RHCP bassist Flea recently joined Rick Rubin’s Broken Record podcast. In the interview, the bassist reflected on his relationship with his band members and revealed the Red Hot Chili Peppers member with whom he communicates the least.
When he was in high school, Flea became friends with Anthony Kiedis. At that time, he had a different taste in music, so meeting Kiedis, who was also an outcast, was a turning point in his life. Together, they formed Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1983. They then began playing in L.A. venues and worked on new music material.
After releasing the 1985 album ‘Freaky Styley,’ the increasing drug use within RHCP affected Kiedis, Flea, and Hillel Slovak’s relationship. Sadly, Slovak died of a heroin overdose on June 28, 1988. They then continued with DeWayne ‘Blackbyrd’ McKnight and D.H. Peligro. Later on, they fired the pair, and John Frusciante and Chad Smith joined RHCP as their replacement.
Following that, Flea, Chad Smith, Anthony Kiedis, and John Frusciante have continued to make music as RHCP and developed their friendship. However, in a recent interview with the producer Rick Rubin, Flea revealed that his relationship with Smith is different from his relationship with Kiedis and Frusciante.
Flea stated that he and Kiedis are like brothers, while his relationship with Frusciante is very personal and connected. However, the bassist admitted he doesn’t spend time with Smith outside of RHCP, and they rarely speak about things unrelated to their work within the band. He then said they have a unique way of conversation with Smith, as they talk by playing and looking at each other.
During the conversation, Flea told Rick Rubin the following about his relationship with his bandmates:
“With Chad, it’s funny because my relationship with Anthony is very personal and very much brother-like. My relationship with John is also very personal, emotional, intuitive, and connected. But my relationship with Chad is that we don’t hang out outside of the band. Never have. I’ve probably been to his house once — it’s like this different thing.
It’s just this very grounded, rhythmic thing — there’s no bullshit about it. Not that the others [relationships within the band] have bullshit about it either, but we get down, we look at each other, and that’s how we talk. We rarely speak about emotional things, spiritual things, and even things that trouble us or things we aspire to. It’s just that we get down and f*cking hammer out some grooves.”
He then continued, revealing his thoughts about Chad Smith:
“We talk by playing, we talk by looking at each other and knowing when to lay back into a groove or knowing when to lean forward, and knowing when to sit right in the middle, or knowing when he should lay back, and I should lean forward or vice versa.’
Like all these intricacies of rhythm, which color a song so profoundly, we do all this stuff just by looking at each other. Afterward, I was like, ‘Why the f*ck should I feel like that’s less significant than speaking or talking about our fucking inner child or some shit.’ That is a beautiful conversation that Chad and I share, and I’m so grateful for that. That’s the way that we are, and that’s what it is. That’s awesome.”
You can watch the full interview below.
