Frusciante Steps Out With American Set
LOS ANGELES – Add to the annals of unusual, individualistic solo albums American Recordings’ self-titled solo debut by ex-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante. It will fit right in with the disquieting solo set “Oar” by Moby Grape guitarist Alexander Spence, some of Boston bizarro Michael Hurley’s best, and the collected works of Texas original Daniel Johnston.
The record, due Nov. 8, is a nearly indescribable, 28-track opus that features Frusciante singing and accompanying himself on electric and acoustic guitars, often over a bed of reversed and hand-manipulated tapes.
The musician apparantly is unconcerned that Chili Peppers fans – who are familiar with his funk-laden work on “Mother’s Milk” and the group’s multiplatinum “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” – might be daunted by the new album’s elusive experimentalism.
“If they have any imagination, if their heads are capable of tripping out, they’ll get it,” Frusciante says.
Much of [the album] was composed while the Chili Peppers were recording “Blood Sugar” in L.A. nearly three years ago. It was recorded over a period of couple of years on a home four-track machine, prior to and following Frusciante’s departure from the Chili Peppers in mid-1992.
With the exception of a couple of unnamed women who offer vocal support, the only other performer on the album is actor River Phoenix, who died of a drug overdose last October. Phoenix is heard (in one case on a reversed tape) on the songs “Bought Her Soul” and “Soul Removal.”
“I don’t have anybody to play with anymore,” Frusciante says in reference to Phoenix.
Typical of the eccentricity of the project, nearly half of the tracks on [the album] are untitled. Frusciante says at first he didn’t even want to put his name on the album: “I wanted to create some freak-out guy from the ’60s, who I would play as a character.”
He adds that larger plans for the music on the album are possible. “I hired a guy to write it out for string quartet. The whole second half of it was written for string quartet.”
Considering that a record as unconventional as Frusciante’s affords few possibilities for commercial radio, and that American at this point is not contemplating a video for the project, the label will seek to engage old fans and develop a groundswell of interest among hip consumers.
American’s national sales manager Dave Garbarino says, “We want to go to his fan base who know him as a good guitar player, who know that he played with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and mobilize that. There’s going to be a lot of press and in-store play, and the avant-garde retail people are really excited about this record.
Danny Ornelas, who leads American Recordings’ alternative retail-marketing efforts, is getting involved in the project on the ground floor.
Ornelas says, “We’re really utilizing independent stores for the John Frusciante record, because it’s going to take a lot of word of mouth from those stores. So I’ve been talking to those stores a lot about this record. I’m going to get them some advances, and get them to start talking about the record… Then people can decide for themselves if they like it or not.”
Initial reaction to informal spins of the record has been dramatic, says Ornelas, who notes that record store personnel say, “Oh my God, this is insane.” Adds Ornelas, “They freak out about it, and it’s not a bad freak-out. It really hits ’em, it really shocks ’em, and it makes ’em talk about it.”
Ornelas admits that major chains might be standoffish about the album. “As far as in-store play, they can’t really play stuff that has the kind of language that’s on this record.”
He concedes that expecting in-store play for a song titled “You Pussy’s Glued To A Building” is “kinda pushing it for a Musicland.”
