Getting Better All The Time
"Anthony was a huge influence on me," he recalls. "When we were in highschool, I remember going out to the movies or something, and I had this outfit I thought was really suave and cool-these brown corduroy pants and top. And I said to Anthony, 'Hey, like my new shirt?' And he said, 'That's okay. But anybody could wear that. The thing is to wear something that no one else would wear and be totally different.' I started wearing all these oddball clothes. And that totally affected the way I looked at music. I just wanted to play music like no one else would play it."
"I definitely came into school with a 'fuck the masses' approach," says Kiedis. "While everyone was wearing O.P. gear and listening to Led zeppelin, it was just too common and popular for me. So I went completely against it. I dressed awkwardly and listened to David Bowie, Benny Goodman, Blondie and all this weird stuff that my dad was turning me onto-just intentionally not to be part of the masses. And later, I realized I missed out on a lot of good music by being so pigheaded about it. Because when I was about 20 I finally discovered Led zeppelin and I haven't stopped listening to them since."
Kiedis and Flea funneled their defiant, youthful energy into the first incarnation of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, with guitarist Hillel Slovak and drummer Jack Irons. They burst upon the L.A. rock scene in the early Eighties - four butt-naked crazies with just one tube sock each to cover their male appendeges, which they of course boasted were way larger than average. The Peppers came out of the box playing a wild hybrid of funk, punk and metal-a combination that hadn't been heard before. They quickly became the number-one party band in the world's number-one party city. Kiedis and Flea were the chief freaks.
"Hillel and Jack were a little more reserved," Kiedis recalls. They were equally as powerful at conveying their ideas and energy. But Flea and I always drove each other in a competitive way - who could be just a little crazier, just a little more amped. It was competitive, but it was healthy at the same time."
According to the singer, that spirit of friendly rivalry between Flea and himself is still part of the Chili Peppers' dynamic. "We're a little more subtle, and less egotistical, about it. But it never dies, that sort of thing that brothers have. There's always, you know, 'I'll kick your ass.' 'No, I'll kick your ass!' But at least now we recognize it and can laugh about it. Back then, we tried to masquerade it and pretend like it's not there."
With their unique fusion of funk with hard rock and their shirtless macho posturing, the Chili Peppers laid the groundwork for today's nu-metal and rap metal bands. They are arguably the godfathers of those genres.
"We were definitely part of that first wave," says Kiedis, "but we can't take all the credit, because we were inspired by people who were onto that in a different way, like Parliament/Funkadelic, Sly and The Family Stone, Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys."
