Marco Rodi

Here is a really cool interview on myself and my bass playing.
Read it here.

The day I heard that John Frusciante left, I thought “That’s it. RHCP are done. Nobody is going to be able to fill that spot.” We all know what happened in One Hot Minute when Dave Navarro replaced John. It was a complete different vibe. The music was good. Dave Navarro is a really good guitar player. But it seemed like it didn’t blend with the true beautiful Red Hot Chili Pepper’s essence. It was a different band. It didin’t last long. They barely did one tour and they fired Dave Navarro. He just didin’t fit in the RHCP.

I love John Frusciante. The way he inspired me is almost as huge as Flea. His choice of melodies, of cool riffs, of funky notes… all had a huge impact on my bass playing. Especially my looping. All the solo I do is inspired by John. His clean sound, distorsioned sound… he created a powerful vocabulary with his guitar playing. He wrote most of RHCP biggest hits ever. He was the king of improvisation. Before Californication, at the end of Throw Away Your television, End of By The Way, etc. Seeing John Frusciante play live is a privilege we all have.

I was scared when Josh arrived in the band. I was afraid that it would do the same thing all over again (with Dave Navarro). A RHCP vibe change. But I then learned that Josh produced most of Frusciante’s solo records and he has been a really close friend with the band in the past few years. He also toured with them in the Stadium Arcadium Tour.

I first heard their first single. First listen, it was normal. Like I did not say: “WOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW” and I did not say “WTF is this”. I just enjoyed the song in a normal way. But I listened to it 2-3-4-5-6 more times in a row. And I was enjoying it more and more. Josh is like another version of John. Flea says that John is irreplaceable but I think that Josh can easily replace John. He uses different guitar effects and has a different approach on the guitar than John but at the same time, he has a similar approach. I think they both share the “Minimalist” playing style. Play one note and put all your soul and hearth into it. Feel that note. Experiment. Funk. Groove.

Ok now let’s go back into the album. Sure it’s not Blood Sugar Sex Magik. I was sure that it was not HardFunk Punk like their old stuff. So I was prepared for a change. I love the record. Josh guitar playing is genius. He funks it up, adds minimalist melodies to fill the crazy Bass lines applied by Flea. He can play one chord for 10 seconds filled with distorsion and delay and it sounds cool.

Finally Flea decided to do a bass solo on a record! I think his last bass solo was on Coffee Shop in One Hot Minute hehe. Flea sure does not slap like his crazy funk punk era, but still is Flea. Groovy funky bass lines. This time he got inspired with some Disco-pop driven melodies. It’s still cool. He also plays a lot of piano. Which is the think that I don’t really like on the record. Piano does not fit RHCP at all. RHCP is all about minimalism, craziness, funk, groove, rock. Not popish piano.

You can hear on Monarchy Of Roses some really cool rock-grunge-punk intro. A bit experimental. I love the distorsioned sound of Josh. Flea’s crazy uptempo bass line that comes in after. A bit like Right On Time. SOOO cool.

Random Thoughts on songs:

The cool intro bassline on Factory of Faith. The drum is funny. It’s like a cheap piano automatic drum loop in the background.

I don’t really enjoyed Brendan’s Death Song. It’s a bit in the vibe of Road Trippin. I just don’t like these soft-Acousticish RHCP songs. Not my cup of tea.

Annie Wants a baby is a song that could’ve been in By The Way. Pure Frusciante style.

I think Look Around is my favorite on the record. A song that could easily fit in Stadium Arcadium.

Did I let You Know is the song that I don’t understand. It’s a full different band. With Flea’s trumpet solo. It’s a funny song but not RHCP at all.

After 30 years, it’s hard for a band to maintain their crazy monstrous success. Don’t forget that they are all almost in their 50’s. Props to them for having a young soul. Props to them for still giving crazy energetic shows. Props to them for everything.

RHCP lives on. RHCP is eternal.

A bass solo I wrote when I was 19. Damn my afro was huge hehe

An old video from 2004 I found in my archives When YouTube did not exist, It was on PutFIle.com lol