Back in September 2021, Faith No More and Mr. Bungle cancelled their scheduled performances. A statement from frontman Mike Patton was issued:
“Sorry to report that due to mental health reasons, I cannot continue with the currently scheduled Faith No More and Mr. Bungle dates. I have issues that were exacerbated by the pandemic that are challenging me right now. I don’t feel I can give what I should at this point and I am not going to give anything less than 100 percent. I am sorry to our fans and hope to make it up to you soon. The bands’ support me in this decision and we look forward to working through this in a healthy way." - xMP
Faith No More issued a statement regarding the band’s tour cancellation: “To say that we feel shattered by these cancellations would be a complete understatement. It has been a real challenge to return to this music after a 5 year absence, but we have been working hard for a few months now, and these last few rehearsals left no doubt that we were back to top form, which makes this statement very difficult to write.
"Coming on almost two years of pandemic and lack of work, it has been heartbreaking to give our crew the news. We consider our crew like family. And then, equally importantly, we are aware of what this means to our fans, who have been patiently supporting us - hoping, as we have, for a break in this frustrating situation. Many folks have taken isolation quite hard, and patiently waited as shows have been postponed time and time again. This will be tough for them.
"And yet in spite of all this, we have a family member who needs help. We believe that forging ahead with these dates would have had a profoundly destructive effect on Mike, whose value to us as a brother means more to us than his job as singer. He can count on our 100% support to do what he needs to do to get things right. Just as we also ask for your support right now.
"Thank you for continuing to believe in us." - Bill, Jon, Mike B. & Roddy
Patton is featured in a new interview with Rolling Stone, where he discusses the situation and his mental health. Following is an excerpt from the interview.
Rolling Stone: When Faith No More and Mr. Bungle canceled their concerts, you released a statement citing problems with your mental health. Can you talk about what you were going through?
Patton: "It’s still going on — but it’s better. It’s easy to blame it on the pandemic. But I’ll be honest, man: At the beginning of the pandemic, I was like, 'This is fucking great. I can stay home and record.' I’ve got a home studio. So I was like, 'Yeah, what’s the big deal?' And then something clicked, and I became completely isolated and almost antisocial [and] afraid of people.
That sort of anxiety, or whatever you want to call it, led to other issues, which I choose not to discuss. But I got some professionals helping me, and now I’m feeling better and getting closer to diving back in. Towards the end of the year, I’ll be doing my first shows in, like, two years, which is the longest time since I started doing this, that I’ve been out of the game."
Rolling Stone: When you say you had other issues, do you mean substances? Alcohol?
Patton: "It was a little bit of everything. But mostly, in my experience, it was mostly mental. I saw some therapists and all that stuff, which is the first time I ever had to do that in my life. And they basically diagnosed me as having agoraphobia; like, I was afraid of people. I got freaked out by being around people. And maybe that was because I spent two years basically indoors during Covid. I don’t know. Maybe it reinforced feelings that I already had. But just knowing about it, talking about it, really helped. And we’ll see how it goes in December."
Rolling Stone: At what point did you realize, “I have a problem”?
Patton: "Right around the time that Faith No More was about to go back on the road. That’s when I kind of lost it, and it was ugly and not cool. A few days before we were supposed to go on the road. I told the guys, 'Hey man, I don’t think I can do it.' Somehow my confidence was broken down. I didn’t want to be in front of people, which is weird because I spent half of my life doing that. It was very hard to explain. And there were some broken feelings on both sides about it, but it’s what I had to do. Because otherwise something really bad could have happened."
Read the complete interview here.
