Flea Regrets Chili Peppers’ ‘Petty’ Attitude to Guns N’ Roses
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea expressed regret over his band’s attitude to other groups who were trying to find fame in the ‘80s.
He said he and his colleagues had fostered a “certain arrogance” in respect of Hollywood bands who were vying for attention at the time, singling out Guns N’ Roses as one outfit who hadn’t deserved the disrespect.
“We were definitely against the hair-metal scene,” Flea told Classic Rock (via Music News) recently. “We were like, 'Fuck them. We're the underground, art-rock, get-weird east side guys; those guys are just rehashing Aerosmith and Kiss.’” He added: “In retrospect it was all petty bullshit. A lot of those bands were fucking great. Guns N’’ Roses was a great band.”
He went on to reflect: “There was a certain arrogance. A 'Fuck the world, fuck the system, fuck the authority, fuck the powers that be, we're us and we're doing our thing our way, we're street kids’ thing. We were going hard and being wild.”
The attitude probably contributed to the Chilis’ success, as did their attitude towards their music. “It didn't dawn on us that there was something other than selling out clubs and making people happy and being original,” vocalist Anthony Kiedis said. “We were a party band, but you have to bring something to the party. Flea was instrumental in saying, ‘We have to be good; we have to write some new shit, we have to have something to move these people.’ We always came fully loaded.”
They’ll release 12th album Unlimited Love – featuring returned guitarist John Frusciante – on Apr. 1.
Top 100 '90s Rock Albums