Mike Patton and Danny DeVito are friends, they have been since 2005.
DeVito took his 18 year old son Jake to Coachella festival in 2005 to see Fantômas and he loved the show. In 2006 he spoke with pagesix.com about seeing the band.
"Fantômas blew me away. They are super out of this world beyond! Mike Patton is a genius. You know he was in Faith No More and MR BUNGLE, right? Fantômas are experimental and just crazy."
“I get a lot of inspiration from my daughters and son,” DeVito said. “About four or five years ago – we usually go to a music festival called Coachella -and one year, all my son Jake could talk about was Fantomas. So a bunch of us went over to the Fantômas tent, and boy, I’m telling you, it was one of the greatest shows I ever saw. And from that day on, I’ve been a huge Mike Patton fan.”
“I’ve revisited listening to Mr. Bungle, Faith No More, and all the stuff,” DeVito continued. “Anyway, about a year or two ago, he put out a new group called Peeping Tom, and on that album is Five Seconds. The thing about that song is that you want to listen to it a lot. The words are amazing. When he says, “you are the air that I breathe,” it just blows me away. There’s kind of an angst, but a declaration of love in there.”
From there friendship blossomed with each artist supporting the other's work. Patton and Peeping Tom performed at the after party for the premier of season 2 of It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia, an American sitcom starring DeVito, in 2006.
DeVito was also pushing for Patton make an appearance on the show according to an interview with cast member Glenn Howerton.
"I know that Patton was willing to do it at one point. I don’t know if that is still the case. We haven’t got anything for him at this point. But I do want to have him on the show. I am a big fan of his."
In return Patton included DeVito in the video for Peeping Tom Mojo. DeVito portrays a white trash TV junkie who briefly appears at the end to switch it off.
This mutual respect for each other's artistry was discussed by both in a short interview for the online feature Artist On Artist. In which DeVito reveals just how he discovered Patton's work.
"I don't really limit my influences. Everything in my life influences me, from my morning coffee to each meal. Really hard to nail down. Danny Devito influences me!" - Mike Patton 2006
The pint sized Hollywood A-lister has always followed Patton's projects closely and over the years often can be seen side stage admiring his friend's performance. In 2007 DeVito was spotted at Coachella Festival onstage with Peeping Tom.
In 2008 DeVito was onstage introducing Patton and Zu.
During Faith No More's show at Coachella in 2010 Danny was spotted rocking out at the side of the stage. Also during the band's show at Hollywood Palladium in 2010, DeVito can been seen on the drum riser hanging out with Mike Bordin.
In 2012 during FNM's show at Hammersmith in London DeVito again found a comfortable spot at the back of the stage to watch.
We also saw DeVito's famous alter ego Trollfoot appear side stage at The Wiltern in 2015.
Patton and DeVito's most recent hook up was in February 2020 at the Fonda Theater in LA when Danny showed up at a Mr. Bungle show to give Patton some acting tips!
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