Producer and Red Hot Chili Peppers’ sound engineer, Jim Scott, joined Daniel Sarkissian for an interview during which he made a comparison between John Frusciante and Josh Klinghoffer.
In 1998, John Frusciante rejoined Red Hot Chili Peppers after Dave Navarro’s departure and recorded their most successful album entitled ‘Californication’ with the band. Following this album, RHCP released ‘By The Way’ in 2002 and ‘Stadium Arcadium’ in 2006. Later on, Frusciante left the band on July 29, 2009, to focus on his solo career.
Following Frusciante’s departure, his close friend Josh Klinghoffer joined RHCP as their new guitarist. With their new member, the band released ‘I’m With You’ in 2011 and ‘The Getaway’ in 2016. However, after ten years, on December 15, 2019, he left the band to allow Frusciante to rejoin as Kiedis and Flea wanted Frusciante back.
Apart from working together in Red Hot Chili Peppers, Frusciante and Klinghoffer were close friends who began writing songs together back in 2002. Klinghoffer made guest appearances in Frusciante’s solo records and assisted him in the studio back when Frusciante left RHCP to focus on a solo music career.
In an interview with Daniel Sarkissian, RHCP engineer Jim Scott said that Frusciante and Klinghoffer were not the same guitar players. Frusciante was making his records, working relentlessly, and practicing all day at that time. Scott then said they were guitar-playing buddies and songwriting buddies, and Klinghoffer didn’t take the heavy load in RHCP while Frusciante was the one who led the sessions.
During the conversation, the host Daniel Sarkissian asked Jim Scott the following:
“You just pointed out that John and Josh work together. If you have to compare the two of them, how would you compare John and Josh as guitarists?”
Scott then answered:
“Well, you’d have to look through time to answer that question. At the time that I was there, Josh was not the same kind of guitar player that John is. And John, by then, making his own records, and with the success of ‘Californication,’ and being back on his feet for five or six years, and being really strong and playing guitar all day long, every day.
John is great; he practices all day long, his whole house is filled with instruments, music, and records. He gets up in the morning and puts on records and just plays to records all day long. At least he did at that time. I don’t exactly know how he and Josh got to be connected as friends, but I think they hit it off as guitar-playing buddies and songwriting buddies.
I remember Josh being great, but I don’t remember him ever taking the heavy load at all, away from whatever needed to be done. I feel like John kind of still led the sessions, and Josh was great, but I don’t remember him ever taking it away from John in any way.”
You can watch the full interview below.
