Download the full EP or individual tracks on iTunes

Red Hot Chili Peppers Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Covers EP Album Cover

Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Covers/We Salute You Tracklist
1. A Teenager in Love – Dion and the Belmonts
2. Havana Affair – Ramones
3. Search & Destroy – Iggy and the Stooges
4. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere – Neil Young [live]
5. I Get Around – The Beach Boys [live]
6. Suffragette City – David Bowie [live]

Five of the tracks have never been released digitally before. A Teenager in Love was originally released as a B-Side on the By The Way Single; Havana Affair was recorded for the 2003 Album, “We’re a Happy Family – A Tribute to Ramones”; Search and Destroy was originally released as a B-Side with the Give It Away Single; Everybody Knows This is Nowhere was recorded during the I’m With You Tour; I Get Around was recorded in 2005 during the Musicares Tribute to Brian Wilson; and Suffragette City was released as B-Side on the Aeroplane Single.

      

“I don’t think it’ll be long before another Chili Peppers album.” – Josh Klinghoffer

READ THE FULL SMOOVTUNES INTERVIEW HERE

      

Thanks to lauklinghoffer

Red Hot Chili Peppers during The Edge 102.1 Interview in Canada on Apr 28th 2012

At the end of the interview the Red Hot Chili Peppers were presented with a framed vinyl to mark their induction into The Edge Radio’s Rock of Fame. See the uncut video from the live stream of the interview below…

The official Edge Radio Website has also published videos and photos from the interview. Check them out HERE

Frames from the Video

The Red Hot Chili Peppers performed two sold out concerts at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on April 27th and 28th 2012.

      

Red Hot Chili Peppers Concert at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on April 27th, 2012.

Setlist
1. Monarchy of Roses 2. Can’t Stop 3. Dani California 4. Otherside 5. Look Around 6. Throw Away Your Television 7. Hard To Concentrate 8. The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie 9. Right on Time 10. If You Have to Ask 11. Factory of Faith 12. Under The Bridge 13. Higher Ground 14. Californication 15. By The Way ENCORE: 16. Around The World 17. Meet Me At The Corner 18. Give It Away

Photo Credit: Tom Pandi

Review
theglobeandmail.com – They can’t stop. They are addicted to the shindig. And their audience is absolutely likeminded. Loving the rush, the Chili Peppers aren’t ones for going through the motions. Stopping doesn’t seem to be in their DNA. And so, the shindig continues, all the way. Read more…

Dani California

Under The Bridge

Give It Away

If You Have to Ask

By The Way

See our related Forum Topic for more Pictures, Videos and Reviews from the Concert!

      

Josh Klinghoffer talks to MusicRadar about the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Dot Hacker

RHCP related excerpts below. Read the full interview on MusicRadar.com

Do you still feel like the ‘new guy’ in the Red Hot Chili Peppers? It’s been a few years since you joined.

“I’ll probably always feel like the new guy to a certain degree. But they’ve gone out of their way to make me feel – and I do – 100 percent part of the band. I never feel like I’m not listened to or not respected. But there will always be an aspect of ‘What the fuck am I doing here?’ [laughs]

Even with John coming back, they had 10-plus years of working together. For me to come in, even though I’ve been around them and have played with them, you can’t make up for that time. You can’t compare 10 years of history with a week – even though it was obvious, when I first played with them, that it could work and it would work. We all liked it and wanted to see where it could go.

What’s been the biggest musical lesson you’ve learned from playing with the Chili Peppers?

It’s really been highlighted and accentuated… just being free and being yourself, not being fearful. Being on stage, I can trust myself more easily. Playing with guys like Flea and Chad, they just go for it. Just be me – that’s the lesson I’ve learned.

Like John Frusciante – I’ll never be him. I can never be another person. I can only be me, and hopefully people will like it. I mean, I’ve been a fan of this band since I was 10 years old, so it’s hard to sit and go, ‘You’re playing songs off of Blood Sugar…’ But like I said, you just have to be yourself, play the song as yourself – that’s what I’m reminded of every time I play with them.

Has there been a Chili Peppers song from their catalogue that you’re still trying to nail? Not just like the record, but to your own standards.

Yes, actually – the song Snow. It’s funny, because I remember being in England right at the same time they were, too, and it was when Stadium came out. We hooked up, I was hanging out, and they were playing something for the BBC. They started playing the song and I was like, ‘Fucking hell! No way am I ever going to be able to play that and sing that backup part. And thank God I will never have to!’ [laughs]

I guess I should be sitting in front of my stereo playing it 100 times a day. But you know, when it’s ready, when it’s natural, it’ll happen. I’ve played it twice today already. I can play it, but there’s that syncopated background vocal and the guitar at the same time. It still feels like an exercise. I just want it to feel natural. To make it good, I have to feel free.

What were your go-to guitars for Dot Hacker’s Inhibition?

I used my ’67 Telecaster Custom that I have on tour with the Chili Peppers. That was John Frusciante’s guitar and I sort of inherited it. I also used my Fender Starcaster, a newer Rickenbacker and my black ’62 Jaguar.

Source: http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/red-hot-chili-peppers-josh-klinghoffer-on-his-band-dot-hacker-541465

      

Josh Klinghoffer talks to Migrate Music News about the release of Dot Hacker's debut album

Dot Hacker’s debut album can be pre-ordered on CD or Vinyl via ORG Music

Hey Josh, Congratulations on the new record coming out! It’s been a long time coming. Tell us a little bit about the journey Inhibition has taken since you started recording to now being released on May 1st.

Josh: The journey ‘Inhibition’ has taken, for me, or in my eyes, has been a very, very…very long one. It has ALWAYS been my dream to start a band with my mates. My close friends, people I love, respect, and trust, both musically and personally. I’d always been sort of looking for a situation to present itself. People to magically appear with the same goals and desire to make sounds. My path took me to many different musical situations, ALL wonderful, but I had never found that band of a few close people. I’ve made music with amazing people along the way so I don’t want it to sound like I was dissatisfied with my situation in any way, but the dream of finding a few people in a similar place in their lives, with the same burning desire to play with others had eluded me.

When I was on tour with Gnarls Barkley in 2006 (as the keyboardist) the guitar player, Clint Walsh and I became (very) fast friends and shared that undying love for the band dymamic and started plotting how to build it. Through him I met Eric, and through me they met Jonathan. It was sort of an instantaneous musical fit. We all got on really well, we loved playing together and we all wanted the same thing…to be in a band.

I feel like I could be very detailed about the journey but I’ll just touch upon the big points. Adam Samuels, our friend and very gifted engineer had always been very encouraging of me and we had discussed working together for quite some time. After the four of us started playing and writing songs, we set out to find an inspiring place to make a record. Adam found this great house in El Sereno, CA. and moved his studio in there. For a lot of 2009 we camped out up there. Wrote, recorded, laughed, drank coffee, and churned out what became ‘Inhibition.’ It was a wonderful process. Strange, strenuous, loving, fast, slow, and not as everyone had expected at certain times, but the result, I think, is a very honest documentation of where the four of us, and Adam were at the time, with each other, and with ourselves. Adam was in the room with us when we tracked. There was a lot of excitement and joy in the room.

We quote/unquote finished on my 30th birthday. It was the same day Adam and I swapped houses. I moved into the El Sereno place and he into place. It really, for all of us felt like a high accomplishment. Through thick and thin, absence and presence, we finished a record…together.

Things led us all in different directions for a bit after that, until the loving guidance of our dear friend Steve McDonald placed the then untitled record into the hands of Jeff Bower at ORG. Jeff’s reaction to it was amazing and we set out to release it as soon as it made sense. Thing were done, paintings were selected, titles chosen and on May 1st, ‘Inhibition’ will be released.

It’s a record I’m really proud of. I’m also extremely grateful it is being allowed to have a life. This band is a great group of people who love playing together and there will be more to come from us.

You are primarily known as a guitar player, but the piano sounds on the record are very interesting and tasteful. Who are some of your favorite pianists?

Pianists? Well, anyone who can play the piano amazes me. I love playing piano but do so like such an idiot. I learned by figuring out songs. I love Randy Newman’s piano playing. Brian Wilson’s chord structures and voicing are something I’ve paid a lot of attention to. Spoon and Jon Brion push a piano over at the end of one of their songs, that some wonderful playing as well. People like Thelonious Monk, McCoy Tyner, Bud Powell, and newer folks like Brad Mehldau (Dr. Mehldau’s boy) are incredible to me, but I’m nothing like them so, I feel funny even mentioning them. I played music for a little while with an amazing person called Aaron Embry. I always enjoyed watching him play the piano.

You describe your sound as “architectural, built on a foundation of bold, manipulated tones and supported by lush eclectic textures and angular rhythm.” For those who may not understand those terms, elaborate on your songwriting process and what listeners can expect from a Dot Hacker record.

Did I describe our music like that? It’s good, I just don’t recall saying it. Wow. The process has no set way. Songs are brought in in various shapes and forms. Jams are done, sometimes for incredibly long times, discussions have happened over dinner about sound and arrangements, it really depends on the song. I’m not sure what to expect from a Dot Hacker record so I couldn’t really tell anyone else. The only thing I can say is that the people making the music really enjoy doing it and doing it with each other. One can expect to hear that.

The YouTube Clip of you performing “Order/Disorder” at The Troubadour is awesome! In your opinion, what is the better venue – small club or arena?

Thank you for the kind words about the Troubadour performance and for any other sentiments you’ve expressed about the music!!! For me, having had lots of experience with big stages and little stages, I can honestly say, it’s all the same…if you let it be. I love playing anywhere I can.

You, as well as the other members of the band, have an extensive recording and touring background working with the likes of Gnarls Barkley, Beck, and Tom Morello to name a few. Now you are recording and touring with your own band. What lead you to working with those artists and then forming Dot Hacker?

I can’t speak for the other guys, but for me, my love of playing and desire to keep doing it led me to get out of bed every day. My desire to effect my life and others positively through music is what has led me to want to write and sing. My love for the guys I play with led me to form Dot Hacker.

How did your experience working with these artists influence or aid in writing and recording for Dot Hacker?

Working with such amazing people, which I’ve been very very fortunate to do, has helped me really focus on what I’m doing with music and why I’m doing it. It’s made me ask myself what I want to accomplish in music. With songs I write. Do I want to accomplish anything? Do I want anyone to hear it? How much am I always staying true to the most basic reasons I do this. Every situation, musical and non-musical informs the next and I’ve been lucky enough to have wonderful friends…some of them make great music, but I learn from everyone…everyday…all day.

What is the best advice you have been given by a fellow musician and who said it?

“Do it.” (myself)

Source: MigrateMusicNews.com

      

Red Hot Chili Peppers' We Salute You EP released digitally on May 1st 2012

We Salute You Tracklist
1. A Teenager in Love – Dion and the Belmonts
2. Havana Affair – Ramones
3. Search & Destroy – Iggy and the Stooges
4. Everybody Knows This is Nowhere – Neil Young [live]
5. I Get Around – The Beach Boys [live]
6. Suffragette City – David Bowie [live]

Five of the tracks have never been released digitally before. A Teenager in Love was originally released as a B-Side on the By The Way Single; Havana Affair was recorded for the 2003 Album, “We’re a Happy Family – A Tribute to Ramones”; Search and Destroy was originally released as a B-Side with the Give It Away Single; Everybody Knows This is Nowhere was recorded during the I’m With You Tour; I Get Around was recorded in 2005 during the Musicares Tribute to Brian Wilson; and Suffragette City was released as B-Side on the Aeroplane Single.

      

Speaking to the Sun Sentinel, former Broward Circuit Judge John Frusciante, 67 of Sunrise, Florida said he was, “Absolutely a proud father,” after making a congratulatory call to his son from Mallorca, Spain, where he’s currently vacationing. “I’m very happy for all the band members to be recognized.”

John Frusciante's Father says he is proud of his son's induction into the Hall of Fame

Judge Frusciante was himself a concert pianist who attended Julliard Arts school and imbued his son with a love of music. “He grew up in an environment of music,” the retired judge said. “Of course, it was different as far as genres were concerned.”

John Frusciante Jr. was a bit of a rebel as a youth in South Florida, his father said. He was loathe to attend school and obtained a high school GED. “His music was what he wanted to do and that’s what he did,” senior Frusciante recalled.

The judge, who presided over the domestic wreckage that’s often exposed in family court, knew better than to pressure his son, saying, “I’m not somebody who’s going to tell my kids they should do this, they should do that.”

Published By Robert Nolin for the Sun Sentinel on April 17th, 2012
Photo by Jacques Brautbar / Retna

An overview of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction

Read Anthony Kiedis’ and Flea’s Hall of Fame Induction acceptance speeches in which they thank John Frusciante for everything he did for the band: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Overview

      

RHCP perform free concert for Obama supporters at the House of Blues in Cleveland

Tickets for the concert were given to volunteers who worked phone banks for President Obama’s re-election campaign.

During the free show, Anthony Kiedis urged the audience of 1200 people to register voters and declared his support for Obama, “I just like to say that I completely support our President Obama.”

Setlist
1. Can’t Stop, 2. Dani California, 3. Look Around, 4. The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie, 5. Under The Bridge, 6. Around The World, ENCORE: 7. Sir Psycho Sexy, 8.They’re Red Hot

Can’t Stop

Sir Psycho Sexy and They’re Red Hot

      

Red Hot Chili Peppers Hall of Fame Induction 2012 - An overview of the ceremony

The 27th annual Hall of Fame ceremony, which will be televised on HBO on May 5th, will be one of the most memorable to date, thanks largely to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ closing performance of Higher Ground in which Slash, Ronnie Wood, Billie Joe Armstrong, George Clinton AND former RHCP Drummers Jack Irons and Cliff Martinez all came together to Rock the Hall of Fame’s crowd of seven thousand fans.

See below for the lowdown from RHCP’s unforgettable night at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony.

Press Conference
Before the ceremony started, the band, including former drummers Jack Irons and Cliff Martinez went backstage to speak to the waiting press. The band was asked what Hillel Slovak would make of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ induction into the Hall of Fame Ceremony…

Red Hot Chili Peppers answer press questions before Hall of Fame Ceremony

Anthony Kiedis replied, “I don’t really say that I can speak for Hillel, I think that he would have a good laugh. It would certainly mean something to him as he cared deeply about music and the love of the brotherhood of being in a band and being a creative force in the Universe, which he is and always will be… a part of everything we do. But I think more than anything he would probably make you laugh until you pooped your trousers.”

Anthony Kiedis during Hall of Fame Press Conference

Speaking about the future of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their induction, Kiedis went on to say, “We really care about being in the moment in the now, all of us do. We’re very excited about playing music right now, just like we were in 1983. So it’s a strange moment to stop and reflect, but it’s very meaningful. It’s full of love and crazy ass memories.

There’s those surreal moments where it’s just, ‘But… we’re going somewhere, how can we stop and take an award when really we’re just half way there?’. But… it is nice to get together with people that we spend some incredible years with along the way, writing songs and playing shows in little theaters in sweaty little transvestite clubs and having the time of our lives just being raucous bastards and not giving a fuck, and just throwing down as hard as possible every night we stepped on stage or into a rehearsal space, and we still get to do it. And we’re still getting better, still making mistakes and still talking to folks like you from time to time.”

Flea then took the mic to share his thoughts on the Red Hot Chili Peppers and how they’ve evolved during their career and what the future holds in store for them.

“From the very beginning, no matter what aesthetic or what design people saw us from, we always had fun doing whatever we wanted (Not disregarding whatever anyone might want us to do), but the number one thing is just our love for music, and from the get go all we’ve wanted to do is to resonate the way that our own hearts beat with music and make our own music the way that we make it. And like Anthony said, that’s all we’re doing now every day.

Flea during Hall of Fame Press Conference

“We’re still trying to crack the code man.” – Flea

We’re on tour right now. Every fucking day I get up, I go down to the gig and I think, ‘How can we uplift people tonight? How can we be better than we are?’.
I sit at the Piano before the show, I’m like ‘How can we write the next song? What can I write that Anthony’s gonna really fucking like, that we can make something beautiful.’

We’re still trying to crack the code man, I feel like we’re still a newborn band, we’re just working and focused on trying to be as good as we can be, and I feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface of what it’s possible for us to be.”

Watch the full Press Conference on YouTube…

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Induction
RHCP were the final act to be inducted at the 27th Annual Hall of Fame Ceremony. At around 12.30am, comedian, close friend and fan of the band, Chris Rock took to the stage to induct the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Chris Rock spoke about the first time he saw the Red Hot Chili Peppers, when he intended to see Grandmaster Flash in Philadelphia, but ended up walking into the wrong club…

“My friends and I were like, ‘What the fuck is this shit? There’s a lot of white people in here’.”

Chris Rock: Friend and Fan - Proud to induct the Red Hot Chili Peppers into the Hall of Fame

They came out and I couldn’t understand a fucking word they said, and they had socks on their dicks! I had never been to a white show before, so I thought all white groups put socks on their dicks. Years later, they’re one of the biggest groups in the world and getting inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. They have black ties on their dicks tonight.

They started creating songs in the early eighties man, lots of songs that never even came out before, like ‘Jerkin’ off to Farah Fawcett’ you know stuff like that. But let me tell you about the Chili Peppers okay… If Brian Wilson and George Clinton had a kid, he’d be as ugly as fuck! But he would sell like the Chili Peppers. He’d be FUN-KY! Okay…

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are the quitisential California band.”

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Hall of Fame Acceptance Speeches
The Chili Peppers, former drummers Jack Irons and Cliff Martinez, as well as Hillel Slovak’s Brother, James Slovak all took to the stage to receive their Hall of Fame Induction awards and make their acceptance speeches.

Cliff Martinez, Jack Irons, James Slovak, Chad Smith, Flea and Anthony Kiedis all made speeches.

John Frusciante declined the invite to the induction. In a previous interview from March 6th, Chad Smith told Billboard…
“He didn’t feel comfortable coming, which we totally respect. We asked him… He said, ‘I’m just not really comfortable with that, but good luck and thanks for inviting me.’ It was all good. He’s the kind of guy, I think, that once he’s finished with something he’s just on to the next phase of his life. The Chili Peppers are not really on his radar right now.”

John Frusciante, Hillel Slovak and other former members of the band were remembered and thanks was given for their contributions to the band.

James Slovak’s speech in honor of his brother
“I’m accepting this award on behalf of my brother Hillel Slovak. You will always be missed. Hillel loved his music, family, friends, and his fans. He was much more than a musician, he was also an innovator, far beyond his years today. We celebrate and honor his legacy and his amazing accomplishments in his life.”

James Slovak makes speech on behalf of his brother Hillel Slovak

Chad Smith’s Hall of Fame Acceptance Speech
“There’s no greater thing to do with your life than what you love. To be able to travel and make music with your brothers who you love,” said Chad, “I’m just really blessed and grateful for that.”

Chad Smith says the Red Hot Chili Peppers are just getting started

Flea’s Hall of Fame Acceptance Speech
“I see George Clinton there, and I just wanna say, George I love you man. Dr Funkenstein, you’ve given me a reason to live so many times. Your life has been so hard, I love you man.

Flea holds back the tears during emotional speech at Hall of Fame Ceremony

People often ask me how has our band stayed together so long, we’ve been around about thirty years. You know, there’s a zillion reasons, I can’t say ego and money aren’t a part of it, but, much more than that, I love music so much. And all the great rockers that come before us, it means everything in the world to me to honor that tradition.

I just wanna take a minute to honor the great musician, John Frusciante… who was a HUGE part of our band. He wrote so much great shit for us. He left us with so many amazing gifts, and the connection and the depth of our bond, musically, changed my life forever. And Chad and Anthony man… I love you guys man. Every day I’m so lucky to play with these guys and Josh, and Jack and Martinez you’re fucking amazing artists. Thank you for being with us.”

Anthony Kiedis’ Hall of Fame Acceptance Speech
“I met Flea when I was fifteen years old. I thought I knew something, but I didn’t know that much. They talk about being in the right place in the right time, well I was in the right place at the right time when I met Flea. He would change my life forever, and for the better, and we’re still together… that was thirty-five years ago…

Anthony Kiedis gives thanks to all those who helped shape his life

Hillel Slovak was a funny, beautiful, stylish wizard of a friend and a guitar player, and he left us with something which was… a band and a love and a desire to carry on, and everything we do he will always be with us forever, he’s with us right now. And like so many things when disasters happen beautiful things are born from them, and the next thing that was born was the entrance of John Frusciante…

Anthony Kiedis thanks Hillel Slovak and John Frusciante during acceptance speech

He was a mind-blowing young man, very much a student of the school of Hillel Slovak, among many other art forms and musicians, and his creative spirit drove us to new heights. He was on fire and he was just one of the most amazing artists on Earth and we were luck to have him in this band twice, and write music with him. We’re forever grateful to you John Frusciante.

We’ve been luckier than most. We’ve been able to work with some of the coolest, most amazing minds in music, including the man I’m looking at right now, Rick Rubin, I love you rick. Sitting right next to George Clinton, who I love so much. Both guys are a dream come true for us, we were kids and they said, ‘If you could have anybody in the world producing, who would it be?’, we said George Clinton, they said, ‘Done’, we were like ‘What!?’ The next thing we know we were in Detroit Michigan, tracking with George. And that’s how it got started, thank you George, you are the man forever.

Watch the Acceptance Speech Video on YouTube…

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Performance at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony
The Red Hot Chili Peppers performed By The Way, The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie and Give it Away with former RHCP drummers Jack Irons and Cliff Martinez on their main setlist.

For the finale, Anthony Kiedis called out to musicians from the crowd to join them on stage. Ronnie Wood, Slash, Billie Joe Armstrong and George Clinton all eventually emerged from the crowd and put on an amazing show, playing Higher Ground for the seven thousand strong crowd at the 27th Annual Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony. The five and a half hour ceremony came to a close at 1.30am.

Higher Ground All-Star Performance at the Hall of Fame Ceremony

By The Way

Full Performance at the Hall of Fame Ceremony (Stream Rip)

Proshot footage from the Hall of Fame Ceremony will be televised on HBO on May 5th at 9pm ET. See HBO’s Hall of Fame feature page for more info.

      

Red Hot Chili Peppers answer press questions backstage before the Hall of Fame Ceremony

The Red Hot Chili Peppers will perform three songs during the ceremony, with Jack Irons and Cliff Martinez joining the band to jam on one of them.

RHCP Press Conference before Hall of Fame Induction

An edited version of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Ceremony will be televised on HBO on May 5 at 9pm ET/PT.

      

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Punk Funk and Tube Socks - Hall of Fame Class of 2012

It started with a noogie, as do most great legends in the annals of rock ‘n’ roll…

OK, maybe not most. Probably almost none, actually. But this one does.

“Are you familiar with the noogie — where you grind your knuckles into someone’s head?” Flea wanted to know.

Yes. We are familiar with the noogie. Tell us more, please…

“I had our friend Tony Shurr in a headlock. I was giving him a noogie. Anthony didn’t take kindly to it.”

This was at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, where Flea (or Michael Balzary, as he was known then) and Anthony Kiedis were in 10th grade.

Kiedis, too, remembers that fateful moment well.

“Flea was just showing rough affection,” he said.

“But I didn’t know that. . . . If memory serves, I threatened Flea at that point in time, saying, ‘If you don’t take your hands off this kid, you’re gonna have trouble with me.’

“We looked at each other like, ‘Who the fuck are you?’ And that began our lengthy friendship.”

All these years later, vocalist Kiedis (an erstwhile child actor who appeared in the Sylvester Stallone film “F.I.S.T.”) and bass player Flea (who showed promise at a young age as a jazz trumpeter) are still friends. They’re the same age: 49. And they share a subatomic bond at the nucleus of their punk-rooted, funk-loving, sock-it-to-’em group, the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Now they’re headed into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along with longtime drummer Chad Smith and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, as well as four ex-bandmates: drummers Jack Irons and Cliff Martinez and guitarists John Frusciante and the late Hillel Slovak.

Chris Rock, a friend of the band, will serve as their presenter at the induction ceremony.

From the beginning, the Chili Peppers were ready for musical adventure.

“The unspoken deal for us was, ‘Anything goes,’ ” Kiedis said.

“We never wanted to limit ourselves. We wanted an open-ended definition that could grow, kind of in the spirit of American music in general.

“We had the energy of the punk-rock scene that we were around at the time. But we also were heavily funk-influenced.”

After building a buzz on the L.A. club scene (where they occasionally shared bills with fellow 2012 Rock Hall inductees Guns N’ Roses), the Chili Peppers released a self-titled debut in 1984. By then, charter members Slovak and Irons had left to focus on their other band, What Is This?

Slovak was back in the fold for the Chili Peppers’ 1985 follow-up, “Freaky Styley.” It was produced by Parliament-Funkadelic maestro George Clinton, on the bill for the Rock Hall’s Concert for Cleveland tonight at The Q.

“We stayed at George’s house in Detroit, did preproduction in his living room and recorded at United Sound, with Aretha Franklin working down the hall,” said Martinez, 58, who grew up in Columbus.

“Hillel was doing guitar overdubs and hit a bad note. He said, ‘Stop the tape.’

“George said, ‘Wait a minute — play that back.’

“Hillel, who was embarrassed about the mistake, said, ‘Just erase it and let me take another shot.’

“George said, ‘No. Let’s hear what you just did.’

“It was obviously a bad note. George said, ‘Let’s hear it one more time.’ Hillel was ready to pull his hair out.

“And George goes: ‘Now THAT’S the funk! Let’s cut that up and fly it around.’ You know, put it everywhere on the track.

“That was a great teaching moment. It was the definition of funk. When George said it, we believed it.”

‘Sock Man!’ is born

Few bands accomplished more while wearing less.

Early in their career, the Chili Peppers became infamous for going onstage with each member wearing little more than a strategically placed tube sock.

“We used to do it around the house, when Anthony and Hillel and I lived together,” Flea said.

“It was just this funny thing to do. Then we did a gig one night, and everyone was screaming for an encore. We were so excited. I can’t remember if it was Anthony or Hillel, but one of them said, ‘Sock Man!’

“We were like, ‘Wooooo!’ We just did it without thinking. It went over like gangbusters. And being showmen, we thought it was a good look.”

What began as a joke soon became an essential part of the act. “You’re going to do the sock thing, aren’t you?” promoters invariably asked whenever and wherever the Chili Peppers would perform.

The “Sock Man!” shtick was immortalized on the cover of their 1988 “Abbey Road” EP.

“We were really into being showmen,” Flea said.

“We like Sammy Davis Jr. and we like Louis Armstrong. We’ll do anything we can to entertain you. We’re here to uplift you. We’ll do ANYTHING.

“We’re not trying to be Bon Jovi. We’re not trying to make corporate songs. We’re just doing our thing and being crazy and having fun. We’re not trying to get anything out of it, outside of a good time.”

Yet the Chili Peppers were no strangers to tragedy, either.

Slovak died of a heroin overdose in 1988. He was 26.

“He was a real artist,” Kiedis said.

“He lived the life of a musician. And a painter. And a poet. And a lover. That was his deal.

“He was an amazing friend. . . . He made people feel very comfortable about being themselves around him.

“It’s a very strange thing, that his trajectory of greatness was so short-lived, ’cause it would’ve just been a wonder to watch him evolve. But it was not meant to be.”

Kiedis paused and cleared his throat before adding:

“His energy and his creation, for sure, live on very distinctly in everything we do.”

Frusciante was an 18-year-old wunderkind when he stepped in to fill the void left by Slovak.

Soon afterwards, Smith tried out for the drummer spot, vacant again after Irons had briefly returned to the group following Martinez’s departure in 1986.

“I think I wore a Metallica shirt to the audition,” Smith recalled, laughing.

“They were definitely looking at me like, ‘Oh, God — who’s this guy?’ Like, ‘OK, let’s get it on and get it over with.’ But once we started playing, all that went by the wayside.”

From college-radio darlings to mainstream supertars
The Chili Peppers teamed up with producer Rick Rubin for the “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” album, released in 1991. The multiplatinum breakthrough elevated them from college-radio darlings to mainstream superstars.

“I think it’s the first time that the band’s real sound was captured on record,” said Smith, 50.

“It was the four of us really working together as a unit. The elements just came together. It was a fun and exciting time.”

Kiedis knew they were onto something special as soon as Flea plunked down the throbbing bass riff for “Give It Away” at rehearsal.

“There was this uncontainable smile on his face,” Kiedis said.

“We caught eyes and looked at each other, like, ‘This is our new shit, right here.’ I stepped up to the mike and just started free-styling. It was one of those songs that was born within seconds.”

The mellow ballad “Under the Bridge,” a Top 5 single and the group’s highest-charting hit to date, was inspired by Kiedis’ own struggles with drug addiction.

“Some of our seemingly darkest hours were actually our finest hours,” he said.

“In the darkness, we learned the greatest lessons. . . . John [Frusciante] came over my house to work on ‘Under the Bridge’ with me. He was like, ‘OK, sing me the melody — I’m going to try to find the chords.’ We considered probably five different chord options for each bit of the song.”

Not every musician who ever passed through the ranks of the Chili Peppers will share in the Rock Hall honor.

“The only person who really was in question was the lovely and talented Mr. Dave Navarro,” Kiedis said.

Navarro spent five years on guitar with the group in the ’90s.

“He’s in this other band, which may in fact be inducted itself one day, called Jane’s Addiction,” Kiedis said.

“I think that’s the band closest to his heart, and that most represents his contribution to the world in terms of music. So maybe it makes more sense for him to be inducted one day as a member of Jane’s Addiction.”

Between solo pursuits, Frusciante played with the Chili Peppers on and off, well into the new millennium. He is not expected to attend the inductions.

“I love John,” Flea said.

“There’s no way we could’ve achieved what we did without him. . . . But having left the band — and this is just from my perspective — it’s important for him to move on.”

Irons currently plays with the Wallflowers. He also did a stint with Pearl Jam.

After Martinez parted ways with the Chili Peppers, he became a film composer. His recent credits include “Drive” and “Contagion.”

As for Kiedis, Flea, Smith and new recruit Klinghoffer, they’re on tour behind the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ tenth album, “I’m with You.” It came out last year.

They’ll perform Sunday afternoon at a private show for President Barack Obama’s campaign workers at Cleveland’s House of Blues. The band will be back in town Saturday, June 2, for a concert at The Q.

And to think: It all began with a noogie.

Kiedis and Flea “love each other — they really do,” Smith said.

“They’re like brothers. . . . For some cosmic reason, they were supposed to be together.

“Like any intense relationship — and I’m throwing myself in the mix here, too, because I’ve been married to these guys for years — there are times when you’re like, ‘This guy is an [expletive].’

“But we’ve learned, for the greater good and for whatever reason, that we’ve been put together on this planet. We do this thing. And it’s special.

“We’re grateful for that. And we don’t take it for granted.”

Cleveland Talks Rock: The Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Red Hot Chili Peppers have been frequent cover boys at Cleveland-based Alternative Press magazine, dating back to the original alt-rock revolution of the early 1990s. Some critics and hardcore indie fans may dismiss them as lightweight and goofy. But not Associated Press Music Editor Scott Heisel. He sings the band’s praises in our latest Cleveland Talks Rock video…

Source: Cleveland.com

      

“I like Halls of Fame. I think they’re cool.”

Our sentiments exactly, Flea.

And as of this weekend, Flea, Anthony Kiedis and several other current or former members of The Red Hot Chili Peppers will be official inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Among them is current guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, who will become the youngest member ever at 32.

“I don’t necessarily feel like I’ve done a lifetime’s worth of accomplishments to, you know, be in a hall of fame, but I’m honored every day to be in this band and to play with these guys,” Klinghoffer tells HLN.

You might be surprised to hear that comedian Chris Rock will be presenting the band at the Hall of Fame ceremony, where they’re also performing. But Rock actually directed the music video for one of their songs, “Hump de Bump.”

“We’ve just been friends with him for a long time, and he’s been a real great supporter of us … and he’s just a really smart, cool dude who loves music very much, and definitely will be a different take than the normal induction speech,” Flea said.

When he’s not making rock history, bass player Flea also runs a non-profit music school called The Silverlake Conservatory of Music in Los Angeles. He says about 700 kids take classes there including his 6-year-old daughter Sunny, who is learning piano.

Flea’s older daughter, 23-year-old Clara, is already an accomplished photographer. She did the photo booklet for their latest album, “I’m With You” and even joins the band on the road when she can. They already have tour dates booked around the country and the world into November.

“The truth is … I feel like we’re just scratching the surface of what we’re capable of,” Flea said. “I’m really excited about making a new record after doing this (tour) because I think we’re really gelling as a band.”

Source: HLNtv.com

      

Red Hot Chili Peppers putting best foot forward
Published April 11th, 2012.

Red Hot Chili Peppers putting best foot forward...

LOS ANGELES — Anthony Kiedis had a dream the other night.

The 49-year-old frontman of the Red Hot Chili Peppers imagined that he was playing at this year’s Rock and Rock Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and the band’s on-again, off-again guitarist John Frusciante was sitting in the front row.

Kiedis is quick to note that this vision won’t become a reality when the 29-year-old group is actually inducted Saturday.

“No,” Kiedis said in a hushed tone during a break from rehearsing at SIR Studios last month. “That was just a dream.”

“I can’t speak for (Frusciante), but I think it’s kinda like an ex-girlfriend vibe,” added 49-year-old bassist Flea.

The current line-up of Flea, Kiedis, drummer Chad Smith and guitarist Josh Klinghoffer will be honored along with past bandmates like late founding member Hillel Slovak, the original Chili Peppers guitarist who died of a drug overdose in 1988, and Frusciante, who replaced Slovak and recorded five albums during his fluid tenure with the group.

“We wouldn’t be here without (Slovak) because we wouldn’t have started without him,” said Flea. “For him to be honored and recognized is a beautiful thing for us, not that we don’t honor and love him every day, but I feel great for him to go in, as well as John Frusciante, of course, who gave us so much and did some serious (expletive) rocking.”

But the guitarist whose melodies powered songs like “Under the Bridge” and “Californication” is not expected to be a part of the festivities in Cleveland, where the Rock Hall is based. A spokesman for Frusciante, who left the Chili Peppers for a second time in 2009, didn’t return messages seeking comment, but Kiedis and Flea do not anticipate he will be there, and a rep for the ceremony says he is not scheduled to attend.

Nonetheless, the group will still be in good company.

The Chili Peppers are set to be inducted alongside Los Angeles rockers Guns N’ Roses, New York hip-hop trio Beastie Boys, Scottish folk icon Donovan and British rock group The Small Faces/The Faces, which featured Rod Stewart and Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood. Other honorees will include late singer-songwriter Laura Nyro and blues mastermind Freddie King.

Anthony Kiedis & Flea talk about preparing for the Hall of Fame Induction

Flea likened the induction class of 2012 to a family reunion: He grew up in LA around Steven Adler and Slash of Guns N’ Roses; on the East Coast, the Beastie Boys followed a similarly daring trajectory at the same time as the Chili Peppers; and Wood has served as a father figure to the group. Wood even joined the Chili Peppers in 2009 for their side project, The Insects.

Kiedis said the band plans to play a few songs at Saturday’s ceremony, and they will be joined by former Chili Peppers drummers Jack Irons and Cliff Martinez for “a three-drummer jam session.” He also teased that the Chili Peppers would rock out with several of this year’s other honorees for a funkadelic mash-up.

“It’s funny,” said Kiedis. “People have asked me, ‘Did you ever think you would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?’ It’s a funny question because the answer is, ‘Of course not.’ When we started, we thought maybe in periods of 24 hours at a time. The most we would ever think is a week at a time: ‘Oh, we have a gig next Thursday. We should write a song.’”

Mixing layers of funk, punk, heavy metal, rap and traditional pop over a foundation of rock, the Chili Peppers have managed to achieve a consistent level of mainstream success since their formation in 1983, selling more than 83 million albums and winning seven Grammys, all while maintaining their rebellious – though sometimes unhealthy – sensibilities.

The hall of fame honor comes at a time when the group is literally getting back up on its feet. The North American leg of the tour in support of their 10th studio album, “I’m With You,” had to be postponed earlier this year when Kiedis needed surgery on his foot, which was reinjured in St. Barts during a game of “toilet tag,” a rollicking variation on the childhood classic.

“We had to derail the whole momentum of this beautiful tour we were on,” said Kiedis, whose foot has since healed. “We were really having a good time. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise because not only did I get to slow down and surgically repair this busted hoof, but we all got to be home for the most beautiful winter on record in Los Angeles.”

For the sometimes manic but always thoughtful Flea, who was born Michael Balzary, the unexpected break provided him with time to learn how to play bebop music and train for the LA Marathon. (He finished with a time of 3:41:49, improving on his time of 3:53:00 from last year’s marathon.) More importantly, he said it was an opportunity for introspection.

“I’ve come to a place in my life where I accept the difficult parts and embrace them,” said Flea. “Whereas, before I was sort of trying to minimize the hard parts and maximize the fun parts. Now, I just want it all. I want the pain. I want the suffering, as well as the transcendent beauty of playing with my loved ones. I’m into it.”

During the downtime, Flea also started writing new music with Klinghoffer, who joined the band in 2009 and co-wrote on “I’m With You.” It’s something that Kiedis expects to continue on their tour, which picked back up March 29 in Tampa, Fla., and is scheduled to continue through Nov. 1 in Milwaukee, Wis., with stops in the United States, Canada and Europe.

“In the past, we traditionally write, record, tour, take a little break, write, record, tour, you know, that whole thing,” said Kiedis, who detailed the band’s sorted history and his own struggles with addiction in his autobiography “Scar Tissue” in 2004. “This time, for whatever reason, it feels like new music is waiting in the wings to happen.”

Source: The Associated Press
Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter

      

Thanks to RHCP_ARE_GODS

Red Hot Chili Peppers will perform for President Obama Supporters

Update – The event has reached maximum attendee capacity.

More info about the event…
https://my.barackobama.com/page/event/detail/phonebank/gpbxfp