YOUR QUESTION

03/22/2020 Sophia

Hi Trevor,
Just wondering if you’re ever going to answer any questions anymore. How did you feel about those Mr. Bungle shows? What have you been doing since then? And since we’re in the middle of a coronavirus, how are you holding up? Take care as always.

MY ANSWER

I looks as if I am.

Super stoked on those shows. Really fun music to play from the first note of rehearsal. Dave and Scott brought the roots, and of course, that’s why we hired ‘em. Also really great to see such a response. Despite all the complaining on line it seems that our audience knows to expect nothing.

I’m holding up alright. Trying to keep busy practicing bass, reading, cooking, exercising and soon to dig into writing. I do very well with isolation as I mentioned on my recent ‘rumors’ page. Trying to keep my mind as well as my body from withering away. Communicating with friends as well.

YOUR QUESTION

03/24/2020 Bryan White

What's your opinion of the band...the swans?

MY ANSWER

Love ‘em. I saw one of their first “comeback” shows at the Brooklyn Masonic Theater in 2010 (?). One of the loudest and best sounding shows I’ve ever seen. They probably would have been too dark for me in my youth, and even today some of those records push my emotional tolerance, but I still dig it.

YOUR QUESTION

03/25/2020 Gloria Stone

Was the jumpsuits and masks bit from the early days inspired by Devo?

MY ANSWER

The masks started out from having Halloween masks lying around in November right before our very first gig and being somewhat sardonic about the metal ethos and machismo. KISS was a personal influence for me. Then there were the days when The Deli Creeps (feat. Buckethead) opened for us in SF. The sheer dedication Buckethead had to staying in character and freaking everyone out was enough to push us further. Devo were certainly influential but I think Halloween and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer were also.

YOUR QUESTION

04/08/2020 Nick

Hey Trevor, you had a section on this site a few years ago where you listed all your gear through the years. Mind reposting please?
Thanks / Stay Well

MY ANSWER

Hm, yeah…I dunno. I deleted all those photos and frankly decided I didn’t need to give away any more info about my arsenal than necessary. Happy to answer any questions about gear, of course. Maybe one of these days I’ll get inspired to redo it.

YOUR QUESTION

04/12/2020 Alan Li

I've heard it speculated that the Madness song "House of Fun" was an influence on Carousel. Is there any truth to that?

MY ANSWER

You’d have to ask Trey to confirm that since he wrote Carousel. It’s quite possible as we paying attention to British ska bands back in the day: The Selecter, Bad Manners, The Specials, etc…. Madness was definitely on our radar.

YOUR QUESTION

04/17/2020 JoA

terrible disaster has occurred rendering the whole of the United States uninhabitable, and you are forced to live somewhere else on a permanent basis. Where would you choose and why? Just curious....

MY ANSWER

Many answers to this. Sardinia, Oaxaca, Cloverdale—places I’ve been and love. Or maybe somewhere in Indonesia where I’ve never been. Either way, close to water, where fruit and fish are abundant.

YOUR QUESTION

04/21/2020 Richy

I was wondering what your favorite metal albums are? Also, what was it like being a metalhead when Reign in Blood dropped?

MY ANSWER

That’s a big question…..Reign In Blood, Bonded By Blood, Damaged: Token Remedies Research, Soilent Green: Sewn Mouth Secrets, Sleep: Jerusalem, Iron Maiden: Piece of Mind, Raven: All For One, Mercyful Fate: Melissa, to name just a few of the late 20th century….

Hard to describe what it was like in ‘86 when RIB dropped. We were anticipating it. Master of Puppets had dropped a few months earlier and the hairs on our necks were already raised. I think I was dumbfounded and couldn’t take it out of the cassette player for months.

YOUR QUESTION:

09/18/2019 10:39:54 Chiara Bazzani

Again me. Sorry. I didn't tease you when I met you in Ferrara, but I'm doing it here, I'm a bit aware of that. But here you can skip my mail and avoid answering, at least..
I recently received your Nocturnes. I've listened to the album 5 or 6 times. It takes time for me to listen to music, especially when it's not banal.
I read you had in mind Chopin's Nocturnes, when you wrote yours, but I don't know why I think more about Schumann, especially the Kinderszenen...but that's just a personal feeling I have. What I'd like to ask you is if your familiar with Morton Feldman, in particular his later works. I really can't think about him listening to Tertiam Vocem, which I really like very much. Feldam used to broaden time to very long composition, that's not the case, but there's an attention to quiet sounds, and a certain taste for the use of few notes, which reminds me Feldman. Am I too far from that?
I really like your album. I hope to see you in Italy with these composition. Thank you. (Come to Modena!!)

MY ANSWER:

Thanks for the comments and for listening! I wasn’t familiar with the Kinderszenen so I am listening to them now as I type and that is certainly the vibe. I’ve been somewhat obsessed with Chopin’s Nocturnes for some time but I will give Schumann a chance. I also love Morton Feldman. His sense of time and micro-variation are excruciating in various ways. So, you are not far off at all. I wouldn’t necessarily say Feldman has been a direct influence but he’s in there for sure. That said, there is one small passage in Tertiam Vocem that IS directly Feldman in my eyes. So to you: good ears!

YOUR QUESTION:

09/16/2019 2:52:44v Dr Rozza

Hey,
Haven't seen you play in the U.K since 2008 on the All Tomorrow's Party at Minehead with Fantomas and some other bands you were in. Just wondering if you had any tips on sight reading bass charts, outlining guitar chords and counter point melody, please?
Oh..are you coming to the UK any time soon?

MY ANSWER:

I played in London and Cheltanham just last year, I believe, with Dan Weiss’ Starebaby. Sorry to have missed you, but no immediate plans to return. Hopefully something will come up.
Tips for sight-reading: make sure your reading in general is up to par. Practice reading. If you have to sight-read something, first make an over-view: mark the repeats, understand the form, take a second to pick out the more difficult rhythms and use a pencil to mark downbeats, subdivisions, etc. For outlining chords learn your arpeggios (including alt chords or whatever weirdness you’re into) in all inversions. Also, practice creating linear, melodic walking bass lines over a tune with many chords (such as a jazz standard). The staples of counterpoint are parallel, oblique and contrary motion. If you want to get in to fugues and the like I’d check out books by Hindemith or Schoenberg, for example.

YOUR QUESTION:

09/15/2019 15:35:27 Nathan Mole

Hi Trevor,
Where do you see the direction of contemporary music heading, and do you feel that the work you do has a place along side it?
Whilst I’m at it, I may as well milk the opportunity. I’m 19, and I’ve followed your music for the past few years, and trying to play along to your stuff has greatly improved my playing. From Mr Bungle’s debut, to John Zorn’s O’o.
I haven’t had a chance to catch you in person yet, but when you’re next in sunny ol’ England I’ll certainly save up my coppers and do so.
Thanks. Keep up the great work! :)

MY ANSWER:

Even at the age of 50 I feel as though I’m approaching the “hand off the torch” stage of my career. Maybe that’s self-disparaging but I feel that contemporary music continues to blossom in unexpected ways and I’m talking not only about concert hall music but also electronic music. I recently had the opportunity to see a contemporary concert at the Vienna Konzurthause featuring a bunch of young composers I’d never heard of. The concert was two and a half hours long and I never lost interest. The ideas were fresh and the boundaries were pushed. The music itself will continue to grow as I will constantly push myself to do as well. The real question is will people listen? I suppose if the composers/artists are growing then we can assume the minds of contemporary listeners are also growing and audiences are more open minded. That said, most classical venues still present an over-abundance of Mozart and Vivaldi for my taste.
I’m hoping my work will have a place along side the contemporaries I respect. As a predominantly “rock” and “jazz” musician my concert work has taken a back seat, so I suppose that’s where my focus will be headed once I’m too old to get up on stage myself.

YOUR QUESTION:

09/10/2019 20:53:18TR (Again)

Dear Dunn,
What are your views on Tomahawk? You’re a part of the band but not originally. I’ve only listened to the first two albums with Rutmanis, and I owe them with helping me get into Bungle’s first two albums. Rut, for what it’s worth, is my favorite of the Melvins bassists. Never thought Bungle would play in my lifetime and yet I’m going to Brooklyn Steel for a show—I’ll be 18 then. Word.

MY ANSWER:

I always thought Tomahawk was Patton’s best collaborative project. I liked them much more than FNM and that is due to the brilliant writing of Denison and the way that he and Patton provided a counterpoint for each other. Rutmanis is an amazing bass player, totally unique

YOUR QUESTION:

09/10/2019 18:57:35 Emily Bhi

Trevor,
what are your thoughts on the late, great Jeff Buckley?

MY ANSWER:

What can I say? Incredible voice; incredible musician. Who can argue?

YOUR QUESTION:

09/09/2019 19:52:09 Tarnation

Considering how you've been dealing with interactions with needy and thirsty fans for ages, here's a question: how did YOU deal with interacting with artists of whom you were a fan? Was it always easy for you to maintain a cool facade (at least to me, you exhude coolness and "I don't have time for anybody's shit") or have you ever found yourself "geeking out", so to speak? Do those interactions bring you as much retrospective embarrassment as I feel even by writing this to you? It's admittedly a low stakes engagement (you enjoy somebody's work, you meet said person by chance, it either goes well or doesn't), but I'm curious as to how you've coped with that sort of thing, seeing as you've now got Dave Lombardo in your band and have been playing with him for a while.

MY ANSWER:

I had very few interactions as a fan as a young person. I high-fived John Doe from the front row of an X show when I was 13. I got Hetfield’s and Hammett’s autographs when I was 16 (they seemed bothered and were condescending). Once my high school friend started getting famous in front of my eyes the world of “celebrity” got smaller to me. I began to realize that these were human beings with as many faults and insecurities as anyone else.
In terms of being put in a working situation with people I was a priori a fan of, such as Buzz and Dave, one hides one’s giddiness in order to be professional. I had this same attitude when auditioning one-on-one with Tom Waits as well. After a certain amount of time, and whilst retaining one’s own self-respect, one can set aside the persona one has observed and relate on a human level to another human. I’ve also felt that giddiness with people who aren’t famous but still command my respect. It’s true that I don’t have time for anybody’s shit, and neither do you.

YOUR QUESTION:

09/09/2019 18:01:42 Danny O'Sodom

I want to sing along to the Raging Wrath lyrics next year at the show, but all I know is the bridge+chorus to Anarchy Up Your Anus thanks to the MB twitter page. How can I find out what the lyrics are without buying a death metal to English babel fish appliance? Cheerio

MY ANSWER:

Ha! Good point. We are currently sifting through them ourselves trying to decipher our 33 year old musings. Perhaps we will post them on Twitter at some point, although I would image some might not go over so well in this PC climate.

YOUR QUESTION:

09/09/2019 15:55:29 Roy Disney

Do Bungle fans worldwide have any chance of listening to the fabled Turd tape? Is it really a band made up of you on vocals and Patton on instruments? Or was that just Trey bullshitting an interviewer? It sounds too good to be true.

MY ANSWER:

The first rule of TURD is that if you hate TURD, you ARE TURD. To answer your question: No chance.

YOUR QUESTION:

09/09/2019 12:34:27 Elbow Haggis

A quote from a local college radio station host, that did a semester-long show based on Bungle & similar bands: "Mike Patton could fart on a snare drum, and I'd pay good money to go see it."
Thoughts? Feelings?

MY ANSWER:

That is idiotic for a couple reasons. The first question that comes to mind is ‘why?’ I can’t image that would be a good thing to see, not to mention have any merit. Also, it’s been done so it wouldn’t be original either.
More importantly, is this host implying that the flatulence of said artist holds the same merit as his music? Doesn’t that belittle the music? I wonder how this guy got the position of a radio host. Also, if this person has “good money” to spend on something that would last a matter of seconds, why aren’t they spending it on something with some actual value? Honestly, people who put anyone up on a pedestal loose my respect immediately. I wouldn’t want to receive a compliment nor a payment from anyone who would just as well get the same out of bodily functions as they would some thoughtful invention.

YOUR QUESTION:

09/09/2019 12:32:35 tURD gURGLER

Have your & Charlie Hunter's paths ever crossed? Sure, he has little use for a stinking bass player, but that would certainly be interesting & I wouldn't put anything past either of you. Seems like your circles had to overlap in San Francisco & other California locals - if not in NYC - It'd be cool to see what might come of him hooking up w/ Zorn, too.
Met him? Seen him play? Thoughts?

MY ANSWER:

For sure, I’ve known Charlie since the ‘90 in what was a vibrant music scene in San Francisco. We’ve never played together, for obvious reasons, but he does something that no one else does — it’s almost impossible to understand unless you see it live. We venture in different circles but I certainly appreciate what he does.

YOUR QUESTION:

09/07/2019 7:00:44 madamimadamk

Hey there,
What current projects/records from the rest of Bungle's members have impressed you lately? And do you have any knowledge if they follow your latest stuff or express opinions? Do you guys still discuss music?

MY ANSWER:

It’s not easy to keep up with the output of one’s colleagues, especially if you are so familiar with their methods and choices that it’s impossible to be objective—sometimes listening to their music, or that of anyone else I work with feels like either I’m on stage, in the studio or somehow working, or even listening to myself. I think the last thing I paid attention to was a SC3 release and I’m always super impressed with Trey’s production skills and arrangement choices.
I have no idea what of my stuff they follow but I’m guessing they might have a similar stance. Unfortunately we haven’t spent enough time together in recent years to share and discuss music like we used to. These days it’s more likely to be offensive memes.

YOUR QUESTION:

09/06/2019 9:35:30 Lulu

Dear Trevor
Why did you decided to answer questions again?
What are some of your own questions that you find yourself pondering over?

MY ANSWER:

Seems like a good way to keep people coming back to the site and not forgetting it exists. It’s also enjoyable for me to connect to my audience. It’s human nature to wonder what people think I suppose. Also, I was getting a lot of feedback as to the popularity of it on my previous site.

I ponder over how I shall spend my time and make the most of a limited lifespan. I ponder over how to work out of passion while surviving in the real world. I ponder over what is the best city to live in and how to balance nature with urban culture, both of which I thrive on. I ponder on why people treat each other badly when we essentially want the same things. I wonder if I should drink or not. I wonder if I’m too jaded and/or too lazy…..

YOUR QUESTION:

09/06/2019 7:32:32 Dad of many.

Hey Trevor,
Thanks for all of the music you have created, please know it has brought much joy to me over the years, and I remain an enthusiastic supporter of your works whenever possible. As a parent, two of my boys are currently enjoying the process of learning to play music, one is expressing interest in bass. What should I look for in terms of good starter basses for a kid?

BTW playing "My ass is on fire" to a 10 year old probably not in the textbook of recommended listening for most, at least if one chooses content using a 'commonsense media' type approach, but I've never seen the spark of joyful mischief ignited in a kid more quickly than hearing: "Don't you fucken look at me!" over and over followed by heavy guitar, drums and bass. Your work lives and continues to inspire, so thanks for that!

MY ANSWER:

Thanks so much for these kind words and I’m very happy to hear that my weirdness is getting handed down to the next generation. I remember my first bass lesson when my teacher called me a “bad ass”. I thought it was the coolest thing I’d ever heard and it filled me with inspiration. Also, if I had understood half the Kiss, Cheap Trick or Blondie lyrics I was being fed as a teenager it would have only encouraged me further.

You might want to look into a medium scale bass. New Mustangs aren’t insanely expensive and for a smaller person the fit might be better. That said, it doesn’t really matter. I started on something called a Hondo II and played that for a good 5 years before getting something that had a nice tone. All you really need is a fingerboard and some strings.