Q&A session, 2001
Interviewer: And you guys seem a lot more happier now too.
Yeah! Like, for me, it’s going to be less of a struggle because during Californication, I was just struggling to get my technique back the whole time. By the time we were ready to record, I was just barely good enough to record a record. But now, I’ve been practicing during the last year and a half and I’ve really formulated a new place for my style to go. My limitations, I’m setting for myself, they’re not being made for me which when we were making Californication, my limitations were being made for me by my lack of ability. Now, I set just as many limitations for myself. Like, I’m not gonna go off Like Mr. Eddie Van Halen. But, I’m gonna set these limitations for myself, so I’ll have more freedom as far as what kind of colors and sounds I wanna use. I noticed at the last rehersal that we were playing, Flea was playing with a pick a lot and I was playing in a very textural kind of a way. I don’t think I’m going to follow any kind of guitar heros at all, for this album. I’m learning more from listening to electronic music or from guitar players like Matthew Ashman of Bow Wow Wow. Also this guy John McKay who was in Siouxsie & the Banshees and Johnny Marr from the Smiths.
I’m a lot better with chords now and I’m able to hear music on a lot more different levels at once, so I can play this kind of washy, textural kind of sound that creates space, even though you can’t tell what’s going on. Not that I’ll be going it with effects or anything, I’ll never have more than one effect, or mostly I have no effects. It just seems that lately I’ve been getting out all kinds of sounds and playing the guitar differently. I can only really speak for myself, ya know, because it’s like everyone else has their own ideas.
The way I’m approaching the guitar now, is not like anybody else who has approached the guitar before, because I’m not learning from guitar players, I’m learning from synthesizer players and sequencers and programmers. I apply these ideas and these ideas of rythim and these ideas of melody to the guitar. So, I’ve been having fun doing, but it doesn’t remind of that kind of music, because it’s a guitar, but it’s fun for me because I see my playing going so well. So, I know some of the kinds of music we all like. We all like this Ethiopian music.
Interviewer: Kind of like Tribal music?
Yeah, Ethiopian music is different though. Like they tie into this weird version of American music of the early 70’s. It’s really twisted, they do all kinds of different styles. It’s nothing like Nigerian music.
Wow, I’ve never heard about anything like that before.
JF: Yeah, it’s good! They’re these things called “Ethiopiques”, it’s these compilations of music that came out of Ethiopian music that came out in Ethiopia during the early 70’s. Everybody in the band likes that. We all like the Jamacan music from the 70’s. I was hearing traces of these things during our last rehersal.
Interviewer:What would you say it’s more like? Is it more funk? Is it more Californication-mellow? Or is it kinda like something that came out of the BSSM era…
I can’t say that. I have a funny feeling it’s gonna have some stuff on it that’s heavier and harder than anything we’ve done before.
Interviewer: Something like an “Around the World” kind of a thing?
No, it’s not. I don’t know! *laughs* We haven’t written the songs yet! I don’t formulate these things in advance. It’s like, we just play whatever comes to us. My whole idea of what I think it’s going to sound like, could change a month from now or tomorrow, it just like, we don’t plan out that kind of thing. It’s just, whatever happens, happens. Everything I’m telling you is based on what I heard the other day when we were playing. But before that, I couldn’t have told you a thing because I don’t plan these things. We just go into the studio and we play whatever we feel like playing. We just try to make up whatever’s good. We don’t say “We’re gonna make a hard album”, “We’re gonna make a soft album” or funk album. We just want to make as good music as we’re capable of making, that’s all really.
Interviewer: That’s good, because you don’t have a formula. You’ve always done that in the past as well….
Yeah. When I joined the band, Flea and Anthony said, ‘We’re open minded. We just don’t wanna do music that sounds like the stuff we’ve done in the past, we’re open to anything. Ya know, we wanna change, we’re open to any new ideas and directions. We don’t wanna stay the same’. I know it’s going to be nothing like Californication, I can tell you that for sure. It’s going to be like nothing we’ve ever done or anything anyone has ever done before. It’s going to be new sounding. It will have the energy of Californication, it will have that same energy times, whatever. Like, that energy will be multiplied and the chemistry will be the same. But the overall sound will be completely different and the styles will be different.
Alright, cool! So you think it’s going to be a tighter album? Like to me, I thought Californication was a a tight album.
Oh, we’re so much tighter now. We’ve been on tour for a year and a half.
Yeah, that’s right. Wow, you must be tired!
Nah, I’m not tired at all. We’re so much tighter as a unit we’re *so* much tighter now.
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