“I feel like such an idiot”: Flea regrets his bass-smashing antics in Red Hot Chili Peppers’ earlier years By Phil Weller published 15 April 24 The energetic bassist took to social media to voice his regret of destroying his instruments in the ‘90s and ‘00s
“John Lydon once made a stab at poaching Flea for Public Image. At which point Flea keeled over and passed out”: Anthony Kiedis takes a nostalgic look back at Flea’s finest hour from Blood Sugar Sex Magik By Joel McIver published 31 March 24 Flea’s reputation as a killer bass player almost saw him lured away from the Red Hot Chili Peppers
“The White Album was the first thing that I connected with as a kid”: Flea picks his top 5 ‘desert island’ discs By Nick Wells published 17 February 24 The Red Hot Chili Pepper was also asked to name his dream supergroup. Safe to say he picked himself on bass
“I would never play a bass that has brand-new strings. My strings only leave the bass when they break”: How George Porter Jr. helped put funk on the musical map with The Meters By Nick Wells published 13 December 23 Formed in 1965, The Meters became the measure of funk to come with their 1969 instrumental anthem Cissy Strut
“It’s hard to think who the greatest bass players are. You could say Flea, but he doesn’t need the plug!” Jack Bruce on the bass players that shaped his sound By Nick Wells published 6 November 23 Back in 2010, we asked Cream bassist Jack Bruce to nominate five albums that influenced his bass playing
“Rocco Prestia could have held that 16th-note pattern in his sleep – it’s airtight” Halestorm bassist Josh Smith picks his top 5 bass albums By Nick Wells published 31 August 23 From Tower Of Power to The Beatles, Josh Smith reveals the influences that helped shape his heavy-riffing bass style with Halestorm
Flea names his least favorite Red Hot Chili Peppers album – and says he wants to re-record it By Matt Parker published 30 June 23 The RHCP bass icon revealed he has tried to convince the band to take another crack at it, but “can never talk anyone into it”
John Frusciante’s guitar teacher once told him he wasn’t a good guitarist – so he learned to play like Steve Vai: “No-one was going to say that to me again” By Michael Astley-Brown published 26 June 23 The Red Hot Chili Peppers guitar hero recalls being criticized because he couldn’t play the blues scale fast enough: “It was about the worst feeling I could imagine”
Flea names the one bassline that he would “go back and fix” from the Red Hot Chili Pepper's 1995 album, One Hot Minute By Scott Malandrone published 31 May 23 Flea on the making of One Hot Minute: “I thought it sounded like another stupid white boy trying to be funky!”
Does John Frusciante have a signature Fender Stratocaster in the works? Here’s the truth By Michael Astley-Brown published 23 May 23 After sightings of a replica ’62 Strat prototype and some special deliveries from Fender, the Red Hot Chili Peppers rumor mill has gone into overdrive – we got the real story from Frusciante’s guitar tech
Mike Watt: “I think for every 7-string bass they should make a 1-string!” By Karl Coryat published 16 May 23 The patriarch of punk unravels his punk rock roots and the making of his 1995 solo album Ball-Hog or Tugboat?
Mike Dirnt: “Even Flea told me he wanted to play a P-Bass live” By Nick Wells published 4 May 23 Green Day’s Mike Dirnt reveals why so many top bass players switch back to Fender
Watch Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page and Joe Perry join Metallica for a pulverizing performance of Train Kept A-Rollin' at 2009’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony By Matt Owen published 24 April 23 The two Yardbirds alumni and Aerosmith icon – who each had history with the song – were joined by Ronnie Wood and Flea for the rendition, which featured a who's who of rhythm heroes and lead legends
Josh Klinghoffer thinks Red Hot Chili Peppers were making “cooler music” with him: “I was shocked when I heard their new record” By Matt Parker published 6 April 23 The guitarist says he doesn’t want to badmouth his former band, but the experience of hearing their latest recordings with John Frusciante was “tough”
Watch the trailer for Flea’s new podcast series By Nick Wells published 5 April 23 First guests on the show will include Rick Rubin, Patti Smith and Thundercat
Watch Vulpeck's Joe Dart break down Flea and Victor Wooten's slap bass technique By Nick Wells published 30 March 23 How Will Smith brought back, er, slap: "The two main slap basslines of our generation were Will Smith samples..."
The Mu-Tron III: “Without it, there ain’t no Bootsy” By Nick Wells published 17 March 23 Everything you need to know about the iconic stomper from Musitronics
John Patitucci: “My gratitude for Wayne Shorter is boundless” By Nick Wells published 7 March 23 John Patitucci, Robert Trujillo, Flea, Felix Pastorius and many more pay tribute to jazz legend Wayne Shorter
Why Flea’s bass track had to be fixed in the mix on Alanis Morissette's hit record By Nick Wells published 2 March 23 Mix Engineer Chris Fogel: “Flea was way out of time on You Oughta Know”
John Frusciante says he views bass as the lead instrument in Red Hot Chili Peppers: “I see each song as being like a bass solo where I'm there to support it” By Matt Parker published 6 February 23 Frusciante and the band have been discussing their connection in a rare full-band interview on 60 Minutes