Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea is launching a podcast to explore the inspirational origin stories of music industry legends

Red Hot Chili Peppers' bass legend Flea is launching a new podcast series to explore the formative musical experiences, influences and inspirations which shaped some of the industry's most iconic figures.

Set to run for 15 episodes, the podcast, titled This Little Light, will find the bassist in conversation with Rick Rubin, Patti Smith, country star Margo Price, jazz/soul/R&B bassist Thundercat and more, delving deep into the roots of their musical journeys, and looking at the teachers, key experiences and pivotal influences which helped set each guest on their individual musical journeys. The series is scheduled to launch on March 30.

A portion of the proceeds from the podcast will be invested in the Silverlake Conservatory of Music, the non-profit Los Angeles music school which Flea founded in 2001.

“I wanted to do This Little Light to benefit my music school, the Silverlake Conservatory of Music,” Flea says in a statement announcing his new venture. “The idea behind it being music education, falling in love with music and embarking on a musical journey for your life. Everybody’s path is so different, and it’s fascinating to learn how every musician came to music and developed their study of it over time.”

As the series launches, the Red Hot Chili Peppers will embark upon the North American leg of an expansive world tour in support of last year's Unlimited Love and Return Of The Dream Canteen albums, with the opening show taking place in Vancouver, Canada, on March. The tour will hit Europe in June, and take in stadium shows in London and Glasgow.

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.