Rockin’ On interview, October 2004
October 2004, Rockin’ On (Japan)
thanks to Noriko Otsubo, for the translation
click the thumbnail for scans
I often get asked, like ”If you can choose anybody you like, who are you going to play with?” Then I’ve been doing it … which is the band I belong to. There’s no substitute for the long period I’ve spent with somebody. Playing with Flea is an ideal situation for me.
Even if he said so, he doesn’t stop creating solo works. Starting with The Will To Death, John Frusciante will be releasing new album per month. What actually happened to him? The answer is in Automatic Writing and DCEP , collaborated with DC hard core punk band.
Nothing can stop John Frusciante now. As you know, he decided to release a new album per month in the second half of this year. While he performs his important duties as a member of Red Hot Chili Peppers, he shows us his tireless and phenomenal creativity.
Starting with The Will To Death, he will be releasing Automatic Writing under the name of Ataxia, and then will be releasing DCEP , four songs EP. These two albums came from warm interaction between John Frusciante and Fugazi, which is a punk rock band that have been carrying on independent label Dischord, based on Washington DC, and have considerable support at home and abroad for their steady approach to music. Ataxia received the friendly cooperation of Joe Lally, the bassist of Fugazi. DCEP was produced by Ian Mackaye who is a leading figure of Fugazi, and was recorded at Inner Ear Studios in Washington DC. And it was Jerry Busher who played the drum in DCEP as well as he plays an active role in a group called The All Scars and French Toast, and sometimes performs as a second drummer for Fugazi.
Definitely this is a milestone in American rock music history. On this side is Fugazi, a band has acted in quintessentially independent field, and on the other, Red Hot Chili Peppers, a major band in the huge music industry. So we are inclined to suppose that they are different from each other in field. But they get rid of our preoccupation with them. Though each has keep living independently with punk spirit at the West Coast or the East Coast, the two sides finally get a situation to collaborate on sounding, which will be regarded as an epoch-making event.
At least, to read the following interview, you can understand that John’s current creativity is strongly influenced by thought of DC hard-core punk band. John, who was once broken down under pressure to play in the famous rock band, is really a down-to-person now because he must be maintaining the place and the time to see himself and to remember what state of mind he was in at first.
Let’s just start with, would you tell us about your latest album Automatic Writing? How did you record with Fugazi bassist Joe Lally?
As musicians, both Josh Klinghoffer and myself have been big fans of Joe. Last year, Joe moved to LA from DC. It has been some years since Joe let me became a friend. And I had talked with Josh “If we were able to play with Joe, we would feel fine.” So, I really asked for Joe to play with us, he kindly agreed to our request. And, as jamming by Joe, Josh, and myself, we had some tunes. In fact, there is not much difference between Chili Peppers and Ataxia in process, writing songs by jams into recording them. The only difference is that we wrote songs for two weeks instead of spending six months, and recorded not for three weeks but for five days.
I think the album’s tittle represents the short-term working process.
We wrote songs in minimal amount of time so that we named this album “Automatic”. Each song is exactly the same as it was when all of us first improvised together. The only difference is that each voice was added to tunes when we recorded. About lyrics, on the day we just recorded tunes, as I listened to and sung along to them in my house, I wrote up lyrics in that night. We completed all of the works within two weeks, and I found great pleasure in the working. That’s why there is a special kind of energy in this album and we can feel particular energy in sounds. The thrill and atmosphere of live performance… that I had never felt in studio before. In most cases, until hit the recording studio, I knew songs more than enough to know, so all I need to do is record them on tape. In contrast, I regarded recordings for Ataxia as performance in itself, that’s to say, I took up a positive attitude toward creating something there.
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