![“If it was up to me we’d probably never had a hit song. ‘Cause I don’t usually come up with the songs that are our real popular hit songs. That’s more you [Anthony] and John. If it was up to me we’d have a bunch of B-sides and art songs.” - Flea](http://24.media.tumblr.com/74018fa9815344d2584590b04e0c357c/tumblr_miab8wqMnW1qfgn79o1_500.jpg)
“If it was up to me we’d probably never had a hit song. ‘Cause I don’t usually come up with the songs that are our real popular hit songs. That’s more you [Anthony] and John. If it was up to me we’d have a bunch of B-sides and art songs.” - Flea
New photo of Flea with his Butterfly Bass, designed by Damien Hirst and given to Flea as a present. Damien Hirst also designed the Album Artwork for I’m With You.
Photo featured in the October 2011 Issue of Bass Player Magazine. Read it here…
New interview with Flea in the October 2011 Issue of Bass Player Magazine!
“On the eve of releasing I’m With You, Flea sat for a spell to chat with Bass Player Magazine.” Read it here…
“Our whole thing is that we track all live together in a room, which is becoming a lost art in rock music. It’s ridiculous. Everyone is piecing shit together, you know? But for us it’s all about the feel. The feel is everything. We’d much rather have something that has some mistakes in it that we all played together and there’s a magic feel in it, as opposed to getting it all perfect.” - Flea
Guitar World Magazine, October 2011. Read it here…
“We start playing, and all of a sudden I forget that I’m playing. You get into this ecstatic state where it’s kind of a hypnotic thing that just starts flowing and it’s beautiful. You feel complete.” - Flea in new Guitar World Interview
Read it here…
Flea listed at number 40 in Kerrang! Magazine’s 50 Greatest Rockstars in the world today! (August 6th 2011 Issue)
THE 50 GREATEST ROCKSTARS IN THE WORLD TODAY
The question “what makes a great rockstar?” Is one that excites us all. As far as we’re concerned, the answer Is supplied by the very people who make Kerrang! great, whether its with the things they say or the way they present themselves.
Oh, and of course the timeless music they create. Being a rockstar is about having something to offer, and about making music that thunders forth with a deafening kerrang!
So – drum roll please – welcome to our list of the 50 most exciting people in rock. Taking the view that being a rockstar can amount to more than living fast and dying young, we’ve even included a key as what makes each of our featured artists unique – be it their sex appeal, or, in Lemmy’s case, warts the size of football studs.
Despite the diversity of talent on offer, there is, of course, one factor that unites the 50 stars featured on the following pages. That is, each and everyone of them understands that life is a thing best lived loud.
40. Flea – Red Hot Chili Peppers
WHO: Funk rock’s very own Jimi Hendrix.
WHY: As well as making it acceptable to play naked. Michael ‘Flea’ Balzary is the man who made bassists practice their scales. Blessed with a talent matched only by his energy, Flea successfully fuses punk and funk together into an infectious groove, and it was this backbone-freeing groove that put the fire into classic albums like the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ 1991 Album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Flea is one of the rare musicians who could be called a bass hero, introducing the rock world to attitude-driven bass hooks. Famously emotional – in a fit of pique he once threw a bottle of water at a Kerrang! writer – at 48 years old Flea remains nothing more than a big kid at heart, just the way we like him.
FLEA SAYS:
“That’s the give and go of life, you’ve got to love the dark side as well as the light side.”
NEW Photos of Flea in New York City on Monday, May 9th 2011
Red Hot Chili Peppers Bassist Flea Michael Balzary in New York City’s East Village on Monday May 9th 2011.
