Wonderland
In 1992 he left the band mid-tour with the parting shot: “just tell them I went crazy.” On his return to L.A. the planet Mercury was definitely out of alignment. Frusciante made a terrible decision: “I thought I could preserve my good feelings, a state of artistic intensity by using heroin…and then crack.” He had enough money to stay high for 3 years. He talks about the day he got down to his last $10 and was faced with the choice of a wrap of heroin or a hamburger. His voice simply trails off. “I don’t wanna talk about that anymore…”
Without Frusciante, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were L.A. journeymen. Sessions faces came and went. Former Jane’s Addiciton guitarist Dave Navarro joined foe the uninspired One Hot Minute album. (“It doesn’t feel like a Chilis album to me,” says Flea today. “Different band.”)
However when Flea found Frusciante living in an East L.A. apartment and asked him to re-join, Frusciante seemed to have learnt something from his near-fatal relationship with heroin and cocaine. (“When he first joined, he tried to fit in, to be one of us. When he came back he was his own artist. He had the ideas,” says Flea later.)
Interestingly for one who has experienced so much anguish both as a member and non-member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Frusciante has no interest in hearing the other side. He hasn’t read Scar Tissue. “I’ve asked Anthony for a copy on 3 occasions. He says, Sure, but it never comes,” he smiles. But Frusciante has heard what’s in it. He is unimpressed.
“There are things in it that were supposed to be secrets. We said, We won’t talk about this, but it’s all there. It’s not the coolest shit in the world…but I forgive him.”
Fanatical as ever, he has embraced new things: health food, prayer, meditation. He plans to throw himself into the latter when the RHCP finally disband. “I’m different to Anthony. I don’t want to be Iggy Pop. Iggy’s a god but I don’t want to be 60 and chasing women round L.A. I want to be prepared for after this. I want to explore myself through meditation. I’ll be a monk. I want to learn Hebrew. I think learning a scared language based on numbers would be good for my perception of existence.”
But could he make it as a monk? Musically he’s compulsive and prodigious. Within a 12-monthperiod across 2004 and 2005 he released 6 solo albums. And from the haunting The Will To Death and to the rocking Inside Of Emptiness and the final, mostly acoustic albums Curtains, he seemed able to explore a new vernacular every time. He’s just played on the forthcoming Mars Volta album with his best friend Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. He’s going to record with his new girlfriend. Later, former Jane’s Addiction singer Perry Farrell is coming over to work on some tunes.
“I long for a simpler life that rejects all these forms of pleasure, making money and functioning as a business enterprise,” he says. “It will happen.”
