Total Guitar, August 2002
"I did have a few guitarists who I was intent of emulating and who were big influences on my sound on By The Way," he says. "Like Vini Reilly from the Durutti Column." Signed to Factory records, the Durutti Column created atmospheric, texture-laden songs. Reilly is also known for his flamenco guitar work, which, John says, partly inspired his Spanish-sounding guitar on the song Cabron. "The main thing about his guitar playing is that it’s really textural. There’s lots of really interesting chords and shapes and you can’t really tell what’s going on. It’s a combination of his Les Paul plus some echo, flanger, chorus and phaser and not using distortion. You can’t tell what you’re hearing," he puzzles. "I have to really sit down and listen carefully to find out what’s going on. He’s just a great guitar player, full stop. I wanted to listen to these people who weren’t just about technique but more about textures. People like Johnny Marr, John McGeoch [Magazine, Siouxsie and the Banshees] and Andy Partridge [XTC]. People who used good chords," he concludes.
These players were a big part of how he approached Californication too. "But I also noticed that the people I was really focusing on Califonication had a bigger effect on my playing on this album. Matthew Ashman from Bow Wow Wow and Bernard Sumner from Joy Division and New Order: I noticed their influence on me this time too. Again, it’s a matter of texture over technique, and their influences are evident on tracks like Dosed and Midnight."
But Frusciante is far from just a fan of 80s guitar bands - last time TG spoke to him, he was practising guitar by learning the synth parts to Depeche Mode’s Music For The Masses. At the moment it’s the Human League. "Yeah, I’ve been playing along with their first two albums [1979’s Reproduction and 1980’s Travelogue; detached, austere affairs in the vein of Tangerine Dream]". Still, as far as John’s concerned, it’s good backing track material. "That’s how I practise. Melodically, I’m far more influenced by Kraftwerk records than by guitarists’ solos. I’m really trying to get away from playing flashy stuff, and concentrating on not playing solos at all. There’s something about soloing that makes me feel like it’s almost irresponsible. I remember when I hadn’t played guitar in five years, I could pick up a guitar anytime any play that kind of flashy stuff, and I hadn’t been practising at all. But there was no feeling there."
And anyway, didn’t he once say that Eric Clapton in Cream took the solo to its utmost peak and that there’s no point even heading in that direction anymore? "Did I say that?", he laughs. "Right. Well, I love that music, y’know? But yeah, I just don’t feel like that’s the way for guitar playing to continue. For me, that playing came to an end in the late 70’s. Then in the late 70s and early 80s. you had all these great guitar players who never get mentioned now. Like Keith Levine from Public Image. It was a really good time for guitar playing and a really underestimated time."
Players like Levine tried to play out of the blues box, to stretch the guitars to its limits. For John, it’s become almost a mission to take up where they left off. "In the 80s, when I was a kid, everybody was impressed with your speed on the guitar," he says. "Everyone had forgotten about all those players that emerged in the late 70s and early 80s. I feel like the direction those people were headed in never really got a chance to develop the way in the way that Jimi Hendrix did. That’s why I want to include their approach and their style in my playing - and I think there’s a lot more to be done."
These players who John loves so much have turned him on to lots of other, older music too. "Someone like Matthew Ashman [Bow Wow Wow], when I hear his guitar playing, I hear a lot of The Shadows and surf music, Gene Vincent, James Burton and Ricky Nelson. There was a lot of different styles he incorporated, and his playing turned me on to all those bands."
