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RHCP guitarist John Frusciante talks about his new album
Plus, he answers your questions
Joe Bosso, Mon 5 Jan 2009, 11:38 am UTC
Like much of the music he makes, Red Hot Chili Peppers' guitarist John Frusciante is a riddle wrapped in an enigma inside a question. And he probably wouldn't have it any other way.
Frusciante has released a string of solo recordings through the years, albums filled with anxious, yearning metaphysical mood music, songs that seem to exist without the imprint of craft but are bursting with intellect and emotion.
"The drive to create music that is pure is my highest priority," says Frusciante. "Sometimes I'll get extremely technical in my approach, and other times I'll just kind of go with the gods of music. I think an artist has to answer to whatever spirits are guiding him. Even if they're in conflict, that's OK."
On Frusciante's latest album, The Empyrean, the guitarist plays by no known rules and the result is a collection of songs that are challenging and poetic but never conventional. They hover in the air and land in special, secret places. From the feedback-drenched lyricism of Before The Beginning to the guitar psychodrama of Enough Of Me (the latter of which features a gutsy, full-throated vocal performance) to the haunting beauty of Song To The Siren (a Tim Buckley original), this is a record that will stick with you in both waking and sleeping moments.
"The drive to create music that is pure is my highest priority. Sometimes I'll get extremely technical, and other times I'll just kind of go with the gods of music" John Frusciante
The Empyrean sees Frusciante working with a disparate assortment of guests: Johnny Marr, Flea, Josh Freese, The Sonas Quartet and The New Dimension. It's an orgy of musical decadence, and it's as far and away from the big-time arena rock the Chili Peppers have recently traded in as you can get.
The subject of the Red Hot Chili Peppers is something of a sore spot for Frusciante. For the duration of our podcast interview below, the guitarist spoke voluminously about his new album. But a fairly rote question about the status of the Chili Peppers left him lost for words. When he recovered, he stated emphatically that the group had "no plans". This differs wildly from what drummer Chad Smith said in a MusicRadar interview just months ago.
Although the Peppers are on what has been described as a mutually agreed upon hiatus, Smith indicated the door was open to reconvene. To Frusciante, however, the door isn't merely shut; there's no door at all. The conflict...
Part One - The recording of The Empyrean
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Part Two - Working with Johnny Marr, guitars and sounds
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Part Three - John Frusciante answers your questions
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User comments (13)
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clearly its not the end of rhcp, i dont think he would want to just give it up just like that, he prob just wants to get away from it for a bit, which is understandable.
Anyway look at the positive side, he has just put out a great album, maybe his best one yet lyrically and musically, so just enjoy that for now instead.
He will prob release one more solo album before the next rhcp album -
i think the whole thing about the future of rhcp has been blown out of proportion a bit. The way i see it is that since JF rejoined in 1998ish, they have worked non stop, releasing albums and touring, so the all, especially JF prob want some time off. By the end of the stadium arcadium tour, you could see that they were dead from the touring, so they all prob just wanted to get away from it.
Anyway, its only been 1.5 years now since they ended the SA tour, they prob took the rest of 2007 off, and then he prob worked on this the empyrean throughout 2008, so it hasnt been that long relatively.
Also, this interview was meant to be about his solo work and the new album, so thats prob why he sounded a bit pissed when the guy mentionned rhcp, he is focused on his solo work atm, not rhcp, which is fair enough.
JF has always been a great musician live, and he will prob miss playing shows, so rhcp will definitely be back at some point, prob not for a few years yet though, its by no means the end of them like some people are saying -
So what do you all think after hearing that, no more peppers? It seems as if he still hates the popularity and its pretty obvious that flea is the only band member he shares a mutual musical relationship with that he enjoys. I hope they make one final album be I guess we have to wait and see...
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thanks for asking my question too. i am sooo happy now thanks again.
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- Can´t Wait for the Album...
gretting from ARGENTINA. Always waiting for you JOHN.
Love to all of you.
Rodrigo... -
Thanks a lot for that amazing interview!!!!!
It was awesome, and very exciting to hear it!
With all that talk i can't wait to hear it! cause also im tryng to undesrtand the way of see THE EMPYREAN.:)
Greets since mexico city
Kitzia di Frusciante -
Thank you for a great interview, made my day. I just love listening to John and hear his thoughts and ideas about music. He is a very humble genius.
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Cradle88, I totally know the feeling!
ChiliPepper300, I don't know what kind of a mass-media-consuming culture you come from, but your reaction is kinda inappropriate and disrespectful. I'll just tell you something I got as an advice and I try to follow it: be kind. The people you meet might be fighting great battles.
In other words, we don't know John's reasons and we can't clearly say he won't say something completely different in a month, two months or a year. -
woo hoo thanks for asking one of my questions! I almost screamed out loud but quickly remembered I was at work listening to the podcast on my headphones so I controlled myself :) . I noticed you omitted the bit I put in brackets but it's all good. thanks so much!!
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Why did he get so pissed when asked about the future of the chili peppers?
They better get back together! I still haven't seen them live :(
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theempyrean
36 weeks ago.