John Frusciante

John Frusciante
John Frusciante
Background information
Origin	Queens, New York, USA
Years active	1988—present

John Anthony Frusciante (born March 5, 1970, in New York) is the guitarist of the Californian band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he has featured on five studio recordings (Mother's Milk, Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Californication, By The Way and Stadium Arcadium), two greatest hits packages (What Hits!? and Greatest Hits) and one live album (Live In Hyde Park). He is also an active solo artist and has released ten solo albums, plus one EP.

Frusciante was born in Queens, New York, but he moved to Los Angeles at age 12. His father, John Sr., and his mother, Gail Frusciante, were both musicians themselves. Gail even lent her voice to the Red Hot Chili Peppers song, "Under the Bridge". John Frusciante Sr. is the judge who oversaw the recent Clonaid case.

Frusciante is currently dating singer Emily Kokal and lives in Hollywood, California with his two cats Aztec and Maya.

Musical history

Mother's Milk

John Frusciante first heard the Chili Peppers on the song 'Yertle the Turtle' off their second album, Freaky Styley, on a mixtape a classmate made for him in high school. He then saw the Chili Peppers in concert in 1985 and they instantly became his favorite band. John began to hero-worship Hillel Slovak, the original guitarist for the band, learning every guitar and bass part from their first three albums. Hillel, however, died from a heroin overdose in 1988 and drummer Jack Irons left the band due to personal problems. Bassist Flea and singer Anthony Kiedis eventually regrouped to continue with the band.

John had become good friends with D.H. Peligro (drummer for The Dead Kennedys) around 1988, and they often jammed together. One day, Peligro invited Flea, bassist for the Chili Peppers over, to jam with them. Flea was so impressed by John's skill, and since he was looking for a new guitarist (their current replacement for Hillel, Duane 'Blackbird' McKnight had no good bond with the others) he called Anthony Kiedis (vocalist for The Chili Peppers) to watch John play. It was a unanimous decision: John was in. John was about to sign a contract with Thelonious Monster at the time, but Flea and Kiedis swiped him from under their noses. Needless to say, Thelonious Monster was not pleased, but the two bands remained friends anyway. (Frusciante also was among the final five guitarists trying out for Frank Zappa's band, but left before the final try-out due to Zappa's strict prohibition of illegal drug use amongst musicians in his band.) When John was asked to join the band he was thrilled, claiming to have "boot marks five feet high on the wall in my room for months after that call."

Frusciante made his first album with the Chili Peppers: Mother's Milk. Produced by Michael Beinhorn the album didn't stray too far from the funk that dominated the band's three previous albums: Frusciante's playing on this album is heavily influenced by Slovak's playing. According to Anthony Kiedis' autobiography 'Scar Tissue', John and Beinhorn fought often about the tone of his guitar and double layering. John's style was not yet revealed at the time of this album.

Frusciante is thought by many critics to contribute greatly to the creativity of the group with his unique guitar riffs and solos. He has said himself that it seemed like he was doing the majority of the writing during the recording of this album. Nowadays John claims to detest this album, saying it was too "macho".

Mother's Milk was the Chili Peppers' first gold album, helped by their first hit single, a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground". The album contained the song "Knock Me Down" (the lyrics of which were written by Kiedis as a warning against letting friends lose control of themselves, possibly inspired by the death of Hillel), which exemplified the band's increasing musical sophistication. Also, this song marked a new song writing style for the Chili Peppers because for the first time ever, Anthony was able to write lyrics before the jam and sit down with John to piece together the framework.

Blood Sugar Sex Magik

The band hooked up with legendary producer Rick Rubin to record their fifth album in a rented mansion in California - one which had once been owned by Harry Houdini, among others, and was allegedly where the Beatles experienced LSD for the first time. During the recording, the band isolated itself from the outside world and, with the exception of drummer Chad Smith, the band lived in the house. During the whole duration of recording, while Anthony and Rick had made a few ventures into society, John and Flea remained shut-ins and John consumed massive amounts of marijuana. The monastic recording conditions are well-documented in the Gavin Bowden film "Funky Monks" (1991).

This was also the first album the band recorded on their current label, Warner, who had bought them out of their previous contract with EMI.

Blood Sugar Sex Magik sold incredibly well, and was the band's breakthrough album, mostly due to the hits "Under the Bridge" and "Give It Away," and also to the expert production by Rick Rubin.

Wanting to be part of the band and creating music with the people that meant more to him than anything else, John felt increasingly uncomfortable when the time came to go on tour. His friendship with Kiedis fell apart. Both lived apart from each other and on stage they avoided one another. John couldn't get used to the idea of being celebrated as a huge rock star, playing in sold out venues and giving endless interviews. His motivation and performance disappeared rapidly but the band still stood by him, hoping he would recover soon. The tour stress that had sucked his creativity and artistic energy offered him only one choice: on May 7th, 1992, just as the Chili Peppers were supposed to do a show in Japan, Frusciante left the band (he played the show and later departed). When asked by the media what he said to the band, he replied, "Just tell them I went crazy." His departure was considered to be the result of mental illness - specifically manic depression - as well as fatigue from the Chili Peppers' celebrity status. He also couldn't handle being back in the real world, after living in the 'Mansion' for so long with no worries. He subsequently spiralled into several years of heroin addiction. Years after his departure from the Chili Peppers, Johnny Depp and others ventured to John's apartment and filmed a short film depicting the rather barren conditions in which John was living in. The documentary was called "Stuff"

Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt

Frusciante had already begun recording his first solo album before leaving the band in 1992, and the album that was released in 1994, Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt, is viewed by many as his best solo album. It is an incredibly vivid glimpse into the mind of what some would call a madman. A notable eccentric, Frusciante claims that his music is a gift from spirits that frequently spoke to him during his absence from the Red Hot Chili Peppers from 1992 to 1998. He has said concerning these spirits: I was so happy that someone was visiting I’d make food for them. When they were gone, I’d cry. The album is dedicated to Flea's daughter Clara Balzary as Frusciante loved the innocence that children have. It was also dedicated to his long time friend and, at that time, girlfriend, Toni Oswald.

Smile From the Streets You Hold

Frusciante became severely addicted to hard drugs, primarily heroin. His 1997 solo album Smile From the Streets You Hold was released for purpose of "drug money" according to Frusciante himself, and was later withdrawn from the market. Frusciante bought many of the copies back later out of his pocket, seeing the album unfit to be on shelves. To this day Frusciante has promised he will one day again release the record, although, it seems unlikely still. It was written and recorded largely in the style of Niandra Lades: lo-fi, with gossamer, layered guitar work and helter-skelter, impassioned vocals that are often unlistenable. Some have suspected that Frusciante developed a form of paranoid schizophrenia during this time: he lost weight dramatically, had become a recluse, and avoided social contact altogether. The late River Phoenix appears on the album providing vocals for two songs.

Californication

After around seven years as a hardcore heroin and cocaine user (and producing two of what one may call disturbing solo records), an emaciated Frusciante checked himself into rehab, where he was greeted by Flea one day. Eventually, he was asked to re-join the band. He said yes, and in 1999, Californication was released with John back on guitar. His reappearance in the public eye was greeted with some shock, as there were many tales of his terrible descent into addiction, but it was clear to everyone who listened to Californication that Frusciante was truly back. The album, featuring the guitar skills of Frusciante, was a sonic celebration of life and rebirth ("Scar Tissue"), and also an exploration of Hollywood superficiality ("Californication").

To Record Only Water for Ten Days

During the Californication world tour John wrote his own songs which would be released on another solo album called To Record Only Water for Ten Days. This album was not nearly as stream-of-consciousness and avant-garde as his previous solo albums, but his lyrics were still very cryptic and the sound of the album was notably sparse and stripped down. Instead of focusing mostly on his guitar work, John became interested in synthesizer sounds and textures, and his synth is a prime feature of this album.

Frusciante began his To Record Only Water for Ten Days tour on January 27, 2001 with a performance at The Borderline in London. The tour concluded on June 10 with a short show at The Ruby in Los Angeles, and all 16 concerts featured only John on acoustic guitar.

From the Sounds Inside

21 unreleased songs were posted on John Frusciante's Official Website. These songs are taken from the To Record Only Water era of Frusciante's solo career and are different, sometimes unmastered, versions of songs on the album including ones that were never released.

By the Way

The band recorded By the Way in 2002, and it was well-received by critics and fans alike. It is generally considered their softest album to date, and the difference in sound between this album and Freaky Styley (one of the band's earlier works before John joined) is spectacular. Frusciante remains a major—according to some, the primary—creative force in the Chili Peppers, as all the successful albums of the band have been recorded with John.

2004 recordings

Beginning in 2004 and concluding in early 2005, Frusciante embarked on a bold sonic quest. He released seven albums within a twelve months period.

Shadows Collide With People

In February 2004 John released the much anticipated Shadows Collide With People, a well collected, amazingly orchestrated amalgamation of songs that outline Frusciante's growth experienced after his heroin addiction. The album featured guest appearances from some of Frusciante's closest friends, including Josh Klinghoffer from The Bicycle Thief, the Peppers drummer Chad Smith, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez from The Mars Volta Jesus Saucedo from Run Rabbit Run and Flea, the legendary Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist. Shadows is his most polished sounding album to date, which also makes it one of his most accessible. However, in response to many fans' preference for his usually more stripped down work, he released demos of almost all the tracks via his official website, which were recorded in his living room and featured only vocals and acoustic guitar.

Six CDs in Six Months

Around May/June 2004, rumours began to circulate that John would be releasing another album at the end of June. These rumours were confirmed as fans also discovered that John had plans to release another 6 albums this year, the records being released roughly once per month through the label Record Collection.

The Will to Death

The first of these albums was The Will to Death, released at the end of June 2004. The album lacked the meticulous editing and high production cost of Shadows Collide with People but the quality of the songs included were very highly regarded by fans. The album was recorded in 5 days total (December 18-19 2003 and January 8-10 2004) as John wanted the album to be 'imperfect' compared to his highly produced Shadows Collide With People. Indeed, John's appreciation of imperfection in studio music is a trait that features largely in his music. (For a taste of John's taste, listen to the tambourine in the Rolling Stones song Time Is On My Side.)

The following five albums of Frusciante's most fruitful musical period represent an array of rock music that often incorporates instruments, tempo changes, and electronic sounds uncommon to traditional western rock. People may question Frusciante's decision to release all these songs on separate albums instead of producing some sort of "best of" work for this series, but when the series is listened to, it becomes clear that all the sounds are grouped together in terms of style. It did not make any sense for Frusciante to, for example, put a song from Curtains and a song from A Sphere in the Heart of Silence on the same record because they are too different in style, theme and genre.

Automatic Writing

The next in the series was Automatic Writing, a record of five long jams with hypnotic bass lines and experimental guitar parts. The album was not released under the name of John Frusciante, but as Ataxia. Ataxia includes Frusciante on guitar, Josh Klinghoffer on drums and Joe Lally (bassist of Fugazi) on bass, with all three contributing to the vocals. Automatic Writing was released at the tail end of August and is apparently the first half of recordings the trio did together under the moniker Ataxia. It is unknown whether the other half of recordings will be released anytime soon.

DC EP

Next was the DC EP, which included just four tracks (and totaled less than 20 minutes). The record was produced by Fugazi's Ian MacKaye, whom Frusciante idolized throughout his teen years. Frusciante was accompanied on this album by Jerry Busher on drums. Musically, the songs were somewhat similar to what one could find on his album The Will to Death, but slightly different in genre and very different in tone. The recording of the DC EP was once again very fast (9-10 February). Rumour has it that the 'DC' name is because Frusciante recorded it in Washington, DC. The DC EP was released in September.

Inside of Emptiness

Inside of Emptiness, an album that is very highly regarded by Frusciante's loyal fanbase, was the fourth of the six albums. Recorded in just 6 days (8-13 March) this album adopted a heavier feel than previous Frusciante releases. John himself said that one of the solos was accomplished by "beating the fuck out of his guitar". Frusciante was once again accompanied by Klinghoffer, and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez makes another appearance. The album was released in late October 2004.

A Sphere in the Heart of Silence

The final album of 2004 was A Sphere In The Heart Of Silence. Notable for its interesting combination of electronic music with rock, A Sphere shares certain resemblances to Frusciante's other highly electronic release, To Record Only Water for Ten Days. Klinghoffer shared equally in the production of this album. The album was released under both Frusciante's and Klinghoffer's names. Recorded in April {9-11, 14-15) the fifth album in the series was not released until November.

Curtains

Curtains completed Frusciante's productive journey. Officially released February 1, 2005, the album was recorded in May 2004 (8-14, 19-23) so is still a part of the prolific year of Frusciante. The album is mostly acoustic, recorded in Frusciante's living room, and has the most commercial appeal of the albums in his series of six. It was also the most critically received, garnering Frusciante comparisons to Cat Stevens. Accompanying Frusciante on this album were, Carla Azar (from the band Autolux) on drums and Ken Wilde on upright bass. Omar Rodriguez-Lopez once again marks an appearance, adding lead guitar on certain tracks.

Although none of these records had huge commercial success, they are highly regarded in the music industry for not being overproduced and what many fans call real music.

Each of the 'Record Collection' album's artwork were designed by Lola Montes and each was engineered by Ryan Hewitt.

John was also kept busy with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2004 as they embarked upon a summer tour in Europe. The band played in stadium sized venues, and was their biggest tour to date. The band unveiled three new songs on this tour: "Leverage of Space", "Rolling Sly Stone" and "Mini-Epic". A live album called Live in Hyde Park was released, compiling live tracks from the band's Hyde Park shows in London. Two of the new songs, "Leverage of Space" and "Rolling Sly Stone", were included.

Frusciante also performed in Los Angeles together with guitarist Michael Rother of Neu! and Kraftwerk fame. Playing with Rother was like a dream come true for Frusciante, who has been a great fan of the guitarist for many years.

As of 2005

In 2005 Frusciante entered the studio with the rest of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to work on their 9th studio album, the recording commenced on the 16th of March and apparently all that is left to record is Anthony's vocals. It has been said that the songs played in their Summer tour in 2004 will not be included in the album: "Leverage of Space", "Rolling Sly Stone" and "Mini-Epic". It is known now that "Desecration Smile" will appear on the ninth studio album Stadium Arcadium. Frusciante has said recently that he plays a lot of 'Hendrix-esque' solos on this album.

Frusciante also revealed in March that he has plans to make a remastered version of the internet album, From the Sounds Inside and also to make all of his copies of Smile from The Streets You Hold, which he has sitting in a warehouse, available to the fans by selling them through his official website, stating: "I recently listened to 'Smile' again and really loved it, it's really a wonderful album and it should be out there, people should be able to listen to it". A boxed set with all his solo works (including those just mentioned) is another idea that Frusciante is thinking of.

John recently participated in the All Tomorrow's Parties festival curated by Vincent Gallo (who Frusciante is quite close with) on the 23rd of April, playing an acoustic set of songs ranging from Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt to Curtains.

Frusciante was also featured in certain tracks on The Mars Volta's "Frances The Mute," playing solo's on the song "L'Via L'Viaquez."

As of 2006

In 2006 Frusciante will tour in support of the new Red Hot Chili Pepper's album, Stadium Arcadium. He will also be featured on some, if not all, of the songs on the new Glenn Hughes (of Deep Purple fame) album along with Chad Smith who will be playing the drums. He will also be featured on one track, "Hard Life", on the debut album by Perry Ferrell's new group, Satellite Party. Frusciante has also been working with The Mars Volta in the studio on their new project. Band leaders Omar Rodriguez-Lopez and Cedric Bixler-Zavala have been quoted saying that Frusciante will have a much larger role in The Mars Volta in the next cd, hinting that he may even become a member of the band, though this is unconfirmed.

Gear

Guitars

Frusciante is known to use mostly vintage guitars, including:

1969 Fender Mustang Fiesta Red
1962 Fender Stratocaster three colour sunburst (rosewood fretboard)
1955 Fender Stratocaster (maple fretboard)
1965 Fender Telecaster (rosewood fretboard)
1955 Gretsch White Falcon
1962 Fender Jaguar Fiesta Red
Two 1940s Martin acoustics
Maton Messiah 12-string acoustic (which can be heard on "Breaking the Girl")

John has been seen playing a Toronado in the video for "Can't Stop". His 1955 stratocaster is used in the recording of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, and the 1962 Stratocaster was given to him as a present by bandmate Anthony Kiedis after he returned to the band. He has also been seen playing a Gibson Les Paul Black Beauty guitar, mainly during the Red Hot Chili Peppers tour in 2004 for the cover song, Black Cross, he also can be seen playing a Gibson SG in the music video for "Fortune Faded". As of 2006, John has been seen playing a number of different guitars in the Red Hot Chili Peppers' music video for "Dani California", involving the band parodying several bands including The Beatles and Nirvana. Towards the end of the video, the band "become" themselves and John plays a white Fender Stratocaster, which, with visual wear and tear, is most likely a vintage model.

Amplification

Fender Blackface Showman
Fender Twin Reverb (John keeps this next to his pedalboard)
Marshall JTM-45
Marshall 100W Super Bass
Marshall Silver Jubilee 100
Marshall 200W Major

He primarily uses Marshall amplifiers (mainly two Silver Jubilee and a 200-watt Major), though has also been seen using amps by Vox and Fender.

Effects/Pedalboard

John has used and/or is still using the following effects.

Distortion/Fuzz/Overdrive:

BOSS DS-1 Distortion
BOSS DS-2 Distortion
Electro-Harmonix USA Big Muff Pi Distortion/Sustainer
Electro-Harmonix Graphic Fuzz
ZVex Fuzz Factory

Modulation/Filter:

Boss CE-1 Chorus Ensemble
Electro-Harmonix Electric Mistress Flanger & Filter Matrix
Electro-Harmonix Frequency Analyzer
Electro-Harmonix Micro Synthensizer
Electro-Harmonix Tube Zipper
Line 6 FM4 Filter Modeler
Moog MF-103 MoogerFooger 12 Stage Phaser
MXR Phase 90 (re-issue)
Dunlop Univibe Stereo Chorus

Wah-Wah:

Ibanez WH-10 Wah-Wah

John has several of these pedals, as they are long discontinued, and due to being made of plastic, break easily.

ZVex Wah-Probe

Delay/Reverb:

Electro-Harmonix Holy Grail Reverb
Electro-Harmonix 16-second Digital Delay
Line 6 DL4 Delay Modeler

Other:

BOSS Master Switch
BOSS FV-50 Volume pedal
MXR Micro Amp (John uses this to get more output from the pickups in his Strats)

Frusciante's pedalboard for the Californication tour was rather modest, only five pedals, though his effects arsenal for the By the Way tour was considerably larger.