John Frusciante
metalface from kent
site (for me anyway).He's the quiet,least macho,least-assuming,almost
fragile looking-one of The Red Hot Chili Peppers,all the guys have had
their problems,but this guy
is the one whose story I think is most relevant here.A very talented
guitarist and melodist-and responsible to a great deal for the World
Class Act they are,whether you like their music or not(-I
do!)...irrelevant to the story.
He joined the band at 18,(replacing Slovak,a talented Israeli whom he
'idolised' and had died of a Heroin overdose (suprise-suprise).
He was involved in 2 of their early seminal albums,playing a major
role in their breakthrough success. (I shant 'bore' you with
discographies,cos otherwise it could become very boring,very quickly
for some.
However,like other members of the band,he some became embroiled and
'plagued' by major drug problems-hey it was a 'cool scene',then in
L.A., what with people like Perry Farrell and bands like Jane's
Addiction...poor misled f*ckers,not to mention the impressionable
kids
that followed suit,Frusciante being one of them(-you may have heard
my
Doherty 'rants before-I wont go on!)
Anyway,despite 'the drugs' wrecking a very strategic World Tour for
all of them,the other guys handled it a bit better than poor John...
...he went into a deep,reclusive,destructuve period of depression and
Heroin addiction,The NY Times described him as a "Skeleton covered in
thin skin",nearly died from Septicemia and his arms became covered in
rotten absesse's from 'shooting' coke and smack alternatively and
together (the famous 'speedball')
-I must post some pics of my scars,sometime-its the coke (in the pin)
that does it,the numbing effect does no end of damage (my legs my
real
speciality,though)-Maybe I'll wait til the next Full Moon-that should
reduce the Membership :))) (..Iam,of course joking!!!..and apologies
one LAST time for any previous and most unintended 'upsets'!x)
He believed,at the time that
"Drugs were the only way of making sure you stay in touch with
Beauty,instead of letting the Ugliness of the World corrupt your
soul"....I guess we WERE all familiar with that thought,but were just
unable to put it so poetically.
By this time,he had obviously been replaced within the
band,spiralled
deeper and deeper into the Hell of addiction and ended up living in
hopeless squalor in a dingy apartment somewhere in LA-though never
quite losing his creative urges-'the scene',as I've heard it
put,resembled the Hotel Room Squalor that the Bob Gelgof character
'Pink' inhabited in that scene fromthe film version of The Wall
(..now
there's a similar Story!).Apparantly he was visited by 2 of his
mates,Johhny Depp and some other guy,and there is somwhere some
unreleased footage of the 'carnage',I guess held back for reasons of
respect and good taste.
Things came to a head when he rang a freind of his ,a black guy from
the band Fishbone from the same scene/era,
(dont know much about them),and apparantly he had created some huge
abstract painting(?) with negro's in it and needed this guy to come
around,cos he couldn't understand what the 'brothers' were saying and
he needed him to tell him.I saw an interview,and this dreadlocked
fella said.."this guy was whisperin' this Shit down the phone to
me,Man,so I knew he was in trouble" (No Shit!).Apparantly he went
straight round there stayed all night with him and in the morning
called his ex-band mate Flea,and that was it,'Intervention',I
suppose-
straight to de-tox.-apparantly he quit 'cold-turkey',struggled,of
course after that.Had to have ALL his teeth removed and replaced with
implants,and had skin grafts to replace his scarred arms (..hey,I
guess being a Rockstar does have its benefits!)
This is the bit I find most relevant here-he turned things
completely
around,began living a spiritual,ascetic lifestyle,completely changed
his diet eating only fresh and definately no processed
foods,practiced
vipassana Meditation and yoga.He increased his spiritual
awareness,reduced his distractions and discovered the benefits self-
discipline on his body and mind..and it saved his life!!!
He even decided to become celibate,and abstain from sexual
activity,completely,though I thinking thats taking it a bit far-I
know
exactly where he's coming from (or not,as the case may be :)
...Just to side-line (& in my humble opinion) there is very much a
place for Sex within Buddhist thought & Practice,most especially
according to certain traditions.(It is,of course a neccessity of pro-
creation).As long it is as an expression of genuine compassion and
not
just wanton craving.Tantra actually teaches you to harness it as a
great spiritual power (but not to be abused).
Its the 'grasping' and 'attachments' that inevitabely come with it
that cause the problems...anyway,thats another discussion for another
time...
In 1999,with Frusciante fully recovered and doing his own thing
(solo
projects ect.)...Flea turned up unexpectadely at his flat and asked
him if he would re-join the band?
...the sweet guy started sobbing uncontrollably and said "There's
nothing I would like more in the World..." (..I find that really
touching!).....since then,in my opinion,and with Frusciante's un-
doubted,new-found creative input to blame (which they all
concede),they have produced some of their best most creative
material,to date and really have become "The Masters of Their
Craft",and I mean that with the greatest of sincerity,as do they.
...Frusciante has since left the band,a couple of weeks ago,actually
(formally announced).
Last Words from The Man,himself....
"I don't need to take drugs. I feel so much more high all the time
right now because of the type of momentum that a person can get going
when you really dedicate yourself to something that you really love.
I
don't even consider doing them, they're completely silly. Between my
dedication to trying to constantly be a better musician and eating my
health foods and doing yoga, I feel so much more high than I did for
the last few years of doing drugs.
At this point I'm the happiest person in the world. These things do
not fuck with me at all, and I'm so proud of that—you don't know how
proud I am. It's such a beautiful thing to be able to face life, to
face yourself, without hiding behind drugs; without having to have
anger towards people who love you. There are people who are scared of
losing stuff, but you don't lose anything for any other reason than
if
you just give up on yourself"
Nice One John.
Mfk.x
bowerygirl
u readhis story u seem to know an awfullot about it. one very happy
ending indeed, nice to see they still happen from time to time..
On Jan 15, 9:02 pm, metalface from kent <boswelia...@hotmail.co.uk>
wrote:
John Cox
I fell in the trap of thinking I was Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and Sid Vicious bastard love child for years, but since I found out it wasn't true the romance is completely dead for me now. I actually listen to music in a completely different way now and my taste have changed, I do still like those 3 but its different tracks. In fact I mostly listen to history audiobooks and do gardening lol I have no illusions of coolness now, it was to much like hard work
Coxy
From: bowerygirl <mizfit...@gmail.com>
To: Friends of Thamkrabok Monastery <friends-of-tham...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Sun, 31 January, 2010 8:39:26
Subject: [FOTM:2629] Re: John Frusciante
u hit it rite on when u said he was a class act..IS i mean im assuming
u readhis story u seem to know an awfullot about it. one very happy
ending indeed, nice to see they still happen from time to time..
The OFFICIAL Thamkrabok Monastery website is http://www.thamkrabok-monastery.org
INDEPENDENT information can be found at http://www.thamkrabok..net
To post to this group, send email to Friends-of-Tham...@googlegroups.com
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metalface from kent
There's no way there's anything 'cool' about being a f*cked-up
Junkie-some of these guys (and films),make the 'scene' look enticing
and 'hip'-look at Trainspotting (Great Film/Great Sountrack),although
its fairly 'near the mark' with some aspects,the ending makes it look
as though,not only can you get away with it,but you also get rewarded
(...and as for the 'one last hit' scene in the Train Toilet-yeh
right!?)...
Drugs like that inevitabely and always lead to misery and 'twist up'
the characters of good normal people who otherwise would have lead
good normal lives.Once involved (and you dont have to go too far in to
get 'hooked'),statistically speaking,its a very hard thing to 'shake'-
most of the clean junkies I know 'congregate' here.....
....Can be done,though!,eh??! :)
Best Wishes to you both and ALL.
Metta.
Mfk
On Jan 30, 9:50 pm, John Cox <johncox2...@ymail.com> wrote:
> It's a good story hey, and his an amazing artist.
>
> I fell in the trap of thinking I was Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and Sid Vicious bastard love child for years, but since I found out it wasn't true the romance is completely dead for me now. I actually listen to music in a completely different way now and my taste have changed, I do still like those 3 but its different tracks. In fact I mostly listen to history audiobooks and do gardening lol I have no illusions of coolness now, it was to much like hard work
>
> Coxy
>
> ________________________________
> From: bowerygirl <mizfits4l...@gmail.com>
> To: Friends of Thamkrabok Monastery <friends-of-tham...@googlegroups.com>
> Sent: Sun, 31 January, 2010 8:39:26
> Subject: [FOTM:2629] Re: John Frusciante
>
> u hit it rite on when u said he was a class act..IS i mean im assuming
> u readhis story u seem to know an awfullot about it. one very happy
> ending indeed, nice to see they still happen from time to time..
>
> On Jan 15, 9:02 pm, metalface from kent <boswelia....@hotmail.co.uk>
> The OFFICIAL Thamkrabok Monastery website ishttp://www.thamkrabok-monastery.org
> INDEPENDENT information can be found athttp://www.thamkrabok.net
> To post to this group, send email to Friends-of-Tham...@googlegroups.com
> To unsubscribe from this group, send email to Friends-of-Thamkrabok...@googlegroups.com
> For more options, visit this group athttp://groups.google.com/group/Friends-of-Thamkrabok-Monastery- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Vince Cullen
You said in an earlier post "I will admit to having just been through one of my unhealthy, 'junk-foody', apathatic, lazy unhealthy 'stretches' ".
John Frusciante says "...eating my health foods and doing yoga, I feel so much more high than I did for the last few years of doing drugs."
Well, I'm in a similar BIG-MAC mood at present so I'm going to pull myself out of it - hopefully - by going down to Devon for a retreat at The Barn from Sunday 14th February.
The vegetarian food, working on the land and some time spent on the cushion can only help... I hope.
Be well and kind regards,
Vince
__________________________________
341
Beings naturally experience pleasure;
but when pleasure is contaminated
with craving,
not releasing it creates frustration
and tedious suffering follows.
__________________________________
A DHAMMAPADA for CONTEMPLATION
http://aruno.org//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=241&Itemid=80