John Frusciante officially rejoined his buddies in Red Hot Chili Peppers in December of 2019, and in January, his bandmates shared that they were at work on a new studio album. Now, Frusciante has discussed both his return and the recordings in a new interview.
Speaking with Double J, Frusciante shared that the band had recently picked up rehearsing and writing again following a pandemic-induced break.
"We were rehearsing for a couple months, then the quarantine started, and we stopped rehearsing for a couple months, then we went back to rehearsing," he explained. "We're moving ahead with what we're doing, writing new music."
Of his return to the band, Frusciante said, "It's just returning to family. I'm extremely comfortable with those people. It was as if no time had gone by at all when we started playing, pretty much, with a couple of minor exceptions, like how Chad and I gradually got our communication together in a new way. Basically, we're all just as comfortable with each other as we ever were, and it just felt like that right off the bat."
Today marks the release of Frusciante's new solo album Maya, which finds him once again preoccupied with electronic music and instruments. He told Double J that there is still a firm divide between his solo output and current writing with RHCP.
"That's what I do on my own," he noted. "I've tried to do some of that kind of thing myself, breakbeats but with a rock music chord progression or whatever. I just think it's kind of cheesy, and that's not what I'm trying to do with the Chili Peppers."
Maya — named after Frusciante's late cat — is out today through Venetian Snares' Timesig label. Frusciante shared a video for "Brand E" earlier this month.
Read Exclaim!'s review of Maya.
Speaking with Double J, Frusciante shared that the band had recently picked up rehearsing and writing again following a pandemic-induced break.
"We were rehearsing for a couple months, then the quarantine started, and we stopped rehearsing for a couple months, then we went back to rehearsing," he explained. "We're moving ahead with what we're doing, writing new music."
Of his return to the band, Frusciante said, "It's just returning to family. I'm extremely comfortable with those people. It was as if no time had gone by at all when we started playing, pretty much, with a couple of minor exceptions, like how Chad and I gradually got our communication together in a new way. Basically, we're all just as comfortable with each other as we ever were, and it just felt like that right off the bat."
Today marks the release of Frusciante's new solo album Maya, which finds him once again preoccupied with electronic music and instruments. He told Double J that there is still a firm divide between his solo output and current writing with RHCP.
"That's what I do on my own," he noted. "I've tried to do some of that kind of thing myself, breakbeats but with a rock music chord progression or whatever. I just think it's kind of cheesy, and that's not what I'm trying to do with the Chili Peppers."
Maya — named after Frusciante's late cat — is out today through Venetian Snares' Timesig label. Frusciante shared a video for "Brand E" earlier this month.
Read Exclaim!'s review of Maya.
