Confirmation: John definitely not in Swahili Blonde anymore
While it’s certainly a bit upsetting the story with the unofficial first-hand comment got the attention of mainstream media who are in it for presumably different reasons – as well as some upsetting comments – it sure is a breath of fresh air to get a confirmation that John indeed is not a member of Swahili Blonde and that, despite some people saying otherwise, he was the project’s member beforehand.
After the above story and the reached The Fader, their editor, Matthew Schnipper, reached out to Swahili Blonde publicist Tim Jones who confirmed this. Here’s what he said:
“He plays on every track on Man Meat but then quit the band. He felt obligated to perform at least a song the other week as tons kids drove very far to seem him play thinking he was in the band still. I don’t think he’ll be making anymore cameos though. Probably won’t be on their next album I hear, but he definitely left his mark on this one.â€
So, unlike some other situations where it’s becoming clear that the “right” people were never notified of what happened, this case is dismissed – John is not a member of Swahili Blonde and it’s likely that he won’t be a part of their live line-up again, either, perhaps even not the studio album. However, the seven stunning songs peppered with his funky guitar, ranking from the up-tempo LeMampatee to the ecletic Tigress Ritual, which he also co-wrote, are still awesome, so support the band and buy their album, check out their next tour dates or watch their first music video for the above-mentioned song, LeMampatee.
At the same time, the creators of an upcoming surprise related to John’s guest appearance at the band’s maiden show cannot keep their mouth shout, so go and see what you’re all in for and give the idea a thumb-up! I am sure it will be appreciated.
This said, back to the daily routine of waiting for another stellar collaboration to happen, hoping for a blog entry and/or news on the 11th (12th?) solo record. As we all know, the wait is sweet, like real sugar, not corn syrup, and it usually pays out bigtime. I’ll leave you with this quote on John’s time with this particular band, courtesy of Margaret Wappler of PopHiss, and some recent beautiful things that came our way.
It’s been plastered around the Web that this is Frusciante’s band — and while it’s true that he plays guitar on the lion’s share of “Man Meat,” he’s no longer a part of Swahili Blonde; word is that he quit last month, something he did a couple of times with the Chili Peppers too. I guess these are the kinds of inexplicable mash-ups that happen in Los Angeles: One moment John Frusciante is sending out blasts of guitar skronk in your quasi-experimental band and then the next, he’s gone with the pink sunset.
The beautiful things that happened AFTER John left RHCP in autumn ’08:
All posts on The Empyrean
The Heart Is A Drum Machine – with a 45-minute interview
Official RHCP book to be released in October
Me And My Friends – the picture book on RHCP
Another upcoming film where John will be interviewed
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quarter’s “Sepulcros de Miel
Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & John Frusciante album
The Mars Volta’s “Octahedron”
An awesome live jam on radio from Mike Watt’s podcast
N.A.S.A.’s “Way Down” where John did something (and no one ever said what)
Little Joe soundtrack
Wu-Tang Vs The Golden Phoenix soundtrack
Warpaint EP, mixed by John and more
Rick Rubin book released – a lot of insight on the creative process
Michael Rother’s plans
John was voted the best guitarist of the last 30 years
…and let’s not forget Speed Dealer Moms
