Frusciante wanted Meat Puppets gig

John Frusciante wanted to join Meat Puppets after he quit the Red Hot Chili Peppers, according to the group’s Cris Kirkwood.

Frusciante left Anthony Kiedis and co in 1992 after becoming overwhelmed by the group’s rise to fame following the release of Blood Sugar Sex Magik – a move which led to a long battle with drug addiction.

And looking to find a new challenge, Kirkwood says the guitarist turned up at his house in Arizona in a bedraggled state looking to land a gig with his influential band Meat Puppets.

He says on the first of his Cris Kirkwood podcasts: “He showed up with his guitar out of its case and barefoot. We were on a major label then, we just got signed, and those guys had blown up to where they were at and John needed to get out.

“There was some article where somebody was talking to him about it and he said the only band he’d think about playing with was us. I think that came out from our friendship with Flea and Anthony Kiedis.

“It made the record company squirt liquid gold.”

He continues: “John gets to our pad and we started getting ready to play and I said, ‘You want to use my tuner?’ He said, ‘No, I’ll bend it in.’ It was so far out.

“Then we jammed but it didn’t come to anything. Maybe he wasn’t in the right place and we were a tight little unit. It just didn’t quite happen but it could have worked.”

At the time, Frusciante was living with Thelonious Monster and The Bicycle Thief singer Bob Forrest who states the guitarist “was not of sound mind and body” at the time, and adds: “The shape he was in, how would he join any band?”

Frusciante released an experimental acid house album under his Trickfinger alias last month and revealed he was working with Duran Duran on new material for their upcoming album which is expected later this year.

Scott has spent 37 years in newspapers, magazines and online as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. Scott joined our news desk in 2014 before moving into e-commerce in 2020. Scott maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, highlights deals, and reviews headphones, speakers, earplugs and more. Over the last 12 years, Scott has written more than 11,500 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog. He's previously written for publications including IGN, Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald, covering everything from news and features, to tech reviews, video games, travel and whisky. Scott's favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Cocteau Twins, Drab Majesty, Marillion and Rush.