(Gibson) Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea said the band did some major growing since releasing their last album, Stadium Arcadium, in 2006. In an interview with Spin magazine, he said that new album I'm with You (out August 30) "has a deep heart.""It's much more poignant than our other records. Life and death is a major theme," he said. "[The album] has a deep heart. Everyone in the band has grown and continued to reinvent themselves and become a better musician, and collectively we did. We were forced to."
Flea also said that new lead guitarist Josh Klinghoffer (who replaced John Frusciante), changed the band's recording dynamic, as did the bassist's year of studying music at the University of Southern California. He also talked about the African music that weaved its way into the new record. "We've always all loved African music. Throughout our career we've played some African bits, but we never really captured it right," Flea said. "Josh and I tripped around Ethiopia with a group called Africa Express, which Damon Albarn [Blur, Gorillaz] organized. We saw music every night and jammed with musicians. Ethiopia is such a great country, beautiful place. more on this story
