Universally Speaking
June 2003, Guitarist magazine (UK)
thanks to Caroline for the transcript
click the thumbnail for scans
Guitarist goes backstage to meet Red Hot Chili Pepper John Frusciante, the man behind last year's finest guitar album. Join us as we find out why he can't bear to listen to that album now, how he's rebuilt his guitar arsenal after a house fire destroyed his old collection, how he approaches soloing and chord theory, and why we'll be hearing a lot more from him in the coming months.
PLUS. Ben Bartlett meets John's guitar tech Dave Lee to get the low-down on his gear. While Adrian Clark shows you how to play the Frusciante way. Enjoy!
It's 8pm and we're standing in line, eyes fixed on the glow from Manchester Evening News Arena's only cash machine. The line stretches almost the whole way across the lobby area and contains people from all walks of life shuffling from foot to foot, wondering if they'll ever get in to the arena, let alone to the bar.
Tonight, the place is positively swarming with music lovers. Pretty young punks with their chains jangling; old rockers in battered leathers; svelte new-wavers with a second skin of black denim; bright-eyed teens getting drunk on a school night; smart-casual thirtysomethings feeling hip and trendy. Tall, short, black, white, blonde, red, hot and Chilly, they're all here. Because the world's biggest rock band are in town and quite simply, everywhere else is nowhere, man.
The universal appeal of the Red Hot Chili Peppers right now is astounding. For a band that once famously wore nothing but socks on their cocks and were maginalised as sexist rap-metal goons, their transformation to mega-selling, supermodel-dating world-beaters seems extraordinary. Yet look a little closer at the Chili Peppers' rollercoaster 20-year career path and it soon becomes obvious what, or rather who, is responsible sor its peaks and troughs.
When John Frusciante joined the band in 1988 they'd already been a going concern for five years, recorded three mediocre albums and showed little prospect for improvement. Sure, Flea was an awesome talent and Anthony Kiedis a memorable frontman, but musical inspiration and melodic focus was negligible. The effects of John's introduction were felt contiguously. Fourth album Mother's Milk featured their first MTV-friendly tracks, Higher Ground and Knock Me Down, and led to a major label record deal with Warner Brothers. Then 1991's Blood Sugar Sex Magik followed, selling millions worldwide, and within the space of three years Frusciante had turned the Chilis in to bona fide rock stars.
