Mr. Bungle

Mr. Bungle was an American experimental band from Eureka, California. The band was formed in 1985 while the members were still in high school, and was named after a 1950s children's educational film regarding bad habits which was later featured in a 1981 Pee-wee Herman HBO special.^[5] Mr. Bungle released four demo tapes in the mid to late 1980s before being signed to Warner Bros. Records and releasing three full-length studio albums between 1991 and 1999. The band toured in 2000 to support their last album before going on hiatus; ultimately revealing that they had dissolved in 2004.^[6] Although Mr. Bungle went through several line-up changes early in their career, the longest-serving members were vocalist Mike Patton, guitarist Trey Spruance, bassist Trevor Dunn, saxophonists' Clinton "Bär" McKinnon and Theo Lengyel, and drummer Danny Heifetz.

Mr. Bungle was known for its distinctive musical traits, often cycling through several musical genres within the course of a single song. Many of its songs had an unconventional structure and utilized a wide array of instruments and samples. Live shows often featured members dressing up and an array of cover songs. An ongoing feud with Red Hot Chili Peppers frontman Anthony Kiedis escalated in the late 1990s, with Kiedis removing Mr. Bungle from a number of large music festivals in Europe and Australasia.^[5]

History

Early days (1985–1990)

Mr. Bungle formed in 1985 in Eureka, California, while the members were still in high school. The band initially consisted of Trevor Dunn, Mike Patton, Trey Spruance, Theo Lengyel, and Jed Watts. Watts was subsequently replaced by Hans Wagner, and then by Danny Heifetz, while Clinton "Bär" McKinnon joined in 1989.^[5] The band's name was taken from Lunchroom Manners, a 1960s children's educational film which was featured in a Pee-wee Herman Show HBO special in the early 1980s.^[7] In it, an elementary school class with a young boy named Phil watch a puppet show about an ill-mannered boy named Mr. Bungle. The short film was a very straight-laced attempt to teach children good deportment. The version shown on The Pee-wee Herman Show had a laugh track added, which gently ridiculed the strict code of conduct promoted in the film.^[5]

Soon after forming, the band's first demo, The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny, was recorded during Easter of 1986. It featured a fast, low-fi death/thrash sound, with touches of ska and hardcore punk. Instruments utilized on the album included a train whistle, saxophone, bongos and a kazoo. The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny was followed by the demo Bowel of Chiley in 1987; this recording contained a different style, including a much greater ska presence, as well as the sounds of jazz, swing and funk. Bradley Torreano noted at AllMusic that the recording was "essentially the sound of some very talented teenagers trying to make their love of jazz and ska come together in whatever way they can."^[8] In 1988, Mr. Bungle released their third demo, Goddammit I Love America!, which was musically similar to Bowel of Chiley. Their final demo tape was OU818, released in 1989; this recording was the first to feature tenor sax player Clinton "Bär" McKinnon and drummer Danny Heifetz. OU818 combined songs from the earlier demos, along with some new tracks, having an overall heavier sound than the three releases following The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny.^[9][10] In 1988, Mike Patton became the lead vocalist for San Francisco's Faith No More, getting the job after Jim Martin of Faith No More heard him on a Mr. Bungle demo.^[11] Patton continued to be a member of both bands simultaneously. Having established a following in Northern California, Mr. Bungle was signed to Warner Bros., who released their self-titled debut album in 1991.^[10]

Self-titled debut (1991–1994)

	"Travolta (Quote Unquote)" (1991) Sample from Mr. Bungle's "Travolta (Quote Unquote)" from the album Mr. Bungle. It was Mr. Bungle's only song to ever receive a music video.
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Their debut album, Mr. Bungle, was produced by jazz experimentalist John Zorn and was released on August 13, 1991. The cover featured artwork by Dan Sweetman, originally published in the story, "A Cotton Candy Autopsy" in the DC Comics/Piranha Press imprint title, Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children. The record mixed metal, funk, ska, carnival music and free jazz, but was normally described as funk metal by music critics.^[9] It received mostly positive reviews, with journalist Bill Pahnelas calling it "an incredible musical tour de force, and hands down the best alternative rock record of the year so far".^[12] On the style of the album, critic Steve Huey wrote in AllMusic: "Mr. Bungle is a dizzying, disconcerting, schizophrenic tour through just about any rock style the group can think of, hopping from genre to genre without any apparent rhyme or reason, and sometimes doing so several times in the same song."^[13]

The first track was originally titled "Travolta"; however, the actor John Travolta took issue with this title and threatened legal action. The song name was changed and on later pressings of the album was called "Quote Unquote".^[5] The band created a music video for the song, directed by Kevin Kerslake.^[14] However, MTV refused to air the video because of images of bodies dangling on meat hooks.^[2] The album sold well despite MTV refusing to air their video and a lack of radio airplay.^[2] Almost all the members went by obscure aliases in the album credits.^[15] To promote the album in some stores, a Mr. Bungle bubble bath was given away with copies of the record sold.^[5] Following the release of the album the band toured North America.^[10][2]

Disco Volante (1995–1998)

	"Desert Search For Techno Allah" (1995) Sample from Mr. Bungle's "Desert Search For Techno Allah" from the album Disco Volante. This track displays a blend of Middle Eastern music and techno with the parts of the lyrics being taken from an old Arabic phrase.
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Due to artwork delays and the band members' many side-projects, it was four years before Disco Volante was released, in October 1995.^[9] The new album displayed musical development and a shift in tone from their earlier recordings.^[16] While the self-titled album was described as "funk metal", with Disco Volante this label was replaced with "avant-garde" or "experimental".^[2]

The music was complex and unpredictable, with the band continuing with their shifts of musical style. Some of the tracks were in foreign languages and would radically change genres mid-song. Featuring lyrics about death, suicide and child abuse,^[17] along with children's songs and a Middle Eastern techno number, music critic Greg Prato described the album as having "a totally original and new musical style that sounds like nothing that currently exists".^[18] Not all critics were impressed with the album, with The Washington Post describing it as "an album of cheesy synthesizers, mangled disco beats, virtuosic playing and juvenile noises", calling it "self-indulgent" and adding that "Mr. Bungle's musicians like to show off their classical, jazz and world-beat influences in fast, difficult passages which are technically impressive but never seem to go anywhere".^[19] Additionally, writer Scott McGaughey described it as "difficult", and was critical of its "lack of actual songs".^[2] Disco Volante included influences from contemporary classical music, avant-garde jazz, electronic music pioneer Pierre Henry, Edgar Allan Poe, John Zorn, Krzysztof Penderecki and European film music of the 1960s and 1970s, such as those composed by Ennio Morricone and Peter Thomas.^{[2][18][20][21]}

The album notes also contained an invitation to participate in an "unusual scam" – if $2 was sent to the band's address, participants would receive additional artwork, lyrics to the songs "Ma Meeshka Mow Skwoz" and "Chemical Marriage" and some stickers.^[9] The vinyl release of this album shipped with a 7" by the then-unknown Secret Chiefs 3.^[5] Mr. Bungle supported this record with tours through the United States, Europe and Australia during 1995 and 1996.^[10] In 1996, Theo Lengyel retired as Bungle's original sax player and keyboardist due to creative differences.^[9]

California (1999–2000)

	"Vanity Fair" (1999) Sample from Mr. Bungle's "Vanity Fair" from the album California. This clip illustrates one of Mr. Bungle's doo-wop–inspired songs.
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After a four-year break, the band's third album, California, was released on July 13, 1999. Ground and Sky reviews have described California as Mr. Bungle's most accessible^[22][23] and, while the genre shifts are still present,^[24] they are less frequent, with succinct song formats resulting in an album that The Associated Press called "surprisingly linear".^[25] AllMusic described the record as "their most concise album to date; and while the song structures are far from traditional, they're edging more in that direction, and that greatly helps the listener in making sense of the often random-sounding juxtapositions of musical genres".^[26] On the different style of this album, Mike Patton explained that to the band "the record is pop-y", before adding "but to some fucking No Doubt fan in Ohio, they're not going to swallow that."^[27] The album was generally well received, with music critic Robert Everett-Green stating, "The band's newest and greatest album does not reveal itself quickly, but once the bug bites, there is no cure. The best disc of the year, by a length."^[28]

Trevor Dunn in concert supporting California

The recording process for California was more complex than for the band's previous records. They chose to record the disc to analog tape rather than digitally^[29] and some songs required several 24-track machines, utilizing over 50 tracks.^[25] As a result, each song contains layers of original samples, keyboards, percussion and melodies.^[2] The album displays influences from Burt Bacharach and The Beach Boys, while blending lounge, pop, jazz, funk, thrash metal, Hawaiian, Middle Eastern, kecak and avant-garde music.^{[22][23][24][26][30]} The band toured North America, Australia and Europe to support the record.^[9]

Feud with Red Hot Chili Peppers

Singer Mike Patton was known to have had a bad relationship with the Red Hot Chili Peppers' frontman Anthony Kiedis, beginning when Kiedis saw Patton performing with Faith No More and accused him of imitating his style.^[5] California was scheduled to be released on June 8, 1999, but Warner Bros. Records pushed it back so as not to coincide with the Red Hot Chili Peppers similarly titled album, Californication, which was to be released on the same day. Following the album release date clash, Kiedis had Mr. Bungle removed from a series of summer festivals in Europe; as the headlining act at the festivals, The Red Hot Chili Peppers had final word on the bands that would appear.^[5][31] Patton stated, "Our agent was in the process of booking these festivals, and it was becoming apparent that we'd landed some pretty good ones—one in France, another one in Holland, some big-name festivals. Turns out someone's holding a grudge! We were booted off several bills, specifically because Anthony Kiedis did not want us on the bill. He threatened to pull the Chili Peppers if Mr. Bungle was on the bill."^[32] Trey Spruance added, "We were booked, months in advance, to do eleven festival dates in Europe. Come Summer, we get a call from the three biggest of those festivals, all of them the same day, saying that we can't play, because the headlining band retains the right to hire and fire whomever they wish. We found out it was the Red Hot Chili Peppers, so our manager called their manager to find out what the hell was going on, and their manager was very apologetic, and said, 'We're really sorry, we want you to know this doesn't reflect the management's position, or the band's for that matter, it's Anthony Kiedis who wants this.'"^[33]

As a result, Mr. Bungle parodied the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Pontiac, Michigan on Halloween of 1999. Patton introduced each Mr. Bungle band member with the name of one of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, before covering the songs "Give It Away", "Around the World", "Under the Bridge" and "Scar Tissue", with Patton deliberately using incorrect lyrics. Mr. Bungle also satirized many of the mannerisms of the band, mocking heroin injections, deceased guitarist Hillel Slovak and on-stage antics. Kiedis responded by having them removed from the 2000 Big Day Out festival in Australia and New Zealand,^[5][31] The feud continued with Dunn criticizing the Chili Peppers on his personal webpage, specifically their bass player Flea, stating, "Flea, in all seriousness, really isn't that good. I mean c'mon Red Hot Chili Peppers were vaguely interesting in the late 80s, but Christ they fucking suck, they suck".^[34]

Breakup

The band played their final concert on September 9, 2000 in Nottingham, England.^[35] Following the California tour the band again went on hiatus. In 2003, Patton alluded to the fact that the band would probably not record any more albums, stating in an interview, "I think it is over. The guys are spread all over the world and we don't talk to each other. I have not spoken to a couple of the guys since the last tour, years ago."^[31] While no official break-up announcement ever materialized, a 2004 Rolling Stone interview confirmed Mr. Bungle had disbanded with Patton revealing, “We could have probably squeezed out a couple more records but the collective personality of this group became so dysfunctional, this band was poisoned by one person's petty jealousy and insecurity, and it led us to a slow, unnatural death. And I'm at peace with that, because I know I tried all I could.”^[6] When asked about a possible reunion, Mike Patton said, "It could happen, but I won’t be singing. Some bridges have definitely been burned. It was a fun time and sometimes you just have to move on. I’ve got a lot on my plate now."^[36] Trevor Dunn added on his website, "Bungle is dead and I'm happy about it" and that "the members of Mr. Bungle will never work together as such again".^[34] Spruance, Heifetz, and McKinnon have been more optimistic regarding a possible reunion.^[37][38]

After the dissolution of Mr. Bungle, the members have gone on to numerous different projects. Mike Patton co-founded the record label Ipecac Recordings^[39] and is involved with several other ventures, including various works with composer John Zorn, and most notably the bands Fantômas,^[40] Tomahawk,^[41] and Peeping Tom.^[42] In 2004, he was called upon by Icelandic singer/songwriter Björk to provide vocal work on her album Medúlla. He acted in the motion picture Firecracker,^[43] narrated the film Bunraku, and did voice work in the movie I Am Legend, performing the infected creatures screams and howls.^[44] He also did zombie and other character voices in the game Left 4 Dead (as well as the growls for the anger core in the game Portal). Additionally, in 2009 and 2010 Patton embarked on a world tour with Faith No More after they reunited.^[11] Trey Spruance is involved with various bands, including Secret Chiefs 3 and Faxed Head. Trevor Dunn joined Patton in Fantômas and recently in Tomahawk as well as forming his own jazz band, Trevor Dunn's Trio Convulsant; he also occasionally played bass with Secret Chiefs 3.^[2][45] Danny Heifetz's projects included playing with Secret Chiefs 3 and in a country/punk band called Dieselhed;^[2] he now resides in Sydney, Australia, and plays in outfits such as The Exiles, The Tango Saloon and The Fantastic Terrific Munkle.^[46][47] Clinton McKinnon also played with Secret Chiefs 3; he now lives in Melbourne, Australia, and plays with The Ribbon Device^[48] and Umläut.^[49]

Trey Spruance joined former Mr. Bungle bandmate Mike Patton and the band Faith No More onstage for the first time to perform the King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime album in its entirety in Santiago in November 2011. Mike Patton recently sung on the Secret Chiefs 3 song "La Chanson de Jacky" in 2012 giving further speculation by fans on the chance of a reunion. Despite this, Trevor Dunn stated in a February 2013 interview with SF Weekly that there will be no Mr. Bungle reunion, saying, "I've heard the faintest murmurings about it, but honestly I don't think anyone is interested. It's nothing personal, either. We all feel like that band said what it needed to say. It would feel weird and awkward to play that music again. It would take a pant-load of money to make it happen, and honestly, I don't want to do it for that reason. I would prefer to let go of it, respectfully."^[50] When asked about Mr. Bungle reuniting in an interview published in February 2014, Patton responded by saying, "Who knows? It certainly doesn't seem like it's on the tip of anyone's lips, but I could have said the same thing - and in fact, I did say the same thing - about Faith No More, and that happened. And I think it happened for the better."^[51]

Style and influence

Allmusic's Greg Prato described Mr. Bungle's music as a “unique mix of the experimental, the abstract, and the absurd”,^[10] while Patrick Macdonald of The Seattle Times characterized their music as "harsh, grating, unstructured, blasting, squeaky, speedy, slow, eerie and strangely compelling".^[17] Distinctive features of the music were the utilization of numerous different instruments, unusual vocals, and the use of unpredictable song formats along with a number of different musical genres. The majority of the music and lyrics were written by Patton, Dunn, and Spruance, with McKinnon and Heifetz occasionally contributing.^[15][52][53] Greg Prato stated they "may be the most talented rock instrumentalists today, as they skip musical genres effortlessly, while Mike Patton illustrates why many consider him to be the best singer in rock".^[18] Not all have agreed, with one reviewer calling the band the "most ridiculously terrible piece of festering offal ever scraped off the floor of a slaughterhouse".^[54] Journalist Geoffrey Himes criticized the band by stating "the vocals are so deeply buried in the music that the words are virtually indecipherable" and described the music as "aural montages rather than songs, for short sections erupt and suddenly disappear, replaced by another passage with little connection to what preceded it".^[19]

Mr. Bungle frequently incorporated unconventional instruments into their music including tenor sax, jaw harp, cimbalom, xylophone, glockenspiel, clarinet, ocarina, piano, organ, bongos, and woodblocks.^[20] Journalist John Serba commented that the instrumentation "sounded kind of like drunken jazz punctuated with Italian accordions and the occasional Bavarian march, giant power chord, or feedback noise thrown in".^[54] Overlaying this was Mike Patton’s vocals, who often used death metal growls, crooning, rapping, screeching, gurgling, or whispering. The arrangement of their songs was also idiosyncratic, often lacking a structured song format and rotating through different genres ranging from slow melodies to thrash metal.^[25] New York Times journalist Jon Pareles described it as music that “leaps from tempo to tempo, key to key, style to style, all without warning”.^[55] Similarly critic Patrick Macdonald commented, "In the middle of hard-to-follow, indecipherable noise, a relatively normal, funky jazz organ solo will suddenly drift in".^[17] Some of the genres they utilized include funk,^[26] free jazz,^[26] surf rock,^[22] punk,^[55] heavy metal,^[26] klezmer,^[55] ska,^[2] kecak,^[30] avant-jazz,^[24] folk,^[56] noise rock,^[24] alternative metal,^[10][57] pop,^[26] doo-wop,^[56] funk metal,^[30] electronica,^[21] swing,^[26] space age pop and exotica,^[26] death metal,^[26][56] rockabilly,^[26][30] bossa nova,^[26] progressive rock,^[23] country and western,^[26] circus music^[26] and even video game and cartoon music.^[30]

Mr. Bungle's lyrical subject matter was eclectic, ranging from sexual wordplay and nonsense verse to complex analyses of topics such as scientific reductionism and Jewish mysticism.

Mr. Bungle’s style has influenced many alternative metal, funk metal and nu metal bands,^[57] most notably Korn, whose guitarists utilized what they have dubbed the "Mr. Bungle chord"^[6] (A flat fifth chord or "Tritone"). Brandon Boyd of Incubus,^[58] also cited early Mr. Bungle as an influence. Other bands Mr. Bungle have influenced include System of a Down,^[59] Mushroomhead^[60] and Slipknot.^[61]

Stage shows

Mike Patton in costume live in 1991

Mr. Bungle were known for their characteristically unconventional stage shows, where the band members would dress up in costumes and masks. In the early stages of their career they would often wear a uniform of mechanic's jumpsuits along with masks such as Madonna, Richard Nixon, Darth Vader, an executioner's hood or plastic clown or gimp masks.^[62] Bassist Trevor Dunn explained that initially the reason for the dressing up was to assure anonymity.^[63] The shows later in their career for the California tours, while still involving various members in costumes, were largely devoid of the masks and outfits due to the increased demands of the music.^[25][64] Mike Patton explained, "This stuff is much harder to play, I was trying to do piano lines and I'm completely fumbling them because the leather bondage mask is stretching my face so tight that my eyes weren't lining up with the eye holes."^[65] Often the theme was related to California, with palm tree props and the band members wearing beach party outfits, including Hawaiian shirts and khaki pants.^[25][66] Occasionally, the band would simply appear in black suits with white dress shirts or dress up in chef costumes, cowboy suits or as the Village People.^[54]

Throughout their career Mr. Bungle also performed numerous covers in their live shows, ranging from tiny snippets to whole songs. The covers were by a wide variety of artists and genres encompassing punk and metal songs by Dead Kennedys, Metallica and Slayer, movie scores by Ennio Morricone, Henry Mancini and John Williams, pop songs by Elton John and Jennifer Lopez, hip hop by Public Enemy and Ol' Dirty Bastard. They frequently covered Billy Squier's "The Stroke".^[5]

Discography

Demo albums

• The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny  (1986), Ladd-Frith Productions
• Bowel of Chiley  (1987), Playhouse Productions (1991), Rastacore Records (1997)
• Goddammit I Love America!  (1988), The Works
• OU818  (1989), "B" Productions (reference to OU812 by Van Halen)

The four early pre-Warner Bros. cassettes are not part of the band's official catalogue. However, one track, "Raping Your Mind", was released by Warner Bros. on a 1994 promo titled "Trademark of Quality". Bowel of Chiley, mistakenly titled Bowl of Chiley,^[8] was re-released as a bootleg cassette in 1991 by Playhouse Productions and as a CD in 1997 by Rastacore Records without the band's permission.^[5]

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

Personnel

Members

• Mike Patton – vocals, keyboards, samples (1985-2000)
• Trey Spruance – guitar, keyboards (1985-2000)
• Trevor Dunn – bass (1985-2000)
• Theo Lengyel – saxophone, keyboards (1985-1996)
• Jed Watts – drums (1985-1987)
• Luke Miller – horns (1987-1989)
• Hans Wagner – drums (1987-1989)
• Danny Heifetz – drums (1989-2000)
• Clinton "Bär" McKinnon – reeds (1989-2000)

Lineups

Martin Fosnaugh and Scott Fritz made brief appearances as jaw harpist and trumpet player on the first demo tape; Scott Fritz also played trumpet on Bowel of Chiley. Additional musicians often performed and recorded with them. Percussionist William Winant toured with Mr. Bungle in 1995 and 1996 and again in support of California, in 1999. Ches Smith filled in for William Winant at a few shows. The first leg of the California tour also included keyboardist Jeff Attridge, who was later replaced by James Rotundi. Ches and James toured with the band full-time for Sno-Core 2000 and the Australian tour in support of California.^[5]

Notes

External links

• Official website