John Frusciante Quits His New Band Swahili Blonde

BY Alex HudsonPublished Jul 23, 2010

If you've been wanting to hear what guitarist John Frusciante has been up to since quitting the Red Hot Chili Peppers, here it is. Back in February, we reported that Frusciante had joined his girlfriend Nicole Turley in Swahili Blonde, a band that also featured Duran Duran bassist John Taylor. Now, it turns out that Swahili Blonde will be releasing their debut album on August 4, but Frusciante is no longer a member of the band.

The album, the suggestively titled Man Meat, contains seven tracks. It will be out on August 4 via Manimal, and will be available on vinyl, CD and digital download. You can hear the full-album stream over at Bandcamp.

Although the Bandcamp site lists Frusciante as a band member, Grimy Goods [via Invisible Movement] reports that this is no longer the case. During the band's recent performance in Los Angeles, Frusciante appeared onstage for only one song. The reviewer wrote, "After talking one-on-one to Frusciante during a brief intermission of the next act, We Are The World, he shared that he is no longer with Swahili Blonde. He recorded with them but later quit the band. He doesn't understand why she [Turley] was advertising him as being in the band, because he's not."

Swahili Blonde's MySpace now lists the band members as "Nicole & friends," while the bio section refers to Frusciante as a "guest."

As for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, they're still working on their tenth studio album with new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.

UPDATE: A press release from Swahili Blonde's publicist has confirmed Frusciante's departure. It states: "John Frusciante has quit the band. He plays on each song on Man Meat, but is no longer with Swahili Blonde."

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