Peeping Tom

"I'll be honest with you: it sounds good in the press release to say 'six years in the making' but it wasn't quite like that," Mike Patton laughs about his long-awaited Peeping Tom record. "I think I first starting writing some tunes for this project about five years ago, but I had no idea where they were going to go. And I probably started talking about it three or four years ago and that was premature! So if you really add up the time that I spent working on the damn thing, it was probably six months as opposed to six years...but I'm glad it's out man, I'm very glad it's out."

Anticipation for the beats-driven, pseudo-pop project amongst fans has been high, not least due to the 'leaked' demos that circulated some years back. For his part, Patton's still mystified as to how that happened. "I think that was around the time a few majors where interested in Peeping Tom. So all I had at that point were these very crude home made demos and I think maybe that's how they got on the net. I don't know...I didn't leak shit, so don't blame me," he chuckles.

The surreal cast of collaborators on the album - including Amon Tobin, Massive Attack and Norah Jones - worked mainly via swapping files, and Patton has a straight-forward way of retaining some control over what they were doing. "Easy - give 'em a list, tell 'em what to do," he says. "They do it and if they don't... ultimately you have the say. And really the trick, the delicate thing, is giving them instructions yet putting them on a bit of a leash, letting some slack out on the leash so they can do their own thing, and feel comfortable, and feel like they're a part of the vision... ultimately I wanted to work with them because I wanted them to do their thing."

Patton confirms there will be more Peeping Tom albums in the works, claiming to have "A record and a half, probably. One of the positive things about the long delay was that I kept writing music so I've amassed 30-something tunes probably. They're all in various states of...goodness," he laughs. Before that, his other projects have some releases slated. "Don't get too excited," he warns good-naturedly. "Tomahawk is going to be the first thing that's done, but we won't record it till the end of the year. Fantomas is very far off, I don't think we will even record that fucker till next year, and I haven't written anything yet...but you know, there'll definitely be another one and I know exactly what it's going to sound like. And Lovage is Dan's thing, so I'm not worrying about it."

Last year's album with the X-Ecutioners was further proof of Patton's interest in turntables and the musical opportunities they offer. He recently supplied a set for the BBC's 'Breezeblock' program, using the chance to showcase some of his Peeping Tom collaborators, but draws the line at any more regular forays. "No. No, no, no, no...not me, no. I have a really deep respect for DJs and what they do, and the craft behind it and I in no way want to pollute that. I'm not a DJ and I never will be."

About ten years ago, Faith No More recorded a version of Greenfields, an old Brothers Four song. "Wow! I forgot we did that. Did we release that?" asks Patton, sounding genuinely surprised. It almost sounds like a genesis of what he's doing now in Peeping Tom. "Could be..." he muses. "Fuck, as you can tell, I barely remember that we did that. That's a really great song. I don't think I had more control over that than anything else Faith No More ever did. I did the vocals, I probably helped with the arrangement..."

Mike Patton's immediate concern is Peeping Tom's debut performance on Conan O'Brien's show, barely a week away. Is the band ready to go? "Hell, no!" he laughs. "I've got a band in mind, we gotta rehearse and that kinda thing...but it's one song, how hard can it be? It's a good band...it's Automator, Rahzel, Dub Trio doing guitar, bass, drums; Rob Swift on turntables and Miho Hatori helping me on vocals, she used to play with Cibo Matto. If I could tour that I'd be a happy camper."

Wade Howland

Peeping Tom is out Mon 29 May through Ipecac Recordings.