One reason I wanted to embark on this Mike Patton journey was because he pops up in cameos in so many other genres of music from bands and singers I never would have listened to otherwise. Like Dub Trio or Sepultura (and other bands and groups we’ll explore in the future).
The Qemists are a British electronic group that actually started as a rock band. The Qemists’ first full-length album was released in 2009, and it featured Patton on the “Lost Weekend” tune. What does it sound like? Well, it sounds like Patton singing vocals over an electronic band with plenty of “Woo-hoos!” thrown in for good measure.
As Pop Matters wrote, “‘Lost Weekend’ takes that frenetic metal and puts Mike Patton’s freakish wails over the top of it. Still, more subtle influences find their way into these tracks. About two minutes into the song, Patton’s voice gets a solo break that sounds more like Kanye with the heavy autotune effects on the line ‘I got your money.’”
This was around the time of Patton’s Peeping Tom project (we’ll get there), where he was performing more pop-oriented and/or electronic-tinged stylings. So, this partnership makes sense for Patton’s resume at the time. But like many of Patton’s other collaborations, he didn’t actually record the song directly with the band.
“Being fortunate enough to have an opportunity to work with a legend is definitely something we don’t take for granted,” The Qemists told Provenance magazine. “We had mutual acquaintances at the time who were able to put us together, we sent him a track and he loved it. We [didn’t] work together in person, so we just had conversations and got it together; but it turned out awesome.”
Josh Katzowitz - Sports Writer/Author/Editor 