Reason to Scream and Shout

Richard Patrick’s voice is cracking. Really cracking. So maybe the singer-guitarist would rather not be talking right now. He’s already bailed out on an afternoon sound check with his band Filter, choosing instead to remain in his hotel suite with his coffee and cigarettes. But he just can’t help himself.

“The shows are amazing and I have a lot of fun,” says Patrick, 31. “But it’s been brutal. And every time I open my mouth it feels like my vocal cords are going to fall out.”

He sounds irritated, almost angry. But the man is happy. Filter’s newest album, “Title of Record,” has sold more than 600,000 copies, and the Chicago-based band’s headlining show on Friday at the Hollywood Palladium is all but sold out.

“Life is good, bro,” says Patrick. “I can’t believe I’m Top 10. It’s really cool.”

But there remains the abuse to his voice, pushed to its limits through night after night of screaming at tour stops around the globe. So right now he can’t wait to get back home to Chicago and his two cats, Soda Pop and Tony Boy, where he won’t have to sing at all. The only things on his agenda then will be sleep and more sleep. Maybe a movie or two. But that won’t come until he’s finished with another six weeks of touring in the U.S.

“You put me in front of a mike and I go for it, man,” he says. “I don’t hold back for anything--50 people could be sitting in front of me or 12,000. Every night is special. That’s why the shows are so important.”

‘I Don’t Want to Just Do Screaming . . .’

Which probably means it’s a good thing that on the new album Filter has branched out beyond the high-velocity screaming of “Nice Shot Man” and other hard-rocking songs. Even the raging guitars of “Sand,” which opens the album, pause long enough for Patrick to croon the chorus like a heavy metal choirboy. And “Take a Picture” could qualify as accessible pop balladry, set against acoustic guitar riffs.

“I don’t want to just do screaming 24-7,” he explains.

In that spirit, Patrick was also set to co-direct his first video while in Los Angeles this week. The video, for Filter’s upcoming “The Best Things” single, would have Patrick filming in the California desert with classic muscle cars, bonfires and other props.

“I’ve made 10 videos, and every video I’ve learned something,” he says. “I just think it’s about time I expand my horizons as an artist, and this is one of my ways of doing that.”

Patrick began his career as a musician before he was a teenager, when he performed Rick Nelson’s “Amy” for his fifth-grade talent show. It’s been his obsession ever since, fueled by endless hours in his Ohio bedroom listening to the likes of U2, Ozzy Osbourne and Neil Diamond.

“Even my parents believed in me after a while,” says Patrick. “I dropped out of college and lived with my mom and my dad, and they were like, ‘Just keep working at it. Get yourself better and keep writing new songs, and maybe something will happen.’ ”

His first taste of success came after he was recruited by Trent Reznor to play guitar in Nine Inch Nails. His role with that band was limited to playing on the road, so Patrick soon began to exercise his own creative impulses by writing songs between tours. When major labels responded positively to his demo tapes, Patrick quit NIN in 1994 to create Filter, which enjoyed a platinum-selling debut with 1995’s “Short Bus.”

“My music does all the talking,” says Patrick. “I don’t have a shtick. The only shtick I have is maybe I like fashion, maybe I like leather. But I’m not from hell, I’m not from Compton, you know. I’m not wearing gold chains and looking for a $34,000 watch. All I want to do is get a modest apartment in Chicago and make more records. All I am is a musician who loves music, and who does music for the love of music.”

While he is very much the leader of Filter, Patrick insists that the band and its music is a group effort of four committed musicians: Patrick, guitarist Geno Lenardo, bassist Frank Cavanagh and drummer Steve Gillis.

“It’s always fun, every night, for about half an hour there’s just the four of us in that room getting ready to go on stage. Every night we get up there, and there’s always one moment where there’s this beautiful connection between all of us, and it all makes sense.”

BE THERE

Filter, with Chevelle, Friday at the Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Blvd. 7 p.m. $20. (323) 962-7600.