After enjoying the hit "Hey Man, Nice Shot" off Filter's debut, Short Bus, Patrick and his band have returned some four years later, minus original member Brian Liesegang, with a new disc that chronicles the tortured songwriter's bouts with fame, heartache, and introspection. "You grow up a lot in four years," says Patrick, who spent much of the time since Short Bus outfitting a professional studio. "I've turned into a completely different person in that time. That's why people are digging the record. This little band that once was a Nine Inch Nails side-project has turned into [this] artistic, creative thing, and it's because I've lived a great life--a life that's rich in experience."
While some of that experience is rooted in pain (Patrick says he'll probably never sing the album's "Miss Blue" live because it's too painful), some of it is downright wacky. The single "Take A Picture" relates the true-life tale of a kooky Patrick stripping on a plane and running around naked. "Kids have so many hang-ups these days and their lives seem so sh-tty," Patrick told LAUNCH executive editor Dave DiMartino recently. "But I would hope they could listen to my album and realize that life isn't that hard. Things are not so bad. You can get through it. That's what I've learned."
Video excerpts of the following conversation can be viewed in Issue No. 33 of LAUNCH on CD-ROM; an exclusive live performance of Filter's "Welcome To The Fold" can also be viewed on the same disc.
LAUNCH:
Why did you let so much time in between the release of Short Bus and Title Of Record?
RICHARD:
We had to build our own studio, and I spent my time doing stuff like calling the city to get the gas line put in. I'm one of these guys that grew up with consumer-level technology; the first record I did was on an eight-track in my mom's basement. When it came time to do Short Bus and do the record properly, the record company supported me in producing it myself. With the new record, I wanted to push it up a notch sonically. I needed a studio to produce. I always wanted Filter to be a band, but I put out the first record myself. Finally, the place was built and about 18 months ago we started working on the music. I feel like it's the perfect lineup and that this record sounds tremendously better than the first one. Now I have the studio, it'll be there for a long time. I can come right off the tour and go back into recording. Which is what I wanted to do on this record, but I had no studio.
LAUNCH:
In your opinion, what is the major difference or improvement from the debut record to the new record?
RICHARD:
I'm incredibly proud of the vocals. With the first record, I was really scared. I was in my mom's basement. I didn't think I could sing, and I was not confident regarding my vocals. Then I did 278 shows in support of Short Bus, and you get better with practice. When I started singing, my limits started to disappear. I wanted the record to be very emotional, lots of hills and valleys. I wanted it to take you on an emotional journey. I love to scream, but I wanted to take you to a level where it was really soft and intimate, and I had to force myself to sing softer and more choirboy-ish. The other development: The band got involved this time around. Geno was involved with making it a guitar record, whereas the other one was more drum and bass.
LAUNCH:
Originally, Filter was two guys--you and Brian Liesegang. That was my perception. How come you guys split up? Was it tough working together?
RICHARD:
It was. I didn't want to be Trent Reznor, I didn't want to be Bruce & the E Street Band. I wanted a band. But Brian wanted to be on TV a lot and that's where it fell apart on us, because he was more worried about whether he was in videos long enough. That was not my thing. I was the frontman by protest. It was easier to do interviews and have the perception of us being a team, because I really wanted it to work out. I really wanted us to write together but he didn't understand what I wanted us to do. It just didn't work.
LAUNCH:
I see a credit for "programming" on your CD. What exactly does a programmer do?
RICHARD:
With the first record it was, "Hey, sh-t, we don't have a drummer. What do we do? There's a drum machine, let's use that." That was an interesting thing sonically. It was like pulling the wool over people's eyes. But there were times on this record where our drummer Steve was in the studio trying to bring the live element of live drums into the recording process; but I realize there are times when I like machines. It's just sitting at a computer terminal, inserting notes and putting in loops. It's hard work. I consider Filter as a kitchen-sink band. We use everything we can to bring out the emotions in the song. With "Best Things In Life," I really wanted an electronic feel. But with the song "Take A Picture," there are no machines on that at all. It depends on the music. If I'm doing an earthy, dreamy song, I don't want to use machines, you know?
LAUNCH:
The lyrics on Title Of Record seem more deep and heartfelt. The songs are a major step up. Tell me about where you were coming from lyrically this time around.
RICHARD:
With the first record, I was kind of like the frontman under protest and I didn't know how to write down how I felt and apply it musically. The music was really hard and abrasive. I was more political in my thinking, more focused on subculture, LSD and the Hunter S. Thompson drug culture. With this record, I'm writing that the best things in life are not for free. You end up getting money, selling platinum, but you get there and it's not exactly what you thought it was going to be. It's a cliché. I would be talking to my mom and realize this is not what I wanted. And she said, "Write songs about that." I knew if I was going to touch people's hearts, I had to come from a place that's scary and emotionally vulnerable. Big things were happening in my life. After I got success, I fell in love with this girl. It was a giant rollercoaster and it was the first time I fell in love so deeply. I'm not saying I'm in their caliber, but my favorite authors write about what they know. Charles Bukowski, Hunter S. Thompson, Hemingway--they lived hard lives and they wrote about it. Every song has to come from deep within. I wrote this one song, it was great music, but no vocals. I was sitting in the control room and heard the worst news of my life--that I wasn't the only guy in this girl's life. I smashed my hand through this glass, got stitches. Before they took me to the hospital, I dumped out these lyrics for "I'm Not The Only One." It was really emotional. Some of the producers wanted to go back in and redo the vocals, but I said, "No, it would ruin the emotion of the song." I hope it was worth it. It was worth it for me. My life was going on the way it was going on, and the music was this side issue. But the music had to come from this life I'd created for myself. And that was the big jump in the lyrics. I wrote what I felt. The first record was juvenile. Four years is a long time. You grow up a lot in four years. I've turned into a completely different person in that time. That's why people are digging it. This little band that once was a Nine Inch Nails side-project has turned into [this] artistic, creative thing, and it's because I've lived a great life.
LAUNCH:
What song stands out for you on the disc?
RICHARD:
"Miss Blue" was the hardest song I had to sing. It's an emotional rollercoaster. By the end of the song, I was bawling my eyes out. It was embarrassing, but the band said that's what makes it great. I'm not gonna play that song live ever. I don't think it will translate. And I don't think it really translates on the record. I think it could have gone one step further.
LAUNCH:
I see that you've been doing a lot of soundtrack work lately. How do you decide which songs to give to the movies and which to keep for yourself?
RICHARD:
The soundtracks were easy, though. "Hey, here's a song by Crystal Method, go do it." And they sent me a tape and I put some vocals on it. One was done in an afternoon. The Matrix people were like, "Give us a song right now." But the release of that record was too close to the release of Title Of Record, and I needed to save the songs that were special to me. Soundtracks--there's this big thing, like "This Note's For You," but if music can be applied to something else, that's cool. It's multimedia. Videos are just another extension of creativity. I have a lot to do with my videos now. Soundtracks are just another way...it's fun to be on the same record with Foo Fighters and Marilyn [Manson]. It's a great excuse to be on those records and it's great to kick everybody's ass, too. A lot of these people just crap out a song for the money, and for us, we want to be the best song on the record.
LAUNCH:
You were sued recently by a girl who claimed to be hurt at one of your shows. Tell me about that experience. What was that like?
RICHARD:
It's gone. You make some money. You do a rock concert and people want what they think they deserve. A girl got hurt at a concert and she sued me for a billion dollars. It was an annoying tick. I had to go to jail for an hour. I had to be processed, etc. The prosecutor would not give up. I was the target. At the end of the court case, I paid her some money. It all came out of insurance. These greedy people get a combat boot in the moshpit, and say, "Let's sue the f--king band. It's the band's fault. Let's go to a high school and blow people's heads off. Hey, it's the band's fault." The artists always take the blame for other people's denial. She shouldn't have been at a rock concert in the moshpit if she didn't want to be hurt. She put herself in there. She got hurt, went to three different hospitals for an MRI to see if she had a fracture. She had a microscopic fracture on her left orbital, which moved me to felonious assault. She had me arrested, sued me for everything I had. The judge saw through it. I had to plead guilty to a lesser offense. The judge said, "You're on double secret probation. Go back to Chicago and make a good record because my kids love you," and smashed the gavel. I was like, "This is one crazy, f--ked-up world." Everyone just said, "Rich, this is the cost of doing business." The next time, I'm going to pass out written consents at every show. If you mosh, you have to protect yourself.
LAUNCH:
Why do you think the collaboration with Geno Lenardo is so much better right now than your partnership with Brian?
RICHARD:
Geno was the guy who said, "Hey Rich, I'm here to work. I have a song to play you." "Really? Put it in the tape deck. That's a good song, can I sing over it?" "I was hoping that's what you'd say." That was the spirit of Geno's songwriting. It wasn't this big drawn-out thing. Brian didn't understand that his music wasn't Filter music. It wasn't as good, I thought. I hate to be "the guy," but I'm the guy. It's my band and I have to make decisions. Someone has to make decisions. Geno curbed his songs toward writing Filter songs. They were well-crafted, well-written musical pieces and it was easy for me to work on them. That's what I wanted. Frank [the bass player] is afraid to play bass lines to me. But I know what's it like. I used to be in Nine Inch Nails. I used to be horrified to approach Trent with music and say, "What do you think?" Because it's so much of his band and he has such a perfectionist ownership over the band. I have no problem with that. I quit, I got signed, did my own thing, and that's how I solved my problem. If Geno brought me his music, and I didn't like it, he'd quit, write his own music, and get his own deal. But I'm not gonna turn good music down. I wrote eight really great songs on this record. I don't need the affirmation that I'm the only songwriter in the band. For me, it was just easy, like on "Skinny," I just rearranged it a little to fit my voice. It made him happy. Geno was a hired-gun guitar player on the last record, and I thought, "How can I work with a guy I don't really respect because he's just playing my guitar parts?" But he learned, and now I look forward to continuously working with him.
LAUNCH:
What is the song "Take A Picture" about?
RICHARD:
It's a lighthearted story. It's about the rock 'n' roll lifestyle cliché bullsh-t, rock star stuff. I just decided it was time to strip on a plane and I ran around naked for a while. Everyone thought it was hysterical--except for the people that weren't in the band. I just reached into my wallet and gave the flight attendant all the money I had. We're starting to work on the video and we're going to use parts of that just to tell the story. I had to write a song about that. People are hung-up. They take life way too seriously. I wasn't hurting anyone. I was just running around naked on a plane. People should lose their inhibitions once in a while.
LAUNCH:
What kind of music would you say you're trying to make?
RICHARD:
We're trying to do Filter music. If one song is more electronic than another, it just happened, it was musically vital. A songwriter is supposed to use different instruments. We have cellos, violins, computer, world beat, and harmonica. We're talented enough, we can make anything happen. Crystal Method can only do electronic music. That limit will hurt them. Can Limp Bizkit do a really beautiful song that will take you to another place? I don't know. The heavy-handed hip-hop vibe is fine. For me, I have to do all different kinds of music. I'm not going to be afraid to cross boundaries and be a hybrid, be eclectic. Because that's what Led Zeppelin did--jazz, blues, rock. They didn't care, and ultimately it became very original. Look at U2--one minute they're this original band, and then all of a sudden they're genre-hopping, changing their musical sounds like underwear. You're not Neil Young. You're U2. Get back to what you do well. Don't limit yourself.
LAUNCH:
Who is the typical Filter fan?
RICHARD:
They're usually young, usually male. Some are female. It's a vague answer. I just hope that they're music fans and they're in it for the music. I hope they're not going, "Wow, he's wearing leather pants today." I hope it's about the fact that I can touch their hearts. The only reason I'm in music is because I love it when I get mail and kids tell me it motivated them. I want to touch people's hearts. The rock stardom thing is not that appealing to me. I was hanging out with Trent and he can't walk down the street. I at least have some anonymity. I just want to play music, be a singer. My fans are hopefully kids who did what I did, which was sit in the basement all through my teens and listen to records.
LAUNCH:
Tell me about some bands you like.
RICHARD:
Simon Says is one band I like. I like Chevelle. There's an incredible song I heard last night and I tried to find out who it was. It was really super-heavy. They used guitars. Speed metal and drum 'n' bass and this guy just singing over it. It was really, really cool. I listen to everything. Led Zeppelin, earlier U2, Stone Temple Pilots, Weezer. I love music. When I was around 25, Nirvana was so huge I just wouldn't listen to them, and finally I checked them out. Any band that got on MTV or made it, I figured there was a reason they were doing well so I should buy their records. I just buy everything I can. I listen to the Deftones, Chris Isaak, Patsy Cline, the Beatles. I just discovered the Beatles in the last couple years. My family is a weird family. There are just certain things you do as a Patrick. You don't drink Pepsi, you drink Coke. You don't use Miracle Whip, you use real mayonnaise. You don't listen to the Beatles, you listen to the Stones or the Who. You don't listen to the Sex Pistols, you listen to the Clash. So I just went through my whole life going, "I don't really listen to the Beatles. Who are the Beatles, who is John Lennon, who is Paul McCartney?" And I went out and bought all their CD's. D'Arcy [formerly of Smashing Pumpkins] is a friend of mine and she was looking through my CDs and she said, "Where are the Beatles? You have no Beatles. Listen to me, you're a songwriter, you have to know this, don't piss off the Beatle gods." She went out and bought me every Beatles record. I listened to the White Album and that totally helped my songwriting, because those guys are unbelievable.
LAUNCH:
Which song on the new record makes you really proud?
RICHARD:
"Take A Picture" was one of those tracks. I really worked hard on this record and put in a lot of stuff that I knew should have been there. I'm pretty proud of the whole thing. From the first song to the last song, I think it takes you to a different level. The thing that's kind of interesting is this note to the author. It's the secret track. 13 minutes of silence and then a weird screaming/ shouting/ spoken-word thing. There's a shout-out to Rob Zombie on there. Hey, thanks for being a cool guy, Rob.
LAUNCH:
Have you ever read a description of your band that made sense to you?
RICHARD:
There was a New York Times review of our show. Filter is not grunge, we're not industrial, metal, rock, or alternative. Filter is not just one thing, it's all of this, and that's what I try to do. People are like, "You're an industrial band," which I hate. If I'm an industrial band, it's good that I'm bringing something new to that tired genre. Industrial is just some guy screaming over a drum machine and a synthesizer. And it was done beautifully by Skinny Puppy, Nitzer Ebb. My music is rock/ alternative. Alternative rock. It's got guitar. It's left of center from the Backstreet Boys and this formulaic garbage that people eat up like idiots. It's so safe and packaged and cute. Blech! I want danger, music that's scary and pisses off your parents.
LAUNCH:
What do you think about artists like Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys?
RICHARD:
I have no problem with Britney Spears, but her music is aaaasssss.
LAUNCH:
What's the message you hope the fans take from Filter's music?
RICHARD:
To know that no matter what, nothing could be that bad. People are so frickin' hung up on sh-t that's so buried. People are asking me what I'm going to do on the Family Values tour. I'm going to blow sh-t up, turn my amp up as loud as I can. I'm going to have a blast, have a fun time. And I want the audience to have fun. I take the music so seriously, but I want people to know that I want to have a great time. When people are walking away from the concert, I want them to say, "They took me out of my life and gave me a great party." Kids' lives are so hellish and they have so many hang-ups. And it doesn't have to be like that. It doesn't have to be so sad. Hey, relax, get a beer. Celebrate. Celebrate nothing. Who cares? Sit on the couch, take it easy. Nothing can be that bad. Life isn't that hard. You can get through it. That's all I want to do. Just be happy. Have a good time. Not be hung up by all the things that are so obvious.
