Roswell Christopher Bottum (born July 1, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the keyboardist for the

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

alternative metal Alternative metal (also known as alt-metal) is a genre of heavy metal music Heavy metal (or simply metal) is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the United Kingdom and United States. With r ...

band

Faith No More Faith No More is an American rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before settling on the current name in July 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/r ...

. He is also guitarist and co-lead vocalist for the pop group

Imperial Teen Imperial Teen is a San Francisco–based indie pop group made up of Roddy Bottum (Faith No More), primarily on guitar/vocals; Will Schwartz (also of Hey Willpower), primarily on guitar/vocals; Lynn Truell (née Perko, formerly of Sister Doub ...

, best known for their 1999 single "Yoo Hoo" used in the movie '' Jawbreaker.'' In addition to popular musical career, Bottum also scored three Hollywood movies and composed an opera entitled ''Sasquatch: The Opera'', which premiered in New York in April 2015.

Early life

Bottum was born July 1, 1963, in Los Angeles, California, to Mary (née Hustead) and Roswell Bottum II, both natives of

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

. Bottum has three sisters, Catherine, Elizabeth, and Stephanie. His father was a

federal prosecutor An assistant United States attorney (AUSA) is an official career civil service position in the U.S. Department of Justice composed of lawyers working under the U.S. Attorney of each U.S. federal judicial district. They represent the federal gove ...

for the

United States District Court for the Southern District of California The United States District Court for the Southern District of California (in case citations, S.D. Cal.) is a federal court in the Ninth Circuit (except for patent claims and claims against the U.S. government under the Tucker Act, which are appe ...

, who later went on to found the law firm Bottum and Feliton in 1981. Bottum was raised

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. As a child, he studied classical piano. Bottum attended Loyola High School, a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

Catholic school in Los Angeles, from which he graduated in 1981. He moved to San Francisco shortly after graduating to attend

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

in 1981 as a film major.

Career

Joining his schoolfriends

Billy Gould William David Gould (born April 24, 1963 in Los Angeles, California) is an American musician and producer. He is best known as the bassist of Faith No More. Biography Early years Billy said he is of Hungarian descent from his father's side. ...

and

Mike Bordin Michael Andrew Bordin (born November 27, 1962) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Faith No More. He has amicably been known as "Puffy", "Puffster" or "The Puff", in reference to the afro hair style he wore in ...

in Faith No More in 1981 (replacing Wade Worthington), Bottum remained in the band until its demise in 1998. In 1985, Bottum wrote the words to Faith No More's first internationally-recognized song, "We Care a Lot". However, after 1992's '' Angel Dust'' and its ensuing tour, Bottum's input into Faith No More was reduced significantly. His keyboards, previously prominent in the band, were almost absent on '' King for a Day... Fool for a Lifetime'' (1995). Bottum later explained that he suffered a

nervous breakdown A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...

in this era and "all of that imeis a real blur for me." He was addicted to

heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a potent opioid mainly used as a recreational drug for its euphoric effects. Medical grade diamorphine is used as a pure hydrochloride salt. Various white and brow ...

and also experienced the death of his father and witnessed the aftermath of

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

's suicide on

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as ...

(Cobain's wife and Bottum's close friend, and also an early singer for Faith No More). In 1994 and 1995, Bottum formed

with Lynn Perko, another Bay Area music veteran. The band's mainstream pop sound was a stark contrast to the aggressive metal of Faith No More, and is perhaps best known for their single "Yoo Hoo", used in the 1999 film '' Jawbreaker''. Imperialteen cropped

In 2009, Bottum returned to Faith No More for a reunion tour, and in 2015, the band released their seventh studio album, ''

Sol Invictus Sol Invictus (, "Unconquered Sun"), sometimes simply known as Helios, was long considered to be the official sun god of the later Roman Empire. In recent years, however, the scholarly community has become divided on Sol between traditionalists a ...

''. In 2013, Bottum moved to New York City and produced an opera, ''Sasquatch: The Opera''. He wrote the music and libretto for the piece about the elusive beast of the forest, describing it as a dark and gothic fairy tale about a backwoods family and the relationship between a caged woman and Sasquatch. The opera premiered in Brooklyn in 2015 and went to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in the summer of 2016 for a month of shows. Bottum also wrote a short-form opera called ''The Ride'' about the AIDS LifeCycle Ride, a charity bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles, a ride Bottum participated in twice. The piece was staged with two stationary bicycles onstage. In 2016, Bottum joined the art music collective Nastie Band. The group features 85-year-old singer Chris Kachulis and Bottum's long-time friend, visual artist Frank Haines. In 2018, Bottum made his acting debut in Sebastian Silva's feature film ''Tyrel'', about racial tension in America. The ensemble cast features Jason Mitchell, Chris Abbott, Michael Cera, and Caleb Landry Jones. The film premiered at

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,66 ...

and had a theatrical release through

Magnolia Pictures Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor. It is a subsidiary of Mark Cuban and Todd Wagner's 2929 Entertainment. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films. Ma ...

in 2019. Also in 2019, Bottum formed the band Crickets, a Brooklyn-based band, with JD Samson and Michael O'Neill. They released their eponymous debut record on Muddguts Records in 2020. In 2020, Bottum released the song "Daddy" under the name Man on Man, with partner Joey Holman. The video for "Daddy" was banned by YouTube for "violating rules of sex and nudity". The video was re-instated a month later on YouTube after receiving much criticism from the band and ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' magazine. The second Man on Man single and video, "Baby, You're My Everything", was released by Bottum and Joey Holman in August 2020. Man on Man released their self-titled debut album via Polyvinyl Record Co. on May 7, 2021.

Film and TV scoring

Bottum composed the music for

Craig Chester Craig Chester (born November 8, 1965) is an American actor, writer, and screenwriter. Early life Chester was born in West Covina, California, the son of Cecil, lead singer in the rock band “Whiskey”, and Linda, a homemaker. He moved with hi ...

's gay romantic comedy film ''

Adam & Steve ''Adam & Steve'' is a 2005 American romantic comedy film directed by and starring Craig Chester, who also wrote the screenplay. It deals with the lives of two gay men, played by Craig Chester and Malcolm Gets. The film had its UK premier on Novem ...

'' (2005) and scored '' What Goes Up'' (2009). He also composed the music for the 2007 film ''

Kabluey ''Kabluey'' is a 2007 comedy film written and directed by Scott Prendergast. It stars Prendergast, as well as Lisa Kudrow, Teri Garr (in her final film role prior to retirement), Christine Taylor, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Angela Sarafyan. C ...

'', starring Lisa Kudrow and Scott Prendergrast. Bottum scored '' Gigantic'' (2008), a film by Matt Aselton, starring Zooey Deschanel and Paul Dano. In 2010, he scored the documentary ''

Hit So Hard ''Hit So Hard'' is a 2011 American documentary film directed by P. David Ebersole. The film details the life and near death story of Patty Schemel, drummer of the seminal '90s alternative rock band Hole, and charts her early life, music career, a ...

'' about drummer

Patty Schemel Patricia Theresa Schemel (born April 24, 1967) is an American drummer and musician who rose to prominence as the drummer of alternative rock band Hole from 1992 until 1998. Born in Los Angeles, Schemel was raised in rural Marysville, Washington, ...

. In 2010, Bottum also scored '' Fred: The Movie'' for

Nickelodeon Nickelodeon (often shortened to Nick) is an American pay television television channel, channel which launched on April 1, 1979, as the first cable channel for children. It is run by Paramount Global through its List of assets owned by Param ...

. He has gone on to score the sequel to that film and the first season of '' Fred: The Show'' for the same network.

Personal life

Bottum revealed his homosexuality in a 1993 interview with

Lance Loud Alanson Russell "Lance" Loud (June 26, 1951 – December 22, 2001) was an American television personality, magazine columnist, and new wave rock-n-roll performer. Loud is best known for his 1973 appearance in ''An American Family'', a pionee ...

for '' The Advocate''. In a 2001 interview in ''The Advocate'', Bottum stated that "I would never have thought as a gay teen I'd be in a band that would be considered heavy metal or hard rock." One of his contributions to Faith No More was "Be Aggressive", a song about

oral sex Oral sex, sometimes referred to as oral intercourse, is sexual activity involving the stimulation of the genitalia of a person by another person using the mouth (including the lips, tongue, or teeth) and the throat. Cunnilingus is oral sex per ...

. A 1999 article in ''The Advocate'' said of Imperial Teen, "With lyrical allusions to wearing lipstick and male pronouns used to address love objects, Imperial Teen serves up a gay sensibility that ordinarily surfaces only from straight bands like

Pulp Pulp may refer to: * Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit Engineering * Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture * Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper * Molded pulp, a packaging material ...

Pizzicato Five Pizzicato Five (formerly typeset as Pizzicato V and sometimes abbreviated to P5)Yang Jeff, Dina Can, Terry Hong, (1997) ''Eastern Standard Time'' pg 277 New York: Mariner Books was a Japanese pop band formed in Tokyo in 1979 by multi-instrume ...

." Bottum noted "I think there's a resistance from gay artists to go that route just because it's so predictable. But it is annoying to see bands play it as safe as they do these days. That's why something that visually screams as loud as

Marilyn Manson Brian Hugh Warner (born January 5, 1969), known professionally as Marilyn Manson, is an American rock musician. He came to prominence as the lead singer of the band which shares his name, of which he remains the only constant member since it ...

is such a breath of fresh air." Before he came out as gay, Bottum was involved in a brief heterosexual relationship with

in the early 1980s, concurrent with the time she sang for Faith No More. The two remain friends decades later.

Discography

References

External links

Soundtrack.net interview
July 22, 2001 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bottum, Roddy 1963 births Living people Alternative rock guitarists Alternative rock keyboardists Alternative rock singers American alternative rock musicians American heavy metal keyboardists American male singers American rock singers Catholics from California Faith No More members American gay musicians Singers from Los Angeles LGBT people from California Guitarists from Los Angeles 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American keyboardists American male guitarists 20th-century American keyboardists 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people