2018-01-12 VeniceQueen.it interviews Michael Beinhorn MICHAEL BEINHORN AND THE CHILI PEPPERS: A MUTUAL LAUNCH TRAMPOLINE INTRODUCTION Michael Beinhorn is part of Chili Peppers history: because he's the only producer that worked with the original line-up before Hillel Slovak's death (The Uplift Mofo Party Plan, 1987) and the first one who worked with the historical line-up (Mother's Milk, 1989), with Chad Smith and John Frusciante entries. Anthony Kiedis, in his autobiography Scar Tissue, describes Beinhorn as a tyrannical guy for some verse, that as opposed to the previous band's producer, was very focused on the sound, since his great intelligence and musical competence. Kiedis describes particularly the contrasts between the producer and John Frusciante; in fact, Beinhorn asked John to play a musical style very close to metal, while Frusciante didn't feel comfortable playing in that way. Even if there were many incomprehensions, what came up is a fantastic record, the one who pledged the band in the world and that many Chili Peppers fans still love nowadays, thanks to songs like “Fire”, “Nobody Weird Like Me” and “Higher Ground”. Regarding Stevie Wonder's cover, is a track that Beinhorn was asking for a lot, so we have to thank him if the band decided to put on the record; this has generated many contrasts between the producer and Kiedis, since Michael was asking to Anthony to sing the improvisation at the end of the song, according to his autobiography. But The Red Hot Chili Peppers represented only the beginning for the glorious career of Michael Beinhorn as a producer: in fact, he worked with several artists during the years, such as Soundgarden (Superunknown, 1994), Ozzy Osbourne (Ozzmosis, 1995), Hole (Celebrity Skin, 1998), Marilyn Manson - 1 - (Mechanical Animals, 1998), Korn (Untouchables, 1998) and Black Label Society (Shoot To Hell, 2006), just to mention the most imporant. But today, we want ask him something about his production experience with the Chili Peppers and he decided to speak about that exclusively with our community. Have a good read! INTERVIEW VeniceQueen.it Who was the most disorderly and talented guy between John and Hillel? And who was the real leader of band? Because, in my opinion, Flea has always been the reference point for the band. MB «The first question is really subjective and I can't really answer it. They were both very different in terms of what they brought to the band. As far as leader, Flea was certainly very alpha and dominant, but everyone had their own personality and pretty much did what they wanted in the band framework. I don't recall many situations where Flea told anyone else what to do.» VQ.it You lived the most significant period of change for the band, maybe the most difficult as well. Can you describe us this period from your point of view with some curiosities? Did you notice any significant compositive change with the entry of John and Chad? - 2 - MB «Yes- those were tough times for the band- especially the making of UMPP- probably the most formative and the time they could have easily fallen apart. Their record company hated them, they were considered a novelty band, no one really took them seriously and of course, Hillel and Anthony had drug issues. They had almost no support outside of their community in LA (apart from fans throughout the US) and they were in the midst of an identity crisis, as well as low morale. It was a very difficult process to get through and it often got pretty brutal. There is a blog post on my website called "A crescendo grows in Hollywood" which is about that period with RHCP. The introduction of John, then Chad really changed everything. They brought the right elements to the band to help them achieve greater success.» VQ.it Since you worked with the original line-up and the one who achieved the worldwide success, which differences did you find on the working approach in studio? MB «Again- they were different people, so it was going to be a different working dynamic. As far as how they approached what they did- no basic difference. Jack Irons put 100% into his performances, as did Chad. The same was true about Hillel vs John. Chad was a boisterous, larger than life personality, while Jack was more laidback. John was kind of awkward and goofy, while Hillel was a bit more introverted. They were different people, but they all put their best effort into their work.» - 3 - VQ.it It's clear that with Uplift the band was taking a totally different direction than that one who would bring to Mother's Milk and BSSM then. Who they would be today if they remained with Uplift line-up, in your opinion? Could they gain the success they gained with different musical styles years later? And what changed the most talking about musical style? MB «These weren't directions they chose, but songs and songwriting they organically grew into and became. Their creative development was perfect because it occurred naturally without a lot of thought. It was fun to be a part that collaboration and watch their growth trajectory. As far as where they'd be now if they had stuck with the UMPP line-up, I can't say. I'm positive that they'd have broken up eventually and gone on to do other things. There's no question in my mind that they would never have achieved the level of success they wound up having with the original line-up. They needed a songwriter for that kind of success- Hillel was more of a riff-creator, but John really excelled at composition. I feel that the primary difference was compositional. Having real songs forced the band to step up their game. That affected everything, including how the records sounded.» VQ.it In 1987, Red Hot Chili Peppers was coming off two good records, but neither of them achieved the success. What's been missing to achieve this success? Do you think that they could achieve the success with the original line-up as well? MB «As I stated above, the key was songs. The first two records had fun, entertaining tracks on them, but they didn't have any songs. On UMPP, my focus was to try and build structured, recognizable songs. This is one reason that UMPP was more successful than the previous two- more focus on structure. The only ingredient they were missing was someone who could compose great song structures and great melodies- clearly, they got this when John joined the band.» VQ.it The thing that divides Uplift with Mother's Milk is a year: 1988, that was full of changes for the band: Hillel's death, Jack's abandon, Chad's and John's entry, marked the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one. In a few years, the band wasn't the same anymore. I would like to know if you noticed these changes in the studio, from many points of view: artistic, musical and personal. MB «Actually, it was closer to two years, but yes- those changes were very evident. One thing about the core of the band (which was essentially Michael and Anthony)- they didn't always recognize what was best for them and often got sidetracked by things that appealed to them in the moment, but clearly weren't going to be good for them in the long - 4 - run. For example, they felt strongly about having Blackbyrd McKnight in the band (who had a lot of star cache in the funk community at that time, but was a bad choice for the Chili Peppers), which was something I fought them on and almost quit the project over. One reason I think John joined the band was that they had run out of other options and couldn't find anyone who they felt was as cool as Blackbyrd and John was actively pursuing them to join. As for Chad, they were very hesitant to bring him into the band, even after the first time he sat down behind a drum kit, began playing and it was instantly obvious that he was perfect for them. After he auditioned, I was calling them every day, asking if they had hired him and they kept making excuses why they didn't want to. Finally, I think I'd nagged them so much that they called and asked him to join.» VQ.it On which aspects of the band's sound did you understand to intervene strongly to make them achieve the success for Mother's Milk? And how did you manage this job with musicians like Anthony, Flea and John? MB «I'm not sure I understand your question, but the band sound had changed drastically after John and Chad had joined. Their sound had become richer, fuller, more aggressive and the band was very responsive to these changes. At that point, they were really starting to turn into more of a rock band (an identity they didn't really want but they had always been more punk than funk). I just went with the energy they projected and tried to record them as best I could.» - 5 - VQ.it Do you remind which songs of both records took a short time of writing and composition and which are the songs that took a longer time? Do you have any anecdote about the composition of these songs? MB «I recall that a lot of songs on UMPP started from jams or riffs that Flea or Hillel brought in.