Who's That Guy? (Red Hot Chili Peppers in general)

Name: Sasuke

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Product:	Red Hot Chili Peppers in general
Date:	10/04/02 (568 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great guitarist

Disadvantages: Ummm.....

Ummm, how do I start this one? Whoops, I think I just did. Well hello once again everyone, sorry for the long absences between opinions but I do have things to do you know! Oh yes, hair must be washed, nails must be polished, room must be kept messy, homework must be avoided at all costs - I think you get the picture.

Anyway, enough of the nonsense and welcome to my 22nd (well technically 23rd, but let?s not go into that) Dooyoo opinion. To many of you this particular subject may seem a little obscure, buy hey, look on the bright side, at least it's not another wrestling one! Enough rambling and erm, on with the opinion.....

To those of you who are wondering "who the hell is John Frusciante?", well let me give you a brief summary. JF is not only a fantastic guitarist, songwriter, vocalist, painter and story writer but also a man who has looked death square in the eye and lived to tell the tale. He is a member of one of the more famous bands in the world and a man who has openly and honestly confessed to having heard voices and in his head since childhood. He has also told stories of his experiences with "ghosts" and no he is not a lunatic! "I (John) got to the point, five years later, where I could sit in a room with a ghost or an astral body for half an hour at a time. Which takes a tremendous amount of concentration." Want to know more about the life of this fascinating man, if so then please read on.....


John Anthony Frusciante (Froo-shon-tay) was born in New York, N.Y., to John and Gail Frusciante on March 5th, 1970. John Sr. was a Juilliard-trained pianist who became a lawyer and later a judge. Gail, too, was a promising musician, a singer who became a homemaker, says her son, because her husband ruled out the possibility of a musical career. The family lived in Queens, relocated to Tucson, Arizona, and then moved to Florida for a year, during which time John's parents separated. Moving with
his mother to Santa Monica, California, John, like a million other California kids, became obsessed with skateboarding, Aerosmith and Kiss.

He was a relatively quiet boy, who by the age of 9, was heavily into punk music, and the likes of Frank Zappa, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, and Jimi Hendrix became some of his favourites. Also, from a very young age he discovered a partner that would guide him through his childhood and for the majority of his life - he began playing the guitar. He started on an acoustic and naturally as he grew older he progressed onto an electric. John's guitar acted as a sort of best friend to him while he was growing up and he was once quoted as saying that he, "grew up masturbating and playing guitar" for up to 15 hours a day.

At the age of 16, John left home to find a job and an apartment. Though not dumb, John had only a limited interest in school and being so immersed in music, all he wanted to do was join a band and play his guitar for a living. In the late 1980?s, with school now finished, John went to an audition to play guitar in one of his idol's - Frank Zappa?s band. However, once it was his turn to play John suddenly realised the lifestyle was not what he wanted. "I realized that I wanted to be a rock star, do drugs and get girls, and that I wouldn't be able to do that if I was in Zappa's band." So basically, as John put it, he "chickened out." John would not have to wait long for his big musical break however, in fact it was just around the corner and a place he hadn?t even thought of looking.

Since the age of 15, since seeing them play at the Variety Arts Center, in LA John had become heavily interested in a local LA funk/punk/rap/rock outfit - The Red Hot Chili Peppers, a band which would go on to change his whole life. John once said, "from that point on, their music meant everything to me. "They were my favourite band in the world. I
knew every lyric, every guitar part, every solo, and bass part, and had always felt their music to be a source of peace and beauty in my life. I always felt very spiritually and philosophically connected with the band's ideals and way of life. John found a particular connection with the Chili Pepper's Israeli born guitarist - Hillel Slovak, who become some what of an idol to John.

So it was of great sadness to John when in 1988, the news reached him that Hillel - a serious junkie (is there any other kind?) had taken an accidental Heroin overdose that had led to his premature death. John naturally was devastated by the loss of his mentor but as that old saying goes, ?every cloud has a silver lining? and this proved more than true for Johnny.

After the death of their guitarist and all round good buddy Hillel, the Chilis as humans and as a band fell into disarray. The Peppers front man Anthony Kiedis, a Heroin addict like his deceased friend practically went into hiding, and retreated to an out of the way Mexican fishing village to get clean and clear his head. He did not even resurface for Hillel's funeral which I dare say did not make him popular with the other band members. As for the other two band members, drummer and close pal of Hillel?s Jack Irons quit the band not long after Hillel's death, claiming he feared the rest of the band would go the same way as Hillel. Therefore it was left up to bassist Michael "Flea" Balzary to attempt to hold the band together under this incredible strain.

Eventually Kiedis returned from his debacle, clean and joined Flea's cause. A couple of months after Slovak's death and Irons' departure the two remaining Chilis members set about repairing the damage that had ripped apart their band. First up they recruited a new drummer to replace Irons - a talented Detroit - based musician by the name of Chad Smith. Now all they needed to do was find a new guitarist to replac
e Slovak, that's right, you've guessed it, enter John....

Of course, being such a devout fan and seeing as RHCP's fame never really stretched outside LA at the time, John had crossed paths with the band on more than once occasion. So of course he was known to the members and management. There was a slight road block in the way before he could eventually join the band though. Bob Forrest's band, Thelonious Monster, was looking for a guitarist at the same time the Peppers introduced John to them. John was the Thelonious Monsters first choice, but John didn't like the idea. Luckily for John, Bob Forrest recruited him five minute too late, as Anthony signed Frusciante to become a Pepper.

Describing his feelings as being picked as Hillel's replacement John said, "the moment I joined the band was probably the most intense rush of pure happiness I will ever experience in my life."

During the Christmas season of 88', the Peppers debuted Frusciante as their new guitarist one the lamely named MTV festival "2hip4U" replacing the brief Duane "Blackbird" McKnight. In contrast to fellow newcomer Smith who was the same age as Flea and Anthony and had worked for a band in the past, John was just 18 years-old and had no REAL musical experience. Despites these facts nonetheless John was exactly the type of replacement the band were looking for. With the band having being left somewhat in disgrace by the manner of Hillel?s death, management needed someone who was the exact opposite of Hillel in every way to fill his shoes. Despite the fact that John was a heavy smoker, he was also fresh-faced, clean cut 18 year-old with no criminal convictions and no history with drugs, the fact that, to quote Chad he could ?play the guitar like a mother f**cker" was an added bonus. to me."

When he first joined the band, John did everything he could to pay tribute to Hillel. "John was an abs
olute Hillel clone", recalls Alain Johannes, a long time friend of the Chili's. "Not only did he play like him, but he stood and moved like him as well." Over time of course, John developed his own style and became an individual upon that stage whereas at the beginning he was very much just this punk kid living in the shadow of his dead predecessor.

Soon after joining the band, the Peppers recorded their fourth studio album entitled "Mothers Milk" which featured the Slovak tribute "Knock Me Down", a cover of Jimi Hendrix's "Fire" and the song "Taste The Pain". The album became the band's most successful to date and earned them modest MTV exposure. However, it wasn?t until 1991's effort - "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" that the band really hit the big time. The album, with it's stand out tracks Under The Bridge and Give It Away became hugely successful, one the band a truck load of awards and a barrage of new fans to boot.

John, at this point still only 21 was suddenly a part of one of the biggest bands in the world and becoming very rich, very fast. Blood Sugar Sex Magik went triple platinum, Under The Bridge had reached number 2 in the US charts, the band?s upcoming world tour was a sell-out and they were scheduled to headline that year?s Lollapolloza festival. Could life be any better? In John?s eyes, yes. Just before Hillel Slovak died, while at a RHCP concert in LA, John was reportedly asked by Hillel, "Would you still like the Chilis if they got so popular that they played the L.A. forum?" John replied, "No. It would ruin the whole thing, that's great about the band" When popularity finally did strike the band in 1992, John thought about what he and Hillel had talked about, and it bothered him.

On May 7,1992, right in the middle of the "Blood Sugar Sex Magik" tour in Japan, John announced to his band mates that he was go
ing to leave the band. He told them, "I can no longer stay in the band any longer. I've reached a state where I cannot do justice to what we've created. I can't give what it takes to be in this band anymore." When Gotez (a reporter) asked Frusciante what he should tell the public about his departure, he said, "Just tell them I went crazy." And as quickly he had become a band member, he left.

Despite what he told that reporter, John hadn?t really gone "crazy", he had just become incredibly disillusioned with the music business and it's fans. As he watched the Chili Peppers' audiences grow larger at every venue and complete strangers throwing themselves, and declaring their love for him he became more and more confused. He began to feel hatred towards the other members of the band and it?s fans and he basically had a nervous breakdown. Chad also claimed John was a "manic depressive" around this time. Speaking after John had quit the band, this is what else drummer Chad had to say about John. ?Basically, he was really miserable for a variety of reasons ..... but it came to a point where the band was his enemy and he just didn't want to deal with it anymore. He was just cracking, and he said, "Guys I just can't do it anymore. I don't want to be in a band anymore." And here's Flea's take on it, "when he joined the band, we were already pretty famous and it was just kind of too much for him I think. Especially when Blood Sugar... really took off, he saw us playing these big places and all that stuff and he thought it was harmful to his creative spirit, to his childlike creative spirit. He saw it as a business and he was freaked out."

Now out of the band, John took solace in his home in the Hollywood Hills. when he returned to LA, he sat on his couch for nearly a year, depressed and alone and unable to function. He wondered whether he had made the right de
cision in quitting the band, or in joining in the first place; he was convinced he was draining away his talent. He had only experimented with drugs, smoked pot "every day when I was 20," and says he first shot heroin right after the recording of Blood Sugar Sex Magik and then dallied with the drug on and off again. Her once said that when he first quit the band all he did was lay on his couch all day, never playing music, never going out, just laying there depressed. John described himself at this point in his life by saying, "I was just the most hopeless, miserable person you have ever seen.? Then one day he thought to himself, 'I'm gonna become a junkie now' (that's how he put it) and so his dependency on the drug began. he finally became a junkie as a final salvation, and in time he again started writing in his journals, painting, and recording.

In the autumn of 1994 he released his first solo album on American Recording, the label that was owned by Rock Rubin (who had produced Blood Sugar Sex Magik). Warner Bros. Records, the Peppers' label, had rights to the album because of a leaving-artist clause in Frusciante's Chili Peppers contract, but because he was living as a recluse who refused to do many interviews, the label gladly handed it over to Rubin, who finally released the album at the insistence of River Phoenix, Butthole Surfer Gibby Hayes and Johnny Depp. John's decision for a possible solo career was taken seriously after friends such as, Perry Farrell (Jane's Addiction/Porno For Pyros/Gobbalee), Steven Perkins (Jane's/P4P/Gobbalee), Gibby Haynes (Butthole Surfers), Flea (RHCP), and late actor River Phoenix and Johnny Depp convinced him to do it when they told him very bluntly, "There's no good music anymore". At their insistence, Rubin reluctantly put the album out. In the end, with next to no publicity given to it, Frusciante's solo album Niandra Lades and Usually just a T
-shirt sold about 15,000 copies. Niandra Lades is a strange and complex album, complied of songs mostly written during the recording of Blood Sugar... Chili peppers fans who listened to the record expecting more punk-funk likely thought their stereos were broken.

During this time in his time, John rarely left his house, except when he was forced to. Frusciante was threatened to be kicked out of his Hollywood Hills home for not paying the rent. When he finally got the money together to buy the house he arrived around 5 minutes too late as the house had just been sold from under him. Never mind he though, more money to spend on drugs. He then shacked in the Chateau Marmont but over time he was then kicked out of the Chateau as well and then booted out of the Mondrian.

In 1996, John almost died as a result of his body having "a twelfth of the blood it's supposed to have, and that blood was infected." By this point John was unrecognisable from the young, cleanly shaven, bleached blonde who first walked into the Chili Peppers back in 1988. Through time, as his Heroin abuse grew, his long hair began to fall out, he had abscesses (burns) on the tops of his arms, his voice became slurred and his teeth began to rot away until only stumps were left in his jaw. Those too had to be removed and replaced with dentures because of the risk of life threatening infection. When interviewed by the LA Times in 1996, John summed up the mental state he was in by simply saying, ?I don't care whether I live or die."

Being the only member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers still in contact with John, this is what Flea had to say about him. "All he wants to do is be creative." He doesn't care about money or personal hygiene or anything else. And he never has. If we made $10,000, he'd give it to the pizza delivery guy. He only cares about art." Flea, a former drug user himself, told Frusciante what he thought about his habi
ts. "John once told me, 'I don't have a problem with drugs, you have a problem with me doing drugs.' In retrospect, I realize, yeah, I do have a problem with drugs. I do have a problem with my friends dying. It makes me really f**king sad. I don't want him to do any drugs at all, and I tell him that. That's all I can do as someone who loves and respects him."

In 1997, John released a second solo album, titled "Smile From The Streets You Hold", but he never released the album for the love of music, he released it, to quote John "basically for drug money." A business acquaintance who used to speak to Frusciante every day once said he hasn't heard from the man for more than a week. When that happened, some people shrugged: Well, maybe he's dead.

Towards the end of 1998, having finally kicked his drugs habit and sorted himself out a bit, John shocked the world when it was announced that he was rejoining the Red Hot Chili Peppers. John stated the main reason for his rejoining of the band was because of a meeting he had with his old Chili Peppers pal Anthony Kiedis. Anthony was probably the last person John thought he'd wake up and see towering above him in his hospital room. Frusciante had barely spoken to the tattooed lead singer since he'd packed up his guitars and split from the Peppers in 1992, he said. So, when Kiedis walked back into his life in January, Frusciante said the sight of his estranged friend came as something of a surprise. Frisciante later said that seeing Anthony?s concern for his well being despite everything that had gone on between them really touched him and made him try his best to get his self together again.

During John?s absence the Peppers had shuffled around guitarists looking for a replacement for JF. They finally settled on ex-Jane's Addiction guitar player Dave Navarro and in 1995 released the follow up to the highly successful Blood Sugar.
... album with "One Hot Minute". Sadly for the band, their 6th album was not nearly as popular as it?s predecessor and the band?s fans wondered what had became of the funky sound that had helped make the Chilis so popular. In truth the gothic Navarro, though a talented guitarist was never the ideal person to join the fun-loving Peppers. In 1998, having done next to nothing as a band for the best part of 3 years Dave, Anthony, Flea and Chad came to a "mutual decision" that things were just not working out and Dave waved bye bye to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Re-enter John Frusciante.

In 1999, with John now firmly back on board the Red Hots released the follow up to "One Hot Minute" with their most successful album to date, the apply named "Californication." The critically acclaimed album went quadruple platinum and earned the Chilis a top ten US hit with the single Scar Tissue. Just because he rejoined the band doesn?t mean John stopped writing his own material. In 2001 he released his 3rd solo album "To Record Only Water For Ten Days" which critics described as the most sane album out of all his solo work. John is also heavily into yoga (Anthony described him as the "incredible stretching man"), drinks herbal tea and is rumoured to be a vegetarian. As for his battle with drugs, though we all know dug addicts are never really 'cured' it really doesn't seem to be an issue with John anymore.

"I love drugs very much," Frusciante once said. "I also think my friends and music are the greatest thing in the world and if we (the band) started doing drugs it wouldn't take us in positive directions. It would distract us from what we are doing. A lot of times you do drugs to concentrate on your feeling good, but what we're doing now is about making other people feel good." It's the friendship that has re-formed between Frusciante and his fellow Chili Peppers
that is driving the band forward now, he said. "When I was 9 years old, I really wanted to start a punk-rock band. but [the other two members] didn't have much interest in punk-rock. Now, this feels like the same thing, the same excitement, except I get to do it with Flea, the greatest bass player in the world, and Chad, the most violent drummer I've ever played with, and a best friend like Anthony as the singer."

But don't the Chili Peppers story is not over yet, far from it. Their next album is expected to hit the shop in early June of this year and don't think you?ve heard the last of John?s solo career.

"For us to be so competent on our instruments and to have so much love for each other ... to spend every day doing that, anyone would love to lead a life like that. I've living my life to make that little kid proud."

Phew, well that's it folks, that's my op. Sorry for it's great length, I didn't set out to write the longest opinion in Dooyoo history, I guess I just got a little carried away. I'm not plugging the sites or anything but I'd just like to thank johnfrusciante.com and Been Insane - The Unofficial John Frusciante website for helping to provide all those quotes and background info. Stay healthy folks, or at least stay happy. And if you ever how a day where you?re felling sad or depressed just think of John's beautiful music and his lovely smile, that's always works for me. Say it with me now, I'm a Fru Freak and I'm proud, I'm a Fru Freak and I'm proud!

Oh go on.....


Sas

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