In a new interview with The Guardian, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea called Nick Cave the "greatest living songwriter."
Speaking on the band's inspirations, Flea said: "Creativity waxes and wanes. We're very lucky. We've made bunches of fucking money. We could be sat on the beach eating burritos, but even when we're pissed off with each other we sit in a room and work. Igor Stravinsky sat at his piano every fucking day. Some days it was rubbish and his wife was chewing his ear off – but he stuck at it. The same thing goes for Nick Cave, the greatest living songwriter. He goes to work! Every day. And that's what we do."
You can read the full interview here
The Red Hot Chili Peppers will released their new studio album -- the first to feature guitarist Josh Klinghoffer -- on August 30. You can check out the video for the first single, "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie," here.
For outtakes from Guitar World's October 2011 interview with the Chili Peppers, click here, and for an exclusive interview with new Chili Peppers guitarist Josh Klinghoffer, head here.
Get The Pick Newsletter
All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!
Josh Hart is a former web producer and staff writer for Guitar World and Guitar Aficionado magazines (2010–2012). He has since pursued writing fiction under various pseudonyms while exploring the technical underpinnings of journalism, now serving as a senior software engineer for The Seattle Times.

“These guys started the band the same year I was born – they have a whole world of history together”: How Nicole Row went from a wild ride in Panic! at the Disco to laying down the low-end in Incubus – and rerecording their biggest album

“He fined me 50 bucks and fired me, even though I didn’t mess up”: The bassists of James Brown reveal what life was really like playing alongside the Godfather of Soul