The band John Frusciante called his “favourite in the world”
Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante has enjoyed a storied career that has seen acute balance as a crucial member of one of the world’s biggest bands with artistic projects. However, it is his solo ventures that allow him to explore territory that is impossible to dissect within the remit of the funk-rock outfit.
Although he’s left the band on two different occasions, and there’s much more to his artistry than he’s allowed to show within the band’s confines, Frusciante will always boomerang home to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. The innate chemistry he shares with Chad Smith, Anthony Kiedis and Flea is a recipe for musical magic, but it can sometimes be limiting.
Outside the band, Frusciante has released more than a dozen solo albums, providing him a canvas for his more avant-garde ideas. With that, he’s also built up a strong creative partnership with Omar Rodríguez-López, and for six years, he was an unofficial member of Rodríguez-López’s band, The Mars Volta.
During this time, Frusciante played on a whole host of Mars Volta tracks and almost the entirety of their third album, Amputechture. In return, Rodríguez-López has assisted on many of Frusciante’s solo works and even on the Red Hot Chili Peppers album Stadium Arcadium.
The duo grew close when Frusciante attended a De Facto concert at the Spaceland in Los Angeles in 2002. Rodríguez-López later recalled: “It was a true friendship that started over a love for Luis Buñuel and then we started playing some music together as you would with another person who loves music and then eventually you realize that one of your closest friends is quite literally a musical genius so you just try to pick up as much as you can from that person and make sure that you are having a good time and that results in records together when you can.”
Two years after their first meeting, the pair had become inseparable. Frusciante attempted to use his pulling weight within the music industry to convince Led Zeppelin’s Jimmy Page to play on a record by The Mars Volta.
Unfortunately, the collaboration never came to fruition, but the guitarist’s warm words about the band show his immense admiration for The Mars Volta. In a handwritten letter sent after an encounter at an awards ceremony in 2004, Frusciante wrote: “Thank you so much for coming to our show. It meant so much to all of us to have you there. There was something I needed to ask you, but didn’t want to put you on the spot. I figure I’ll ask you in this letter, and that way, you are free to just not respond if you so choose, with no offense taken.”
He continued: “My best friend Omar is the guitarist/leader of The Mars Volta. They are my favorite band in the world. Their music comes from punk, salsa, progressive rock and Led Zeppelin, and their singer Cedric is an extraordinary singer. They are making a new record right now, and it would be Omar’s dream to have you, Omar and myself simultaneously soloing on one song.”
Frusciante concluded by writing: “Omar and I have done a lot of simultaneous soloing with great results, and it would mean the world to us if you joined us. We could do this by sending you a CD to play to and you could record yourself on a computer, then send the file back to us in LA. If you are interested let us know since they are towards the end of the record (but not in a rush).”
Despite never accruing official member status with The Mars Volta, Frusciante’s love for the group knew no bounds, and he was willing to go to extraordinary lengths to improve their profile. While Page didn’t take him up on the offer, it’s the effort that counts.