Mike Patton, “vocalist extraordinaire for punk supergroup Dead Cross, alt-metal legends Faith No More, and bizarro-thrash wizards Mr. Bungle” recently discussed Retox guitarist Michael Crain’s cancer diagnosis and his resilience towards creating and completing the appropriately titled album Dead Cross II whilst also continually undergoing treatment (Revolver). In an interview with Revolver, when asked if he and the rest of the band had any reservations about whether they should continue making the album once they heard about Crain’s diagnosis, he responded:

“Yeah, of course. I think we all said, “Your life is a little more important than this fucking record.” But he was intent on doing it. It was his therapy, in a way. And it healed him — it really did. But he was very headstrong about it. He said, “I’m gonna do my best, and we’re gonna get through this.” And he did. Looking back on it — this is a couple of years ago — it really made me think I had to step up my game. This guy has cancer, and he’s doing the record anyway. I wouldn’t have. I would’ve been like, “See ya later!” I wouldn’t have had the balls. So, it was inspirational and courageous and just kind of incredible. Hopefully, you can hear that in the music.”

Mike Patton praised Crain’s dedication to his craft and how miraculous it is that Crain somehow came out on the other side seemingly totally cured. He said that “He’s totally fucking cured. Somehow, maybe the music helped him. I don’t know. I’m not a doctor. But he looks great, and he sounds great. I think that made this record what it is.”

Dead Cross II  was released earlier this month on October 14. 

On September 28, Dead Cross unveiled a black and white video for their new single “Christian Missile Crisis.” 

On October 10, Dead Cross’ Mike Patton called singers idiots. Find out why.