Michael Balzary — better known as Flea from the veteran rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers — is a freshman at the University of Southern California. Here, the bassist, 45, answers questions about his classes, his upcoming solo work and whether things will be resuming with his iconic group.
Question: So you’re taking classes at USC. What brought that on?
Answer: I’m glad my music education has developed the way that it has, but it’s so much fun to learn this stuff, because I never knew anything. I played trumpet in the school bands. I learned things I liked to play on my trumpet, but I didn’t learn why this note goes with this note and why it produces that sound. Or how to create tension in the composition. The Chili Peppers did that in our song structures but all based on emotion and intuition as opposed to knowing the math and academics of it. Knowing the structure is really fun.
Q: What classes are you taking?
A: I’m taking three: theory, composition and jazz trumpet.
Q: Do you ever get any students who say, “Why are you here? You don’t need this, you’ve been in a successful band.”
A: Well, not from people there, but people outside the school have looked at me like, what are you doing? Except for real musicians who understand. I think most people see it as being about commerce — you only go to school to make money, and you already make money playing music, so why would you go to school?
It seems backward, but it makes perfect sense to me. My whole musical life has been an educational process. I’m just furthering my education and filling in the blanks.
Q: So, are the Chili Peppers working on a new album?
A: No, we’re on a major hiatus. It’s a two-year hiatus.
Q: And that was very set? You said, “Two years and then we’ll talk about starting again”?
A: Basically, yeah. We just needed two years. We had our noses to the grindstones so hard for so long. We needed to get away from it and get a fresh perspective on things.
Q: At this point, do you guys have plans to get back together and record something else?
A: We’re just taking two years off and seeing where we are at the end of that.
Q: What about solo work for you?
A: I’ve been making a record at home, and it’s nearly done. It’s mostly instrumental stuff, but I have Patti Smith singing on it and the choir from the school, but mostly it’s an instrumental record. I’m not sure how to describe it, but a lot of people have described it as cinematic, like soundtrack music. The record is based on the character Helen Burns from “Jane Eyre.” I love Charlotte Brontë and all of the Brontë sisters.
