The Silence Between The Notes
The Red Hot Chili Peppers’ last work did definitely show his handwriting. No wonder that the prospect of a new solo-album by guitarist, songwriter and sound-painter John Frusciante carried high expectations. And indeed  Shadows Collide With People is the best solo work of the New Yorker [yes, it says “New Yorker” in the article  the translator] so far. It will not only thrill guitarists, but should also be successful from a commercial point of view.
It has to be admitted: They were partially straining these solo-productions by Mr. Frusciante. And at a first glance it doesn’t seem to be any different this time around. Shadows Collide With People appears to be confusing because of the abundance of detail and the number of (weird) sounds, yet on the other hand it is so wonderfully simple and clearly defined as none of his other works. And at a certain point one realizes that this album grows with each listening  and that it won’t loosen its grip on you.
Those who have listened between the lines should also have realized by now the significance the former replacement-musician for the Peppers has gained. And there’s more than that: Though he’s working on a new studio album with his band, he’s already set a deadline for his upcoming solo work next year. Apart from that Frusciante has just written the soundtrack for Vincent Gallo’s film Brown Bunny, been on stage at the revival of the legendary Temple of the Dog and has also contributed to Ziggy Marley’s last album Dragonfly. Those knowing that this man does also paint can imagine the creative potential in this artist. A potential which he’s now able to deal with and to finally make the most of. Knowing about Frusciante’s past with its addictions and worries one understands what the 34 year old means when saying: “Today I appreciate life so much that I can hardly sleep at night.”
Most of the songs were written on your guitar in hotel rooms during the last Chili Peppers tour. Your album, however, convinces with a multitude of sounds and atmospheres. How do you colour these hotel sketches? How do you work?
Normally I have the sound of a song in my head while writing. In the studio it is a matter of playing with the synthesizers, mellotron or whatever is around in order to find something that comes close to my original idea. On the other hand I experiment with the recordings. The demos have all been recorded on a simple 8-track-recording machine. But I’ve toyed with everything that was there. It was a very childish process since I don’t have a clue about it. It was fun and I’ve recorded everything until I had something to support my idea of a song. It was an unproblematic, simple and pleasant process. My friend Josh Klingloffer has helped me as well.
Is there an underlying concept to this album?
No, not really. There was the aim to overcome one’s limits concerning songwriting and sounds on this album. Or concerning the instrumentation. For example, I wanted a lot of acoustic and electric elements and a lot of electronics coupled with warm and human emotions so that in the end one would get a satisfying balance and something that one could call “organic rock”. I wanted to create something with an unusual instrumentation and sounds, something you could say about that no one has so far delivered anything like this. I also wanted to record the entire album on tape to make it really “real”.
I think the album is a lot clearer and more accessible as To Record Only Water For Ten Days. Is this increase of clarity an image for your recovery?
I don’t know. Maybe? I don’t think so. I’m glad you like the album. I don’t need to be cured from anything these days. I feel very well and I am glad to be myself and healthy. I also don’t consider music to be something healing for me, but quite pragmatically as the thing I do. And if my music gets clearer, I’m getting clearer as well.
I also like the fact that all tracks have been written from the songwriter’s point of view and not from a guitarist’s.
Right. I consider myself as a musician and not as a guitarist. It is more important to me to be a songwriter and I don’t really care which instrument I use to do so. Much more important are the ideas behind it. Even if I were never allowed to play guitar again  as long as I have ideas and as long as I can realize them on other instruments – I’d still be happy. OK, the guitar is the instrument I can play best, it’s also the simplest tool for me when it comes to writing songs. But a song which is written on the guitar, is in my eyes not better or cooler as a song I’ve written on the piano. This goes, by the way, for a lot of songs on this album. So: What counts for me is rather the music in the head than the guitar in the hand.
You’ve worked again with Josh Klingloffer and Chad Smith on drums. When you’re recording instrumentals, in how far does this work differ from working with the Peppers?
To be honest, the approach is not really different. Concerning this album, Josh wrote the drum parts and also played on all demos. It was only then that we asked Chad if he’d like to play drums. Josh actually wanted to play the parts in the studio, but he was somehow too nervous. I know the feeling very well, I still remember what it was like when we were doing Mother’s Milk. It was a hard time for me. I have to get used to being observed like being under a microscope and to being analysed. So Chad arrived at the last minute and managed to record the entire album track by track. In the end working seemed very familiar, almost as with the Peppers.
You’ve got a lot of acoustic sounds on the album. Which guitar did you use, for example, for the chord strumming on “Cut Out”?
Let me think I think it was my Martin from the 50’s. I don’t know the correct model. It’s made from mahogany and has a rather small body. I’ve recorded most songs using this guitar because it simply sounds great in the studio. I liked the idea of having an acoustic guitar on left channel in panorama and an electric one on the right. I like this sound.
Which other instruments were used?
That’s difficult to say because this album came in to being over the course of one year. I always find it hard to remember which guitar I used for which song. For the fuzz parts on “Second Walk”, for example, I often used a 60’s Gibson SG Custom and a Marshall stack. A lot of songs were recorded on my ’62 Fender Stratocaster and on my ’66 Telecaster. They are the main guitars on this album.
Apart from all this instrumental work, is doesn’t go unnoticed that’s you’ve really improved as a singer and this is also true for the last Peppers’ album.
Thank you. I’ve worked damn hard on this. When Josh and I began collecting ideas for this album  and that was before we started recording By The Way with the Peppers  Josh and I had begun to sing harmonies. For days on end we sat together and did nothing else but finding well-sounding melodies and chords. The neighbours must have thought we were completely nuts! We played records by The Beatles, Depeche Mode and Velvet Underground, all songs with great concepts regarding harmony, and we sang and played guitar along to them. This experience was used for the harmony vocals on By The Way. I’ve to admit that I’ve never had singing lessons. I’ve simply started and practised. The more I occupied myself with singing, the more my voice changed in a positive sense.
In songs like “23 Go Into End” and “Negative 00 Ghost 27” there is once again the presence of you dealing with German Krautrock. During the last Peppers’ tour you’ve jammed with Michael Rother of the legendary band NEU!. Something you’ve called “one of the most happiest moments in my life as a musician.” Why?
Playing on stage with him was indeed the happiest moment as a musician. Michael, Flea and Omar Rodrigez Lopez of The Mars Volta improvised at the end of the Chili Peppers’ gig. Anthony and Chad had already left the stage. We sat on stage and played for half an hour just as if we were jamming in the rehearsal room  the only difference being that there were 15,000 fans watching us. I was fascinated when Michael took the guitar and played the first note; immediately it sounded unmistakeably like him. The interesting thing was that suddenly my guitar didn’t sound like me anymore, but like part of a NEU! song! I was completely exhilarated. The next morning, Flea and I agreed that this had been one of the most intense musical experiences we’ve ever had and that we’d probably never felt any happier as musicians than that night. It was a great experience!
Rother is a role model for you, especially when it comes to style and simplicity.
Yes. He is the guitarist I admire most. Style and simplicity are the two reasons that inspired me to write songs. I like it when someone realizes his ideas so unmistakeably, but not through virtuosity but through simplicity displaying a clear focus. I don’t like it when it seems as if people don’t really know what they are doing, when they can’t express where they are. In this sense Michael’s way of playing is perfect for me. These are the aspects that are fascinating about him.
You follow this principle on your album. It is noticeable that you give your notes space to breathe.
That’s how I play guitar. I consider it important to always think of the space between notes when playing. I regard silence and music to be completely equal. When you play a note you change the silence that was there before you played the note. One always takes silence for granted, but one really has to see how it is changed through playing. So why not integrate silence into your musical concept from the start? It is really exciting to look at music from this point of view.
There are some fast fuzz-sounds on this album. What did you use, for example, on “Water”?
I definitely used my Stratocaster over a Z.Vex Fuzz Factory. This little box creates a sound that in the end you get the impression that it isn’t even a guitar anymore. I played harmonics with the thumb of my right hand and the sound is the result of it. The guy who builds these little tread mines is really cool. He really makes excellent effects.
On the other hand there are some really strange sounds on the album. What is this weird bubbly sound during the intro to “Carvel” or on “Cut Out”? What did you do there?
I did the intro to “Carvel” on my synthesizer. It was simply a sound bite from my synth if I remember it correctly. It is hard to tell what I did in detail because many sounds came about while experimenting. I recorded whatever I liked and used it later. On “Carvel” I started with this sound, then played Mini-Moog along to it and Josh grabbed his bass. That’s all. We experimented a lot with analogue modules by Doepfer, a German company I presume. I like sounds that arise spontaneously, that are so way-out that you don’t really understand why and that you are unlikely to produce a second time around. I appreciate this singleness a lot. I’ve already experimented with it on the last Chili Peppers’ album. It’ll also accompany me during the next projects.
“Failure 33 Object” reminds me of Van Halen’s “Cathedral”, yet with a different approach.
Yes! That was the exact inspiration for this song! You are the first to notice this connection! I’m using the same echo concept as Edward Van Halen back then: I play two notes and with the third one the echo signal repeats the first note and so on. The effect is really cool. However, I didn’t play this song on guitar but on the keyboard in order to simulate the swelling of the note as well as the feedback and other things. I love “Cathedral”, an incredibly beautiful song. Edward Van Halen was one of my heroes when I was a teenager.
As a band you are working on the next RHCP album. Could you tell me more about this?
We’ve already recorded half of the ideas we want to use. I think we’ll start working on it properly in the summer so that the album will probably be released next spring. I think it is going to be a lot plainer than By The Way. I’m not interested in doing as many overdubs as on the last album. With By The Way and Shadows Collide With People I’ve made two very complex records and now I really want to hear the silence between the notes. And I think that this will be the same when we get together as a band in order to work on the next album.
Could you imagine touring your songs if the Peppers’ schedule allows for it?
I could, but it won’t work out. There are only very few weeks during the year when the Peppers are not on tour and I’m already using them for my solo work and for interviews. Apart from that I record as much as I can: I want to create new music instead of reproducing music. When you are on tour with your band for a long time, you are really fed up in the end. It is not that I don’t appreciate this kind of life, but if I have to time then I don’t want to reproduce existing songs but to create new ones.
—Stefan Woldach
