John Frusciante and the Future of the Red Hots

Although where John Frusciante stands on the reunion of the Red Hot Chili Peppers after their two-year hiatus has been anyone's guess for a while now, a slight complication surfaced yesterday which seems to have the entire world assuming the worst.

Recently, a few somewhat credible sources have reported that the Peppers have already begun to record a 10th album, but that John is not involved in the recording. Both of these sources also mentioned specifically that guitarist/songwriter Josh Klinghoffer is in some way involved.

As someone more deeply obsessed with John's music (both with the Peppers and as a solo artist) than any self-respecting human should ever admit to being, I figured it'd be worth it to throw down my two cents.

I do not at all believe that John has actually quit the Peppers, nor do I buy that Josh is suddenly now his replacement.

John is a very.. odd individual who has never failed to surprise me nearly every time he speaks (or picks up a guitar.) Despite largely retreating from the public eye, he is writing and recording more music than ever before, penning at least a hundred songs with the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA alone. Although he has made no public statements about his involvement with the Peppers (the Horse Chronicals interview from September was falsified), his reluctance to regroup and bear all the countless hours of writing, recording and production responsibilities he's shouldered for the last couple albums has shone through repeatedly. John put his soul into the last record, spending more time staying up recording overdubs and processing different parts than most of us will spend sleeping over the course of our entire lifetimes. Despite being a large advocate of imperfections and blemishes in his artwork, John puts an enormous amount of effort into all of his creations, crafting each piece far beyond what the average guitarist would ever care to do.
//For a fantastic glimpse into the sometimes breathtaking ways John fashions sounds, check out this excellent interview from 2006

Recording with the Peppers comes with rather large expectations, and I feel that John is not yet feeling ready to return to this. He did apparently show up for rehearsals with the band in October, but I believe he is still quite apprehensive about plunging back into the studio again.

Just because the Peppers are writing music without John does not that he has left the band. Flea and Chad are both very skilled musicians who are entirely capable of writing and recording music for the Peppers by themselves while John sorts himself out. I'm sure Flea is brimming with new ideas after two semesters of music theory and jazz trumpet lessons at the University of Southern California and his recent stints with Radiohead's Thom Yorke and the Guns N' Roses/Velvet Revolver axeman Slash, and Chad has already revealed that the basis for a few songs with piano parts were in the works.

Although I do not remotely believe his involvement indicates he is a replacement, I also don't doubt that Josh Klinghoffer may be working with the remaining Peppers. Josh is a very close friend of John's, and has collaborated with him numerous times in the past (see Ataxia's brilliant Automatic Writing if you really want to turn your musical assumptions upside-down.) Josh has proved numerous times over that he is more than just a funny looking man with fantastic hair; and actually a very talented multi-instrumentalist. He plays guitar, bass, piano and drums rather well, and has recorded with many different artists in the past. He also played keyboards and rhythm guitar on a very large leg of the Pepper's last tour. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if he was invited over, by John or the rest of the band, to work out the basis of a few songs for the new album.

 Although we may see a little increased input from Flea and maybe a few Josh cameos on the new record, I can't believe that the Peppers would give up on the lineup that has brought them so far this quickly.


I'll leave you with a jam from the last tour that I thought was exceptional. Here's to the many more to come..

//Many thanks to Invisible Movement, which has once again became my homepage throughout this entire ordeal..
UPDATE 12/16: So apparently I was wrong.