Flea
The Story of a Bass Guitarist Legend
Amazing. Weird. Articulate. Hyper. Genius. Gifted. Awesome. Eccentric. Tattooed. Crazy. Raw. Exciting. Mind-blowing. Remarkable. Talented. Wild. Passionate. Extreme. These are all words that have been used to describe Michael Peter Balzary, more commonly known as Flea. From trumpet player to actor to one of the world's best bassists, Flea never seems short of energy or ambition in pursuing what he loves to do.
Born in 1962 in Australia, Flea moved to the states when he was five years old. His parents divorced when he was nine and his mother remarried a jazz musician. The family moved to Los Angeles and, thanks in part to his stepfather, Balzary became interested in the trumpet. He cited Miles Davis, Louis Armstrong, and Dizzy Gillespie as musicians he emulated.
Unfortunately, his home life wasn't the happiest; his stepfather was an alcoholic and frequently had police shootouts; it led Flea to become an outcast in school. Both his music tastes and his odd behavior had him singled out of every crowd in Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. It was another Fairfax outcast named Anthony Kiedis who noticed the eccentricity of Flea and befriended him. The two soon became inseparable. Kiedis turned Flea on to rock music and was the individual who branded him with his stage moniker.
Along with Jack Irons and Hillel Slovak, who turned Flea on to the bass and taught him how to play, they formed the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1983. All the members, especially Flea, were deep into the punk movement. This began Flea's infatuation with his aggressive slap bass style. The band toured many of L.A.'s clubs under different names for a year before they had enough material to make a demo. It was shortly afterward that the band was signed by EMI and released its first album The Red Hot Chili Peppers. It received only mild reviews but did catch the attention of many local promoters and fellow musicians.
For their next album they brought in funk musician George Clinton to produce. This contributed even further to Flea's style of playing. He worked well with Clinton and has referred to George as "the warmest, kindest man in the world." For the next several years he would show his diversity by playing both bass and trumpet for other musicians, such as Young MC and Jane's Addiction.
Things progressed well for the Chili Peppers until, in 1988, band member Hillel Slovak was found dead of a drug overdose. Irons left the band shortly after to be hospitalized for depression. Flea and Kiedis decided to keep the band together after some time away to recover from the death of their friend and band mate.
The 1989 tour for the Peppers' fourth studio album, Mother's Milk, took a heavy toll on Flea's personal life, resulting in a separation from his wife, Zeviar. He compensated the pain of his personal life with avid drug use. Despite his daily use of marijuana, Flea's bass styles were beginning to progress. He adapted a more melodic style for the band's next, and arguably most notable album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik. The album is marked much less by his traditional funk slap style and, instead, incorporates melodies that make the album the breakthrough album for the Chilis. Flea's signature style is heard best on the album's biggest hits, "Under the Bridge" and "Give it Away."
After the 1997 release of One Hot Minute, the Chili's sixth album, Flea took a hiatus from the group and joined former band member Dave Navarro on a Jane's Addiction tour, filling in for ex-Jane's bassist Eric Avery. Flea's playing style had evolved so much since the early years of the Peppers that rumors of him outgrowing and leaving the band to join up with Navarro in Jane's Addiction were flying everywhere. Flea also had plans to record a solo album at the time, which only fueled the fire of the rumors. He asked the Chilis' manager, Lindy Goetz, to help him promote the solo album and his future solo career, however, after a short period of time he decided to offer his services to other artists as a side project instead of releasing solo material.
1998 provided a huge turning point for the Chili Peppers. After six years without John Frusciante, the Peppers' guitarist from '88 to '92, Flea decided to visit his former band mate, who had just completed rehabilitation for drug and alcohol abuse, and invite him back to the band. Frusciante eagerly accepted. With Flea's talents soaring to new heights and a clean Frusciante to work with, the Chili Peppers were ready to release their biggest, and arguably best, album to date, Californication.
With the mediocre turnout of One Hot Minute, and Frusciante's determination to prove himself to his friends, the entire band was geared for a breakthrough. Despite a lack of confidence due to the dismal sales of their previous release, Flea and his cohorts managed to release an album which outsold Blood Sugar Sex Magik and was listed as one of the 500 Greatest albums of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine. Flea was heavily influenced by electronica during this period and it showed in his bass work, most notably on songs such as "Around the World," "Californication," and "I Like Dirt."
It was during the tour for Californication that Flea showed his risqué side on stage as well, performing completely naked during several concerts on the tour including Woodstock '99. It was shortly after the Californication tour in which Flea showed a side of himself which was rarely made public – his heart. Believing that today's school systems were cancelling out several of the arts programs which help youths progress in music, Flea started the Silverlake Conservatory of Music in Silverlake, California. "I just wanted to fill the void that public education has cut from their curriculum. They've dropped the ball by cutting out music programs," Flea stated, "I grew up in L.A. public schools and was in the music department. It was really an important thing for my life, it gave me something to hold onto, and it was an important access for me. Without music I would've gotten into a lot of trouble and there are a lot of kids like me out there. I just wanted to try to provide something like what I got."
Shortly after starting Silverlake in 2001, Flea rejoined the Chili Peppers to record the follow-up album to Californication. By the Way was released on July 9, 2002. Not many people expected the Peppers to be able to follow an album as successful as Californication. Nevertheless, By the Way went on to sell over 9 million copies worldwide and become their most lucrative tour ever, taking place over the following two years.
After the two-year world tour, the band would go on to produce its ninth studio album, Stadium Arcadium. Fans could immediately tell from this album that Flea, unbelievably, was still progressing as a musician. He and Frusciante stated that they worked long and hard together on the album, drawing influence from musicians such as Jimmy Hendrix, Jimmy Page, and even Eddie Van Halen. The album was released to positive reviews and went on to sell more than 7 million copies worldwide.
In 2008, after the tour for Stadium Arcadium, the Chili Peppers decided to take a hiatus from the limelight, stating exhaustion as the reason. This gave Flea some time to progress even further in the music world as he enrolled in music theory classes at the University of Southern California. He is currently studying music theory, composition and, in a return to his roots, jazz trumpet.
Though he may be amazing, weird, articulate, hyper, genius, gifted, awesome, eccentric, tattooed, crazy, raw, exciting, mind-blowing, remarkable, talented, wild, passionate, and extreme, one thing he is not, is boring. With a flair unlike any other musician at any other time, a talent equaled by few, and a determination to constantly improve himself, Flea has proven himself to be not only one of the greatest bass guitarists ever, but one of the greatest all-around musicians of his time.
Playing StyleOne of the best words that can be used to describe Flea's style is progression. In the early years, influenced mostly by punk, Flea's bass lines were very straight-forward and resembled something of a Ramones sound. After a few years of incorporating a slap-bass style, influenced largely by Bootsy Collins, Flea adapted more of a laid back approach to his playing. "When you play less, it's more exciting—there's more room for everything," he said. "If I do play something busy, it stands out, instead of the bass being a constant onslaught of notes. Space is good."
EquipmentFlea uses Music Man and Modulus basses. In concert he is most recognized playing his Sunburst Modulus Flea Bass. This is Flea's main Bass on tour. It has a "sunburst" body with the pick guard removed, a carbon fiber neck with a black headstock. The bass has stickers on the front of the body. He also uses a Silver sparkle 5-string Modulus as well as a Blue sparkle.
He uses Galien Krueger amplifiers and heads. For that unique sound Flea uses a Boss ODB-3 Overdrive effects pedal, and MXR micro amp, an Electro Harmonix Q-Tron, a Dunlop 105Q Bass Wah pedal, a Whirlwind DI, and a Big Muff Fuzzbox. Connecting everything together are Monster cables, Dunlop Tortex 1.14mm picks and GHS Flea Signature Series strings.
