An Evening with Richard Patrick

April 6th, 2025

WXOU 88.3 FM - Static w/ DJ Matt Ammons

DJ Matt: And we are back here on Static, WXOU 88.3 FM. You just heard Hey Man, Nice Shot from Filter, and I am now joined by the lead singer of Filter, Mr. Richard Patrick. Richard, how are ya?

RP: I’m doing good, man, you should play some newer stuff.

MA: You know, I have been asking all week for newer stuff that people want to hear from you guys, and people have been saying, “we want the next record”.

RP: Really? The next Filter record?

MA: Yeah, yeah. People are antsy for the new stuff, Richard.

RP: Well, that’s good because I’m gonna be releasing something new fairly soon. I am actually releasing a song this Tuesday (4-8-25) for the soundtrack of The Gunslinger starring Nicholas Cage and Stephen Dorff, and Heather Graham.

MA: That sounds awesome, and we are very much looking forward to hearing it. Speaking of film soundtracks, you have had some experience in the past with scoring film and doing songs for film. Do you wanna dive into what it’s like making a song for a film rather than an audience, and what the differences are in your thought process and writing going into it?

RP: Well, there are two different ways that I really participate on movie soundtracks and music specifically for film. The first is writing a song for the movie. Like, for The Crow: City of Angels, it was basically set up to where I wrote a Filter song and it sounded like something that they would like in the movie. But for The Gunslingers, i’m writing specifically for a western so it would be weird if I wrote a western-style song for Filter. That’s what I agreed to do for this film and I think it sounds pretty cool. Then there’s composing music for film. That’s totally different. That is 100% trying to help a movie, you know, tell a story. And that can be quite a challenge, but its also a lot of fun. That is really trying to take on the essence of the film and accentuate what the movie is trying to tell us through music.

MA: Right on, and I think that's a really interesting way of putting it because music is just as important to a film as the actors or the director are. It’s really intriguing hearing it from an artist's perspective on the subject because, as you stated, it can be very different.

RP: Yeah, you really have to try and encapsulate what the movie is trying to say. And with The Gunslingers, I used a lot of my voice in the music because I wanted it to have a more earthy feel. This film is based somewhere around the 1870’s and I wanted to be very tactile and very earthy with the music; it was really fun to do.

MA: So, I have some listener-submitted questions here, and I just wanted to run through a few of them here with you today.

RP: Sure.

MA: Has there been a specific song or performance throughout your career that has deeply impacted your life as a whole?

RP: Oh wow. I mean, every time I get up to sing, it’s a blast. It’s an amazing experience. I think about the reunion I had with Nine Inch Nails in 2022. That was huge. The reunion in Cleveland, OH, with Nine Inch Nails was a really big deal. I flew my family out to see it, and my kids got to see me in Nine Inch Nails for the first and probably last time. But it was a lot of fun. I also think about this other gig we did in Cleveland. I was playing a headline show at the House of Blues and packed it in and just had the best time. There was a lot of crowd surfing and moshing and all that stuff. I love all of that stuff, I think it’s really fun.

MA: Performance is a lost art nowadays with more modern acts, ya know?

RP: Yeah, well, there's a lot of tape involved. There’s a lot of shenanigans with vocals on tape, and you know, with Filter, we keep it very old school. We have tracks that a computer helped us make because, you know, that’s what being industrial is all about. But putting vocals and stuff like that on your track is a slippery slope, and I think it's honestly kinda creepy. I think it’s a bit of a scam because when it comes to our performances, I have been accused of using vocals on my backing tracks live. To prove people wrong, I sing the song completely acapella, and then when I go “Alright, let’s bring the band in” the crowd goes wild.

MA: I can only imagine.

RP: I think I am at a really good spot in my career because I can really hear everything just right. Vocally, I am in my prime. I’m in my prime when it comes to my voice, and even though I’m 56 years old, it doesn’t look like it when I'm up on stage. My singing voice is really just solid as hell.

MA: Yeah, I mean, you guys sound great. I know you guys just got off of a tour just recently, and you have another one coming up soon. How do you approach building a setlist for a tour when your band’s career has spanned so many different eras and touched so many different genres?

RP: EIGHT records.

MA: Yeah.

RP: We basically take the singles off of all the records, and then play favorites that we know play well live. We just tend to focus on what the impact of the performance on the audience would be. We play a lot of fun, heavier music, but towards the middle of the set, we might slow things down and get more intimate with tracks like Take a Picture and songs like that. But then, we come right back with songs like Captain [Bligh] or other songs from Title of Record, or Short Bus, or Amalgamut. Or we might play some songs like Jurrasitol, off of the Crow soundtrack, or the song (Can’t You) Trip Like I Do off of the Spawn soundtrack. And then there’s also a lot of new stuff and we basically just want to make sure that it’s all well rounded and represents all the era’s we have gone through for the last 30 years and you wanna make sure that you bring your A-game and perform all of these songs as well as you can to leave the audience wanting more.

MA: Absolutely, you wanna leave things well-rounded and make sure you touch all corners to leave people satisfied once the set is over.

RP: Yeah, absolutely.

MA: So, you have collaborated with many artists in your time as a musician. We touched on your time with Nine Inch Nails a bit, you’ve done things with Danny Lohner (of NIN/A Perfect Circle) and Wes Boreland (of Limp Bizkit/Black Light Burns). Is there any musician, alive or dead that you would want to see yourself collaborate with, and who would that be?

RP: Honestly, I’d like to do another song with Trent [Reznor]. But I would also like to work with The Edge (of U2). I think that would be cool working with The Edge, but I think it’s never gonna happen.

MA: You know what they say, though, “never say never.”

RP: Yeah, you never know. But yeah, I think that would be cool. I am working with a lot of really cool people right now. I really like working with Sam Tinnesz. I am working with Mark Jackson and Ian Scott. A lot of different people, Mark Campbell from Vows. And then I have my bandmates that I love working with, like Bobby Miller and Elias Mallin. I love those guys, and there’s a lot of great talent out there, and I just keep my eyes open because I love working with my bandmates, but I also like working with other people as well because it keeps things fresh, you know?

MA: Absolutely. You know, your lyrics in your songs often touch on darker and more introspective themes throughout your career. Would you consider songwriting and performing your form of therapy? And to add on, how does it help you through your day-to-day process?

RP: Some of it is autobiographical, but a lot of it from the last 10-15 years has been very selfless. I have been a lot more concerned with the political age, the global geopolitics, war, and things of that nature. I’m not so introspective anymore. In the song Obliteration, I get pretty introspective about my drug problem and overcoming it and stuff like that. You just gotta keep the old adage “ You gotta write what you know” in mind. Lyrics are fun, like the song For The Beaten is about these protests that were happening outside of the White House and Trump, in his infinite wisdom –and I am being sarcastic– decided to use tear gas to break it all up so he could go take a photo with a bible up at the church. These people were innocent, and they were just trying to make a point using their First Amendment right, and they were beaten, so it truly was FOR the beaten. I love writing lyrics about things that are important to me, and I consider it an honor and a privilege that I am allowed to speak my mind, and I am grateful that the audience allows me to do that. I know I have some Trump-supporting fans, and I respect those people despite what their political beliefs may be. I am just grateful to be able to say what I want to say.

MA: Another question I got from a listener was about your time being part of The Damning Well, with yourself, Danny [Lohner] and Wes [Borland]. Whatever happened with that, and do you see that as possibly something you’d like to revisit in the future? Are you still talking to either of those guys?

RP: I talk to Danny Lohner every other week; he’s a good friend of mine. Wes Borland is a little bit more out of touch for me, I haven’t really talked to him in a long time. The Damning Well was a one-time thing for the movie soundtrack to The Underworld. I was blessed that they invited me to do that, and we did two songs for it, one with Amy Lee. It never came out because her management was so tough that it was like “you know what, we’d rather not do business with you." Whoever represents her is notoriously overwhelmingly brutal when it comes to the business, behind-the-scenes stuff. But the other song is on The Underworld soundtrack. But yeah, Danny Lohner actually worked on a song with me called The City of Blinding Riots, and it was on Crazy Eyes.

MA: You know, we talk about collaboration and unity in the music scene, and it’s really cool to see these big forces like yourself and Danny, and Wes coming together to make something great because nowadays, you don’t really see that all that much, I feel like.

RP: Well, I think another great record I did was Army of Anyone. Have you heard of that? Army of Anyone?

MA: Yeah!

RP: Army of Anyone was a band that consisted of myself, Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo from Stone Temple Pilots, and Ray Luzier, the drummer for Korn. It was a really great band, and I was really excited for that, and maybe there will be a new song coming out at some point with that, but don’t count on it anytime soon. But that’s another great record of mine, Army of Anyone.

MA: Well, we will all keep our eyes peeled and our ears perked for that one. Another question I got was about Hey Man, Nice Shot. You have talked about this in past interviews, and it has been a long-standing rumor on if it was a nod towards Kurt Cobain and his suicide.

RP: Nope.

MA: Are you tired of hearing this rumor?

RP: Yep. That rumor started because the album was released just after he had killed himself, but the song was written in 1991, about 3 or 4 years before he died.

MA: And I believe you spoke with Dave [Grohl] and Krist [Novoselic] about the song?

RP: I spoke with Dave and Krist and explained to them that the song was written way before that. And there were DJ’s in Seattle lying and saying that it was about Kurt, and I said “It was not, and it was written in 1991, it’s not about Kurt Cobain” and they were like “We dont believe you.” and it was just unbelievable the amount of stress that they created for me. Then, finally, someone from my label accidentally leaked that the song was ACTUALLY written about the Dwyer suicide, which is totally true.

MA: So that song was actually inspired by the R. Budd Dwyer suicide?

RP: Dwyer’s public suicide, yes.

MA: With the gun in the envelope?

RP: Yep, pulled the gun out from the envelope and said “stand back, this could hurt somebody” and blam. Sadly, the whole drama of it left an impression on me as a young person.

MA: If you had to take your band, yourself, Jonathan [Radtke], Bobby [Miller], and Elias [Mallin], and look outside of the genres of rock and roll and cover any song, which song would you choose and why?

RP: Hmmm. Crazy by Patsy Cline.

MA: How come?

RP: Just the first song that popped into my head. I think it’d be fun, and I think I could sing it pretty well. I trust my bandmates in doing a good job of interpreting it as well.

MA: Now, I know it's hard to pick favorites, but if you had to choose one Filter album that you are most proud of, which would you choose

RP: The Algorithm.

MA: Why that one?

RP: The Algorithm is one of my favorite records for sure, and I am very proud of it, and I want people to go and check out The Algorithm.

MA: Well, you all heard it from the man himself, go check it out. Just to wrap things up here, Richard,  once again, I really do appreciate your time.

RP: No problem, man.

MA: What is next for you and the band? I know we talked about the film coming up with Nicolas Cage that you did a couple of songs for-

RP: I actually scored the movie. I scored the movie. I did the movie’s score, and I wrote a song called The Gunslingers of Redemption for the movie. But, I am looking forward to my tour with Bush coming up as well as releasing another Filter record shortly. Also, The Algorithm is going to be re-released as an Ultra Edition, and there will be 8 new tracks you can download or buy on vinyl soon and I am really looking forward to the release of that because like I said, The Algorithm is a really great record and I am very proud of it.

MA: Alrighty, well, thank you so much for your time, Richard Patrick from Filter live here on Static. WXOU 88.3 FM.

RP: Thank you so much for having me, and I really do appreciate it.

Listen to "Static" on Saturdays from 10-11 pm on 88.3FM WXOU