The MusicRadar podcast is up and it’s also transcribed.
Written on January 5, 2009 in Elsewhere on the web & with 20 responses
Tags: answers, audio, interview, musicradar, podcast, questions, transcripts
MusicRadar's three-part interview with John Frusciante regarding recording of The Empyrean, the future of Red Hot Chili Peppers and responses to what site visitors had asked is up.
If any of your questions got answered, shout. ^_^ I was pleasantly surprised that mine got picked and answered, as it was a bit out of the way and the only one not related to music. So...anyone else? There's got to be five more people...
According to Music Radar's introduction and the very end of the interview; more confusion was brought into the already confusing story about the future of the world's biggest rock band at the moment. And, according to what we have read in another interview two months ago, there IS a new project, so all of this does not make sense. Or does it?
They also gave a very good preview of The Empyrean:
On Frusciante's latest album, The Empyrean, the guitarist plays by no known rules and the result is a collection of songs that are challenging and poetic but never conventional. They hover in the air and land in special, secret places. From the feedback poetry of Before The Beginning to the guitar psychodrama of Enough Of Me (the latter of which features of gutsy, full-throated vocal performance) to the haunting beauty of Song To The Siren (a Tim Buckley original), this is a record that will stick with you in both waking and sleeping moments.
Volunteers on this website were working hard and super-fast to bring everyone a transcript of this insightful interview. On this note, I would like to thank my friend Slobodan Marković for having transcribed the first part, the second part was done by Sabrina Samwald and the third by yours truly.
Part one: The recording of The Empyrean (page 1-2)
Part two: Working with Johnny Marr, guitars and sounds (page 3-4)
Part three: Listeners' questions (pages 5-7)
20 Reactions to The MusicRadar podcast is up and it’s also transcribed.
Pravila za komentarisanje:
Josh Freese... Jesus, when will they learn.
NEW BLOG ENTRY!
sounds like he's walking during the interview.
josh freese is a real person i believe. i just googled the name and a myspace came up, so are both josh's on the album? or is it a typo im still really confused
Josh Freese is real. He actually worked with John before.
So I guess, Freese is another guest musician on like 1-2 tracks and Josh(Klinghoffer) is playing drums on the other songs.
We'll have to wait for the album and the credits to be sure, though.
:>
i wrote a message to josh freese via myspace. i hope that he can clarify the situation soon.
Maybe it's me but.. I think there were not enough questions from fans
I mean John talks soo much haha that mr Joe was able to ask him only about 5 of them 
pity, but in all in all, a good interview, It was nice to hear John 
And knew something new about The Empyrean, I can't wait to hear it even more now.
Yeh I agree. Real shame there weren't more questions but the answers he gave were very insightful.
Yeah I know Freese but there were no mentions on him working on the album before (well there was another but read further). Klinghoffer isn't mentioned in this article (nor in the other one) so I'm super sure they made a big mistake.
was it just me or did john sound pissed off when he mentioned the red hot chili peppers? it seemed like he really didnt want to talk about it or something?
sure
Yeah, I noticed the same, as I've already said that on rhcp official forum. I don't know why, maybe he wants to play music with them again now, after making his solo album, but they don't want to? They want now to do solo stuff and Anth is a father? I have no idea, but yeah, he really sounded kinda pissed off :/
I can hear that part again and again and every time I notice some new feeling or thing I can hear out of his voice.
It's VERY emotional...
Maybe it could look like he's pissed off, when the guy asks him about the rhcp but i don't think there's trouble in the band. it could be a secret project or so
but it's only my impression...
@mery: I rather had the feeling, that he is not very thrilled about making music with the peppers right now.
thank you so much (all three of you) for transcribing the interview! i am at work and it's hard to listen to. very interesting thoughts in there.
i can't wait for the new album.
It seemed to me that when the RHCP were mentioned that John was taken aback and didn't want to discuss them because at this time there is nothing to discuss. When he said "there's more to life" it gave me the impression that they are through for now. I think John wants to continue creating and exploring his own style of music rather than collaborating with the guys he's been making music with for the past 10 years. It wasn't what I wanted to hear, but as long as he keeps making music and continues contributing his beautiful essence to music, I'll be happy. The others seem to be moving on as well...Chad with his different bands (Chickenfoot, Meatbats, etc.) and Flea going on tour with Rod Stewart's old band and Anthony being a new dad and that HBO show about his childhood with Blackie in Hollywood. It seems they're at a point in their lives where they are off in different directions. Maybe someday they will create together again...and that would be great. Meanwhile, I'll take whatever John has to offer!!
I sort of got the impression that he was done with the Chili Peppers for good..
Yeah, I too got the impression that he's done with the Peppers. Especially because of the 'You're going to need to turn the tape recorder off'. I feel he was about to tell him that they're or at the very least HE is done with them. Hence the somewhat anger. I'm sure he wants to be done with it, at least for a while, but others in the band (Anthony) don't and want to come back way too soon for his liking. Hence, when the band got brought up he immediately said nothing, then somewhat angrily said turn the tape off to clarify his position. Only then to decide to just recite the OFFICIAL, and listen to how he stresses official, statement. John seems like a very no-BS kind of guy when it comes to these type of things. I'm sure he wants to just say they are done, but the others, and again I will suggest Anthony, don't want to. It's sad to think this since most of us love the band, but I just want to hear the straight truth. If they're done just come out and say it, which is what I think John is saying or rather hinting at here. Why BS it? Come out and say you guys are done, then if you decide to pick it up again, great, if not, well, we have all the records and footage and things to remember a truly great band.
To clarify, I primarily point to Anthony as the cause of friction/tension because I feel he has the most to loose without the Chili Peppers. Even when he gave that RS interview he said he was getting that 'itch' to write songs again. While I'm sure this is true, but look at what Anthony has lined up: a kid and producing an HBO series about himself. What else is he going to do with his life? It's not like he could/would make a solo record. Flea has his own thing, Chad has his own thing and John clearly has his own thing and wants to explore it a lot more. Anthony has little to nothing without the Chili Peppers. Not that I'm saying his kid is nothing, but he needs something else in his life besides his child. We all need to work or at least have some form of creative outlet, for him those are the same thing and he's losing them both. Plus, I'm sure while they have their best work ahead of them, John probably feels that his best work lies away from the Chili Peppers and with his own various projects. With that said, I do think we will see another record from them. Most likely that 10-12 song record they've always wanted to record, the so called 'perfect record'. There will be one last attempt at it, and with that they will finally truly part ways.
I also want to restate these are just my opinions based upon what John has said in this interview and what the other members have said in previous interviews. They obviously aren't the actual opinions of the members themselves, at least not the vocalized opinions.
"Yeah, I too got the impression that he’s done with the Peppers. Especially because of the ‘You’re going to need to turn the tape recorder off’."
Me too.
"They obviously aren’t the actual opinions of the members themselves, at least not the vocalized opinions."
It's totally weird ... imagine you travel (more than one year) with more 3 guys and you don't know nothing about the others.... It's very very very very weird...
I saw some newers show (I mean from SA tour) and We CAN EASILY SEE that they're not connect each other...
"one time JF tries to sit the head on AK shoulders and AK not even reacts...."
"other time you see JF singing and AK tries to sing togheter then JF says a word so AK stop to singing" ( how deep is your love )
"if you just see ! you'll see the group is not the group they're kind split don't look each other..."
ps: all this is my personal opnion. (I swear for God to be wrong, however another CD from Chili Peppers with JF is almost impossible)
I'm guessing he is on good terms with flea still. He doesn't seem to have re-recorded the bass parts to spite him or anything. I thought he sounded quite nervous or like he'd been running or something at the start of the interview. Anyway who cares about the RHCP, as pitchfork put it, however pretentious they may be, I have to agree I am also sick of songs about California, sex and having sex in California. When Anthony attempts to deviate from this formula, on stadium especially, I feel he just highlights the fact that his lyrics are very weak. They put on some good shows, but I think it is high time they called it a day. "White as snow" a powerful simile from Anthony Kiedis. Nice chord progression too, never heard that before... but really, they were powerful array of talent fronted by a poetaster. John will keep it real for many years to come I hope.