Influences: Faith No More (Mike Patton)

The first heavy metal band I listened to was actually Metallica. My friend, Syed Izul (who is now my husband), we used to hang-out at Subang Parade in 1992, whilst waiting for my SPM results. He took me to the music shop once, and got the guy to put on Metallica's 'Master of Puppets'. I listened to it until the end on the headphones. As I said in my blog post 'Influences: Classical Music', I had classical background, so to me it wasn't something totally new. The way I heard it, Metallica was technical and the rifts were similar to parts in classical. So, it felt familiar to me.

Then another friend of mine, One Z introduced me to Faith No More. When I listened to Mike Patton, I was blown away by his voice. He just had the most versatile voice. He also had an incredible character. You can say, he was eccentric. In some ways, he reminded me of my husband. Mike Patton was just a really interesting guy and really smart. What I liked about Mike Patton was he did not believe in the 'rock and roll' lifestyle. He was just interested in making music.

Falling to Pieces (Official Music Video)

This song 'falling to pieces' was one of my favorite songs of all times; and it represented me during my late teens and early 20s. I was sort of 'falling to pieces' and having issues within myself. I never really had issues with other people, but I was having deep turbulence. People used to say I looked pretty calm, but deep inside was a whirlpool that could have sucked everything that came its way. No one could help me, I needed to sort myself out. Listening to Mike Patton and his 'craziness' made me feel I wasn't alone. 

And who would have thought this guy (up there) would be singing opera? He was acknowledged as probably the best vocals of all time. It is said that he voice range is six octaves, with half notes. That is amazing. I am no vocals expert but hey, that is impressive. 

I really like this next interview of Mike Patton. He talks about the vocals as another instrument, which is completely true (if you think about it). Also, I feel I can really relate to the things he said. Being 40+ I feel like I am now calm and that I have achieved everything I set to achieve in life, Alhamdulillah. I am happy where I am (within myself). 

I think when you're young, you are full of energy and there is this beast that just wants to burst out of you. Everything just felt so close, and within reach and you just want to grab everything. Rock and Metal music fulfils that kind of beasty animal that wants to destroy everything. However, as you get older, things gradually move further away and you start to see from a perspective. You start to understand more things, you don't feel like you need to get everything now. That beast is tamed and perhaps even wise, and insightful, like the dragon in Merlin. 

When you are young, you are constantly looking forwards. Everything is about what you want to achieve, 'I want, I want, I want' but as you get older, you start looking backwards and reflect on all the things you had, the things you achieved. When I look back, I feel grateful for everything I ever did in my life, the good and even the bad, because I learned a lot from past mistakes. Most of all, I am glad I did those things when I was young. It would have been tragic to have a midlife crisis and to start jumping up and down, head-banging at 40 years old. Anyway, this is Mike Patton, at 44 years old.