Interview for Mondo Sonoro: “I am not a slave to people’s expectations”

John’s interviews for Maya keep on coming and they are all good. This most recent one was posted on Spanish portal Mondo Sonoro and, just like the other two, it went further than just discussing the well-received release. John names some influences that he has not talked about in print before, finds common elements in his only 2018 release and a well-known RHCP ballad; and answers some casual, yet philosophical questions.

Excerpts:

Q- How did your personality influence you in your venture into electronic music? What did you learn?
A- I learnt to think about music as what it really is: sounds organised by the mind and the human spirit. I love playing guitar, but traditional instruments often encourage people to use their hands to define musical quality, and that’s a mistake. Music is feeling within sound, and the more electronic music I do, the more I understand that principle. Now I’m able to create music by pressing buttons to control the electricity. When I play guitar I do the same thing. It’s all about electricity, whether it’s the charge in our bodies and minds or the equipment I use.

Q- What would be the common denominator that ties all the different sides of John Frusciante?

A- Honestly I feel like I didn’t do all of it. I remember most phases of my career as if I was remembering someone else’s life, or like a dream. For someone who never had the ability to create characters, I felt I’ve been many different people. Maybe that inconsistency or instability is my common denominator. Some musicians establish a character for themselves when they’re in their 20s and stay that way throughout their entire careers. I admire that consistency and integrity. I, on the other hand, feel like I’ve been possessed by many different spirits and I try to keep up. But, I do feel there is a special feeling in my music that goes beyond that. I had that feeling when I was 14 years old and it always comes back no matter what type of music I do. I can hear the same spirit in “A3tlip” and “I Could Have Lied”.

Read the whole interview in the site’s press archive.

Many thanks to Jesus Gutierrez, for translation and Shalhevet for finding the article.

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