Love Is Worth Betting On

They took their time. The most popular rock band in Poland (a record-breaking number of 130,000 copies of Californication sold) have prepared their new album after a three-year break. During that time, the musicians made some serious revaluation not only in their lives, but also in their music. By The Way may come as a shock to the old fans. Nevertheless, those who fell in love with the Peppers’ new and more mellow sound from the previous album will be delighted.

Interviewing in the back of a big European festival is not the same as visiting the musicians’ home town. Small buildings with businesses like “dressmaking” don’t really fit into the stereotype of Beverly Hills’ splendour. However, the neighbourhood where the musicians grew up looks pretty much like that. I know it, because I lived right by the Fairfax High School where the band came into being…

A quick chat by the so-called “round table” is not the same as a several-dozen-minute interview alone in peace and quietness. Actually, there was some extra time; after entering the hotel in Santa Monica which was full of journalists, I bumped into Chad Smith, who was sitting by a table. The man always looks a bit alienated from his colleagues, which is probably an accurate observation, judging from his presence in this place. We had met before, so I decided it was ok to interrupt him in consuming his beer.

After a while I found myself in the presence of someone with a completely different taste in drinks. John Frusciante was holding a cup of green tea in his hand. With a pretty large beard, he reminded me of a rock star from the seventies. As it turned out a few moments later, Grand Funk Railroad’s album was figuring in his portable collection of CDs, right beside electronic artists and a set of instrumental surf tunes…

Flea was the one I had to wait for. He was having dinner. Casa Del Mar Hotel is an oasis of luxury but it was sausages on a stick, three dollars each, bought in a beach stand that the bassist ate. In comparison with a massive guitarist he appears to be tiny. His face shows signs of ageing, tough experiences and unhealthy lifestyle. Despite the ill name, his manners are winsome and he is grinning all the time. A happy, staid man. Only his blue hair and a mohawk remind me who is sitting in front of me…

The Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist and bassist are introducing us into their band’s new world.

[interview with John Frusciante]

When we talked last year, in February, you said the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ new album would be released in the fall. Then there were numerous schedule changes and it was eventually set for the summer of 2002.
I may have said that, but when it comes to working on new material, there is no way you can determine when it will end. In February 2001 we started composing, it went on till September, in October we went to the studio to record the basic tracks. At that stage we had 21 songs. I wanted to record when we had 10 but the other guys insisted that we make more and then choose the best ones; in the end there were 28 compositions. They were right — I wouldn’t have been satisfied with the first ten. First part of recording took three weeks, then I did overdubs for another week — keyboards, synths and so on… And suddenly, the day we were supposed to record vocal parts, Anthony got sick. We spent all December and January doing nothing.

What was wrong with him?
He had some sort of a problem with his throat, stuffy nose — something like flu. Of course he was writing lyrics at that time… But we went on to record the vocals only in February. Anthony did some songs, I started to make my harmonies and now, in the beginning of May, we’re finishing the mixing process. At the moment we’ve got four songs left.

On By The Way there are mostly calm, mellow songs. Is this direction connected to the fact that for the first time you are relaxed, there are no reshuffles, drug problems etc?
People said the same thing about Californication, that it was calm… I think they should understand that we’re no longer a punk-funk band. We’re a group of guys who try to create good music. Of course I love playing heavy. It just doesn’t inspire me. I’m looking for good melodies. When we began working on this material we made a lot of punk stuff, I came up with a lot of simple riffs, like The Damned. I listened to Fugazi’s new album, went to their shows… And the heavy songs turned out to be worse than the ones I composed using complex chords, in a medium tempo. Those had something magical in them. For me the magical sound is far more important than the heavy sound. While we were making the album I listened to The Beatles, The Smiths, Durutti Column… And what you have to remember is that working with a producer oriented to songs, we had to focus on making songs.

Heavy sound is one thing, but don’t you miss the funk energy?
– Oh, we did come up with some funk songs. They just didn’t make it onto the record. We’ve got, for instance, a beautiful 10-minute-long piece called Upseen. We’ll probably release it one day. I love funk, but it wasn’t what I wanted for this album. I didn’t want it to be a funky record. I just wanted it to be beautiful.

Why did you decide to record the vocals in such an unusual place, Chateau Marmont?
– Well, Chateau is much cheaper than a normal studio. When you record the vocals using Pro Tools, it doesn’t really matter where you’re doing it. So we chose a place where we all feel comfortable and which is close.

All right, but singing can get pretty loud. Didn’t it bother the people from other rooms?
– There wasn’t any problem. I lived in this hotel once. I used to yell at the top of my lungs till 7 a.m. and there never was a single complaint. No one complained during this recording, either.

Wouldn’t it be easier to do it in the BSSM mansion? After all, it belongs to Rick Rubin now.
– Nah… It’s a closed chapter now. It was nice there, but we would feel as if we were travelling back in time. I think we can do better than that.

You play a lot of keyboard instruments on the album, samples appear in some of the songs. Do these elements of electronic music come from your solo experiences?
– After my solo record it was obvious that I’ve been using some of the possibilities that electronica gives. No wonder that this sound appears on this record as well. We didn’t put it into our music earlier because I couldn’t make use of the equipment. I’ve been able to do it only for a couple of years now. In the Californication intro I play a few notes on the synth, but at the time I didn’t really know what it was all about, I had a mediocre instrument. Now it makes more sense to me, I can use it more wisely. But still, we’re talking about little, gentle sounds, not the foundation of the music in any way. Only Warm Tape was composed using a synthesizer, I used it at rehearsals. The rest are guitar songs. Using synth, getting to know it, trying to understand how it works allow me to have a fresh approach to music. And to guitar playing, as well.

What does Rick Rubin think about the electronic thing? He’s a producer associated with rock music, after all.
– He doesn’t mind. Remember that his original area of interest was hip-hop… He likes this new band, The Faint, he’s always been a fan of Nine Inch Nails. He likes those electronic things I do. He’s ok with me using it, just like with every other idea. He’s not one of those people who clip one’s wings. Sometimes he helps us get all in order, he suggests things.

You’ve been working with Rick Rubin for more than 10 years now…
– He lets us be ourselves, doesn’t push us in the direction he wants us to go. He’s got a fair sense of musical balance. His effort makes the arrangements as coherent, precise and powerful as possible. Also, he can tell the truth about songs. I know he will squeeze the best of us and everyone will give the best they can… I really trust him, which I can’t say about any other producer out there. You know what? I’m not sure if I can trust anyone else in the Peppers right now.

Is the producer present at the rehearsals?
– No, we play alone, Rick only steps in when we’ve already got enough songs. This time we had been composing for about four months before we decided to invite him. But for a month before going to the studio he was staying with us every day.

Last time we talked, it appeared that you would take a new-wave direction on this album, something like in Parallel Universe off Californication. Instead, there are more things like Otherside.
– We had a beautiful tune like what you said. Flea, Chad and I loved it, but Anthony didn’t like it. He didn’t know what to do with it. This band is based on democracy. Even if I go in a particular direction, I have to take others’ opinions into consideration. We don’t create something unless it’s approved by all of us. If Rick Rubin says that our punk stuff is worse than the rest, we won’t play it. When you pick songs for the album, you choose the best, not those that match the style. The most important is whether the song is good – not the genre.

Weren’t you afraid that the predominance of ballads might confuse your old fans?
– We thought about it, but in my opinion we kept it balanced in terms of slow songs. I’m not worried about it. Let’s take Sgt. Pepper for instance – the slow tracks are dominant on it, but nobody would say it’s a bad album! The Beatles were my favourite band while making this record.

In Off The Map DVD interviews one of you said that the band had been having a hard time at the beginning of the Californication tour. What was happening?
– Do you mean, with Chad?

I don’t know, what about him?
– During the tour there was a moment when Chad was drinking too much, there were too many all-night-long parties… He was making the band weak, his spirit was somewhere else. At first Flea was having problems, too. I believe it was something with his ears, the sound on stage was too loud for him. But he got his in-ear monitors and everything was OK. Generally, I have very good memories from the Californication tour [a long moment of silence followed by a sudden return to the previous topic of our conversation; obviously it gave him something to think about]. Three hits from the last album were slow… You know, I think you expect from us something that a fifteen-year-old would. [mhm, he’s got a surprising psychological gift]. People expect us to be the 1988 Red Hot Chili Peppers. But we had popular songs like Under The Bridge or Breaking The Girl when BloodSugarSexMagik was released. Beautiful melodies shouldn’t surprise when they appear in our work.

Right. Coming back to the relations in your band – how is it here in L.A., apart from the tour? Do you meet socially or do you lead separate lives?
– We live separately. But we see one another every day, in the rehearsal room. Sometimes we go to the same places; for instance, I recently saw Anthony at a Dogtown premiere. Sometimes we do things together. Last year me, Flea and my friend Josh [Klinghoffer, a member of Bicycle Thief], we formed a Joy Division cover band. We learned almost all of the songs and then played them live… Chad doesn’t hang out with us, though, he has a completely different lifestyle.

The By The Way cover was made by Julian Schnabel, a well-known painter and filmmaker. I know that you composed music for a fashion show which was prepared partly by his daughter, Stella.
– Yeah, she’s my girlfriend. It wasn’t a big deal, just a favour. I compose something for myself all the time, at that time I especially liked sound programming. Stella and Zak Posen, fashion designer, are friends. She asked me if I could write a song for his show… I started working at 9 p.m. and I had it done by 11 a.m. the following day. I’m glad that something I like doing helped her at work, she worked hard to plan this show. She’s my girlfriend, I love her, it was great.

[interview with Flea]

On one of the singles from your previous album, there is a song called Gong Li. There is a mellow part and the heavier part… It’s a Californication out-take. However, By The Way is full of similar compositions.
– It’s funny you mention Gong Li, I was just talking about this tune with someone… I didn’t think about it in connection with our new record, though. You’re right, the melodic part with the chords [sings the part] could resemble the direction we’ve taken now. But overall, it was a very weird song, I mean the weird rhythm part… As for the sound of the new CD, we’ve been heading for it for a long time. John was always good at coming up with the chords, it’s his great gift. Anthony is a natural when it comes to singing to it. A lot of these beautiful songs came to us unconsiously — a few riffs, some bass line… They were representing a different kind of emotions than the one we had been familiar with in the past. The basic reason why it happened is that we have changed as human beings. We’ve gone through some painful experiences in life and we’re on the other side now. With a different view on things, deeper, with more understanding… We want to express ourselves in a different way. Pain changes a lot in a person’s life. If you’ve felt it — been drinking, doing drugs, fueling up with aggression — and if you’re done with it, it’s going to be something beautiful. I think this is what happened to us. We’ve grown up, every one of us and as a band. We are able to express ourselves in a deeper way, we’ve gained new musical dynamics.

How does this new dynamics relate to the old funky one?
– Well, we’ve still got the old songs. We can play them even heavier than before, because we are operating on a completely different basis now. You know what I mean? Doing something can get even more exciting if you don’t do it all the time. Playing Give It Away is hundred times better if I can play something beautiful from the new record next. I’m stepping on a much broader musical ground. I think every musician wants to do his best in every way that’s possible for him. Similarly, every person has a whole bunch of emotions inside: anger, sadness, happiness… When we started recording, we had a lot of songs differing from one another. Those that stayed were the ones Anthony wanted to sing to, the ones he liked. It turned out that he liked the nice, melodic ones.

Did you notice any new approach to the lyrics because of that?
– From my point of view, he wants to be more sensitive now, he wants to show love… He shows that he loves when it would be easier to be angry [the singer broke up with his long-term girlfriend during the recording]. This is true courage, I think — to love in a situation which provokes the opposite. There are times when love is something really difficult. But it’s always worth betting on.

What has changed in you? You’ll be turning forty soon – do you have any reflections about that?
– I think that life has put me in a lot of different situations. There were beautiful moments but also a time of great pain. When I was young, when something terrible happened, I would get stoned to get away from it, or go crazy, yelling fuck it [he utters an inarticulate sound]. Nowadays, however, I accept the bad things. I want to feel them, let them change me.

You recently said that something bad was happening after Californication had come out…
– I had a very hard emotional situation at the time. I was living for a long time with someone I loved very much and it started to fall apart, leading me to this place I haven’t been in since I was a boy… I was really scared. When it was clear to me that the end was coming, I went through a mental breakdown. It was extremely painful. But, on the other hand, it helped me release the pain that had been stuck in me for all my life. When I finally decided to do it, I grew up.

Do you feel that you have grown up enough to teach other people? I’m talking about the school you set up – Silverlake Conservatory Of Music.
– I don’t teach there unfortunately, I’m too busy with the band. When I have free time, I prefer to go on holidays. But maybe someday I’ll dedicate myself to passing on knowledge. Fish, drummer from Fishbone, teaches in my school. Also, Lonnie Marshall, the Weapon Of Choice bassist. [brother of Arik Marshall who used to play with RHCP] I just wanted to create an environment that would enable the kids to learn music. To build something good, use the energy that life gave me to make others happier. I’ve been striving for it all the time, even though I never realized it.

Do you teach your daughter how to play any instrument?
– No… She was taking bass classes in my school, but with a different teacher. She wouldn’t listen to me. Sometimes I hear her play at home and she plays incorrectly, so I show her how to do it right. And she goes like: No, you don’t know how to play it, give me back my bass! [laughs]

Does she have an opinion about the new record, about the band’s music as a whole?
– Clara doesn’t really talk to me about it. She’s been listening to my music since day one, but she never said if she liked it or not. Probably she likes it, she knows it’s OK, but at 14 you have to be cool. You can’t tell your schoolmates that your parents do cool things.

But her dad plays in the Red Hot Chili Peppers!
– She doesn’t care. She thinks I’m stupid. [laughs with a big dose of love and devotion in his face] Now she digs punk rock — The Ramones, Rancid, she likes The Strokes… She thinks our music is too sophisticated. You play in a sophisticated way, nothing wrong with that, that’s the way The Beatles played, I like The Beatles, but it’s not for me. [laughs again]

Can you tell us how Flea’s typical day looks like?
– I get up early to drive Clara to school. Then I practice yoga, I exercise a bit to keep my body in shape… I listen to some good music. In the afternoon I take a nap, at least an hour, I love it. [the look of great happiness is written on his face] Then I go to rehearsal room, have a nice dinner, possibly a date later…

You mentioned The Beatles. There’s a bass line in Midnight which reminds me of their music.
– If you’re asking if they influenced me, I’ll say yes, I’ve always loved them. Paul McCartney is a great bass player, with a big melodic sense. For a couple of years I’ve been playing more melodic. It means to me that I’m becoming a better musician. I hear the melody and I’m able to translate that melody to my instrument. Apart from all the things I did earlier… Life changes. I have to be true to myself in this particular moment. I can’t be in the place where I was several years ago. So when people ask me why I’m not this mad bassist I used to be, I always say — because I’m growing up! I’m getting better! A melodic part can be as interesting as aggressive slapping. I understand that I’m known for slapping, and people were excited about that new, different stuff I brought to rock music. But I hope I can be recognized for what I’m doing now as well.

The band has been working with Rick Rubin for more than ten years now. It seems that he’s somebody like George Martin in the Beatles…
– Yeah, I think he’s the best producer in the world. And he’s a true friend – I’m proud that I know him. He’s like an angel, he helped me in my tough moments. He showed me that you can live differently. I respect and love him.

Is it true that he first met you when you were playing with Hillel Slovak, but he refused to work with you?
– That’s true. However, we didn’t ask him to work with us. He just showed up in the rehearsal room. It must have been a really weird moment — there were a lot of drugs in the air, I don’t think we were feeling comfortable with one another at the time… I guess it scared him. Our meeting was weird — he came in with the Beastie Boys, who were yelling and grabbing our instruments, starting to play… There was no chance to communicate properly.

Were there any changes in the production process in comparison to Californication?
– Not really. John just wanted to play a bit more — keyboards, guitars, vocal harmonies… It complicated the mixing process a bit, but the recording procedure stayed the same.

– Do you share John’s inspirations from electronic music?
Some of my favourite artists are Tricky, Aphex Twin and Squarepusher. I’ve always liked the older stuff like Kraftwerk. And, of course, funk combined with electronica. But John loves Depeche Mode, for example, and I never got into them.

The father

The cover of the new Red Hot Chili Peppers album wasn’t made by just ‘someone’. Julian Schnabel is an acclaimed painter, called ‘the father of neo-expressionism’. He’s also the father of Stella, John Frusciante’s girlfriend, and a film director – his most famous work is Basquiat (1996), a biography of this New York artist.

The skeptic ones say that Schnabel is more a master of self-promotion than a genius – there is a buzz around him as if he were a rock star. However, his works are shown in the Museum of Modern Art, New York, as well as in Centre Pompidou, Paris and Tate Gallery, London. His film Before the Night Falls (2000) won a prize at Venice Film Festival.

(below the photo: Julian Schnabel, self-portrait (1987))

Sight-seeing in the City of Angels (with the Chili Peppers)

1. Fairfax High School, 7850 Melrose Avenue
An educational institution where Flea, Anthony Kiedis and Hillel Slovak had the chance to meet. Other famous graduates: Slash, Demi Moore, Phil Spector.

2. Chateau Marmont Hotel, 8221 Sunset Boulevard
A legendary hotel in Hollywood where guest such as Clark Gable and Jim Morrison had been accommodated. It’s a place where John Belushi fatally overdosed. In 1996, during his dark drug-filled (?) period, John Frusciante came here, but was turned out/thrown out. Later he came back to record the vocal parts for By The Way.

3. Houdini Mansion, 2398 Laurel Canyon Boulevard
The hounted house from BSSM sessions. Apart from the famous magician the mansion was rented by Frank Zappa; during that time an impressive ensemble of rockstars from the 60’s (plus their groupies) appeared in/on/at the property. Then the place was owned by Eric Burdon. Rick Rubin has been the owner recently, but he wants to sell it.

4. The bridge downtown (The Belmont Tunnel), Beverly Boulevard/Glendale Boulevard
Anthony has never told which bridge he’s singing about in the famous song – we’ll conventionally take a look at the tunnel near the boulevards’ crossing. Built 75 years ago as a passage/passing/way for trams, now out of order with a graffiti-covered transformers room (:| ?), attracts the homeless and gangsters. It appeared in the Under The Bridge music video and a lot of films.

5. Kit Kat Club, Santa Monica Boulevard/Hudson Avenue
Now closed strip club which hosted a lot of rock concerts/bands? in the 80’s. It was this club where the Chili Peppers first did the socks thing.

6. Venice
In the early 20th century a very rich man decided that he would make a second Venice in California. So he dug the canals, even brought some gondoliers… Fifty years later the place became Mecca of all artists – first were the beatniks, then in the 60’s – the hippies, and some time later young Anthony came here for lunch with his father. A bit older Anthony found his Queen here.

— Bartek Koziczynski