by Neala Johnson, March, 2000

Trey Spruance of Californian weirdos Mr Bungle admits that he is prone to having the odd cynical episode, but this time he believes with good reason there are forces working against his band.

"Every time we try to get booked overseas, the Red Hot Chili Peppers kick us off the f...ing tour", marvels Spruance. "It's absolutely true!"

What began with a fuss about album titles - Mr Bungle's latest album California was released about the same time as Red Hot Chili Peppers's Californication - has now evolved into a personal vendetta between Mr Bungle and Chili Peppers singer Anthony Kiedis.

"We were booked, months in advance, to do 11 festival dates in Europe," Spruance says. "Come Summer, we get a call from the three biggest of those festivals, all of them the same day, saying that we can't play, because the headlining band retains the right to hire and fire whomever they wish." "We found out it was the Red Hot Chili Peppers, so our manager called their manager to find out what the hell was going on, and their manager was very apologetic, and said, we're really sorry, we want you to know this doesn't reflect the management's position, or the band's for that matter, it's Anthony Keidis who wants this'."

The animosity could go back 10 years, when Mr Bungle vocalist Mike Patton and his previous band, Faith No More, toured with the Chilis.

"I think there was a thing with that," speculates Spruance about old rivalries, "but that was 10 f...ng years ago."

Despite the troubles, Spruance is adamant Mr Bungle will survive.

"As a band, we'll live forever. Musically, we get along better than anybody possibly could."

Spruance, 30, joined high school friends - Patton, bassist Trevor Dunn, drummer Danny Heifetz and saxophonist Bar McKinnon -in Mr Bungle when he was 14.

"We've pretty much stuck with the same formula ever since we began, but we just expanded the mix."