Dotmusic.com interview 2001

Part 2

“If it hadn’t been for my discovery of punk rock I don’t know what might have happened to me,” is how Frusciante answers the question about whether music been his salvation.

“I had so many confusing feelings and to find that people who I thought were made of the same thing, experiencing the same pain is what made me feel good about my pain. Ever since then when I think about a musician I love, is a type of mediation for me, it’s soothes my head and makes me feel good when nothing else could.

“If there was nothing but the building and houses and streets life won’t be worth living. What makes life wonderful is the burst of beauty that comes up from people who are creative. And images, if I think of David Bowie I get a very soothing sensation over my whole body ‘cos I love him.”

If music was so important why did you stop playing and what promoted you to start again?
“When I gave it up I was painting and drawing all the time and at a point I felt I was de-progressing as a visual artist. For me to do the types of paintings that I wanted to do might have taken another 20 years if I ever could have done them because they required a lot technical skill that I didn’t have.

“But with music I knew that I did have that skill even though I didn’t have it anymore I could get it back probably in eight months or a year.”

DotMusic then diverted the focus back to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their plans to return to the studio to start work on the follow up to their nine million selling ‘Californication’ album.

“We rehearsed for a few days before the South American shows…we were jamming and coming up with ideas for new songs. It was great and I love the new sound so much.”

He also described it as “the freshest stuff we’ve ever done.”

“The music we were doing reminded me of the early Public Image I was playing a textural wall of sound and an influence of dub music in some of it. Really spacious.

“Flea was playing with a pick. He’s been learning Peter Hook’s (Joy Division-era) bass lines. And I’ve been playing in a different sort of way that’s been influenced by this electronic music that I listen to. I’m approaching the guitar from a completely different headspace.

“Chad (drummer) was playing really interesting beats. Some of it was really heavy and it felt really good. How do you describe these things, they are feelings I know the feeling of our next album very clearly in my head. I know that there are a lot of new rhythms and new sounds for people to hear. Everything we do it’s going to be fresh.”

Video of part 2

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