THE AGE OF GRUNGE AND INDUSTRIAL MUSIC – AND IT WAS FUCKING DOPE
A CONVERSATION WITH RICHARD PATRICK OF FILTER
Twenty years ago, Richard Patrick was an โout of his mindโ alcoholic in the midst of a secret, โmad, head over heels, first kinda loveโ affair with Dโarcy Wretzky โ then bassist of The Smashing Pumpkins. His band, Filter, had just released their seminal sophomore record, Title Of Record, and much to nearly everyoneโs surprise, this album was to become among the greatest of the decade – spawning hits such as โWelcome To The Foldโ and โTake A Pictureโ – becoming not only a fan favourite, but also critically acclaimed and would eventually go platinum. Fast forward to 2019, Patrick has just released a twentieth anniversary reissue of the album, which includes a number of bonus tracks (remixes, a live track, and singles released on various soundtracks), and is also being pressed on vinyl for the very first time.
Speaking with Patrick on the album and Filterโs legacy and the โ90s, he tells me โit was huge; it was the age of grunge and industrial music, and it was fucking dope. Everyone loved to buy CDโs. Everyone wanted to own the record and touch them and go to the concerts, the economy was good, there was no 9/11โ, suddenly exclaiming, possibly satirically, โand we were mad at the Clintons because they were just trying to give people free healthcare and shitโฆ Different times, man, times were completely different, and they were goodโ. Looking back at the time leading up to the creation of Filter and Patrickโs departure from Nine Inch Nails, Patrick remembers his personal state at the time, โI was fucking angry, was fucking listening to Skinny Puppy and Ministry and I thought Trent [Reznor] was light compared to that stuff โ and the reason was because there was just too much popโ Patrick continues by singing the hook to Nine Inch Nailsโ โRingfingerโ in a slightly exaggerated pop tone before growling Ministryโs โThe Land Of Rapeโ, adding โthatโs what I wanted. I manned Trent the fuck up and then I quitโฆ When the Broken EP was eventually released it was like โnow weโre talkingโ and I was listed as an influencer, relocated as โthe live bandโโ.
Redirecting his attention to Title Of Record, Patrick explains โIt was one of the finer, high water marks of my career. โTake A Pictureโ was a huge hit; it never officially made the top ten, but it was big for me, a little kid from Clevelandโ. Regarding the making of the album, Patrick explains, โWe just dug the shit out of it, man. It was an extremely experimental recording process – this was before I was a total alcoholic. The whole record was experimental.โ He continues, โThe first record, we only knew a drum machine, but for this one, we put a drummer in the mix โ but just on a few songsโฆ I was in a completely secret โ I canโt believe we managed to keep it a secret – relationship with Dโarcy Wretzky, of The Smashing Pumpkins, and she is the female voice on โCancerโ and all the songs are about her; โItโs Gonna Kill Meโ, โMiss Blueโ, โSkinnyโ โ even โTake A Pictureโ was written because of my behaviour as an alcoholic. Iโd get in trouble and say โcan you take my picture, cause I wonโt remember?โ and sheโd be like โyou better hope thereโs no fucking picture where youโre goingโโ. He continues, โthe reissue has got a lot of extra stuff like โ(Canโt You) Trip Like I Doโ, โJurassitolโ, which went to number four on MTV โ the highest our videos ever got โ so there was plenty of music coming out of Filter, itโs just that I was having the time of my lifeโฆ Dude, โWelcome To The Foldโ used to be twenty-five minutes long. The middle section used to be seventeen minutes long because I tripped on mushrooms and made all these crazy sounds and went like โmama give me my medicineโ all because I read a bunch ofย books on Brian Eno and U2; U2 went into the capsule just to experiment, they didnโt necessarily try to write a hit. Thatโs what I did. No matter what I did, this could have been my last record. I experimented. Bit everything is my last record, Iโm still that way to this day.โ
Looking to the future, Patrick hopes to do a tour where he performs Title Of Record in full, or mostly in its entirety. Beyond that, however, Patrick an early sketch of They Got Us Right Where They Want Us, At Each Otherโs Throats, Filterโs next record which Patrick is aiming for a spring 2020 release. Explaining further, Patrick tells me, โAnd the fucking songs, โThoughts And Prayers, โโMuricaโ, and โAmerican Carnageโ and it keeps going from there, and itโs all about how fucking retarded this country has got. Not only dumb enough to put Donald Trump in The White House, but also the complete, total, and absolute destruction of the Republican Party โ created by Abraham Lincoln โ itโs just this retard fest with their ideology, their religion, their anti-abortion shit, their small government, and their thoughts about how a womanโs vagina isnโt hersโฆ My music is even more crazy than it has ever been, but they donโt wanna hear about it. They wanna hear about the happy and the disco while they trip on molly. Yea, trip on molly, but this time, remember to vote for the fucking Democrats, you assholeโฆ If youโre not voting, youโre a cretin.โ Patrick adds, further adding to the excitement myself and fans will have, โAnyways, itโs got all that stuff but then the rest is all weird and alternativeโฆ Itโs kind of like Short Bus, partially cause I was first working with Brian [Liesegang, original Filter guitarist], but I also dusted off some of the guitars from that time tooโฆ It sounds like Filterโ. Work for the upcoming record is already very much underway as Patrick would conclude our conversation as he was running late for a studio session.
While itโs easy to focus on the past while looking at a reissue, it is equally important to look at the now to gain a better understanding. Patrick seems to be in a much healthier and happier place today. Heโs sober, and is good friends with Wretzky, explaining, โShe is the strongest human being that I know. To this day, I talked to her last night, sheโs still my pal, my friend. She kicked ass. Thatโs how I see the Pumpkins โ with her. I love Billy, and I love James and all those guys, but it ainโt the Pumpkins without Dโarcy.โ Bringing it back to Title Of Record, Patrick tells me, โI like this record, Iโm proud of it man. Iโm glad anyone just gives a crap about itโฆ Let me put into perspective; why did I get into music? The reason I got into music was because at one point, my only friends were my guitar and my stereo. No one could speak to me the way Joe Strummer could speak to me. I was deeply affected by music, to the point where it was like โoh gosh, I really hope I can do this tooโ. I wanted to touch peopleโs lives the way Joe Strummer touched mine.โ As he goes on to share individual stories of soldiers who listened to Title Of Record throughout their military service and adults who resonated through Patrickโs music in their youth in living in broken homes, I can only remark that Patrick himself seems as touched by these stories as the people in them were by him. Perhaps โ and after our conversation, Iโm sure Patrick would agree — that is the greatest part of the legacy behind Title Of Record 20 years later, and Filter as Patrick pushes forward to the quarter-century milestone.