How Filter's Richard Patrick Learned to Sing

Our guest on this episode of How I Learned to Sing is Filter’s Richard Patrick.

The frontman takes us back to his childhood and some of his earliest inspirations, including an aggressive rocker from the ’60s and ’70s who helped inform the grittier end of his voice that borders on screaming. From there, we get some history on how his voice held up on his first tour as well as insight into his warm-up regimen and his warm-down routine after shows.

Who Were Richard Patrick’s Earliest Influences?

“From an early age, my dad used to crank this guy named Neil Diamond. And he used to scream and do all kinds of different performances,” Richard Patrick begins.

As for the trajectory of vocal influences, he add, “But from then on, it turned into Mick Jagger. And then from Mick Jagger was Joe Strummer and then from Joe Strummer was Nivek Ogre from Skinny Puppy. And then Al Jourgensen from Ministry, and then Bono at some point. I really really loved Bono.”

What Made Richard Patrick Start Singing?

Growing up, Patrick was in a band with Dave Salay (now of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra) and it was the drummer’s parents who actually encouraged him to sing. They had a gut feeling he would have a good voice if he gave it a shot. Despite feeling the opposite, Patrick tried it out “and then next think I know I was singing.”

The first time he ever performed in front of an audience was at a fifth grade talent show. “All my classmates said I was going to be a rock star. And they were right, which is wild,” he recalls.

His brother Robert Patrick (an actor who was in Terminator 2: Judgement Day) also encouraged him quite a bit. “He’s one of my heroes in my life. “He was the one that really got me into punk,” the singer adds.

filter richard patrick in charlotte north carolina in 2024

Jeff Hahne, Getty Images

Richard Patrick’s Warm-Up + Warm-Down Routine + Other Show Habits

When it comes to pre-show and post-show habits and routines, every singer is different.

For the Filter frontman, he spends 20 minutes doing a warm-up before a show, which involved some admittedly “hilarious” noises which are more fun to watch in the video below than to read about right here. He also has a quick post-show warm-down making a “zzzz” sound that goes from a high to low pitch.

As for advice on what not to do before a show, he offers, “A singer should never eat a big meal before going on stage because you will burp up your meal the entire show and it is annoying. So I don’t eat like four or five hours before I sing because I don’t wanna burp up my burrito.”

For even more, watch the full episode of How I Learned to Sing directly below.