Faith No More and Mr. Bungle frontman Mike Patton has opened up about the mental health issues that caused the bands to cancel tour dates last year.
“It’s still going on — but it’s better,” he told Rolling Stone, explaining that during the pandemic “something clicked” and he became completely isolated.
Patton, who also fronts Dead Cross, said he was diagnosed with agoraphobia. “I was afraid of people. I got freaked out by being around people,” he recalled.
“That sort of anxiety, or whatever you want to call it, led to other issues, which I choose not to discuss,” said Patton. Asked if he was alluding to substance abuse, he said “it was a little bit of everything.”
Patton said he had no choice but to pull the plug on tour plans. “It was very hard to explain. And there were some broken feelings on both sides about it, but it’s what I had to do,” he said. “Because otherwise something really bad could have happened.”
The singer said he is feeling better while receiving professional help “and getting closer to diving back in” to performing.
As for Faith No More, Patton said: “I don’t know. We may reschedule stuff; we may not. I’ll just leave it at that. It’s a little confusing and complicated. So if we do, we do. If we don’t, that’s cool, too.”