The Red Hot Chili Peppers talk about the music that shaped their lives and made them the artists they are in the 25th Anniversary collector’s edition of Q Magazine – November 2011 Q304 Cover 15.
The special edition of Q Magazine has been published with 25 different covers of various artists, one of which features the Red Hot Chili Peppers! Read more about this special issue on qthemusic.com
Order the Red Hot Chili Peppers edition of this issue HERE
Transcript – Q Magazine November 2011 Q304 “The Music That Changed My Life – Red Hot Chili Peppers” 25th Anniversary Collector’s Edition.
RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
THE FUNKY MONKS. DRIVEN BY SONGS ABOUT ROLLER SKATES AND GRUB WORMS.
How are you, how’s your day been?
Anthony Kiedis: Y’know, I’m very good. My day’s been great.
Chad Smith: It’s all good.
What was your first musical memory?
Josh Klinghoffer: When I was five I got several cassettes of
The Beatles and The Beach Boys. Then, when I was eight, I got the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind The Bollocks.
Chad Smith: My brother’s record collection, when I was six or seven. He had all the late-’60s/early-’70s English hard rock and blues bands like Humble Pie, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Cream…That was a fertile period from 1969, when I was seven, to 1973. My brother played the guitar, and I’d started to play the drums OK, so we began playing in a band together called… Rocking Conspiracy! It was right around the time of Watergate and all that shit – we were very controversial.
What was the first record you bought?
Flea: Satch Plays Fats – Louis Armstrong playing the
music of Fats Waller. [Sings] “All that meat and no potatoes/
Just ain’t right – like green tomatoes.”
Chad Smith: A 45 called Groovy Grubworm by Harlow Wilcox & The Oakies. It was an instrumental jam, and right in the middle it stopped and the guy went, “I’m a grubworm!”
Anthony Kiedis: Neil Young, Heart Of Gold. I lived in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In its own special way I guess it did shape me a little bit. It wasn’t like I ever wanted to emulate that sound, but it just was a song that got to me. The other one was Melanie’s Brand New Key -I bought them on the same day.
Where do you go from Neil Young and Brand New Key?
Anthony Kiedis: See, most of the music I listened to from five till 11 was AM Radio. I lived with my mom. She played Carole King, which spoke to me. I also have a memory of being profoundly affected by Edgar Winter’s Frankenstein – my radio went off in the middle of the night and it was playing. The other thing I heard was Wings. I loved them: I didn’t know anything about the history or the politics of The Beatles, and I wasn’t cool enough to gravitate towards John Lennon.
Even now that first Wings record [1971’s Wild Life] slays me.
What was your first gig?
Chad Smith: Blue Oyster Cult at Pine Knob Music Centre, Detroit, 1975. The reason I went was that Kiss were supposed to open for them and I was obsessed with Kiss when I was 13. Anyway, they cancelled – Gene Simmons had a herpes outbreak or something. So Michael Quatro, Suzi Quatro’s elder brother, opened the gig. I actually ended up playing drums with that guy.
Who was your first inspiration?
Anthony Kiedis: It wasn’t one single person. Iggy Pop, David Bowie. I saw a Bowie concert in the early ’70s that was absolutely magical. I never wanted to be like him but I was in love with what he was doing. I actually didn’t feel like making music until the early ’80s when I started listening to some hardcore funk records that were coming out by bands like Defunkt and Grandmaster Mash And The Furious Five. That’s when it dawned on me that I might be able to do that – particularly when I heard Grandmaster Flash.
What’s the most embarrassing record you own?
Chad Smith: Tainted Love by Soft Cell. I like some pretty sappy Chicago songs, too.
And the record you couldn’t be without?
Josh Klinghoffer: At this point I’ve determined that Veedon Fleece by Van Morrison is my favourite record of all time. I love it from start to finish; it’s perfect.
Last time a piece of music reduced you to tears?
Flea: It was about a month ago. I was walking along the beach at Big Sur listening to the Ruff Draft EP by [late Detroit rapper/producer] J Dilla. It was a really powerful experience – so beautiful it made me cry.
What is your karaoke song of choice?
Josh Klinghoffer: Oh! Give It Away… by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
One lyric you wish you’d written?
Anthony Kiedis: God, there’s about 500. I can listen to any Bob Dylan record and go, “I wish I had that ability to talk about life in the way he did.” He and his predecessors – like Woody Guthrie. Early rappers like NWA – not that I can relate to their common experience; I just like their honesty.
What’s your favourite record of the past 25 years?
Chad Smith: I really liked Guns N’ Roses Appetite For Destruction. Right when I moved out here to California, they were just starting to blow up. I would go to clubs on the Sunset Strip and see Axl Rose and Slash hanging out. I liked their whole refreshing attitude. John Frusciante loved that record, too, so we were able to bond over it.
And what song will be playing at your funeral?
Flea: I’ve always said in the past that Bold As Love by Jimi
Hendrix would be the song. But of late I’ve been having a few other thoughts… something by [bebop-era jazz singer] Babs Gonzales And His Three Bips And A Bop would be great.
Order the Red Hot Chili Peppers edition of this issue HERE
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