Eureka High School

At a young age, Mike Patton and his family moved to a small town called Eureka in the far north end of California, USA. Here, Patton met future Mr Bungle members Trevor Dunn and Trey Spruance. An early intiration of the band was formed in the late 80s and they created the demos The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny (1986), Bowel of Chiley (1987), Goddammit I Love America (1988) and OU818 (1989).

Eureka High School in the 1980s.

Patton and the rest attended Eureka High School. He was considered a geek and considered himself straight-edge along with Dunn. The two of them made a lot of music outside of Mr Bungle in this time including joining the Thrash Metal band Fiend and after being kicked out recorded a Death Metal tape called Turd. Mr Bungle's early ventures are well documented including a video from a 1985 performance at a talent show. After high school, Patton enrolled himself to California State Polytechnic University, Humboldt to study English literature and become a writer.

The front of a cassette copy of The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny.

In 1986, the band Faith No More played a show at a pizza parlor Mr Bungle often played. At the end of the show, Spruance gave the drummer, Mike 'Puff' Borin, a copy of The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny leading to Patton later joining the band in 1988.

"This tape will blow Pee Wee Herman's house down, no problem, OK? Eight metallic thrash numbers in the same vein as ATTITUDE ADJUSTMENT, ACCUSED, etc. Keep the adrenalin flowing at an accelerate rate. Check' em out, another hot unknown from the Northwest!"
-The Raging Wrath of the Easter Bunny cassette slip.

The Real Thing

Patton was chosen as the new singer for Faith No More after many were considered due to the versitility of his vocals. This caused him to drop out of school. In 1989, Faith No More released their first album with Patton titled The Real Thing. He continued to make music with Mr Bungle whilst he was a part of Faith No More, subsequently releasing Mr Bungles first studio album under Warner Bros. record label due to Patton's success with Faith No More already.

The front of a cassette copy of The Real Thing.

In 1991, Faith No More released their first and only official live album titled 'Live at the Brixton Academy'. It included two previosly unreleased tracks. Later that year the band contributed to the sound track of 'Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey' with the song 'The Perfect Crime'.