John Frusciante

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John Frusciante : biography

March 5, 1970 –

Despite his experience as an addict, Frusciante does not view his drug use as a "dark period" in his life. He considers it a period of rebirth, during which he found himself and cleared his mind.Bryant, Tom. (May 3, 2006) "War Ensemble." Kerrang! Frusciante has since stopped practicing yoga, due to its effects on his back, but he still tries to meditate daily.

In early 1998, the Red Hot Chili Peppers fired guitarist Dave Navarro and were on the verge of breaking up. Flea told Kiedis, "the only way I could imagine carrying on [with the Red Hot Chili Peppers] is if we got John back in the band."Kiedis, Sloman, 2004. p. 404 With Frusciante free of his addictions and ailments, Kiedis and Flea thought it was an appropriate time to invite him back. When Flea visited him at his home and asked him to rejoin the band, Frusciante began sobbing and said "nothing would make me happier in the world." With Frusciante back on guitar, the Chili Peppers began recording their next album, Californication, released in 1999. Frusciante’s return restored a key component of the Chili Peppers’ sound, as well as a healthy morale. He brought with him his deep devotion to music, which had an impact on the band’s recording style during the album. Frusciante has frequently stated that his work on Californication was his favorite.

During the Californication world tour, Frusciante continued to compose 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 stylistically unlike his previous records, less markedly stream-of-consciousness or avant-garde. However, the 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 straightforward 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. In addition to his guitar work, Frusciante experimented with a variety of synthesizers, a distinctive feature of the record.

In 2001, Frusciante began recording his fourth album with Red Hot Chili Peppers, By the Way (2002); he considered the time to be among the happiest in his life. He relished the chance the album gave him to "keep writing better songs". While working on By the Way, he also composed most of what would become Shadows Collide with People, as well as the songs created for the movie The Brown Bunny.Guitar World Acoustic, February/March 2004. His goal to improve his guitar playing on the album was largely driven by a desire to emulate guitar players such as Andy Partridge, Johnny Marr and John McGeoch; or as he put it, "people who used good chords". The album marked Frusciante’s shift to a more group-minded mentality within the Chili Peppers, viewing the band as a cohesive unit rather than as four separate entities.

2002–2007: The Mars Volta, 2004 recordings and Stadium Arcadium

Frusciante wrote and recorded a plethora of songs during and after the By the Way tour. In February 2004, he started a side project with Joe Lally of Fugazi and Josh Klinghoffer, called Ataxia. The group was together for about two weeks, during which they recorded about ninety minutes of material. After two days in the recording studio, they played two shows at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood, and spent two more days in the studio before disbanding. Later that year, five songs provided by Frusciante appeared on The Brown Bunny soundtrack.The Brown Bunny soundtrack liner notes.

Frusciante released his fourth full-length solo album Shadows Collide with People on February 24, 2004. This featured guest appearances from some of his friends, including Klinghoffer, and Chili Peppers bandmates Smith and Flea.Shadows Collide with People liner notes In June 2004, he announced that he would be releasing six records over six months: The Will to Death, Ataxia’s Automatic Writing, DC EP, Inside of Emptiness, A Sphere in the Heart of Silence and Curtains. With the release of Curtains Frusciante debuted his only music video of 2004, for the track "The Past Recedes". He wanted to produce these records quickly and inexpensively on analog tape, avoiding modern studio and computer-assisted recording processes.Payne, John. (July 29, 2004) "". LA Weekly, Retrieved on August 27, 2007. Frusciante noted, "These six records were recorded in a period of six months after coming home from touring with the Chili Peppers for one-and-a-half years. I made a list of all the songs I had and they totaled about seventy. My objective was to record as many songs as I could during the break that I had. In the midst of doing that, I was writing some of my best songs, so some of these albums have as many new songs as old songs. It was definitely the most productive time of my life."