Love and rock, linked forever
They sold 15 millions copies of their last album, Californication. We were waiting for the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ return! Tattooed, muscular and playful, the four members of the band seem to emerge from a rebel-surfer movie, they don’t look their age. Would love and music be stronger than time?
How to work when you live on the seaside and under the sun?
Anthony Kiedis: Even with a lot of money and a dream landscape, we end up getting bored… Plus, for us, music is a passion, a burning desire.
Chad Smith: Yes, it’s like a wonderful woman who signals us, who asks us if we still love her… We have to prove our love for her!
Flea: When we are together and we start to play, the energy tumbles! But that’s right, love and rock are linked forever…
Is selling millions of albums important for you?
John Frusciante: Yes and no. Selling millions of copies of an album is great because we think that people love our music. But for many years, we hadn’t had such success and that wasn’t changing much.
Anthony Kiedis: It was different. We had nothing special to prove to the audience. Now, with the success, we also have to not disappoint them. We can’t muck about with them. In all cases, if we would, we wouldn’t feel at ease, we would be ashamed, and we would stop making music.
Flea: We would do it like the Beatles, we would freak out, do solo albums… And it would be less good than what we do together, without any doubt. That being said, John brought out a solo album in 2001 (To Record Only Water For Ten Days), and it was very good. A bit sad, but good.
Do you still love the scene as much?
Anthony Kiedis: More than ever! Our music finds its full expression when we are in front of millions of people who jump and dance for two hours.
Flea: It’s great to play on stage. And each time, it’s a unique experience.
Who are your favorite musicians?
Flea: Jimi Hendrix, the Rolling Stones…
Anthony Kiedis: At this time, I listen to the Clash again, whose founder, Joe Strummer, died recently. Moreover, we covered some chords of London Calling, one of their hits, in our shows, as a tribute to this great band.
John Frusciante: Hendrix, the Beatles, the Who, Buddy Holly, Led Zeppelin… Actually, old things!
Chad Smith: Britney Spears and Avril Lavigne (he laughs)…no, I’m saying bullshit!
Who is your favorite Frenchman?
All together: Stéphane Sednaoui!
Anthony Kiedis: He’s a little genius who had directed the Give It Away video for us. He won quite some awards at that time…
Flea: He got married with Laetitia Casta, maybe the most beautiful woman we ever met!
John Frusciante: Stéphane is also a great photographer. And he directed some videos for the Smashing Pumpkins, Beck, Chris Isaak…
What would you have done if the Red Hot Chili Peppers didn’t exist?
Anthony Kiedis: Hard question! I would probably be a gym teacher in Santa Monica…
Flea: Tramp or serial killer… Or I would play this crazy guy in the new version of Starsky and Hutch.
John Frusciante: I would open a little Mexican restaurant in Los Angeles. I would probably call it the Red Hot Chili Peppers!
Chad Smith: I would play drums in a bad band… Like Bon Jovi or Aerosmith… What a disgrace! I would have long hair and a stupid face, I would get stuck with strippers…
Some singers or musicians play in movies. Have you ever been tempted to do it?
Anthony Kiedis: No, not really. I don’t think that we’re able to do everything. There are people who spend many years learning how to put on an act. That has to be true, it’s a real job. It’s the same in the other sense. We don’t ask an actor to sing in front of an audience. Besides, the actors who tried to become rock stars failed. I won’t give any names… (We suppose that it’s Keanu Reeves. He tried to sing but he has never been really good at it…)
Flea: Personally, I won’t say anything because I’ve been in some movies, just to do service and to have fun.
John Frusciante and Chad Smith: We aren’t actors, we’re rockers!
As which animal would you like to be reincarnated?
Anthony Kiedis: As a marine animal… The grace and the mobility of the killer whale fascinates me, but I don’t know if I would be able to kill the other fish.
Flea: I would say a koala.
John Frusciante: A bird…
Chad Smith: A wild horse!
