mike Patton: Weeeeellllllllll....I only left track 13 out on one CD. And that was just for fun. To see if I could do it, really. It was a numerical experiment, to see if I could get away with it on a CD. Actually, you can't get away with it. The way that CDs are manufactured, you have to follow the normal numerical sequence. But what happens is, the ID for track 13 comes, and it lasts for 2 seconds. I think that is the minimum. You have to index it at the end of track 12, so that it passes without you noticing. But its there. For this CD, that was sort of a primer. It gave me the courage to try something like this, where there is six different IDs buried within one track. If you watch your CD player, or your computer, or whatever you are listening to, you will see the track numbers flying by. It's pretty funny.

I remember getting the Fantomas album, and it doesn't skip track 13. It comes up on the display for just a second or two...

Mike Patton: That is correct!

With A Perfect Place, you were working with one main theme that you ran through various different genres of music. Then with Crank 2, that was a series of individual vignettes. Here, with The Solitude of Prime Numbers, we really hear a full narrative in the music, from beginning to end, and it even circles back to that open track during the climax...

Mike Patton: Correct! This is a very different type of film, first of all. A Perfect Place is character driven. The director for that wanted a couple of identifiable themes with a bunch of variations. That is what I did. The director for The Solitude of Prime Numbers did not want that at all. In fact, a lot of things I submitted, he thought were too thematic. He wanted there to be no real identification, or no one theme or sound for any one character. Initially, I wanted to write the entire thing for solo piano. He had a very different viewpoint. I work for him, so we went back and forth. Basically, what he wanted, was like you said, a narrative. Something that is way more organic. The changes come in a subtle way, where you might not even notice them. There is one thing that is really, really long. I think I put it on the last track of the CD. It's a composite of five or six different ideas. The way he uses it in the film is really nice. Because Its way in the background, but its always there. You think it's gone, but it comes back again. It was a nice approach. It was definitely challenging for me.

I read that you'd assigned each instrument used in the recording of this its own Prime Number. How did you work through that in deciding or discovering which Prime fit with which instrument?

Mike Patton: Wow! I didn't actually do that. But that is not a bad idea. (Laughs) I'm just not that good of a mathematician. I didn't map it out that way at all. I'm not sure where you read that...

I read that in another interview this morning. I thought that is what you'd said. But I guess I misunderstood how you were explaining the process...

Mike Patton: Yeah. You must have. Because I didn't do that. But, no...I think there were four or five moods that I wanted to tie together. Seamlessly. Organically. So that it felt like one particular mood or emotion. That flowed back and forth in different places. And then it tied itself up nicely in a bow, there at the end.

With A Perfect Place and Crank 2, we, as listeners, had the visual element that goes along the music. Here, we don't have those visuals. This is a score we have to take on its own. Were you offered the luxury of having visuals from the movie when you put the music together? Or were you solely going off of the director's instructions, as far as what he wanted you to create?

Mike Patton: Yeah. I did have the visuals. But I started writing it before I'd seen the visuals. I had read the script. I met the director. And I thought it would be a fun thing to do. Then I went out and got the book. After I read the book...I actually read the book in English and Italian...I was getting musical ideas while I was reading this book. It really hit me. It is beautiful writing. It's really strong. At that point, I wasn't totally positive about what the visuals were going to be like. And they were very different than what I was expecting, to be honest. The director, Saverio Costanzo, had a vision of the book as a romantic horror film. Which I didn't pick up on. But I thought that take was interesting.

I've only seen photographs of the film. It's not at all what I was expecting, either. I have no idea what the actual moving images look like...

Mike Patton: It's nice looking. The way it's pieced together is unorthodox. It jumps through decades and decades in these kids' lives. It takes you a while to get it. It's a little bit disorienting, to be honest. But it is beautiful.

You mentioned that this may never be released in the states...

Mike Patton: It's possible. One can only hope.

Fans, right now, only have the music as a reference. They don't have the movie. In a way, the music overrides what we will come to know in the film, if we ever see it...

Mike Patton: I think it's an independent entity, obviously, or I wouldn't have even bothered releasing it. It's also a peculiar release in that a lot of this music isn't in the film. I ended up writing a lot of things that the director didn't want to use. Hence, the very verbose title. Music from the film and inspired by the book! I had to find a way to make all of these ideas concise. And poignant. If you even see the film, you won't hear a lot of this stuff in it. I'd say it's about half and half. For me, to hear the music independently from the film, especially with a peculiar release like this...I think it's not a problem at all.

Do you recommend fans listen to the record in solitude?

Mike Patton: They can do whatever they like! It certainly isn't music you'd put on at a rave (laughs). I wrote it, actually, in solitude. I wrote it completely by myself while I was on a short vacation in Indonesia. That is when I wrote most of this stuff. I felt like, instead of hiring a particular group, or a set of musicians, or an ensemble to do this, I had to play all the instruments, and record it myself. I had to make it a hands-on, lonely experience.

Do you feel that the atmosphere of where you were, there, alone in the jungle, seeped into the music while you were creating it?

Mike Patton: Ahhhhh? Not really. Because I was just in a small room. (Laughs) I was in this small dark room most of the time. I just felt that being alone while I wrote this was important.

Maybe I have my facts wrong. But it seems like the first solo album you put out was recorded in a similar fashion. Alone in hotel rooms as you toured.

Mike Patton: That is, more or less, correct. But that was just a little different in that it was written for a solo instrument. That was written for just my voice. I couldn't hire anyone to do what I did on that record. Trust me! (Laughs)

That first solo album was way ahead of its time. I don't think I've heard anything else released that is quite like that...

Mike Patton: Oh, yeah...A number of people have released albums like that over the years. In the 60s, there was the Fluxus Movement. There were a lot of sound poets at the time. I took inspiration from them in doing that record. It was pre-verbal language. I believe that's what they called it. It was a lot of grunts and sounds. Sometimes, there would be a lot of effects. It was really interesting stuff. There was a whole scene of those guys doing that. Obviously, I am not coming from an academic or poetic background. I did a different take on that.

Here is a question that a lot of fans want to know...Why does Ali Larter have the ability to download an entire CD of Crudo in the movie Obsessed? And here, three or four years later, we still can't get our hands on that music?

Mike Patton: Well, I don't believe there is a record. We certainly haven't released anything. That is one of those projects that, I think, is on the shelf. I don't know if people have found it somehow. But I'm not even really sure where it is, to be honest. I think it's important sometimes...You don't have to release everything you do. Some ideas need to just stay on the shelf. That's not to say it's not good, or that I'm not proud of it. There are a lot of other considerations. It's just not fit for consumption yet.

Did you see that movie, Obsessed?

Mike Patton: No. You know what? I have never seen it.

In that movie, Ali Larter has the whole Crudo album. It plays a major plot point in the story. She uses that album to lure in Idris Elba. She gives it to this guy she is stalking...

Mike Patton: I think they used a little creative license there (laughs). I mean, we gave them one song. That is the only thing that is in the movie. She is probably holing some fake CD. Beyonce is probably holding her own CD!

I thought that was a really weird CD to even have in that particular movie.

Mike Patton: (Laughs) It was strange when we got that proposal. We were like, "Huh? We're not even a band yet." I figured they were going to use the song somewhere, buried in some really bad scene. They ended up talking about the group. That is hilarious. I don't know what lunatic wrote that into the script, but he may not have a job now! (Laughs)

You have so many fans working in film and television right now, so I don't think its that odd. We were recently on the set of Ghost Rider 2. Have to ask, what happened with that? Were you just too busy to do the score?

Mike Patton: No. I didn't really get asked to do the score. I love those guys. Neveldine and Taylor, obviously. We had talked about it. Basically, after I finished Crank High Voltage, they said, "We're going to call you about this next thing we are doing." That thing didn't pan out (Jonah Hex), and then a couple of years passed. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance came up. It's not an easy thing. Maybe they wanted me. The studio wanted someone else. Okay, no big deal. At the last second, I got a call from those guys. And they wanted me to do some voice over sound effects. Nicolas Cage is in that, right?

Yeah. Nicolas Cage said that he was given the Mondo Cane album. He had gotten the record from the directors...

Mike Patton: What did he think of it?

He seemed to love it. That's the thing, though. Sometimes, you don't know if they are just being nice. He seemed to dig it, though...

Mike Patton: Wow.

At the time, the directors weren't sure what was going on with you, or the score. So, you are going to actually voice some of the demons in the movie?

Mike Patton: Well, no...It didn't work out. The way these things go...They contacted me, and they needed it in one day. They sent me the scene. I said, "Oh, yeah. I can do this." It was basically a couple of really loud, roaring screams that Ghost Rider does at some point. I still haven't seen the film, so I can't tell you exactly what it was. They sent me this short scene of him transforming. He opens his mouth, and he has this incredible roar. They wanted me to do a few of those roars. But I was on tour. I couldn't do it.

It's funny, because I will see your name pop up all the time now, in terms of rumors. You are voicing different characters for whatever film. I think there was even a rumor that you were voicing Snowy, the dog in Tintin...

Mike Patton: People have asked me about that. I have no idea where this stuff comes from. It is funny. Maybe one day one of these rumors will come true. Who knows?

The Transformers rumor was a pretty popular one. They had you voicing a cement mixer, or a dump truck. That was proven false, then part 3 comes out. Oh, wait, Mike Patton is voicing a soda machine in this new sequel...

Mike Patton: Yeah! (Laughs)

You did, however, narrate the recent release Bunraku. That is a very neat voice-over. How did that gig come about?

Mike Patton: That is a beautiful movie. It is crazy. That is one of those films that will hopefully find its place in the world. As of now, I am not sure what is going on with it. Turns out, the director was a fan. Basically, he just found me. He asked me if I would be into it. I read the script, and I couldn't make heads or tales of it. Once I saw some images, it clicked for me. I thought, "This is something I better try." Also, it was very straight forward, as opposed to doing sound effects. And screams. Zombie noises. I was doing a straight, voice of God type of narration thing. It's throughout the entire film. I thought, "Hmm. I haven't tried this before. Let's see if I can handle it."

I don't know if you've seen it yet, but someone cut the first part of that narration and opening together into a music video. It's pretty cool.

Mike Patton: I haven't seen that yet.

The movie hit theaters in September, I think. It was also on VOD.

Mike Patton: I knew that it had played at some festivals. I wasn't sure if it had ever been properly released yet, or not.

No, its out there. People are seeing it. Now, I have to address this. According to my sources, which would be Billy Gould on Twitter, you guys are in the midst of rehearsals for your next set of Faith No More shows...

Mike Patton: That is true.

Roddy Bottum, just in the last week or two, debuted his score for Fred 2. Do you guys ever talk shop, or discuss the process of what it takes to score a film? Do you ever give each other notes?

Mike Patton: Yeah, we definitely do. There is a lot of time to kill on the road. Plus, we are all reconnected now. We are enjoying each other's company. So we do talk about that stuff. He has done a lot more scoring work than I have. I ask him a lot of questions. I think when I did Crank High Voltage, I asked him for a few bits of advice. In terms of how the business side of the process works. Whether he worked a picture. What different programs he used. Yeah. That kind of stuff. We are always swapping spit, so to speak.

In the past, when you first started going down this road of wanting to score films, and getting involved in the movie side of music and sound effects, you said that the projects came out of people approaching you. That they were a friend of a friend. Now that you have a couple of scores under your belt, do you ever seek out certain projects, or throw your hat into the ring, so to speak, in attempting to land a job?

Mike Patton: I tried for a while to seek them out. I just never had much luck. I had a couple of different agents try to help me. Nothing has ever panned out. I spent quite a frustrating phase of going to meetings, and shaking hands...Doing things like this, and I kind of lost patience with it. I figured that, if this is something that is going to become a part of my life, it will happen naturally. There is not a lot I can do about it. There is plenty of other things I can do. I think...I hope...That it can be something I do from time to time.

I brought up Roddy's work on Fred 2, because that seems like a throwaway Nickelodeon movie that kids will watch, and then they will forget about it two minutes after its over. But when I listened to the score, I was surprised by how good that music is. He's not just tossing off fast food riffs, he's actually putting a lot of thought into it. That made me think of you. If someone asked you to participate in something like Fred 2, which may not necessarily be in your wheelhouse, would you take on the project? Or do you feel the need to be selective when it comes to taking on a film score at this point?

Mike Patton: Yeah...I wouldn't...Look, It may not be my first choice, but I figure, the only way to learn is to keep putting challenges ahead of yourself. That's what works for me. So, yeah, if there was a children's movie, or, God forbid, a romantic comedy that I thought I could do something with, I would. I would of course try it. The tricky part is developing a nose for it. Knowing what you can get away with, and what you can't. Sometimes a certain project will have a smell...It will have a little stench about it. That is a warning signal. You know it's going to be a nightmare. You know they are not going to like it, and it's not worth it. It has to feel comfortable, no matter what it is.

Lovage could play into any type of romantic drama or comedy, and I think it would play well...

Mike Patton: That is true!

Is it cool if I ask you about some of the upcoming projects people want to know about?

Mike Patton: Sure!

You are currently working on Nevermen with Doseone and Tunde. What is that going to sound like, and when is that going to hit?

Mike Patton: Not sure when it's hitting. There are just a few tunes that are completed, now. It is something that we are all working on in our spare time. It's one of those things that has involved quite a bit of editing and studio trickery. Its basically vocalists that are also doing programming. We've done a few sessions together that were pretty loose, and pretty improvisational, really. Now, we are becoming surgeons in turning these sessions into quote-unquote songs. But its very vocal based. There are also a lot of electronics. But its not completely apparent yet, what it sounds like. Not yet. I can't tell you. It certainly doesn't sound like anything else I have ever done. Not quite.

Is the Nevermen an offshoot of Peeping Tom? Were these contacts you'd made while putting that record together?

Mike Patton: Uh? It could be. Certainly with Doseone. We met around that time. We'd always talked about doing something together. We'd been mutual admires for quite awhile, from a distance. We finally met, we hit it off, and we became fast friends. At some point, I must have mentioned to him that I had this idea. I wanted a band with three vocalists. Three people that can sing, and they can also program. But there wouldn't be any backing band at all. He though that was a good idea. A little while later, he came back to me, and he said, "Let's do this! Who can we get?" We went through a couple of crazy ideas. Finally, he mentioned Tunde. I love his voice, and his writing is great. So we met up, and we hit it off. We decided to do it. The important thing was to not put a timeline on it. To just let it happen when it happens.

That's the cool thing about you, and trying to follow your music. We'll hear about a project, but we never know when it may hit. Years will go by, and then there's that sudden notice. It's coming next week. It's like getting a little Christmas gift...

Mike Patton: Ah, thank you!

It's always pretty neat. Pretty fun. Now, when Peeping Tom came out a couple of years ago, you claimed that it was a part of a trilogy. Is that still hold true? Will you be going back to that project? Will we see those albums?

Mike Patton: Uh....Yeah! You have to do the second one before you can do the third one. But that is something I am looking to do next year.

Whenever I see the guys from Sunny, I ask when you're going to be in an episode. They say they've tried to get you a couple of times, but it's never worked out time wise, with all the touring you do. The show only has two seasons left. Are we eventually going to see you on there?

Mike Patton: Gosh, I don't know. I love those guys. I certainly would be up for it. If I remember correctly, they've only asked me once. That time, yes, it didn't work out. If they are still into it, I think it would be fun. I don't know what the Hell I would do...

They've never tossed a couple of ideas your way? I know they are a little secretive when it comes to storylines and characters, but I'd have to imagine they have a seed of an idea...

Mike Patton: Oh, they are even apprehensive when it comes to telling me about storylines. Its funny. Hanging out with those guys? You can see where the material comes from. They just sit around, in a bar or a restaurant, and they crack on people. And each other the entire time. Its non-stop. In an odd way, just hanging out and being a fly on the wall, you see how all of that stuff comes together. Just sitting around a table with those guys? It's like watching their show. It's so great.

I always imagined that you'd be part of the McPoyle family.

Mike Patton: Uh...What is that?

The two brothers that sort of drift in and out of seasons. They're kind of creepy. They hang out in bathrobes and drink warm milk...

Mike Patton: Oh, yeah! (Laughs) I know what you mean. Oh, man...Well, sure...I'm sure that they could cook up something pretty interesting for me if they wanted to.

If you've seen the recent episodes, they've gotten quite weird, and quite bloody, which is new territory for a sitcom.

Mike Patton: They get away with a whole hell of a lot from what I've seen. It's worked out for them. People sort of expect it. I tip my hat to them, for sure.

It seems like quite a long time ago that you said all of the music was done for a fourth Tomahawk record. Now, you are finally approaching that project vocal wise, and we may see it next year. Is that correct?

Mike Patton: Yeah, we are recording early next year. I think we are recording in February. But yes, most of the music is done. It's written. We just have to record it.

Duane wrote the entire last album, right? Anonymous?

Mike Patton: Um...No....We wrote most of that together. Duane wrote most of it. Most of it was actually public domain Native American or Cowboy tunes that we rearranged. In terms of taking writing credits? That's not too prudent. Most of that music was already written. The main themes, let's just say. Duane and I would work together in fleshing them out. Sometimes we would add our own parts to them. Sometimes we would just use a snippet of a song, and then we would write around it. But it was basically us using those old songs and themes as building blocks.

I wasn't trying to pry into who wrote what, really. I just knew that Duane came up with the main concept on that last album. And I was wondering what your theme or narrative would be this time out. If you were pointing the music in a particular direction, or if you were going back to the roots of the original album, or maybe even the second album...

Mike Patton: No, we haven't figured that out just yet. Let's just say that it is more of a rock record. It's a little more stripped down. It's a little more lean. That's pretty much it. Sometimes these things don't take shape until you are doing them. Right now, it sounds like a pretty nasty record.

I watched the Director's Cut DVD that just came out last month, and I believe you put that package together, and helped edit it. You guys really found an interesting way to make a concert movie that is re-watchable on many levels. I've seen some of the beautifully shot Mondo Cane video. Are we going to see a proper release for that? Because that needs to be seen to fully enjoy the impact of what you are doing with that project...

Mike Patton: There will be a DVD at some point. There is also a second record that is in progress as well. I will probably put that second record out first. And then the DVD. At some point, you will see one. I'm not sure if it will have all of the editing and effects. It may be a much more subtle affair. But in any case, it will come out.

I don't want to pry to much into budgetary issues, but I was watching a clip of that the other day, and that has to be a pricey affair. You have so many people in this orchestra, and they are just top-notch musicians. They can't be turning minimum wage...

Mike Patton: Yeah. It's not easy for a lot of different reasons. But finances is one of the biggest ones. It's tough. That's one of the reasons I have only done one concert with it in the states. It's much easier to pull it off financially in Europe, at a big festival that has a big budget. We also get citywide sponsoring. We've played a lot of these outdoor city festivals in Italy. There are all of these sponsors, and they can afford to hire the orchestra. The band isn't cheap. There are thirteen people in the band. The one thing I have done to make it more affordable is, I have cut the orchestra way down. I have a redux version that translates well live. That is what I have been playing. I just got back from a tour about a month ago. We played South America with that line-up. It was great.

The funniest part of those videos for me to watch is watching members of the orchestra watch you. Just the looks they get on their faces sometime. Have you gone back and looked at some of the reactions you get, especially when you start to break into a bout of loud screaming...

Mike Patton: I have watched some of that, yeah. (Laughs) I see it live, so I don't need to go back and watch it. The people laughing, and the wide eyes, and what not...Yeah...

There was this one woman sitting behind you, that stopped playing her instrument, and she is just starring at you in total shock and awe. She is just amazed that these sounds that are coming out of you. It's hilarious to watch them watch you.

Mike Patton: (Laughs) It's unfortunate, but in that world, there are a lot of time clock musicians that play with orchestras. They get the call, and then they look at the charts a little bit. They arrive, and its music by numbers, unfortunately. Sometimes. That's why, when we are on tour, we have to build in an extra day or two, to make sure they really get this. Even though it's not like playing Paganini, it is deceptively complex. Its not like they can just snooze their way through it. There is a lot of police work that goes on.

Does it ever get tense with one of those studio musicians, when they come in, and they don't understand something, or understand where you are coming from...Where the music is headed?

Mike Patton: It's never really tense. At that level, everyone is usually quite professional. But you do see people plugging their ears. Or they will make an unpleasant face. Its two worlds that are colliding. It's my job, and the arranger's job...The conductor's job, to make sure that everything is cool. That the musicians are happy. And that everything is meshing together. Because, obviously, we don't want to piss them off. And they don't want to piss us off. We have to find a common ground. Its fun to do that.

Now, you guys are in the midst of rehearsing for the upcoming Faith No More shows. Can you hint at any of the surprises that fans are really going to get a kick out of this time around?

Mike Patton: Um...Yeah, there are a couple of new things. But those are all better left as surprises. We are playing some stuff that we haven't ever played live before. The most unique thing we are doing is a show in Chile. There, we will be playing King for a Day from front to back. We are doing it with the guitarist that played on that record, Trey Spruance. We have never played live with him before. So that will be pretty exciting.

I didn't know you guys were doing that. You, of course, have played live with Trey for many years in Mr. Bungle. What is that like to bring him into this particular mix?

Mike Patton: We'll find out. We start the rehearsals with him tomorrow. (Laughs) Those guys have played with him. They played with him a couple of weeks ago, before he left on his own tour. And they said it went great. I am anticipating that it will go good. I think it will be smooth.

I've heard for a long time that there were certain songs from both Angel Dust and King for a Day that were never released. Is that true? And if so, is that stuff we will ever hear?

Mike Patton: No. I can't think of any. I think most of the stuff we did...There may be a song or two...But there are reasons for leaving something off a record. Maybe we didn't think they were good enough. Over the years, there have been so many compilations, and greatest hits, I think they have gone through the graveyard of B Sides, and they have exhausted them all.

Are you going to play some of those King for a Day B Sides during this show? Or is it going to be straight through track one to I'm Just a Man?

Mike Patton: I think we are just going to do front to back. I think there maybe...We are doing a tune we've never done from that era. I guess that would be a B Side. I don't know if we released that at all...I don't know (laughs)!

Are you going to bring that show to the states at least once? I mean, that's a show that I think a lot of fans would die to see...

Mike Patton: The King for a Day?

Yeah...I would love to see that show. You guys did that with Director's Cut, right? The New Years Eve show that is on the DVD?

Mike Patton: Yeah, we did that. We played the whole album, but we may have switched a thing or two around. We've done that a few times. Obviously, we did that hear in NSF, the one we recorded. We did it in Europe a couple of times. We did it in Australia. In terms of the Faith No More one, we'll see. We don't have any plans.

I'd love to see that show. I'd love to see Angel Dust done live all the way through. I think that is one of my all-time favorite records. I don't know in what regard you hold it.

Mike Patton: I'm proud of it. I'm glad we did it. But I don't really make a list of my own favorite records (laughs). There are too many other great records out in the world that I hold in higher regard!

Well, I don't, so there you go. It's interesting to see that album keep popping back up now, as time goes on. When you guys made that, it barely got noticed in the states. Now it always makes, like, the hundred greatest rock albums of the last century lists.

Mike Patton: The reviewers are getting older (laughs)!

Last question, which I know people keep asking, and we get the back and forth from Roddy and Billy Gould all the time. Do you think there will be new material, a new song, or possibly a new album from Faith No More sometime in the future?

Mike Patton: Well...There are no plans. That is all I can say. We have basically talked very little about it. I think that is because we are really just getting to know each other again. And we are getting to enjoy each other's company again. We are taking it, and appreciating it for what it is. We are not trying to look too far ahead. That is the honest truth.

Does that make it a funnier experience for you? To know that you don't have to work towards that particular end goal in terms of the music. If it comes naturally, it comes naturally. If it doesn't, it doesn't...

Mike Patton: Basically. Yeah. I think its important not to make plans. And to not put extraneous demands on something like this. It's a delicate thing. We hadn't played together in more than ten years. It was nerve wracking enough to get in the same room again, and revisit this, and play some of this stuff. But I think we were all really, very pleasantly surprised.

I think everyone has been pleasantly surprised. The shows have been great. I've only gotten to see the clips here and there. But the response has been very positive from the fan community. Do you think you guys will play the states at all, again?

Mike Patton: Not sure, again. We are not getting back in that habitrail. We are not getting back on the circuit. Milking it too much is a real danger. You can only bleed the cow so many times.