Only one day after Faith No More triggered widespread rumors with a cryptic social media post, bassist Bill Gould has put an end to the speculation, confirming that the band will indeed return to performing live next year.
During a recent appearance on “Rock Talk“, a new podcast hosted by veteran Serbian hard rock and heavy metal journalist Jadranka Janković Nešić, Bill Gould directly addressed the swirling rumors and stated unequivocally that the band is preparing for a comeback.
When asked about the reports that Faith No More could be returning, Bill Gould replied as transcribed by Blabbermouth:
“Yeah, we’re gonna do it. We’re gonna play. Yeah, we’re gonna do it.”
He further explained that the physical demands of their catalog played a major role in their decision to reunite now rather than later:
“Our music is very physical, and a big concern is, like, pretty soon we’re not gonna be able to do this the way we wrote it. We wrote it as 20-year-olds and it, it’s always been very physical. It has to be that way. I can’t play the song if I’m not like that, honestly. With my bass parts, I just can’t do it. But we all kind of decided, like, we think we can do it. I think that we can do it for a few more years, and we can do it the right way, so we’re gonna give it a go.”
This definitive statement arrives on the heels of a teaser image shared across Faith No More‘s social media accounts on Tuesday, June 16. The post displayed the band’s classic eight-pointed star logo superimposed over a photo of a concert audience, accompanied simply by the year “2027.”
The mounting anticipation was further validated by Brazilian music journalist Igor Miranda, who recently reported that the live entertainment company 30e has successfully finalized a global touring contract with Faith No More. According to Igor Miranda, the promoter struck a similar worldwide touring deal with System Of A Down earlier this year.
Last year, keyboardist and co-founder Roddy Bottum firmly dismissed the idea of future live shows during an interview with Greg Prato of Alternative Nation.
When asked if the group would play together again, Bottum gave a direct answer:
“I don’t think so. No.”
When pressed for a reason, Bottum explained the sentiment is shared among his bandmates following a string of canceled comeback shows in 2021.
“It’s not just me. I don’t think anyone’s sort of up for it at this point,” he said. “We had a bunch of shows that we were gonna play, and they got canceled, just for various reasons. But I don’t think the course that we were on has fixed itself. I just don’t see it happening again, honestly.”
Bottum elaborated that the band feels they have already accomplished what they needed to with their previous reunion, which began in 2009.
“I think we did a really good job. We played a bunch of reunion tours, and I think we did what we kind of set out to do. So I don’t think anyone’s upset about it or anything,” he explained.
“But I mean, for sure, getting back together would mean a big paycheck, but I think all of us are pretty good with what we did, sort of just, like, artistically with the band and committing to ourselves and playing with each other. I think we’re all pretty good with the decisions that we’ve made up to now, and I don’t see what could really happen more getting back together and doing more shows.”
Faith No More has not played a concert since 2016. After originally disbanding following the release of 1997’s Album of the Year, the group reunited in 2009. They eventually recorded their first studio album in 18 years, 2015’s Sol Invictus. The band was scheduled to tour in 2021, but those dates were scrapped when frontman Mike Patton canceled his live commitments to focus on his mental health, which had worsened during the pandemic.
Speaking recently with Kyle Meredith, Mike Patton was asked if there was a feeling of “closure” during the band’s last major touring cycle a decade ago. Patton admitted that while it wasn’t explicitly discussed, the vibe was present.
“I didn’t really think so at the time, but, yeah, maybe. And I think that we all kind of felt it, but it was unspoken. And it’s funny: when you’ve been in a band or a musical situation for a period of time, you always, in the back of your head, you’re kind of thinking, ‘Well, maybe this is it.’ And I don’t mind that feeling. I don’t see it as a sad thing. I see it as being present and being able to really appreciate it while it’s happening.”
Patton also took the opportunity to dismantle the public perception of his career “hierarchy,” rejecting the idea that his work outside of Faith No More should be classified as “side projects.”
“I’d never really understood, and I had to figure this out very early on, was the concept of a side project, that’s assuming that there’s a main one. And for me, I really never had one. There were projects like Faith No More where I spent more time on, in terms of touring and promoting, quote-unquote, if you will, but everything that I’ve done was of equal importance to me. They just weren’t viewed that way. And the public, for whatever reason, needs to have a hierarchy kind of built in there just to make themselves feel better about it, I guess. I don’t know.”
