Complete Composition, Perfect Freedom

“For me, playing a rock guitar solo or writing an excellent rock song is something I can do without thinking.”

John Frusciante as you probably know is the man who as the group’s guitarist helped the monster rock band The Red Hot Chili Peppers conquer the ‘90s music scene with their intense ‘funk-rock’ style and even now has unabated fan support. Frusciante joined the band to fill a vacancy but displayed great competence as both a named guitarist and named songwriter in helping the band craft songs with emotional lyricism. There are probably many fans from this era as well as a number of devotees of his musical activities since departing the band as a solo artist — while also collaborating with other musicians — piling up a number of album releases.

Given his superior skill and unique style as a guitarist there are probably many people with the opinion that he should just stick to playing guitar. Last year’s two releases showed he’s deviated far from those expectations but these unique works, Letur-Lefr and PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone, have garnered great respect nonetheless. What was unique was how previously experimental use of electronics had now become the main feature across the board and how much synth-pop and drum-n-bass colored these albums. And what was up with him trading in his guitar for the sampler and synthesizer?

It’s possible we may find answers about all that from this interview that Hashim Barucha has made regarding Frusciante’s new work Outsides which is newly on-sale this week. Below we provide the excerpt. The interview (though it’s mostly a Frusciante monologue) itself is around 30,000 characters and this exclusive interview will no doubt be one of the key selling points of this edition. As you go on and enjoy the new release which was made with contributions from RZA and other members of the Wu-Tang Clan family, you’ll definitely want to have read this in its entirety.

Knowing that the guitar solo featured throughout the 10-minute song “Same” is “illustrative of the process and precision that went into the album’s completion” will help you deepen your understanding of the new work.

Barucha Hashim: After the release of The Empyrean and ever since Letur-Lefr you’ve incorporated a lot of electronic music into your work. Why is that?

John Frusciante: I’ve spent almost my entire life learning music from records. Over the past 30 years more than anything else that’s how I’ve spent my time. By doing so I was able to learn about a lot of different musical genres.

During the time of my last return to The Red Hot Chili Peppers (hereinafter referred to as RHCP), I played guitar a lot while listening to synth-pop, 90’s rave music, hip-hop and computer-based electronic music. While playing guitar along with that kind of music, I found the use of samples and electronic instruments was a completely different approach from guitar playing. The guitar player and the electronic music producer make songs with completely different thought processes and do not combine notes in the same way. For me, playing a rock guitar solo and writing an excellent rock song is something I can do without thinking. The challenge had unfortunately gone away.

But the electronic music of the past 30 years’ new rhythm and phrasing, how it gave birth to a new way of breaking down each measure…well for me this was an unknown world. Despite being an experienced guitarist I could not understand the thought process behind Autechre, Venetian Snares and Aphex Twin. Even if I could reproduce their songs on guitar I could not create similar music myself. The way they combined notes was unfathomable to me. When Aphex Twin’s “Analord” series was released, it was for me on par with the landmark Beatles’ release “Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”. I felt like this was an unknown world that was now a possibility for me to explore. For me this was a new type of funk music.

Funk music developed in the ‘60s and ‘70’s but did not evolve much in the ‘80s and ‘90s, but I realized that Aphex Twin’s “Analord” series pushed funk forward via electronics. While adhering to the traditions of funk, it pushed it forward in a non-traditional way. So until buying equipment like the 202 and the 303 (editor’s note: Roland’s MC-202 Microcomposer synth-sequencer and Roland’s TB-303 bass synth-sequencer, the basic equipment of acid house) I didn’t even know such equipment existed. I had various experiences with a synthesizer, but when I asked what instrument I should buy to make electronic music using a professional synthesizer, it was recommended I opt for an easy-to-use synth such as a Nord Lead. I bought one and gave it a try but was not inspired by this instrument. I knew about analog synthesizers such as the 202 and when I tried programming some I found it very exciting. I thought in order realize my sense of melody via the 202 I had to completely rethink my approach to melody.

I was not yet familiar with how to use the 202, but I found that you could invent a melody that’s never been thought of before. As a musician, I had noticed that we tend to repeat the same patterns. When I went on tour with RHCP I brought along a drum machine and synth to offset my boredom in the hotels, but I still kept making songs the same old way built around verse and chorus. I wanted to break out of that pattern and create melodies with more layered textures.

“I’d never really learned how to use the 202 so once I learned how I realized how to create melodies that I might never have dreamed of. As a musician I could see that we tend to rely upon the same-old melodic patterns.”

Comparing electronic music and pop music, pop is close to Mozart while electronic music is closer to Beethoven. As one particular musical element becomes the focal point rather than [that element] becoming the sole foundation or central element, various other musical elements rise up and get folded in at the same time [on multiple levels and with equal weight]. In other words, there are multiple focal points. In electronic music the drum beat becomes the focus in so many cases. but in rock music the vocals are the focal point. So if you want to have complete freedom of expression in electronic music, you have to approach melody in a completely different way.

I began playing [or studying] jazz as a child. I did not really understand Jazz at all at that time, and that’s exactly why I wanted to learn. It was a completely different kind of musical thinking than I had, so I wanted to learn [to see if I could think differently, musically speaking]. So from that point on I began my study of the music of John Coltrane and Miles Davis. And so I learned a new way of thinking. In life, I’m continuing the process. The moment you step into the world of electronic music I figured you better learn a new approach. You’re surrounded by various electronic devices each requiring different programming. You press the play button of one piece of equipment and it’s completely synchronized with every other electronic device.

That was new and refreshing for me. It was a totally freeing sensation and it freed me from the misconception that I myself was but one part of the big picture. I found I could produce the complete picture all by myself. Instead of being one of the players only, I could now be the composer.

Playing guitar as a member of the band is often times very restrictive.When you write songs as a guitarist of a band you’re only providing a blue-print. When you make electronic music, you can engage in a creative process that is not tied to traditional songwriting.You can then build up the songs starting from an abstract concept. Moreover, with complete control I can manage the sound itself directly. Rather than just playing by changing the pitch of the instrument, it is possible to create a harmonic tone by changing the sound itself.

In a band you have to play your instrument in line with the harmony produced by the other musicians. When you play in a band, there is no choice but to play along with drummer, but with electronic music it is possible to control the rhythm very closely. In the band, you have to play by observing the drummer, and when the drummer speeds up the tempo you must also increase the speed of your playing. Likewise, when the drummer cuts his speed, you have to also slow down. It’s funny. The drummer is given a very strong role within the band, yet drummers don’t write songs — as central as the drummer’s role is, I find that peculiar.

When making electronic music alone, you are the drummer and — making all parts — you can manufacture the sound completely. You eliminate the worry of the sound engineer who’s never really sure if he’s accurately captured the musician’s vision for the sound. For me, making electronic music means I can be totally free musically-speaking. I would even say that rock music is essentially electronic music.

For many categories of the genre, there is in reality no theoretical meaning [translator: no musical theory behind the music’s foundation?]. For example, the ‘alternative’ rock genre is funny. It’s just plain ‘rock’ really. I don’t understand why such a name stuck (laughs). It’s just the logical evolution of rock music. Alternative rock was just alternative to the rock music that had been played up until then — a different possible expression of it. What kind of music is alternative rock? It’s just an alternative to the music of the past. (laughs).

“For me, making electronic music means to be free musically.”

There are people who regard electronic music and rock as completely different, but if it were not for the people who make circuit boards, rock music would not exist. Without the amplifier, the pickup, recording equipment, sound systems, rock music would not exist. So we’re dependent on electronics. As a result of making electronic music for many years and having studied electronic music, I began to listen to rock music in a completely different way. If you listen to rock music nowadays, you will hear the engineer’s method and the characteristics of the room in which it was recorded. I was made to listen as well to how the original instruments sound through the amplifier. In that sense, rock music and electronic music are one and the same. The rock side of me was gradually integrated with the electronic music side of me.

For example, there are rock song(s) on “PBX”, but it was produced via abstract electronic music and by taking a jungle approach. I never imagined I’d be able to make songs by tuning into that kind of method. When I was learning how to make electronic music, I didn’t even think about that kind of thing. Now I have no sense of working within a single genre. My approach is a combination of multiple styles and I freely incorporate whatever musical elements are inside of me. Musical elements from myself 20 years ago as well as musical elements from myself ten years ago are incorporated. There is no gap between the music and me.

For orchestras and rock bands there is always some sort of wall between the musicians and music. For example, though the composer created the work, you have the conductor and the orchestra and there may situational problems for them to deliver on the composer’s wishes.

In electronic music, the composer is liberated completely. Because in order to realize the sound he hears in his head, he’s no longer dependent on others. Plus, it is now possible for him listen to the music while making it in real time. There is no longer a need for you to show your song composition to the band and wait to hear what kind of sound the band actually plays. Because the act of creating and the act of listening occur at the same time, it means the greatest freedom for me. Making electronic music offers me the greatest freedom musically. Because it is the most complete approach to making music.

* This translation has not been completed – want to help?

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