While speaking with Boss in a new interview, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitar tech David Lee looked back at his work with the band. Lee specifically recalled the time John Frusciante rejoined the band in 1998, replacing Dave Navarro who had joined in 1993 after leaving Jane’s Addiction a couple of years earlier.
Lee, who started working with the Red Hot Chili Peppers as a tech when Navarro became their guitarist, admitted that the transition from Navarro to Frusciante was difficult. The change in lineup became a bit of a challenge for Lee, with him even admitting that it initially affected his work and made him consider quitting.
“I have to be honest: I wasn’t really enjoying it very much to begin with. I had such a great time with Dave Navarro, but when John Frusciante returned, he didn’t talk to me very much,” Lee recalled.
“I mean, he barely said anything. I almost quit because I thought John didn’t like me. He would hardly talk to me, so I had to figure stuff out without any input.”
Lee continued, saying that it took a while before Frusciante requested anything from him. “Several months in, he still wasn’t saying much to me. One day, we were doing a show, and he looked over like he wanted to tell me something. So, I went over, and he said, ‘I need more bass in the sidefill.’”
“I walked back, and our production manager, Chris Kansy, goes, ‘He talked to you! What did he say?’ Jokingly, I replied, ‘He asked me who I am and why am I following him around.’”
It’s no secret that Frusciante struggled with substance abuse in the past, and when asked if Frusciante was still struggling at that time, Lee replied:
“He definitely was. But he went about as far as it was possible to go and still survive. To this day, his mom calls all the people around him ‘angels.’ She feels like we were all part of saving his life. But think about how far she saw her son go. Thankfully, he was able to pull it together. Barely. But he did. And that’s the most important thing. Ultimately, it was up to him to save his own life.”
