In the wake of our last couple of articles (Chili Peppers Klinghoffer Confusion and Frusciante Quits Chili Peppers), not to mention the many, many stories on the internet, I thought it might be an idea to take a moment just to look at what John Frusciante himself had to say on his leaving the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  I haven’t seen this reported as much as I assumed it would be, which doesn’t really seem fair.

A couple of weeks back, when the story was just breaking, Frusciante released the following statement on his blog, (johnfrusciante.com):

When I quit the band, over a year ago, we were on an indefinite hiatus. There was no drama or anger involved, and the other guys were very understanding. They are supportive of my doing whatever makes me happy and that goes both ways.

To put it simply, my musical interests have led me in a different direction. Upon rejoining, and throughout my time in the band, I was very excited about exploring the musical possibilities inherent in a rock band, and doing so with those people in particular. A couple of years ago, I began to feel that same excitement again, but this time it was about making a different kind of music, alone, and being my own engineer.

I really love the band and what we did. I understand and value that my work with them means a lot to many people, but I have to follow my interests. For me, art has never been something done out of a sense of duty. It is something I do because it is really fun, exciting, and interesting. Over the last 12 years, I have changed, as a person and artist, to such a degree that to do further work along the lines I did with the band would be to go against my own nature. There was no choice involved in this decision. I simply have to be what I am, and have to do what I must do.

Sending love and gratitude to you all.

While, at its core, this appears the old ‘musical differences’ story, it does seem an intelligent, considered statement and, in our opinion, has an air of sincerity.  Here at Guitarless, we wish John the best in whatever he does and will be watching, with interest, for his next solo offering.

We’ll be watching, with just as much interest, the (slightly unusual) story of John’s replacement unfold.