When the intellectual part of guitar playing overrides the spiritual, you don’t get to extreme heights,” says John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Then he gives an example of how high he gets with six strings and electricity: his hair-raising solo on a recent Chili Peppers B side, “Lyon 6.06.06,” recorded live in France last year. “I remember my brain completely going off. The energy flows to such a degree that there’s no reason to think.” But Frusciante, who turns thirty-seven on March 5th, is also one of the most advanced technical guitarists in rock, a vibrant, chameleonic stylist whose melodic precision and invention were pivotal on the Chili Peppers’ commercial breakthrough, 1991’s BloodSugarSexMagik. Born in New York and raised in Southern California, Frusciante obsessively practiced guitar in his bedroom, playing along to records, until he joined the Chili Peppers in 1989, replacing the late Hillel Slovak. Frusciante abruptly quit in 1992, beginning a seven-year descent into drug-fueled isolation. But since his return for 1999’s Californication, Frusciante’s early fusion of punk energy and the exploratory grandeur of Jimi Hendrix has bloomed into a colorful, explosive originality that is all over the Chili Peppers’ recent double album, Stadium Arcadium.
Who are your guitar heroes?
I always felt it was limiting to stick with guitarists for your inspiration. I also draw inspiration from what you might call guitar anti-heroes — people with an originality that goes beyond the guitar-hero aesthetic.
OK, who are your anti-heroes?
Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison of the Velvet Underground. In the Seventies, Keith Levene of Public Image, Ltd. and John McGeoch of Magazine invented interesting styles. I’m a big fan of Matthew Ashman of Bow Wow Wow. I have nothing against flash. But I grew up in a time when heroism and flashiness were overtaking the desire to make beautiful music. Kurt Cobain took guitar playing further than anyone with way more technique had done in a while.
Who made you want to play guitar?
It was Ace Frehley, Jimmy Page and Joe Perry. But it was a while before anybody would buy me an electric guitar. By then, I was into [Black Flag’s] Greg Ginn, [the Germs’] Pat Smear, and Joe Strummer and Mick Jones [of the Clash].
(Click the link for the rest of the interview with John Frusciante, John Mayer, and Derek Trucks)
