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April/May 2004, Guitar World Acoustic (USA)
I have no idea who typed this, but I hope I fixed all their HORRIBLE typos!
click the thumbnail for scans

If John Frusciante is mad, many people would do well to emulate his madness. Yes some of his best friends live in other dimensions. But at a time when so many “Normal” humans live in stress , John is cheerful and at peace with the world.

Guitar World Acoustic: How did the songs from Shadows Collide come into being?

John Frusciante: Most of them were composed while I was writing BTW. At this time I was living in a hotel in Hollywood. I was going in a few different directions, trying to program different music as I was trying to learn more about synthesizers, and even writing sad songs that ended up being in Brown Bunny.

But songs started to take shape as the SCWP album all had an open ended, human quality. They also seemed like songs that sound good with real drums playing in them. I just started seeing how conceptually the album would go. Originally I was going to have more electronic drum elements. But I felt that it would dilute from the song element.

Guitar World Acoustic: So, all the songs (except the electronic ones) were written on an acoustic guitar?

John Frusciante: Yeah, most of them were, at that point in time I was very interested in learning about chords and chord theories. And it's a much better practice on an acoustic guitar because of the harmonics, which is much deeper on an acoustic, opposed to an electric - the way the chords resonate together. Amazing things happen on the acoustic guitar, sometimes you find chords where you can actually hear notes you're not even playing, because the combination of harmonics ends up resulting in an additional note. You can hum that note. You can point out that note to other people and they can hear it too.

Guitar World Acoustic: What guitar did you use?

John Frusciante: I have some Martins 0-15s which are really small guitars from the late 40s and early 50s

Guitar World Acoustic: The album in general seems to be tingled with a sense of regret. There’s even a song called Regret.

John Frusciante: You're wrong. I don’t regret anything, I’ve ever done in my life, and to me that song is funny.

Guitar World Acoustic: It's hard to know what your intent is, since the sole lyrical content is “I regret my past. Stay alone”

John Frusciante: I realize that it gives it that impression. It makes me regret putting it on the record! But really I’m very happy to be who I am and very proud of who I am. I hope that, that message comes through on the record more then any other. I really try to put a positive message across. I just like to play games with words I try to put together ideas that contradict one another. And to me the statement “ I Regret my past” is in itself a contradiction. Because all you are is what you have been up to this point.

Guitar World Acoustic: The album is also filled with ruminations on time and nature.

John Frusciante: I’ve given a lot of thought to that sort of thing. I’ve seen time mix itself up quite a bit. I’ve seen films of things inside my head before they actually happened, or did things that happened a long time ago. So I don’t believe in the linear appearance of time. That’s just how it’s laid out for us in this world. But people in another dimension see it all as one simultaneous thing.

Guitar World Acoustic: After time, God and death are the two other words that pop up most frequently in your lyrics

John Frusciante: I put in there because it’s a big image. I don’t have any religious beliefs, and I’m not interested in that subject matter. I like using big imagery and screwing with big ideas. To me, my lyrics are funny. Like in Carvel about ‘sending a dummy to god’ it's just a joke like sending a dummy instead of yourself. As far as death goes, it’s one of the things I do love to write about. It’s just my excitement of the thought of dying. It’s just a part of my joy, intertwined with my love of being alive.

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