John F’s Road to Nowhere
Who’s crazy enough to trade in a career in one of the most popular rock bands for making electronic music for their own enjoyment at home? That would be John Frusciante, who’s just released his 12th solo album, Enclosure.
Last year, after few years of avoiding interviews, John Frusciante talked to Billboard. When asked about leaving RHCP (after recording “Stadium Arcadium”), he said “I’ve always wanted to make electronic music, but it went so well [with RHCP] and I didn’t think about leaving. In the middle of our tour in 2007 Flea told me, that he’d like to take a break for a couple of years. And that was the moment I asked myself, how many cool things could I do during that time? 4 months later I was so excited about leaving the band that I wanted that feeling to last forever.”
The guitarist explained that he admires Autechre, Aphex Twin, Venetian Snares and Squarepusher; and talked about learning how to work with Roland drum machines. He did not intend to be a rock guitarist anymore, playing same chords and solos again and again. He despises fame so much that he refused to come to RHCP’s RnR Hall of Fame induction ceremony.
The almost 20 years that Frusciante spend playing with his friends from California were a very turbulent period for him. Recording one of the best records “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” and “Californication”, but also touring, that destroyed him. First try at leaving the bad was taken just after great success of “BSSM”. Reason: aversion to fame and rock n roll lifestyle. “Even while recording sessions where still going on I was hearing voices in my head telling me I’m not gonna make it in the band.” – John remembers.
“I had this colorful, made up world at home. I was listening to Captain Beefheart, I was painting, smoking weed, drinking wine. But on the road brutal reality sunk in, and I had to accept that.”
After coming home he fell into deep depression and addiction to heroin and cocaine. During ‘90s he managed to record 2 psychedelic, experimental albums, but he was not ready to pursue a solo career yet. Weak and stick-thin, he went to rehab, pulled himself together and went back to play with Peppers.
2nd try at leaving the band was successful, because it was preceded by a change of lifestyle and artistic thought. No drugs, conscious healthy eating habits, yoga and meditation. In 2004 he set himself a very ambitious task of recording 6 records in 6 months. While looking for inspiration he went through artists like The Smiths, The Cure, Joy Division, The Durutti Column, XTC, PIL, brushed up on Jimi Hendrix, and more often than not he listened to r’n’b, hip-hop and electronic music. “I wanted to bring together many forms of songwriting process in music. Before, melody was always the most important to me, but in hip hop, acid house or jungle the most important part are the drums. My interest in composing classic rock stuff was slowly lost and I started learning to create music without my natural instinct with melodies. The joy of programming beats is that you have no idea how the song is going to end up. It’s not about what do you want the song to be, but it’s about the process of creating the piece.”
At the very beginning of his personal change he worked with Joe Lally (Fugazi) and Josh Klinghoffer as a trio named Ataxia and with Omar Rodriguez-Lopez on The Mars Volta albums. After leaving RHCP and replacing his Fender Stratocaster with a Yamaha SG and automatic drum machines even Rodriguez-Lopez, extravagant musician that he is, said that John’s evolution has outgrown him, and that he’s not able to keep up with it.
“I had to take a break for few years to learn how to work with electronic instruments. Not a thing from those sessions was ever supposed to see light of the day, it was a learning experience, trying to transfer guitar expression to electronic.” – Frusciante explains. “Sometimes it’s good to focus solely on music; without audience and connecting with the sounds. I have achieved the state of mind where even while recording I do not try to impress anybody with my work.”
First taste of John’s new work was a project named Speed Dealer Moms with Aaron Funk (Venetian Snares).
After that, in chronological order, there were “Letur-Lefr EP”, “PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone” and “Outsides EP”. New album, titled “Enclosure” is a combination of experimental work – fast beats with rock maneuverings in “Shining Desert”; long guitar solo and metal riffs in “Sleep”; and typical electronic pieces with ‘broken’ rhythms in “Fanfare”; ’80s sounds in “Stage”; or hip-hop rhythm in “Excuses”. It often gets unpredictable, with complicated composition and unexpected sounds in “Run” and “Zone”. Unfortunately the electronic parts are archaic, and melodies and expression do not fit the music. “Enclosure” is another of John’s experiments, where he is still strenuously sticking to his own path. Maybe his other project, Kimono Kult, with wife Nicole Turley and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez will be more interesting?
