Flea Wasn’t Sure About Red Hot Chili Peppers Continuing Without John Frusciante

In a new interview centered on Red Hot Chili Peppers' upcoming album, 'I'm With You,' bassist Flea admits that he initially thought it might be best to break up the band than continue on after guitarist John Frusciante left the group.

However, once the initial shock of Frusciante's departure wore off, Flea says his passion for the band won over in the end. "[Frusciante] just gave us so much as a songwriter, as a player, as a human being … and I didn’t think I’d want to continue the band without him," divulges Flea in an interview with Stereogum. "[However] I just felt so much love for the band, and love for [singer] Anthony [Kiedis], I just wanted to keep doing it."

Once RHCP decided to continue on, Flea was the one who approached Josh Klinghoffer to replace Frusciante. "We still sound like the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but it’s really a lot different," explains Flea. "Josh is a very textural, poetic, and sublime musician, and just comes at it from a different angle than anything that we’ve had before. So, we’re just reacting to him, and it makes us play different, so we’re just going a different way, and it’s great."

As previously reported, the Chili Peppers will release 'I'm with You' on Aug. 30. The band has scheduled a number of overseas tour dates, which kick off with an Aug. 9 show in Hong Kong.

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