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| Birth Name(s) : John Frusciante |
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Full John Frusciante Biography
John Anthony Frusciante (pronounced /[fruːˈʃɑːnteɪ/) (born March 5, 1970) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the guitarist of the alternative rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he has recorded five studio albums. Frusciante also maintains an active solo career, having released nine albums under his own name, as well as two collaborations with Josh Klinghoffer and Joe Lally under the name Ataxia. His solo recordings incorporate a variety of elements ranging from experimental rock and ambient music to New Wave and electronica. Drawing influence from guitarists of various genres, Frusciante emphasizes melody and emotion in his guitar playing, and favors vintage guitars and analog recording techniques.
Frusciante was born in Queens, New York on March 5, 1970. His father, John Sr., was a Juilliard-trained pianist, and his mother Gail, was a promising vocalist who gave up her career to be a stay-at-home mother. Frusciante's family relocated to Tucson, Arizona, and then Florida, where his father still serves as a Broward County judge. His parents separated, and he and his mother subsequently moved to Santa Monica, California.
Frusciante began studying guitarists like Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Jimi Hendrix at the age of eleven. After mastering the blues scale, he discovered Frank Zappa, whose work he would study for hours. Frusciante dropped out of high school at the age of sixteen with authorization from his parents and completion of a proficiency test. With their support, he moved to Los Angeles on his own in order to focus on sharpening his musical skills. He began taking classes at the Guitar Institute of Technology, but soon figured out a way to punch in for classes without actually attending.
Frusciante developed serious drug habits as a result of touring with the band during the previous four years. He said that when he "found out that Flea was stoned out of his mind at every show, that inspired me to be a pothead". Not only was Frusciante smoking large amounts of marijuana, he began using heroin and was on the verge of full-scale addiction. He went back to his home in California and fell into a deep state of depression; feeling that his life was over, and that he could no longer write music or play guitar. For a long period of time, he focused primarily on painting and producing 4-track recordings he had made during the time he spent recording Blood Sugar Sex Magik. To cope with his worsening depression, Frusciante dramatically increased his heroin use to a state of abuse; and subsequently spiraled into a life-threatening dependency. According to Frusciante, his use of heroin to medicate his depression was a clear decision: "I was very sad, and I was always happy when I was on drugs; therefore, I should be on drugs all the time. I was never guilty—I was always really proud to be an addict."Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt sample:
Frusciante released his first solo album Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt, on March 8, 1994. The majority of the tracks on the album were recorded while he was strung out on heroin in his Hollywood apartment. The effect drug use had on the album's sound is exemplified on its tenth track, "Your Pussy's Glued to a Building on Fire". Niandra Lades and Usually Just a T-Shirt was partly recorded during the Blood Sugar Sex Magik sessions, and was released on Rubin's label American Recordings. Warner Bros., the Chili Peppers' label, had rights to the album because of the leaving-artist clause in Frusciante's Chili Peppers contract. However, because he was living as a recluse, the label gladly handed the rights over to Rubin, who released the album at the urgings of Frusciante's friends.
At this point I'm the happiest person in the world. These things do not fuck with me at all, and I'm so proud of that—you don't know how proud I am. It's such a beautiful thing to be able to face life, to face yourself, without hiding behind drugs; without having to have anger towards people who love you. There are people who are scared of losing stuff, but you don't lose anything for any other reason than if you just give up on yourself.”
During the Californication world tour, Frusciante continued to write his own songs, many of which would be released in 2001 on his third solo album To Record Only Water for Ten Days. The album was a stylistic divergence from his previous records in that it wasn't as markedly stream-of-consciousness or avant-garde. However, the album's lyrics were still very cryptic and its sound was notably stripped down. The songwriting and production of To Record Only Water for Ten Days were more efficient and straight-forward than on his previous recordings. The album strayed from the alternative rock he had just written with the Chili Peppers on Californication, focusing more on electronic and New Wave elements. Instead of focusing mostly on his guitar work, Frusciante focused more on synthesizers, which are a distinctive feature of this record. |
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