John Frusciante

BIOGRAPHY

Frusciante was born in Queens, New York on March 5, 1970. His father, John Frusciante Sr., was a Juilliard-trained pianist, and his mother Gail, was a promising vocalist who gave up her career to be a stay-at-home mother. Frusciante's family relocated to Tucson, Arizona, and, following that, Florida, where his father still serves as a Broward County judge. Frusciante's parents separated, and he and his mother left Florida and moved to Santa Monica, California. A year later, Frusciante and his mother moved to Mar Vista, Los Angeles with his new stepfather who, according to Frusciante, "really supported me and made me feel good about being an artist". Like many youth in the area, Frusciante became involved in the L.A. punk scene. By age nine Frusciante was obsessed with The Germs, wearing out several copies of their album (GI). By age ten he'd figured out most of (GI)'s songs in a tuning that allowed him to play every chord with a single-finger barre. Soon after, Frusciante began taking guitar lessons from a player who introduced him to the music of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Frusciante began studying guitarists like Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix. After mastering the blues scale, he discovered Frank Zappa, whose work he would study for hours. Frusciante dropped out of high school at the age of 16 with authorization from his parents and a mandatory completion of a proficiency test. With their support, he moved to Los Angeles on his own in order to focus on sharpening his musical skills. He began taking classes at the Guitar Institute of Technology, but soon figured out a way to punch in for classes without actually attending.

Frusciante first saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers in concert when he was 15 and became a devoted fan; especially of original guitarist Hillel Slovak. He idolized Slovak, studying and learning virtually all guitar and bass elements from the Chili Peppers' first three albums. Frusciante became acquainted with Slovak by frequenting Chili Peppers shows; they spoke at the last show he attended before joining the group. Frusciante became acquainted with former Dead Kennedys drummer D. H. Peligro in early 1988. They jammed together on numerous occasions, and Peligro invited his friend Flea (bassist of Red Hot Chili Peppers) to jam with them. The chemistry between Frusciante and Flea bore fruit almost instantly, with Flea later saying that might have been the day he first played the bass riff to "Nobody Weird Like Me". Around the same time, Frusciante attempted to audition for Frank Zappa's musical congregation, but abandoned any such ideas before the final try-out as Zappa strictly prohibited illegal drug use among musicians in his band.

Slovak died of a drug overdose in 1988, and Chili Peppers Drummer Jack Irons, who was incapable of accepting Slovak's death, left the group. Remaining members Flea and singer Anthony Kiedis regrouped, and were determined to persist in the music industry. The band added Pelligro on drums and DeWayne "Blackbyrd" McKnight (formerly of P-Funk) on guitar. McKnight however, was failing to spark any chemistry within the group, and Flea was considering auditioning Frusciante, whose intimate knowledge of the Chili Peppers' repertoire astonished him. Flea and Kiedis decided to audition Frusciante for the band, and they zealously agreed that he would be a suitable replacement for McKnight, who was promptly fired. When Flea called Frusciante to give him the news of his acceptance into the Chili Peppers, Frusciante was so excited that he ran through his house, jumped up a wall and left permanent boot marks there. Frusciante was about to sign a contract with Thelonious Monster at the time (and had actually been playing with them for two weeks), but his unanticipated reception into the band caused him to discard such thoughts.

A few weeks into the band's new lineup, Pelligro's performance started suffering due to his extreme drug abuse, and he was fired from the band. Soon after, drummer Chad Smith was added and Frusciante began recording his first album with the Chili Peppers, 1989's Mother's Milk. During recording, Frusciante wanted to focus his playing on emulating Slovak's signature style, rather than imposing his own personal style on the group. Producer Michael Beinhorn didn't agree, and wanted Frusciante to have a loud, crunching, metal tone. Frusciante and Beinhorn frequently fought over guitar tone and layering, and Beinhorn's view ultimately won out. Frusciante and Flea made few ventures into society, spending most of their time consuming immeasurable quantities of marijuana. Around this time, Frusciante started a side collaboration with Flea and Jane's Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins called The Three Amoebas. They recorded roughly 10–15 hours of music, though none of the aforementioned material has been published. Blood Sugar Sex Magik was a huge hit upon its September 1991 release, peaking at #3 on the Billboard charts, and eventually went on to sell over seven million copies in the U.S. alone. The album's unexpected success instantly turned the Chili Peppers into rock stars; Frusciante was blindsided by his newfound fame, and struggled to cope with it.

Soon after the release of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Frusciante began to dislike the popularity of the band. Kiedis recalled in his memoir that he and Frusciante used to get into heated discussions backstage after concerts: "John would say, 'We're too popular. I don't need to be at this level of success. I would just be proud to be playing this music in clubs like you guys were doing two years ago.'" Frusciante later said that the band's rise to popularity was "too high, too far, too soon. Everything seemed to be happening at once and I just couldn't cope with it." He also began to feel that destiny was leading him away from the band. When the Chili Peppers began their world tour, Frusciante started to hear voices in his head telling him "you won't make it during the tour, you have to go now". He admitted to having once taken great pleasure in a hedonistic existence; however, "...by the age of 20, I started doing it right and looking at it as an artistic expression instead of a way of partying and screwing a bunch of girls. To balance it out, I had to be extra-humble, extra-anti-rock star. Frusciante refused to go on stage during a performance at Tokyo's Club Quattro on May 7, 1992 announcing to his bandmates that he was leaving the band. He was eventually persuaded to perform the show, but left for California the following morning.

Soon after the release of Blood Sugar Sex Magik, Frusciante began to dislike the popularity of the band. Kiedis recalled in his memoir that he and Frusciante used to get into heated discussions backstage after concerts: "John would say, 'We're too popular. I don't need to be at this level of success. I would just be proud to be playing this music in clubs like you guys were doing two years ago.'" Frusciante later said that the band's rise to popularity was "too high, too far, too soon. Everything seemed to be happening at once and I just couldn't cope with it." He also began to feel that destiny was leading him away from the band. When the Chili Peppers began their world tour, Frusciante started to hear voices in his head telling him "you won't make it during the tour, you have to go now". He admitted to having once taken great pleasure in a hedonistic existence; however, "...by the age of 20, I started doing it right and looking at it as an artistic expression instead of a way of partying and screwing a bunch of girls. To balance it out, I had to be extra-humble, extra-anti-rock star. Frusciante refused to go on stage during a performance at Tokyo's Club Quattro on May 7, 1992 announcing to his bandmates that he was leaving the band. He was eventually persuaded to perform the show, but left for California the following morning.

From 1992-1997, Frusciante's addiction got worse. During those times, he began producing his album to get money for his drugs. In late 1997, after more than five years of visceral addiction to the drug, Frusciante quit using heroin cold turkey. However, months later he was still unable to break addictions to crack cocaine and alcohol. In January of 1998, upon the urgings of longtime friend Bob Forrest, Frusciante checked himself into Los Encinos, a drug rehabilitation clinic in Los Angeles, to begin a full recovery. With Frusciante free of his addictions and ailments, Kiedis and Flea thought it was an appropriate time to invite him back. When Flea went over to Frusciante's house and asked him to rejoin the band. With Frusciante back on guitar, the Chili Peppers started recording their next album, and in 1999, Californication was released. For the now revitalized Frusciante, the album was a sonic celebration of life and rebirth. What had become a key component of not only the Chili Peppers' sound, but their healthy morale as well, had returned. Frusciante brought his deep devotion to music with him when he returned, which had a significant impact on the band's recording style during the album.

During the Californication world tour, Frusciante continued to write his own songs, which would be released on his third solo album, To Record Only Water for Ten Days. He began recording his fourth album with the Chili Peppers, By the Way in 2001, a time that he considers to be among the happiest of his life. Frusciante began recording his fourth album with the Chili Peppers, By the Way in 2001, a time that he considers to be among the happiest of his life. Frusciante released his fourth full-length solo album Shadows Collide with People on February 24, 2004. The album featured guest appearances from some of Frusciante's friends, including Klinghoffer, and Chili Peppers bandmates Smith and Flea.

In early 2005, Frusciante entered the studio to work on his fifth studio album with the Chili Peppers, Stadium Arcadium. His guitar playing is dominant throughout the album, and he provides backing vocals on the majority of the tracks as well. Frusciante, who usually is a "less is more" style of guitarist, began using a full 28 track mixer to display the full range of his guitar arsenal. In the arrangements, he uses a wide range of sounds and playing styles ranging from the Blood Sugar Sex Magik to By the Way. Several reviews have stressed that Frusciante's influence by Hendrix is evident in his solos on the album, with Frusciante himself backing this up. He also expanded use of effects throughout the album, such as synthesizers, and mellotron. Frusciante worked continuously with Rubin over-dubbing guitar progressions, tinkering with harmonies and utilizing every tool in their arsenal.