Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea revealed an AIDS scare in a new GQ magazine interview. John Frusciante revealed his new haircut over the weekend.
GQ asked, “There are also moments in the book where you essentially scold your younger self. For example, you write about shooting heroin with the same dirty needle passed around at a party at the height of the AIDS epidemic.”
Flea responded, “All of these things I wrote about are all things that were swimming around in my consciousness. I wanted to look at them and try to understand them. Like in the instance of doing drugs in the stupidest way possible, I just feel so grateful—and watched over—that I was able to survive that stuff. And though it’s been 27 years since I’ve done drugs like that, it hurt me. It slowed down the process of learning about myself and learning to be a functional, loving light in the world, which is all I ever wanted.
But, I was wild and I was in the street and didn’t know better and I made big mistakes. I was always yearning for a feeling of connection and love, but I didn’t know how to go about it. When it came time for me to stop doing drugs and drinking alcohol, I just felt everything that hurt. And from that pain, I learned. I want to walk through it, I want to grow, I want to get to the other side and be the best person I can be and I never want to stop being better.”
Flea recently discussed his first fight with Anthony Kiedis. Ians950s wrote an Amazon review of Flea’s book, “I finished the audio version of this book today. It left me wondering why Flea hasn’t written more songs for his band’s albums. He is a talented writer who paints very vivid pictures by stringing together adjectives and euphemisms that have no business being associated with one another. Some how it works. I will say that the book at time seems to jump around. I’m okay with books not being linear, but this book’s transitions can be stark and harsh. But somehow, that too works. In a way, the structure of the book develops the mood and a feel to help the reader understand the chaos of his childhood and how that shaped him as a person and artist.”
He added, “The book emulates the band’s raw and unrefined style and artistry. I can see the parallel between the two and it gives the reader insight to the band’s style of music. I recommend doing this one on audio as Flea’s side commentary is funny and a great listen.”
You can read the full interview at GQ.
