“Sitting on Flea’s carpet watching him fiddle around with his guitar seemed like a natural thing. It wasn’t like talking to a rock star. It was more like talking to a moody friend of mine, who doesn’t like doing something unless it feels real.
Flea, who plays the bass for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, turned out to be a regular guy who wears a black sweatshirt and has a Christmas tree in his living room. The most important moment in his life?
It wasn’t getting his first guitar.
It wasn’t joining “Fear,” his first band, or appearing in the movie, “My Own Private Idaho.”
It wasn’t the huge success of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, whose previous album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik went megaplatinum, and whose latest album, One Hot Minute, is jumping up the charts.
It wasn’t getting his flashy multicolored Mercedes.
No, it was the birth of his daughter, Clara. “I learned what love was when my daughter was born. I learned what true love was, what unconditional love was. That you love no matter what, and I learned that is really the only thing that matters in life. Period. Nothing else. Everything else is insignificant.”
That’s why Flea doesn’t really think youth should all be rock musicians like him. Unless we want to. “Um, I can’t generalize what anybody can do. I think everybody should be true to themselves and I think they should really think to themselves: What do they want? And what do they love to do? And they shouldn’t think about what anybody thinks they should do… You know, it’s not about making money and it’s not about being a success, and it’s not about any of those things. It’s about being happy with being yourself, and the only way you’re ever truly happy is when you do what pleases you, not what pleases everybody else.”
Go your own way
Though Flea decided he wanted to become a rock musician when he was at Fairfax High School in the late ’70s, he encourages youth to go their own way. He said no one has to make a decision by the end of high school. “If a kid has an ambition and a truly sincere passion for something, then they should go for it… [but] I don’t think pressure should be put on people… There’s no hurry to grow up and be something in this world, this power-driven crazy world, where everyone thinks they have to make money, and, like, gain all these material objects, you know. You should enjoy life, you should, like, enjoy nature and you should realize that they [money and power] are not important. None of us are important, we’re all just little insignificant specks of s—t floating around in the universe…”
While all the other specks are constantly complaining about needing more money, you would think someone like Flea would be quite happy with the money he had. You might think he would love the music business, and what it gives him. Guess again. “I think the music business, like any other business, is a pretty slimy thing. Because business, the word, means to me money, and when money comes into any situation it means people are backstabbing and lying and trying to do anything they can to get more money. And especially when you take an art form, like music, or any other art form, which is a beautiful thing, and you try to, um, attach money to it, it just ruins it, you know. So I try to not get tangled up in those affairs. I mean obviously I’m part of this material world and I’d like to have money, but, you know, I’d like to try and keep it in perspective.”
No one loves him for who he is
At first this made no sense to me: He had too much money? You would think it would make his life easier. In fact, he told me that it made his life more convenient, but the hard part is being a celebrity which makes it harder for him to connect with other people. “Sometimes it’s difficult for me to have a normal conversation with someone because they’re looking towards the star angle and you know sometimes it strokes my ego and it makes me feel good… But, um, oftentimes it seems they don’t appreciate what I do, that they appreciate the fame that I have for what I do and the money and power I have for what I do. It makes me feel good when someone actually, you know, is touched by something that I have done artistically, but not when someone is interested in fame and power ’cause that’s disgusting.”
Rolling Stone magazine said that the Chili Peppers have reached the highpoint of their career with One Hot Minute (You’ve probably heard the song, “My Friends” from this album). I listened to it and found this album more organized and more mature than previous ones.
I recently went to KROQ’s Almost Acoustic Christmas Concert where I saw such young bands as Bush, Radiohead, Joan Osborne and Lenny Kravitz. The Chili Peppers couldn’t play because their drummer broke his wrist. If they had been there, they would have blown everybody else away. Flea is 33, and age has helped him and his band. They have had time: time to organize their music, their fame, their thoughts, and most importantly themselves.
Chili Pepper’s music makes you happy
I really see the Chili Peppers as their own kind of band. It’s a mix of rock, alternative and pop that makes me feel like getting up and lip-synching and jumping all over the place and being happy. They have their own kind of music that I cannot call anything but Great. The band has lyrics about love, life, friendships and death.
Where does this music come from? How does the band create?
“Willy-nilly,” says Flea. “We just get together and make noise, then try to shape the noise into something.”
His daughter Clara sings with her elementary school class on “Aeroplane” on the latest album, just because the band thought it would be fun. Other influences are Flea’s interest in jazz and classical music, and just about everything else. “Um, everything in our lives affects our songs… Everything in my life reflects the music that I play… To be a good artist, you have to be open and receptive to everything that is going on around you.”
But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. “We’ve been working our a—s off like crazy, for 14 years we’ve been on the road killing ourselves and driving around the world in little vans, sleeping on peoples’ floors, and sleeping in s—-y little hotels, working our a—s off, you know, we put so much, you know, physical, emotional, and spiritual energy into this thing, you know, it taxed us immeasurably, it’s been really intense… It’s not as glamorous as people might think. You know, it’s hard work… I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world though.”
Flea Facts:
Real Name: Michael Peter Balzary
Born: In Australia on October 16, 1962.
How he came to America: His family moved to New York in 1966 and to Hollywood in 1972.
Schools: He attended Bancroft Jr. High and Fairfax High School. He never completed college.
Home: near Griffith Park Personal favorite Chili Peppers album: Blood Sugar Sex Magik”