1993.MM.DD - Excerpts from various interviews with members of Faith No More

NME, January 23, 1993:
 
[...]
 
Chuck was FNM's old singer. In his days, the band were closely linked to rap/thrash music. Then, he lost control, was replaced by Patton and the band released the more mainstream 'The Real Thing' LP. Hell immediately beckoned in the form of a Guns N' Roses support slot and - hey! - suddenly they were Rock. They did, however, escape hell with their souls intact.
 
"I hate rock music. Bill [Gould] spits. "I've always hated it. Like Led Zeppelin and stuff like that. I mean, my dad used to listen to that shit. It's the least interesting thing in the world, the excess and all that stuff, it's so boring. The world has gone through its period of exploration in that area. A stadium gig is fun to do once in a while, but that Guns N' Roses thing really got me down because it's as rock as it gets. It's the mentality I don't understand. I think it's disgusting. It's not natural, it's all role-playing. Complete bullshit and I hate it when our band reflects things like that.
 
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http://www.faithnomorefollowers.com/2016/01/faith-no-more-23011993-nme.html
 
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Kerrang, February 20, 1993:
 
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ONE THING FNM haven't outgrown is a good moan. Whilst 'Epic' was breaking them last tour, they were whining about being successful but not having money yet. This time, there was the infamous Axl bashing. If y'hate it that much, then surely you leave?
 
"It wasn't that bad on the road for the first couple of months," says Gould, "but after four months, there were lots of little things..."
 
Was there any discomfort at being associated with that 'Rock circus'?
 
Gould: "It's like this. For the past 10 years, we've been playing in this band as professionals. We get offered this huge stadium tour, and we figure that this is where it all leads to, the highest point. "But to be on that level, you have to WANT to be on that level. Touring at the highest level is a disappointment, because you see a tot of unreal things, a lot of bullshit. And whether it's conscious or subconscious, you wonder to yourself, 'Is this where I'm headed? Is this where it all leads to? To this bullshit?"
 
"The conditioning of this industry is that that's where you go - you head for that level, as opposed to doing something that you're happy with. If you headline stadiums, you've gotta WANT to do that. It's great if you're into it, but we learnt that we aren't people who could do something like that..."
 
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Was there a feeling of embarrassment that, to some guy in Iowa, for example, selling two million albums puts you in the same basket as bands like Great White?
 
Roddy Bottum: "Yeah. Suddenly, you're not underground - you're this exposed band. More than embarrassment and discomfort, I think it just took some personal adjustments."
 
ADJUSTMENTS WHICH still haven't quite kicked in. Moaning on 'The Real Thing' tour, putting up with the rigours of fame (sob) now whingeing about playing to 40,000 people a night...
Bottum: "We weren't into that whole scene, it wasn't what we were about - but you're right, we were stupid to moan, we should've just split. It would've been the gentlemanly thing to do."
 
Are the doors closing on Goofyville?
 
Bottum: "Pretty much. It's stupid to complain about who we hate all the time to the press, plus I'm pretty bored with it. But when you're asked that 10 millionth time about Axl Rose, you just think, 'Who cares?' "
 
Then for him to slap your wrists personally...
 
Bottum: "That was humiliating, that whole thing. I don't know the guy that well, but he seemed genuinely hurt, just this honest guy, saying, 'Hey, there's only two bands I really like, and I took one of them out with me - and then you bad-mouth me in the press'. They did us a huge favour, and then for us to turn around and say that stuff in the press was pretty shitty..."
 
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Kerrang, May 22, 1993:
 
Roddy Bottum is a heavy metal star. He is also gay. In a field of music where homosexuality is at best ignored, and at worst insulted, FAITH NO MORE's keyboard man is the first gay Metal star to speak candidly about his sexuality. A Gay Rock shocker, or the first of many to open the closet? US writer LANCE LOUD (seriously!) is in the pink...
 
Glad To Be Gay
 
[...]
 
HOW DID touring with Guns N' Roses go for you?
 
"Knowing their beliefs and the sexist, racist, homophobic things they've said in the press, the fact that they were touring with us - a band with someone gay in it kind of tickled me. But talk about crass sexism... the actual experience was disgusting. "On the road. the band would send their video crew out to roam around in the audience during intermissions. They'd comer pretty girls in the audience, and everyone would scream and yell at her until she lifted up her blouse and showed her tits."
 
And if she refused?
 
"The whole audience would boo her. It was awful. And it happened every night. And at each stop on the tour, before Guns N' Roses would come to a town, they would have their crew arrive a day early and find the local club, where they'd give strippers backstage passes. Every night, the whole scenario was like millions of stripper chicks just hanging out waiting to do one of the band, or a roadie or whoever.
 
"It was so sleazy. We left every night right after we played. The only time I ever talked to Axl was the night our band had to stay after Guns N' Roses' set to get a tongue-lashing from him."
 
What about?
 
"Halfway through the tour, we realised it wasn't the kind of scene we wanted to be involved in. We'd been talking shit in the press about Axl, and he got wind of it.
 
"So one night, we had to stick around and have a meeting with him after the concert. He was really upset and talked to us for an hour.
 
"At the end of it, one of his people came into Axl's trailer and said, 'Axl, come on, I want to show you something'. So Axl gets up, all serious, and says to us, 'Come on' - we'd just been raked over the coals and felt obliged to play along - so we all had to follow him.
 
"We went into this other trailer. It was filled with guys but dead silent, no one's saying a thing. Everyone was looking at something going on in the back. We're following Axl like idiots, but as we all get closer to the back we see what everyone's looking at - lying on a bench are these two really out-of-it women, stark naked. One was eating the other out, but it was anything but sexy. The girl who was being eaten out... she looked like she was dead - just lying there.
 
"It was so creepy. And absolutely silent. All you could hear was the whirr of the video camera. Axl walked right up in front and we freaked out. Mike (Patton) started yelling, 'Oh my God! I cannot believe you people would do this!' Everyone just shushed us, and we all just left immediately."
 
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http://www.faithnomorefollowers.com/2016/05/roddy-bottum-220593-kerrang.html