“I was watching Taxi Driver – a bass was sitting on my lap, and I was just hitting the strings. A commercial came on and I realised I’d written an entire song”: How Flea accidentally wrote one of his funkiest basslines
What happens when you mash up punk, funk and hard rock? The Red Hot Chili Peppers. The centrepiece of the band has always been Flea (aka Michael Balzary), whose early bass parts were high-powered slap explosions, influenced by the groove of Larry Graham and all-out aggression of the Ramones.
“My position in the Chili Peppers goes beyond that of just a bass player,” said Flea in the February ’92 issue of Bass Player. “I also consider myself an entertainer. As a bassist, my job is to kick ass!”
By the time the Chilis hit big with 1991’s Blood Sugar Sex Magik, funk had become the main ingredient in their genre-spanning mix. Of course, Flea’s simple, song-serving basslines were pretty mind-blowing as well.
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“I used to play too many damn notes, but I think we’re releasing tension on Blood Sugar. The songs are all simple, but it’s the intangibles that make them happen: like paying attention and getting inside the groove.
“Don’t get me wrong – I love bass players such as Jaco, but the simple stuff is what I was listening to when we did this record.”
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Under The Bridge [Remastered] 1992-02-29 (Take 2) – YouTube
For the first time, Flea was able to demonstrate his taste and restraint on ballads such as Under The Bridge, and his deep groove on Give It Away.
“For Give It Away, I had written something and told the guys, ‘Aah, it’s just another bassline – I don’t really like it. But they said, ‘No, no, it’s really good – we gotta do it.’ It ended up being the album’s first single.
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“I wrote a lot on my 4-track at home. I came up with the core riffs on If You Have to Ask, Suck My Kiss, Naked in the Rain, and Apache Rose Peacock.
“I wrote the Mellowship Slinky groove one night while I was sitting around feeling pretty good; I wanted to write something light and airy and spacious, with that jumpy, swinging James Brown feel.
“Another time, I was watching the movie Taxi Driver; a 5-string was sitting on my lap, and I was just hitting the strings – not even listening to what I was doing.
“A commercial came on, and I realized I had written an entire song – all the parts for The Righteous & the Wicked – without even thinking about it. It was nutty – that song came from Jodie Foster!”
Dedicated to boundary-pushing US jazz-punk bassist Mike Watt (of The Minutemen, fIREHOSE and Porno for Pyros amongst others), Blood Sugar Sex Magic mined a rich seam of bass guitar chaos.
The team assembled to produce the album was also unmatchable. Producer Rick Rubin, engineer Brendan O’Brien and the band’s lineup at its peak.
“Our producer, Rick Rubin, encouraged me to play simply, and the more I did it, the more I liked it. Part of it was the sound I got this time; on previous albums, I didn’t have a nice, big tone that sounded good with simple parts.
“Another big factor was that we toured so hard after Mother’s Milk, and every night I was up there jumping around, sweating my ass off, playing as hard as I could, beating the shit out of my bass. When I got home, I wanted to relax.
“I didn’t play one note on Blood Sugar to prove I was ‘Mr. Bitchin’ Bass Player’. I’m sure there will be a time when I’ll want to be a big bassopotomous again, but right now, I just want to be part of the band and make it happen correctly.
“It’s important to remember that anyone who has good technique can, with just one note, imply a billion more. Louis Armstrong never needed to play fast.”
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