Richard Patrick of Filter Talks Louder Than Life, Collaborations, and Rock Family Reunions

0:04 Hey, you're listening to The Adventure of Pumlin on W4CY. For you. This is the Pipe Man here on the Adventures of Pipe Man W4CY radio, and I'm here with. Richard Patrick from Filter. Yes. Here at Louder Than Life. Louder Than Life. I did rename the festival, though. Oh, you did? Yeah, it's now called Hotter Than Life. Oh, that's very true. It's very. Hot out. Mad respect for you to perform in this heat. You know, once the adrenaline hits you and the monsters...

0:48 Or the Red Bulls or whatever we're having that day. Yeah, right. Once it hits you and you're on stage, somehow you get this weird brand new energy. It's like an out-of-body experience, right? Yeah, it's really cool. And you don't give yourself permission to feel it until you get off stage. Yeah, and then when we walk off stage, it's like, oh my God, where's the water at? Right, right. Where's the ice cubes? So are there any Wimmer festivals you haven't played yet? I don't know. I believe we played most of them, for sure. There you go. Danny's amazing. We're just honored to be here. We love the Wimmer Festivals, for sure. And that's what I love to hear, too. What is it that Wimmer does for you guys as an artist that you don't get at any other festival?

1:34 Oh, man. He does so much. He gives us amazing artists backstage areas. And the security is always really good. And he puts us with, like, our favorite band. I don't know if he does it, but it's like... I'm, like, the biggest ministry fan on the planet. And, like, my dressing room is right next to Al's. Wow. I had to be on purpose. Yeah. I mean, you know, I think that they know who we hang with. It's like they... They're like Google. They have ears in our phone. I know, right? They have ears everywhere. Well, that just makes the experience better. That's where he's smart, I think. It's like if.

2:17 You're hanging out with your friends, you're more comfortable. Yeah, totally. Do a better show. We enjoy it more. It just goes all the way down the line. I mean, I think I've been doing this festival, all of this, since the very beginning. And he's just brilliant because of how he treats the artists. He's amazing with us. We are blessed to be on his festivals, and we look forward to it every year. And we're just glad we're invited and happy to be here. It's just so awesome. I mean, how many freaking amazing bands are there? Like Tool, you know, Iron Maiden, Limp Bizkit, Ministry was just on. And, you know, just everybody's here. It's like, it's really cool.

3:00 Yeah, it's like a family reunion, right? Yeah, it's like family reunion. Yeah, especially because Adam Jones... Worked on the movie Terminator 2 with my brother Robert in it. So those two go back to 1991. Wow. Yeah. You know what blows my mind, too? Danny Elfman being louder than life. I saw Oingo Boingo in Westlake High Gymnasium in ninth grade doing an assembly. Wow. Wow. Right. Wow. That's crazy to me. It's like an amazing career he's had. Just it was wild. It's windy out. And I got to tell Danny, all of the sheet music is blowing all over the stage right now because the sheet music was in the stands, the music stands.

3:48 So I got to alert him that his sheet music's all over the place. Right. Because the violin players, you know, the string players are all going to be needing those in a few hours. But he is brilliant. Oh, yeah, yeah. He came from a punk rock band that turned into the biggest composer ever. Yeah, yeah. He's huge. Yeah, he's one of the greats. So, yeah, totally amazing. And Robin Fink from Nine Inch Nails is playing guitar, I believe, tonight. Oh, really? Yeah, I think so. That's pretty cool. And so we have some blood there, some blood relations there, because that was my first band I was in was Nine Inch Nails. Yes, exactly. Back in the day. So it's a big family reunion out here.

4:30 Totally, totally. And out of all the festivals, of the Wimmer festivals, what do you like specifically about Louder Than Life? I love that it's in the heartland of Kentucky. Kentucky is such a beautiful state. I don't partake, but it's famous for the whiskey that they make. It's just really great. Louder than life. I grew up in Ohio, so I'm kind of... The Midwest is kind of a part of me. Right. And yeah, he's got all the amazing festivals all over.

5:10 Of course, Aftershock's a big deal for me because it's in California where I live now. Right. So I'm looking forward to Aftershock as well. I love that festival. Yeah. And the Media Artist Lounge is, like, a cool vibe there, too. It's, like, intimate, grass, trees. Yeah. Like, really cool. And that's cool what's cool about the Wimmer Festivals. They all have a different, like, vibe for them, depending on where they're located. Where you are in the country. Yeah. Like, after shock, you feel like you're in California at that festival, you know? Yeah. And so it's cool. Yeah. You get to get a short commute to go.

5:51 Yeah, it's up in Sacramento. So I just take a small plane and get our, you know, I take a small flight all the way up to our state's capital. And yeah, it's amazing. I mean, you know, and that'll be another one, another great show. I think Stone Temple Pilots is playing. Nice. And I just jumped on stage with them to do Hey Man, Nice Shot in Phoenix. Nice. They just were like, Richie, you're playing tonight. I'm like, okay, here we go. See, I love hearing stories like that. How's it feel when they do that to you? Amazing. I mean, it's like I'm honored. You know what I mean? They're like, Richie, you're singing tonight. I'm like, okie doke. Here we go.

6:31 Exactly. It's kind of like me when somebody's like. And we do a little quick rehearsal backstage. Oh, see, there you go. And Robert and I go over the bass line, and Dean tells me what he wants to do on the song. And I'm like, you're Dean DeLeo. You do whatever you want, bro. Right. You know? See, that's what I love about you. You just love the passion of the music and the business. Not the business side, but the community side of the business. Without the DeLeos, I wouldn't have learned so much about songwriting. They're so incredible. We did that band Army of Anyone, which is still one of my favorite records that I've ever done.

7:14 Yeah, it's wild. I go back all the way to... 98, singing Hey Man, Nice Shot with them. Wow. Yeah, they're always like, you're playing tonight. I'm like, okay. Nice. So it's fun. What's like the most surprising invitation you ever got to do something? To do the reunion with Nine Inch Nails. Wow. In 2024, I believe. And Trent's like, I want you to come back in Nine Inch Nails for the Cleveland show where the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is. Because I wasn't inducted because I was only in Nine Inch Nails for like four or five years.

7:56 Right. And I was kind of bent. I was kind of bent about it. And Trent was like, I'm sorry. Well, come on out stage and do the show with us anyways. Wow. But the really cool thing was he also wanted to do Hey Man, Nice Shot. And we did Nine Inch Nails, did Hey Man, Nice Shot. That's wild. And he had me, like, sing the second verse to Head Like a Hole. And, like, I did all this extra singing. I sang Eraser. Wow. And he was really, really sweet. And, like, you know, Trent and I go back to, like, way back there, like, 1986, hanging out. Like, he was one of the, like, my buddies from Cleveland. I was, like, 16 playing in clubs, you know. And, um, and he kind of mentored me and, uh, always kept an eye out for me. And he, you know, so it's, it's great to have that friendship all the way until, you know, now, you know, I, I still text with him all the time.

8:53 He's my buddy, you know, like. See, that's cool to hear. Yeah. Because that doesn't always happen in this business. Yeah. Well, I mean, I, I left his band and it was kind of a big deal and, and, uh. He was hurt by it, and I was like, well, I just wanted to do my own thing, kind of thing. But we've made up since then, and everything's great. That's just the way it should be. We shouldn't go through life with weirdness. You know what I mean? Come on, man. We were old friends. So it's always good to rekindle your old friendships and make sure that everybody's cool and everything. I love hearing that. Yeah. It's not like you guys do a tour together now.

9:35 I would love that. That would be amazing. But he's got his friend, Boys Noise, opening up for him right now. But yeah, and that's a really. Nine Inch Noise is his new project with Boys Noise. So yeah, that's a great project. I'm really excited. He did Coachella, and they were amazing. Wow, that's pretty cool. What do you think about, did you see that Captain James T. Kirk started a metal band. I think that's fantastic. Right? Yeah. That's so wild to me. Yes, 95 years old. Right? James T. Kirk, yeah. I wish I could do it at 95. Oh, yeah. When I get there, if. I can do that, I'll be happy.

10:16 Yeah. And, you know, it's interesting, because I learned life used to be a different weekend than Riot Fest, and I always covered Riot Fest. Yeah. And I was so bummed this year. I'm like, oh. I'm going to miss Captain Kirk. I would be so honored to see that, man. That would be so amazing. Did you hear about his rider requirements? What does he need? Oh, so he had a whole rider requirements. It was on Good Morning America, too. He wanted to have a boat, a ship, renamed to him so he could once again... Captain a ship. He wanted, instead of a golf cart.

10:58 Well, he is a space traveler. Exactly. He is an astronaut. He did. So he is, yeah. So, and then he wanted, instead of a golf cart to get to the stage, a DeLorean. Wow. And. A bunch of adoptable puppies in a dressing room. Wow. He's crazy, but he is a rock star. Oh, yeah. He wants lots of fire breathers. I think the only thing we asked for is monsters. Right. He wants lots of fire breathers. He wanted some sausage or something in his dressing room. And then. When Good Morning America was reading off all the demands, they missed one.

11:41 And he said, don't forget the bowl of sauerkraut. Wow. Because apparently that's the key to longevity is sauerkraut. Sauerkraut. It is good for you and good for what ails you. Right? There you go. So when you're 95, what will your demands be? My demands will be that everybody have a great time and just enjoy life. That's what you're all about. I love that. That's all it's about. That's what music's about. So I'm glad we have people like you still performing for us. Oh, yeah, man. I'm in my prime. I'm only 58. There you go. Mick Jagger's 82.

12:21 I'm older than you. I'm 59. I'll be 68 in a couple weeks. Yeah, yeah. It's awesome. You're a young man next to me. You know, I love doing what I do and it's awesome and it's fun and, you know, I get to hang out and and do it. So it's just, I'm blessed. And that's the way it should be. If you're not having fun, why do this? Yeah. Why are you doing it? Yeah, exactly. Totally. So it is great to see you still having fun after all these years. Absolutely. Being here at Louder Than Life and killing it. Yeah. And thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it, man. Thank you once again for being on the Adventures of the Piedman. Yeah, buddy.

13:01 All right. Thank you for listening to The Adventures of Pikeman on W4CY Radio.