Growing up, my parents introduced me into all different kinds of musical artists and genres. One of my favorite genres that they introduced me into was funk rock. I remember being a little kid sitting in the backseat of my dad’s car as he would play the song “Under the Bridge” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This song always spoke to me and never fails to get stuck in my head. The song not only helped me fall in love with music, but it helped me fall in love with the band as well.
One thing that I love about RHCP is their longevity. Although many people see them as a 90s-2000s band, RHCP actually debuted in 1984 with their self titled album. They have released 13 studio albums over their 39 year existence, with two of those albums being released only a few months apart in 2022. With them releasing two 17 track albums in 2022, they also went on a massive world-wide tour, where I was lucky enough to see them live. Seeing them live was an amazing experience. The onstage dynamic between the four members was amazing and in between songs they all would just jam out for a few minutes. Flea, the bassist, and guitarist John Frusciante have a special dynamic and the two were locked in the entire show, with both of them soloing throughout the concert. Some say that Flea completes John and that John completes Flea. As a musician, Flea and Frusciante have been huge inspirations for me. When I was learning how to play the bass, I remember when I got to an intermediate level, I learned almost all of Flea’s bass lines. Learning his bass lines not only helped perfect my technique, but also helped me understand the theory behind playing bass as a whole. Frusciante is someone who I have always admired, as his playing is extremely complex and sophisticated. One thing I love about his playing is that whenever he plays a solo, he always finds ways to make it unique and fresh. For a guy who plays a solo in most of their songs, each solo sounds different from any other solo he plays.
While Flea and Frusciante are great in their own respect, the other two members of the band, Anthony Kiedis and Chad Smith, are also great. Vocalist Anthony Kiedis (who also writes most of the lyrics) is in my opinion, one of the best frontmen of the past 30 years. Kiedis is known for his ability to sing melodically as well as rapping, sometimes doing both in one song. Drummer Chad Smith is another big influential musician to me. He lays down a great beat in all of their songs and he is also great at improvising drums fills. I would recommend the Red Hot Chili Peppers to anyone who loves a good song to just sit back and vibe to. I would recommend their albums “Blood Sugar Sex Magik”, “Californication”, “By the Way”, and “Stadium Arcadium”.