Another Month, Another Album from Chili Pepper Guitarist

Thu Dec 9,10:59 AM ET


By John Benson

CLEVELAND (Billboard) - As inconceivable as the concept of recording and releasing six albums in six months may seem, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante, who is in the middle of doing just that, says the incredulity is all his.

"It's funny to me that I always have to answer this question about why did I record these albums?" Frusciante told Billboard.com. "I'm a f---ing musician, why don't more people record albums this quickly? It seems part of my wanting to do it and part of my disappointment that nobody even knows that I'm doing it, is that people don't need to take the amount of time that they do between albums."

When the Red Hot Chili Peppers began what was to be a six-month hiatus exactly a year ago, Frusciante spent his downtime going through unrecorded solo material from as far back as four years prior. After a vacation, the New York-born, California-raised guitarist jumped headfirst into the studio and when he was finished last May, he had six albums recorded.

Beginning with "The Will to Death" released in June and culminating with "Curtains" due in January, Frusciante has been issuing albums in the order in which they were recorded via the independent Record Collection (http://www.recordcollectionmusic.com/) label.

In listening to the material, there are discernable differences between the experimental solo Frusciante sounds (recorded mainly with Josh Klingoffer while Mars Volta guitarist Omar Rodriguez offered a helping hand) and the mainstream Red Hot Chili Peppers motif.

"In the Red Hot Chili Peppers, I'm thinking more as a guitar player and as backing vocalist," said Frusciante. "And on my solo records, it is more about me as a lyricist and as a songwriter. Musically, in the Chili Peppers, we're looking for more of what can happen when it is the energy of all of us in a room together."

As for the next studio Chili Peppers project, which the band has almost completely written and is close to going into the studio for a proposed summer 2005 release date, Frusciante said he approaches each band album with a different guitar concept. Considering the Peppers' impending touring commitments, the guitarist said the only solo show he has planned is an acoustic set at April's All Tomorrow's Parties event in England for his friend actor/director Vincent Gallo (news), who is curating the festival.

"I think by the time the Chili Peppers have another big break, I'd probably try to maybe put together a band and try to play a small tour or a big tour even," said Frusciante. "But it's hard to know until I'm actually at that point in time. It's so far from now. I never really know what I'm going to feel like, I only know that I'll record another solo record at the beginning of next year whenever the Chili Peppers record is done. Beyond that, only time can tell."

Reuters/Billboard

"I'm a f---ing musician, why don't more people record albums this quickly?

Hmmmmm....Frusciante? I wasn't aware that he even had one album made. Let alone six. Gee, can wait to get my hands on number 4. I heard that one rocks. The others are country and lite jazz.

Ah, the work ethic of recovering addicts.

Frusciante is an AMAZING musician. His stuff is great on so many levels...I've bought almost all of his solo cd's. I have yet to get the most recent one ("A Sphere in the Heart of Silence") but I plan to in the near future. Out of all the solo stuff he's released so far, my favorites are "Shadows Collide With People" and "The Will To Death", both of which are amazing. Highly recommend them both. And regarding the fact that he's releasing so many cd's so quickly, I think it's a testament to what you can do when you are actually a fucking musician with talent, knowledge of music theory, passion, and creativity, unlike 99.9% of the impostors that parade as musicians/artists nowadays.

pkidwell said:

Country and lite jazz? What cd's did you listen to? Just cuz a song features a sparse arrangement emphasizing guitar and vocals does not make it a country tune...and lite jazz? Again, what cd's did you listen to????

andyman91 said:

you know that's true!

Wish Prince would be doing this.

Snap said:

Right? Even clean, John has always seemed very intense.

superspaceboy said:

me too!

i think vincent gallo, john frusciante and perry farell are the same people!

dancerella said:

i think you're right!