The Chili Peppers have been around for as long as I have walked the Earth. 28 years. They have not only survived but indeed thrived through thick and thin. Their history reads like the Shakespeare of rock ‘n roll drama and they reside comfortably alongside the likes of the Rolling Stones, Metallica and Motley Crue in the pantheon of rock royalty.
“Flea has spoken out about the album being a marked departure from previous outings whilst retaining the fundamental Chili Pepper magic.”
Upon receiving this assignment, a flood of memories from my past arose that have had the Red Hot Chili Peppers trademark sound stamped into them. It ended up feeling rather strange to take heed of the fact that many noteworthy moments in my history, swirling somewhere in my grey matter, are moving in rhythm to the funk swagger of the Chili Peppers.
I’m not even that into the group and yet their energy has been forever mapped onto so many recollections from days gone by. Some examples – my first true rebellion in the face of that psychic nightmare called High School was soundtracked by RHCP amongst others: bunking school for the first time to go watch the Beavis and Butthead movie, the Peppers’ Love Rollercoaster championing my defiance in the dark theatre. I hooked up with a lady or two at house parties, all nerves and excitement and clandestine alcohol consumption, where the Chili’s most outstanding record to date Californication seemed the only album anyone cared to listen to. My first year post-matric – spent waiting tables, living in dingy digs, pounding the unknown streets of a new city and smoking copious amounts of dope – everywhere seemed to vibrate to that year’s By The Way.
Fast forward to 2006 and the ubiquitous sound of Dani California (the group’s fastest selling single), which for me now smacks of resignation. The track was the new big thing on the airwaves as I was squaring up to the frighteningly wide world of career prospects, adult responsibility and that rest-of-my-life post-graduation feeling. And then the soundtrack stops. After a world tour supporting the sprawling record Stadium Arcadium, the Red Hot Chili Peppers decided to take an indefinite hiatus, spurred on partly by bassist Flea’s desire to get some perspective away from the band, citing that it had become something dysfunctional, and the group’s general exhaustion from near-constant recording and touring. It’s been half a decade since the last album and it’s interesting to look at what each member embroiled themselves in while away from the RHCP behemoth.
Naturally, making music remained a pivotal aspect in most of the band’s time apart, the only exception being vocalist Anthony Kiedis who spent the lion’s share of his free time concentrating on raising his son as well as developing a television series tentatively titled Spider and Son for HBO, loosely based on his 2004 best-selling autobiography Scar Tissue.
Drummer Chad Smith appears to be a machine, and one that has been programmed to bang drums relentlessly. In his time away from the Chili Peppers, he has appeared behind the kit of a number of outfits. Black Sabbath bassist Glenn Hughes employed Smith’s stick-work on numerous solo outings. In 2008, he formed a jazz inspired improvisational funk-rock group humorously titled Chad Smith’s Bombastic Meatbats, which to date has released two albums. He beats the skins in supergroup Chickfoot, a band filled to the brim with talent in the guise of Joe Satriani and Van Halen’s Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony. Smith recorded drums for the five time Grammy winning album Taking the Long Way by the Dixie Chicks and cut a children’s album with Dick Van Dyke and Leslie Bixler which has recently been named the all-time favourite children’s record by MTV.
Flea, who many hail as one of the best funk bassists alive, unable to rest on his laurels, decided to enrol himself in a university music course, studying music theory, composition and jazz trumpet for a full year in an effort to greater understand his craft and unlock new possibilities in his playing. He found time too to perform bass duties in Thom Yorke’s solo project when it finally blossomed into a riveting live act, eventually dubbed Atoms for Peace and performing a landmark show at the Coachella Festival in 2010.
The most interesting eventuality of the hiatus was the departure, for the second time round, of guitarist and, many consider, musical shaman of the group, John Frusciante. He decided to leave the band in order to again concentrate on his solo work. This sparked debate amongst fans as to the future of the band since its widely recognised that Frusciante brought to the RHCP a particularly potent elemental force. The album recorded during his first sabbatical from the Peppers is regarded as their weakest effort to date. In the time since his departure, he has released a solo album, worked with The Mars Volta, kick-started an electronic band called Speed Dealer Moms, released several highly experimental works with Omar Rodriguez-Lopez [The Mars Volta] and guested on numerous recordings.
For a time it appeared that the Red Hot Chili Peppers tenure as one of the world’s most highly regarded bands might be coming to an end.However, Kiedis and Flea were adamant that the Chili Peppers still have something to say musically and decided to continue working on material. They announced that long-time friend and frequent RHCP sideman Josh Klinghoffer would be taking up guitar duties. Rehearsals and recording began in earnest and now the RCHP’s have a new album in the bag, called I’m With You, and set for imminent release. Flea has spoken out about the album being a marked departure from previous outings whilst retaining the fundamental Chili Pepper magic.
He’s gone on record stating that he feels like this new music is comparable to what the Rolling Stones did with Exile on Main Street. Klinghoffer has been described by his new bandmates as a very textural, sublime and poetic musician who has been instrumental in creating their new offering, bringing with him a distinctive voice and tone.And so it is that soon there will be a new soundtrack to swirl into my memory as its fairly certain that the album will be placed onto heavy rotation around the world and will work its way into the landscape of some aspect of my life that retrospectively will feel markedly apt and oddly comforting.
Check out a video interview with Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith as they explain the initial writing process and Josh joining the band. I’m With You - coming 30 August 2011.
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