JOHN FRUSCIANTE: A RETROSPECTIVE WITHIN EMPTINESS
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Artist:
On January 20th John Frusciante, the guitarist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, released his tenth studio album entitled The Empyrean. The road to this tenth solo effort and his career with and away from the Red Hot Chili Peppers is a rocky one to say the least.From being a teenage fanatic of the Chili Peppers Funk/Punk/Rap fusion to suddenly becoming their guitarist after the death of found member Hillel Slovak, then going on to help shape a whole new sound on the legendary Blood Sugar Sex Magik album, to then falling into a near fatal heroin addiction and all but disappearing from the world of poplar music only to return to the band and help take them to their biggest successes with Californciation, By The Way and Stadium Arcadium, becoming one of the hardest working and celebrated musicians of his time. Today Frusciante is one of the most coveted guitarists of his time with the Chilis, yet all the while he has also been playing and recording his own music, displaying his prowess as a song writer, vocalist and multi instrumentalist, demonstrating his wide musical influences from Hendrix and Zappa to New Order and the Wu Tang Clan. What will follow is nowhere close to giving a full picture of Frusciante, in fact to do his story justice Frusciante really needs a book or two penned about him (ala Keidis’s book ‘Scar Tissue’?), instead this is merely a sketch of Frusciante’s varied recording career.
In 1991 Blood Sugar Sex Magik was released after a solid few months of dedicated monk like recording (documented in the ‘Funky Monks’ film). Although having already recorded one record with the RHCP, (1989’s Mother’s Milk ,after replacing the late Hillel Slovak Frusciante) Frusciante was still finding his feet musically, not in technique but rather in forging a sound that was his own. BSSM was this realization. Frusciante flourished in the environment in which the record was made; secluded from the real world in a grand Hollywood mansion with only band mates, engineers and producer Rick Rubin for company, he immersed himself in music and art, ferociously focusing on his playing. The results were paramount, Frusciante produced a definitive watery style that fusing Funk, Punk, Blues, Metal, Psychedelia yet also bringing a keen sensitivity to melody that had previously been absent from the bands music. This coincided with singer Anthony Keidis’s move to singing over rapping and bassist Flea’s shift away from his signature slap heavy style to more minimalist parts. The resulting tracks that typified this style such as “Give It Away” and “Under The Bridge” made the RHCP’s super stars.
Yet Frusciante’s reintegration into the real world, in which he was now regarded a Rock god, did not come easily. Troubled with the mainstream success that they had achieved Frusciante started resenting the band (especially Keidis) and his audience until finally he quit and he retired to his Hollywood home, once again immersed him self in art and music, only this time involving copious quantities of drugs, chiefly heroin. Two years later in 1994 Frusciante released his first solo effort Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt on Rick Rubin’s American Recordings, reputedly upon the urgings of close friend River Phoenix. It was in fact recorded between 1988 and 1992, later mixed by Frusciante, and is in fact two records hence the double title. The first half is like a guided tour of Frusciante’s haunting existence in his Hollywood home (see Johnny Depp and Perry Pharrel’s film ‘Stuff’). Coplicard broken melodies, lo-fi jams filled with shrieks and wails yet peppered with moments of pure brilliance: it’s messy, dark and sometimes painful, but beautiful at the same time, a piece of abstract art along the lines of Pollock or Dali. The second half’s tracks are all untitled, ranging from little jams to croaky to short and surprisingly decent pieces of song writing such as “Untitled 3#”. It is not easy listening music but it certainly took many by surprise. That is, some were surprised at how free and expressive they felt it was, other surprised by how bad it sounded to them and what a fall from grace it represented.
By the time Smile from the Streets You Hold was released in 1997 Frusciante was barely alive. His best friend River Phoenix had died, his former band had gone onto record an album without him, replacing him with Dave Narrovo of Jane’s Addiction (1995’s One Hot Minute, still a hotly debated record).To make matters worse Frusciante’s house had burnt down and he had almost had his arm amputated due to the infected abbesses on them caused by mis-injecting heroin. It is almost certain that the record was merely left over from his first solo release, scraps and rejects from an abstract art project that was already regarded as difficult. The results are frustrating at best, tormenting at worst and Frusciante later admitted he only released the record for drug money and has since had it removed from the market due to how uncomfortable he felt with it (though there are rumours of a re-release).It is a record for the die hard fans and collectors but even they felt let down and saddened by this proof that a man who had once being a young brilliant Rock star with so much potential had become a burnt out husk, all the signs pointing to an eminent demise.
Yet In late 1997, after more than five years of heroin addiction Frusciante quit cold turkey, reputedly sweating it at night clubs. However he couldn’t get off cocaine and alcohol and was finally admitted to rehab upon the urgings of Bob Forrest (of Thelonious Monster / The Bicycle Thief).Fully recovered Frusciante re-entered society in an almost reborn state, becoming a devotee of yoga, organic food and even abstaining from sexual intercourse .Meanwhile the Red Hot Chili Peppers had parted ways with Navarro (who had himself relapsed) the band being regarded as having had it’s day in the sun ,being on the verge of break up. Then the impossible happened when bassist Flea invited Frusciante to rejoin and Frusciante accepted. Frusciante’s technical prowess had diminished leading him to a less is more approach which helped forge a sound that was not at all macho, but rather watery and soothing whilst still packing a much needed punch, where before he would have plaid twenty notes he played just one.
This change of attitude and sound which helped restore the bands fortunes with the massive hit record Caifornication (1999), exhibiting more grown up and gentle ballads such as “Scar Tissue” whilst still holding Funk Rock credentials with tracks like “Around The World”. Spurred on by his artistic and spiritual rebirth Frusciante recorded his third solo effort To Record Water For Only Ten Days (2001) on Warner. On this record Frusciante merged the stark experimentalism of his previous solo efforts, taming and simplifying, harnessing them to gentle melodies and thoughtful spiritualistic lyrics to create a fresh and exciting sound that also exhibited Frusciante’s skill as an composer. It was followed by the EP Going Inside (2001) and From the Sounds Inside an internet only record that consists of material left over from To Record Water For Only Ten Days , which Frusciante offered to his loyal fan base for free on his website, a gesture of gratitude rarely exhibited by musician of his stature, much like the intimate live shows he played to support these records. Frusciante’s previous experiments with sound processing stepped up a notch with extensive use of synthesizers, digital processors, drum machines and an array of vintage studio effects. Here Frusciante started to exhibit his long term interests in Electronic, Dance music and New Wave groups such as New Order, more away from the Funk, Hard Rock and psychedelic influences he had previously exhibited. While his previous solo efforts had surprised in how different from the Chili’s they were in a difficult fashion his new solo work surprised with how accessible yet original it was. As a result fans of Frusciante should have found no surprises in the Chili’s next record By The Way(2002), a decidedly unfunky laid back and relaxed collection of minimalist pieces, fusing Synth Pop, Beach Boys/1950’s Rock and Roll sensibilities with Ska, Reggae and a host of other influences.
After the by the way tour Frusicante’s work followed a similar direction with a deeper investigated melodic structure, changes and effects processing, By The Way being almost completely free of flashy guitar solos that had at least occasionally appeared in Californication. His next release Shadows Collide With People (2004) is probably his most accessible work with such pieces as the epic “Carvel”; American Folk and Rock ballads given a Modest Mouse like treatment to create charming and deep pieces that exhibit a level of warmth and intimacy not usually encountered in popular music. Yet in 2004 Frusciante would not offer merely one release one but an incredible six in six months of 2004 on the Record Collection label, demonstrating his zealous work ethic. The first to follow Shadows Collide with People was The Will to Death a much sparser, rawer and less costly affair in comparison, featuring only his long time friend and collaborator Josh Klinghoffer, the DC EP was notable for featuring Ian MacKaye of Fugazi on guitar, Inside of Emptiness is a more Rock based affair featuring Omar Rodriguez-Lopez of the Mars Volta, A Sphere in the Heart of Silence neing in complete juxtaposition, being an Electronic a co-release with Josh Klinghoffer, Curtains finishing Frusiciante’s impressive streak with a mainly acoustic set up, once again in stark contrast giving the energetic and upbeat Folky single “The Past Recedes”. In the space of a year Frusciante had produced a body of work that others could only produce over the course of their entire career while each one sitting in the contrast to the other, proving how diverse and eclectic his interest and abilities are. Arguably Frusciante was promoted from the rank of simply ‘guitarist’ to the pedestal of ‘musician’ in the true sense of the word.
The RHCP in 2006 returned from a temporal hiatus to record the double album Stadium Arcadium, a dictionary of the bands previous sounds and experiments set in a cosmic opera of run away teenage bandits and intergalactic cowboys. The album itself was a rediscovery of the bands Funk Rock origins, marrying them with the more sensitive and melody driven pieces of their latter work. Meanwhile Frusciante has rekindled his teenage interest in big and hard guitar tones, extensive Wah Wah use and face melting solos, from the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Lightnin’ Hopkins and Van Halen, giving the record a much more aggressive in your face sound than the RHCP’s previous two releases. After revealing themselves as latter day saints of Rock and crossing the entire globe a few days the Chilies have gone on indefinite hiatus while the individual members follow their individual pursuits. Of course, Frusciante has taken this opportunity to release another album, his 10th, entitled The Empyrean (2009).Almost as a comedown from the virtuoso excess of Stadium Arcadium this record sees Frusciante return to a more psychedelic sphere , moving away from the Hard Rock attitude to layered sounds, yet rather than layering in the variety of The Smiths or Modest Mouse sitting closer to his long time hero Frank Zappa and a reinvestigation of the Syd Barrett / Captain Beefheart sensibilities he toyed with on his first two drug addled releases. The record is a raw departure from his previous work, a cosmic concept record, another part of his musical evolution: the virtuosity ever present not just in his guitar playing but on his vocals, arrangements, songwriting and production, no doubt a set up for whatever he chooses to turn his virtuosity to next.
Frusciante is almost like a man who has lived the life of many instead of one, much the same as how his musical style and influences are that of a dozen musicians instead of one. He has truly taken up the mantle of the fallen guitar gods of years past, yet his impressive portfolio of solo works adds a further depth as an alter ego from his work with the RHCP, an eclectic and intimate selection that begs to b explored and enjoyed. The Empyrean is the latest chapter in his larger than life story that is surely just at the cusp greater heights of musical brilliance.
By Dann Gaymer
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