Posted 02 November 2008 - 10:50 PM
I am ready now. Sorry if I made any mistakes I read it proof so there should be not to much I hope.
This is an interview from German Radio in 2004. Andreals Dewald was interviewing John Frusciante.
Introduction:
It is not unusually that single members of successful bands sometimes work solo and producing disks under their own name. JF is the guitarist of the Chili Peppers and with them he had reached everything what a musician can which to reach. Neverthles he was searching for independence from the Peppers that this way had been expressed painfully and problematic had learned AD in conversation with John Frusciante.
Interview:
JF: There had been a point in my life ca. 1997 when I made 5 years no current music and my life was going further and further downhill. At the end I had been near to the death. Many People had the feeling that they are watching at me while I am dying. And at the end I sensed myself that I will be dead.
At these point I decided to return. I want to begin again to making music and to concentrate on my how I believe certain capacities would be songs writing and playing guitar.
AD: Hey, he seems healthy these JF social and communicative I thought when I meet the guitarist of the RHCP in February 2004 in Köln to talk with him about his current album. Since his withdrawahl he echoes himself for being fit, told me the 34 year old man with the long Indian mane. He doesn´t smoke and drink. Every morning he is practising yoga. Only his dents remind of the price which he had to pay for the time when he was hanging on the needle. OK this is now 6 years in the past but this becomes in SCWP processed.
JF: I am telling in my songs not unconditionally how I feel today. Often I talk about how I felt for example in 1995 or what I endure in 1993. At that time I could not artistically express my feelings because I missed the will or the concentration to write songs about it. Today it happens totally reflexive although it is not in my mind the songs just came out of me. It seems like my subconscious comes to expression. Into my songs, the same things let be found than a psychologist would find if he would hypnotize me.
AD: The soul show that JF on SCWP in music transferred, persistently can enthuse. Here he appears not only as an imaginative guitarist and song writer. In the surprisingly and facets songs in which his pain and sorrows proofed biography reflects, are feelings between melancholy and joy. With a truthfulness that one of a rock star of its caliber hardly expected would have. Also in the interview JF causes extremely nice and shy, sometimes in any case perfectly freely of the arrogant all original that one in fame, of its blow otherwise often finds. It concerns music, he speaks impresses that with a love and passion.
I regret my past he sings on one of the exceptional songs one his current solo album.
JF: One thing is important to me, in the last 5 years there had been nothing I regret. I am happy about how my life passed in this time, every regret only would have slow me down. I have no big aims in my life just the intention to give more gas, that is what I tried to do in the last years and I became faster, faster and faster. I do not regret my drug dependence too, but the things which brought me there. And the things had to do with my weakly character when I was in about 18 – 19 years old.
AD: JF was born on the fifth of march in 1970 in New York. His father was a pianist and his mum had been a singer, so that he grew up with music. As a teenager he liked bands like kiss, Aerosmith and The Germs, also he liked the guitarists Jimi Page, Jeff Bag and especially Jimi Hendrix. Later when the family moved to California he was introduced to the progressive rock from Zappa, Yes, Genesis, and King Crimson. And so remembers F. white funk rock from the Talkin Heads and The Clash too.
With making music itself John begone very early and for a certain reason.
JF: I had very much energy when I was young and I heard voices in my head, I always had strong feelings and I did not knew what I should do with all these energy. A while I went Skateboard, but than they closed the skateboard park when I was 11. The energy I had, was not only physical it was incredible and could probably only be unloaded in music. At the day when I started playing guitar I had been so furiously and angrily that I wrote 30 songs. I filled up a whole tape with my punk-rock songs and after that I felt totally happy. Since that I knew whenever I feel sad or unhappy or when I am angrily I can balance my feelings out with playing guitar and bring the energy to my music.
AD: Like obsessed was the young JF practising on the guitar often up to 10-15 hours a day. In 1988 at a jamsassion he learned the bassist Flea and the singer Anthony Kiedis knew. Members of the RHCP a band which he admired at this time. When there guitarist shortly on that died, the 18 years old F. become his successor, although he had never played in a band before. With his self-willed punky funk rock guitar stamped the talented F. the sound of RHCP in increasing mass. 1991 he helped the band to there worldwide breakthrough. His contributions and compositions to the album BSSM gave the group millions of sold and sold out concerts around the globe. With there crossover between hot-bloody funk, fast heavy rock, rap elements, catchy melodies and punk attitude. Therewith the California became architects of the rock music in the nineties which new impulses provided.
JF about his rolls by RHCP:
JF: All songs which we made with RHCP started with an idea from me or Flea the bassist. It starts always therewith that he is playing a bass line or I am playing a guitar part, the singing comes later. There in this manner are coming 50-60 percent from me I always must have a clear presentation in which direction the band should develop. AK is writing the texts and the singing melody when the music is ready. He embellishes it therefore sooner. My roll it is in the respective situation the course to determine. That then naturally is often changed by the other members, so that at the end something complete different comes out as I thought. But that I have a vision at the beginning is leading us to the tracks that one of RHCP knows.
I became a member of RHCP in 1988, there I was 18 years old. They were some years together but they still played in clubs, they had been my favourite band. 1991 we become very famous. 1992 I left the band because we became not advanced and the music made no fun. I had also the feeling me as a character not to develop and than I turned through I knew that there is more than to be in a successful band and earn much money and everything to join in without that one, what lies on the others in the group or at the music. I was disappointed from making music and I began to be more interest in drawing and painting. Today music is my life and I am painting with the music I made.
AD: Why exact JF left the RHCP during the Japan tour in 1992 nobody knews. Even the members of the biggest band in the world like the New Musical Express riddles until today.
The view of giant halls which where lightened by miracle candles and the thousand of screaming people in it seem not to endure with his attitude to the music. Depressed he turned to hard drugs and were fallen for 5 years in the hell of heroin. All this were recorded on his first own record. First at the nineties ends he was able to free himself from the drug dependence. Like an old friend he was received from RHCP after his successful decontamination. They never found an equivalent replacement for the genius guitarist and his magic game.
JF: In 1998 I rejoined the Chili Peppers. Before that I had been in a hospital to make a drug withdrawal, there I sat 3 months and was watching films than I was fit again. Since that I am so happy as never before in my life. When there is a problem in the band today, we talk about it so that nobody sourly up to the other one. Everybody appreciate the other one and does everything to destroy the situation not. That had been different at that time, therefore it is important that we tread each other well because we like us not only as band members therefore as people.
AD: The disks which JF recorded in drug intoxication, distress not only the fans of the Chili Peppers. Niranda LasDes and Usually just a T-shirt from 1994 and Smile from the streets you hold from 1997 were even for hard not audible. He screamed in a horrifying sound quality the pain from his soul that a cold ran down your back. Smile... JF took from the market. But one thing he rescued from these files of pain.
JF: It is important to me that my lyrics and my music are real and true. That they are coming really from myself and showing my thinking. These music means the most to me. When I can combine these authentic feeling with an abstract feeling than It is more exiting. So my lyrics can be personal and at the same time surreal. I think we can understand people through all the nonsense they said as good as through the clear and intelligible things they said.
AD: When I meet JF in the January of 2001 the first time, he had introduced at the evening before in the Prinzenbar in Haumburg the songs of his 3 solo album To Record Only Water For Ten Days. Alone and only with a acoustic guitar made the at that time shorthaired F. a nearly painfully and intensive performance. Complete in his self sunk he and his music seems like out of another world. It looks like to play the guitar means very much to him.
JF: I think that a guitar sounds better than all other instruments but when I am hiring a sound in my head it can be also a bass a keyboard or a Organ or an Synthesyser too. In the first line I am a musician and songwriter and than I am a guitarist. I play guitar such a long time that I can write songs best on it. I can do that on the piano too but at the guitar I knew what I have to do, to make the mood on it like I can not make it on any other instrument.
AD: The guitar from JF you can here on his own disks and on the disks of RHCP. At his current record SCWP you can hear that he was more interested in electronic music.
JF: When I made the songs for this record I was hearing much from Kraftwerk and depeche mode their music seems often emerged during they recorded it. But I want the songs which I composed as a songwriter dye with electronic music. The album should sound as warm as possible but there should be some cold sounds included too which you do not expected. I want to have a human sound in that I used a lot of electronic.
AD: There is a sort of electronic music from which JF felt very inspired. And that is the German Crowd Rock of the early seventies. As soon as the word Crowd Rock was said in an inerview there is no simply more for JF. With lightings in the eyes he began to explain what is so fascinating on that German Crowd Rock.
JF: For me Crowd Rock is the beginning of a sort of art like the Rock´n Roll in the 50ties. It was a complete new way to make music with eachother. That was put in an new order by the German Crow Rockers and that brought us later to Punk and new wave. It seems that artist like Radiohead or the Mars Volta are all big Crowd Rock fans.
AD: 23goingintoend is the maybe best track in memory on the Crowd Rock which you can hear on his current album. JF knew a lot of Crowd Rocker and he loves them, he confesses in the conversation. Especially he likes Michael Rother who set accents with his solowork in the seventies.
JF: The way how Michael Rother playes guitar was great. He left all infuse of the 60ties behind. He began to play at zero and played something very easy only one tune an than a little melody. So he developed complete new things on the guitar. When anybody is building in that way like he did something new than the people will be ready to use this in 100 years.
AD: In March 2003 JF had the change to learn Michael Rother knew. When RHCP was given a concert they took him on the stage to jam with him. Now, so I knew they are just recording in the studio. In the summer there will be some concerts in California.
You can see JF is a specialist in music who is interested in thousands of different styles and genres from avongade to pop. And what is about music he is nearly a fanatic. After 14 hours in the studio he went home and is practising 4 hours after that he is hearing music till he fell asleep and than he is often dreaming of the next song. Like he want to make up what he was losing during his drug time. Like his addiction is now music and no more drugs.
JF: I believe that I am here to make music. That it is what the ghosts expecting from me who let me be alive and becoming healthy again. They want me to make music and write songs.
AD: yeah, you´re ears are right JF is believing in ghosts. As a sort recurring subject they are in much of his songs. How can one imagine ghosts I want to knew from JF, a little bit confused at the beginning. And when do you see them?
JF: Often I am seeing ghosts while I am looking at sleeping people. They have there eyes closed but suddenly there is someone in them who talks to me. They are moving their head or their hands but they are still sleeping. The soul of the person has left the body and is anywhere in the room. For that the ghost is in the person and is talking to me. Sometimes I gave the ghosts sweets and cigarettes. Than the sleeping persons had been very surprised when they woke up and saw a complete filled ashtray in front of them which they were smoking while they were sleeping. They tell me how it is to life in their dimension. And they are able to tell me how my future will look like. I was always believing in ghosts. Years before I could see them I was believing in them. It begun one one day when I was playing guitar. I told myself to go out of way and when I did this I felt no exertion, but the most beautiful sound came out. At that point I knew that there is another power for music. I knew that I don´t created it. The same things happens again and again. I knew that there is another power and energy which shines through the people.
AD: The man is hearing voices and seeing ghost. JF describes those strange things with all basic assumption. Him seems these things not to take aback or disturb. Separate, in opposite to inspire him in his creativity. Like an Indian who believes in his visions.
The story from JF. The story of an extreme talented guitarist and songwriter who combines knewhow with childlike playing, who lead his band to an master work for milions, who has invented a new music type with. Who did not come clear with his early renown and fell the drugs to victim. Who went through the hell and came back.
JF: I had to walk the whole way in the world, live in the world, turn away from the world, drift further and further away, loose life. I had to come more and more down, have no space to life and to see no sense in my life. To find me and begin new. First now I can complete my songs, which I wrote. Now they are complete.
AD: They are better than ever before. The songs from JF, his own and from RHCP.
Californication and By The Way the last two records made the Chili Peppers more successful, artistically and business interest hurried. And they underlined that JF can only be Keith Richards if AK is Mick Jagger. At the stage F. is an experience. Like an pocket knife he works himself out together, than he explodes formally during he is playing an absolute intensive guitar. Still overturning.
JF: That I feel well today and happy is inexplicable for me, I can´t understand how I could end so happy. Today I am here as a free human. In my head it is no more like in a war scene. Since 5 years my head felt wonderfully clear, so that I want to use my time to make and record as much music as possible. I only write songs to give them to the world.
That is my determination!
edit: oh, its a bit huge!
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surfsunadam, on Oct 30 2008, 12:54 PM, said:
Toll - und alle Achtung! 
