Podcast Summary: takin' a walk – "Celebrating his memoir – The Royal We" with Roddy Bottum
Host: Buzz Knight
Date: October 28, 2025
Guest: Roddy Bottum (of Faith No More & Imperial Teen)

Episode Overview

In this episode of "takin' a walk," host Buzz Knight joins acclaimed musician and memoirist Roddy Bottum for a candid stroll through memory lane. The conversation revolves around Roddy's newly released memoir, The Royal We, reflecting on his unique musical journey—from the anarchic, genre-bending days of Faith No More, through the pop sensibilities of Imperial Teen, to his evolution as a writer and advocate for queer voices in music. The episode dives deep into artistic reinvention, creative process, personal growth, and hard-won wisdom.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Roddy’s Literary Debut: The Journey to The Royal We

• Morning Pages and Becoming a Writer
  • Roddy discusses how he always thought of himself as a writer but hadn't actually started writing until recently. A friend's encouragement to practice "morning pages" (from The Artist's Way) led him to begin documenting his stories.
    • "I started waking up in the morning, and I would just write for an hour every day. ... I didn't really have a design to sort of writing a book, but it became a book." ([06:28])
• The Editing Process
  • Contrary to expectations, Roddy found editing to be refreshing, a process akin to his music work—stripping away the unnecessary to find the essential.
    • "Our whole process is to record, to make songs and then strip things away from those songs and have just the bare bones ... it's a really beautiful process." ([08:26])

2. Musical Evolution & Personal Growth

• Reinvention and Maturity

  • Roddy reflects on growing from his raw, loud Faith No More days to a more nuanced, introspective artist, emphasizing “evolution, maturity, and being himself.”
    • "At the core of it, I always feel like I’m being myself. I’m not that different than I was when I was a kid. I’m just a little quieter maybe, and a little more thoughtful..." ([10:22])

• Formative Early Influences

  • Shares about his childhood immersion in piano and his pivotal discovery of Bridge Over Troubled Water.
    • "That was kind of the beginning, I think, of my obsession with, like, rock..." ([12:34])

3. Faith No More: Creation, Legacy, and Turning Points

• San Francisco, Sound Collisions, and Competitive Creativity
  • Reminisces about the unique sound that came from the band’s diverse backgrounds and the challenges (and beauty) of his role as a gay keyboardist in a loud, aggressive band.
    • "It was a good opportunity for me as a gay kid in that sort of scenario to bring in like a sense of sort of beauty into the cacophony..." ([15:24])
• Breakthrough to Global Recognition
  • The moment Roddy realized the band had gone from underground to major was when he no longer had to set up his own keyboard—spotting his own "entitlement" as success snuck up on them.
    • "I realized at one point ... I didn't know how to set up that keyboard stand because I had never set it up. I was like, oh, I'm not doing this anymore. ... I am very entitled right now." ([22:52])
• Defining Live Show
  • A London show where crowd barriers were broken marked a watershed for Faith No More's popularity, especially with the American record company watching in astonishment.
    • "They broke the barriers, and the audience was, like, coming to the stage, and it was super exciting but kind of dangerous... our American record company, being in the audience ... were shocked." ([24:02])

4. Imperial Teen and Living Authentically

• Shifting Gears and Queer Visibility
  • Roddy created Imperial Teen during a period of intense personal change—getting sober and losing major figures in his life. The new band became a platform for open queer expression amid a toxic climate.
    • "It was a good place to be able to sing gay lyrics and to be able to sort of, like, share things about us as people as a gay community. That felt really strong to me and very honest." ([26:11])

5. The Changing Landscape for Queer Artists

• Industry and Cultural Shifts
  • Roddy reflects on the drastic change in openness and acceptance for queer voices—from hidden subculture to mainstream viability.
    • "More importantly than the industry having changed is... the consensus of the world’s perspectives has changed. People are way more willing to listen to a queer voice..." ([28:50])

6. Current Creative Process and Inspirations

• Approach to Music Now
  • Now works with greater intentionality, focusing projects (Crickets, Imperial Teen, a musical) around clear artistic goals.
    • "When I sit down, start creating, I know that it's going to a specific project." ([30:49])
• Recent Listening Habits
  • A nod to his comfort zone of female artists, mentioning Sarah Mary Chadwick, Frightwig, and Stanning on the Clams as current favorites.
    • "Why am I only playing, like, women? I was like, that's just what I'm comfortable with, I guess ..." ([32:27])

7. Advice for Emerging Musicians

• On Success: Emphasis on Craft and Personal Fulfillment
  • Urges young musicians to harness affordable technology, embrace tenacity, and measure success by happiness and creative pride rather than money.
    • "The opportunity for sort of creation is a lot more cheap these days ... technology is such a good thing to sort of wrap your head around. ... Just keeping doing what you're doing and being comfortable with the doing is really key ... I'm talking about success in terms of making yourself happy." ([34:12])

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Early Writing
  "I always considered myself from an early age to be a writer, but I'd never written anything... and I was getting on to be, like, almost 60 years old, and I was like, yeah, I'm a writer, but I've never written." – Roddy Bottum ([06:28])

• On Artistic Evolution
  "It sounds really boring and old and kind of ridiculous, but I think it's like, I'm going to say, yeah, there's a maturity that set in that sort of pushed me into different directions." – Roddy Bottum ([10:22])

• On Faith No More’s Unique Blend
  "We created this special thing where it was like a lot of different voices coming together. And that was really special at that time in my life." – Roddy Bottum ([15:24])

• On Industry and Queer Identity
  "There was really no one I could look up to in terms of gay voices in the media ... now, more importantly than the industry having changed is ... the consensus of the world's perspectives has changed." – Roddy Bottum ([28:50])

• Advice to Young Musicians
  "Technology is such a good thing to sort of wrap your head around ... Just keeping doing what you're doing and being comfortable sort of with the doing ... success in terms of making yourself happy." – Roddy Bottum ([34:12])

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Roddy’s first musical inspirations and early piano lessons ([12:34])
• The competitive, creative process of early Faith No More ([15:24])
• Transition from loading their own van to realizing mainstream success ([22:52])
• The pivotal London show, American recognition ([24:02])
• Formation of Imperial Teen and embracing queer identity in music ([26:11])
• The shift in industry inclusivity towards queer voices ([28:50])
• Roddy’s approach to creating music today, favorite artists ([30:49]; [32:27])
• Advice to young musicians—craft over cash ([34:12])

Episode in the Guest's Own Words

“Just keeping doing what you’re doing and being comfortable with the doing ... success in terms of making yourself happy and getting to a place where you’re sort of comfortable, sort of like and happy and proud of yourself.” — Roddy Bottum ([34:12])

This episode offers an honest, often humorous, and deeply insightful perspective on music, creativity, and self-expression—both for Roddy Bottum as an individual and for anyone passionate about art and identity.