This section was written by Leandro Cabo from rhcplivearchive.com

NIANDRA LADES

Dates: June 1990 - March 1991
Players: John Frusciante
Additional Musicians: Randy Ruff, Abbie Rude, Toni Oswald
Recorded at: John’s Home (8505 Hollywood Blvd), Los Angeles, CA

• Head (Beach Arab)

• My Smile Is a Rifle

• Big Takeover

• Curtains

• Mascara

• Been Insane

• Skin Blues

• Ten to Butter Blood Voodoo

  Released on album “Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt”

• The Other

• Poppy Man

• I’m Always

• Femininity

• Breathe

• For Air

• Smile from the Streets You Hold [first half]

  Released on album “Smile From the Streets You Hold”

• Turn Around in a Circle

  Unreleased, but performed live

These songs were recorded at the same time the Chili Peppers were writing Blood Sugar Sex Magik. However, John has mentioned being on heroin when he played the guitar solo on Ten to Butter Blood Voodoo, but according to this Jane's Addiction bio, he used heroin for the first time in September 1991, so that could mean further work or overdubs were added later.

Big Takeover is a Bad Brains cover. Around April/May of 1990, John played another Bad Brains cover (“Sailin’ On”) in a similar acoustic style in a fan-club interview, that can be heard here. It’s possible that the cover heard on the album was recorded at around the same time.

An extended Untitled #5 cut, Running Away Into You, Untitled #2 (with a poem read on top of it) and Untitled #3 were featured well over a year and a half before the album was released on the short movie Stuff, filmed by Johnny Depp and Gibby Haynes at John’s house. In fact, it was them who first encouraged John to release his solo music.

The fan-titled Turn Around in a Circle, performed live a few times, it’s also believed to have been recorded during these sessions and could have appeared on very early advance copy of the album, as a few seconds can be heard during the VPRO 1994 documentary at 01:10:08. The album wouldn’t be released for another seven months after the interview took place, but an advance copy from American Recordings dated March 8, 1994 can be seen on one of the shots at John’s CD collection, that he probably gave to Bram Van Splunteren, as bits of other songs were also featured.

Dates: April - May 1991
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home (8505 Hollywood Blvd), Los Angeles, CA

• As Can Be

• Your Pussy’s Glued to a Building on Fire

• Blood on My Neck from Success

  Released on album “Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt”

• Ants

  Released on the cassette version of “Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt” and the 7” single included with the deluxe vinyl reissue in 2017

• Outside Space

  Released on the “Estrus” 7” single in 1997

John continued to write songs during this period and would later record them on weekends when he would go home from the Mansion, where the band was recording Blood Sugar Sex Magik.

Your Pussy’s Glued to a Building on Fire originally included an extra verse at the end, but was removed for release for unknown reasons - you can hear the cut at the exact last second of the song. However, it was performed live in its complete form once in 1997 and another in 2001.

Dates: June 1992
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home (8505 Hollywood Blvd), Los Angeles, CA

• Running Away into You

  Released on album “Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt”

On his 2004 Q&A for his official website at the time, John mentioned this song being the only one on the album recorded after he left the band, about a month after he quit.

USUALLY JUST A T-SHIRT

Dates: June 1990 - April 1992
Players: John Frusciante, Abbie Rude, Toni Oswald, Randy Ruff
Recorded at: John’s Home (8505 Hollywood Blvd), Los Angeles, CA

• Untitled #1

• Untitled #2

• Untitled #3

• Untitled #4

• Untitled #5

• Untitled #6

• Untitled #7

• Untitled #8

• Untitled #9

• Untitled #10

• Untitled #11

• Untitled #12

• Untitled #13

  Released on album “Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt”

• Usually Just a T-Shirt

  Released on the cassette version of “Niandra LaDes and Usually Just a T-Shirt” and the 7” single included with the deluxe vinyl reissue in 2017

Originally Usually Just a T-Shirt existed as a completely separate project from the Niandra LaDes tracks, although it was recorded around the same timeframe, exactly in the same order they appear on the tracklist. Untitled #13 was recorded a week before his friend Robert Hayes passed away (April 19, 1992).

SMILE FROM THE STREETS YOU HOLD

This album had no proper recording sessions as it’s basically an amalgamation of songs from various periods of time from 1988 to 1996.

John had the album removed from record stores in 1998 after rejoining the band because he felt uncomfortable with it being available to the public, as he’s been quoted as saying that he it was released for drug money. Later in March 2005, he mentioned on his official website about changing his mind about the album and having plans to make all the copies he had sitting in a warehouse available by selling them directly through his store, but it never ended up happening.

There are two different mixes of the album - one features lower sound quality and has frequent hiss and hum. Originally we thought they came from two different pressings but according to Larry, Birdman Records' engineer at the time, when they were mixing and mastering the record, John came in with a brown paper bag full of unlabeled cassette tapes and just sorted through them finding the songs he wanted on the album. Right after the CDs were pressed, John found some master tapes for the songs, so they had to press new copies. That first batch ended up as advance copies to give away. The infamous Russian bootleg used this master and that’s why it’s so widely circulating today.

It’s likely that any other songs recorded up until this point that weren’t released on this album are now lost forever. At one point, John had to leave the house he was renting at the time, as the owner threated to send the cops on him due to his lifestyle at the time. Later, he sent a friend to pick up all of his stuff, but his master tapes were hidden and later thrown away by the house owner.

Dates: Early 1988
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Apartment, Los Angeles, CA

• A Fall Thru the Ground

  Released on album “Smile from the Streets You Hold”

Recorded when John was 17 years old, a few months before joining the band. The song was originally a bit longer but was shortened for release. He mentioned three more songs were recorded during this period.

Dates: Spring 1993
Players: John Frusciante, River Phoenix
Recorded at: John’s Home (8505 Hollywood Blvd), Los Angeles, CA

• Well, I’ve Been

• Height Down

  Released on album “Smile from the Streets You Hold”

The songs were recorded on two different nights. Originally meant to be released on Niandra LaDes under the titles Bought Her Soul and Soul Removal respectively as seen on advance copies of the album, but removed at last minute due to River’s family preventing them from being released.

Dates: Late 1993
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: Unknown, Los Angeles, CA

• Life’s a Bath

  Released on album “Smile from the Streets You Hold”

Recorded during a very short period living at a rented house in Laurel Canyon while his Hollywood Blvd. home was being repaired from a fire caused by electrical malfunction. 

Dates: Late 1994
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Apartment, New York, NY

• Enter a Uh

• I May Again Know John

• Nigger Song

• Smile from the Streets You Hold [second half]

  Released on album “Smile from the Streets You Hold”

Sometime in 1994 he moves to New York with Toni Oswald, his girlfriend at the time, and records these songs.

Dates: 1996
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: Unknown, Los Angeles, CA

• More

• I Can’t See Until I Can See Your Eyes

• Estress

  Released on album “Smile from the Streets You Hold”

THIRD ALBUM SESSIONS

Dates: June - July 1997
Players: John Frusciante, Norwood Fisher, Chris Warren
Recorded at: Jimmy Boyle’s Studio, Los Angeles, CA

• Circles of You

• Dust Bin

• Elemental

• What It Tastes Like

• Water Fall Through

  and more songs

After the Nuttstalk ‘97 tour was over, John entered the studio to record some songs he’d been playing live at those shows which apparently, were written when he was 15 and 16 years old. Their original names are unknown but were fan-titled for easier recognition. All the information about this session comes from two magazine interviews he gave that year:

“Frusciante is planning to record and release with a band tentatively featuring close friends Chris Warren of Thelonius Monster and Fishbone's Norwood Fisher (the duo that made up John's supporting band on the recent Nuttstalk '97 tour)” – Bikini, August 1997 issue

“The recent release of Smile, new sessions in producer Jimmy Boyle’s L.A. studio, an interest in releasing tapes of 3 Amoebas (his improve trio with Flea and Jane’s Addiction drummer Stephen Perkins) and his participation in this summer’s Nuttsalk tour with members of P-Funk and Fishbone represent Frusciante’s first forays back into the land of the living” – Guitar Player, November 1997 issue

In 2004, he mentioned them again: “Around 1997, I had made a couple of attempts at recording music that failed miserably. I expected to be able to do music just because I was me and because I had written these songs.”

So it would seem the sessions weren’t completed as John wasn’t happy with the result.

TO RECORD ONLY WATER FOR TEN DAYS

Dates: 1998
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home, Silverlake, CA

• Saturation

• Fallout [take 2]

  Released on album “To Record Only Water for Ten Days”

• So Would’ve I

• Beginning Again

• The Last Hymn

  Released on the “Going Inside” single on March 5, 2001

• Three Thoughts

• I Go Through These Walls

• Murmur

• Innerstate Sex

• Dying (I Don't Mind)

• The Battle of Time

• With Love

• Beat Down

• Fallout [take 1]

• Low Birds

• Slow Down

• Nature Falls

• Leave All the Days Behind

• Place to Drive

• How High

• Leaving You

• Sailing Outdoors

  Released on “From the Sounds Inside” on John’s official website in August 2001

• Untitled 2000

• Back and Forth (To the Sun)

  Leaked to the internet

Everything during this period was recorded without a commercial release in mind and even less as an album project.

Ten of these songs first leaked in late 2000 from a cassette tape John had given to some friends. Shortly after, a 21-song CD-R was once again given to friends, containing eight of the ten songs previously featured on the cassette tape.

When John figured out these were leaking to the internet, he asked the webmaster of his official website to make it available for free on his website. This anthology release was eventually given the title From the Sounds Inside from a poll with various choices suggested by fans. The title is not exactly official, as John had nothing to do with it - he didn’t even recognize it when asked about it on the Q&A session in 2004. All the songs were originally untitled as well, but were given fan-titles for easier recognition.

Dates: Late 1998 - 1999
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home, Silverlake, CA

• With No One

• The First Season

• Representing

• Moments Have You

• Someone’s

• Wind Up Space

  Released on album “To Record Only Water for Ten Days”

• Resolution

  Released as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of “To Record Only Water for Ten Days”

• Time Is Nothing

  Released on the “Going Inside” single on March 5, 2001

• All We Have

• Light Ahead

• Every Light Will Burn

• Fill My Nights

• Drift Down

  Leaked to the internet

A few months later, he gave yet another CD-R with 13 songs to friends. Five of the songs remained unreleased until it leaked to the internet in early 2006.

Dates: November 1999 - April 2000
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home, Silverlake, CA
Produced by: John Frusciante

• Going Inside

• Away & Anywhere

• Remain

• Ramparts

• Murderers

• Invisible Movement

• In Rime

  Released on album “To Record Only Water for Ten Days”

Third and final batch of recordings. Further work was done during this period as well, as some edits, overdubs and backing vocals were performed for several songs from the earlier sessions. These songs were tracked on a digital 8-track recorder (Yamaha MD8) unlike the previous batchs of songs, done on a simple 4-track. The songs intended for commercial release were transfered onto a 2" analog tape to be mixed on a conventional 24-track console in a professional studio.

Guitars used for the recording were an acoustic Martin guitar (borrowed from Anthony Kiedis), a 1966 Fender Mustang and a 1961 Gibson SG, as all of his main guitars were on the road or in storage while the Chili Peppers were touring for Californication. A Korg M1 keyboard and a Akai MPC3000 drum machine were also used.

THE BROWN BUNNY OST

Dates: Early 2001 - Early 2002
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home, Silverlake, CA

• Forever Away

• Dying Song

• Prostitution Song

• Falling

  Released on “The Brown Bunny OST” on May 4, 2004

• Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World [Ramones]

  Released on “We're a Happy Family: A Tribute to Ramones” on February 11, 2003

• 'A Samurai Workout' Title Theme

  Featured on “A Samurai Workout”

Recording dates for these tracks are hard to narrow down as John's songs were not featured in the movie and rather served as an inspiration during filming, beginning in July 2002.

After being asked by Vincent Gallo to do the music and reading the script, John gave him a CD with about fourteen songs with the music he intended for the film. In September 2003, John wrote in the liner notes for the soundtrack release: "The songs we intended to be in the film are some of my favourite songs I have ever written. I am proud to say a few of them are included here. There are many others which I am sure will see daylight eventually and some which already have".

From his statement, we can speculate he was picking songs from his pile of previously recorded (the inclusion of Leave All the Things Behind from the 1998 sessions is a clear example) and newly written songs with the film in mind, supposedly at the same time as the songs for Shadows Collide with People. With all this info in mind, is safe to assume they were probably recorded between early 2001 and early 2002, with a good amount of leftover material that remains unreleased.

Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World was recorded during this period of time, especifically for inclusion on the Ramones’ tribute album. 'A Samurai Workout' Title Theme was also most likely recorded around this time. It was featured on a martial arts workout DVD, co-authored by John’s stepfather, Laurence Berkley. The full song was included as an extra MP3 on the DVD.

FOURTH ALBUM DEMOS

Dates: December 2000 - Mid 2001
Players: John Frusciante, Josh Klinghoffer
Recorded at: Jimmy Boyle’s Studio, Los Angeles, CA

• The Slaughter

• Ricky

• Cut-Out

• In Relief

• Every Person

• Time Goes Back

• Regret

• Carvel

  Released on his official website in March 2004

Recorded on Josh’s Tascam 8-track cassette recorder. He mentioned these sessions in interviews promoting To Record Only Water for Ten Days:

“The equipment Jimmy Boyle has at his place is analogue and the sound is excellent. A few days ago, we recorded two new songs with my other friend, Josh, on drums, and the sound we got was fabulous. We still haven't recorded the overdubs, but just the guitar and drum tracks together sound incredibly good.” – Guitar & Bass, March 2001 (interview from December 2000)

“I'm working for the Chili Peppers in the first place but when there's time left – so when Anthony is not in town or Flea's spending time with his daughter on the weekends – then I can go to the studio with Josh and work on new songs.” – Gitare & Bass, March 2001 (interview from December 2000)

“I’ll also be simultaneously recording my next record, which my manager said I’m not allowed to release another record for a year so I’ve got to wait a year, but I’ve already started recording it and I’m very excited about it. I have a drummer who plays drums the way I would play drums if I played drums.” – VIVA Zwei 2 Rock, January 2001

“As soon as I finish this promotional tour in Europe, I'm going back to Los Angeles to record the next Red Hot Chili Peppers album. I will also continue to work with Josh on my own music whenever I get the chance.” - Rock Mag (France), March 2001 (interview from February 2001)

Dates: May 2002
Players: John Frusciante, Josh Klinghoffer
Recorded at: Swing House Rehearsal & Studio, Los Angeles, CA

• Omission

  Released on his official website in March 2004

Recorded at the studio the Chili Peppers were rehearsing at the time for the By the Way tour, which can be seen here. It’s likely more songs were worked and recorded during this time.

SHADOWS COLLIDE WITH PEOPLE

Dates: December 2002 - January 2003
Players: John Frusciante, Josh Klinghoffer, Chad Smith
Additional Musicians: Flea, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Greg Kurstin, Charlie Clouser
Recorded at: Cello Studios, Los Angeles, CA

• Shadows Collide with People

• Carvel

• Omission

• Regret

• Ricky

• Second Walk

• Every Person

• -00Ghost27

• Wednesday's Song

• This Cold

• Failure33Object

• Song to Sing When I'm Lonely

• Time Goes Back

• In Relief

• Water

• Cut-Out

• Chances

• 23 Go in to End

• The Slaughter

  Released on album “Shadows Collide with People”

• Of Before

  Released as a bonus track on the Japanese edition of “Shadows Collide with People”

Up to this point, this was the only batch of songs planned to be released on an album beforehand and recorded at an actual studio, as previous albums were basically a collection of demos done at home.

Originally conceived as collaboration between John & Josh and planned to be issued under a band name. Josh was meant to record the drum parts (along to numerous other instruments) but Chad Smith was called at last minute. A list of who played what on each track can be found here.

Most of the guitar parts were recorded with his '62 Fender Stratocaster and '66 Telecaster, but he also used his 60's Gibson SG Custom for overdubs and his 50's Martin for acoustic parts. The album was mixed and mastered by late April 2003 but took 10 months to release and it’s considered his most expensive album to date, costing a total of around $150,000.

OMAR RODRIGUEZ-LOPEZ & JOHN FRUSCIANTE

Dates: April 2003
Players: John Frusciante, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
Recorded at: Omar’s Home, Los Angeles, CA

• 4:17 am

• 0=2

• LOE

• ZIM

• VTA

• 0

• 5:45 am

  Released on album “Omar Rodriguez-Lopez & John Frusciante”

Recorded on a 1-inch tape machine in Omar’s bedroom with no idea of releasing it at the time. 0 and 0=2 were first featured on a limited 7” single released in November 2005 as part of a singles series by label Gold Standard Laboratories. For a limited period of time, the album was released as a digital free download with the option to donate to the Keep Music in Schools charity program.

“GRISAISSE 1”

Dates: August 2003 (unconfirmed)
Players: John Frusciante, Ekkehard Ehlers
Recorded at: Unknown, Berlin, Germany (unconfirmed)

This collaborative effort was released on the various artists compilation “Tempo Technik Teamwork” on October 20, 2004. It’s unknown where and when this song was recorded, but the band performed in Berlin, Germany (where Ehlers lives) on August 19, 2003 where he joined them for the outro jam, released as “Tuesday Night in Berlin” on the second “Fortune Faded” single, which also includes his “Californication” remix. Taking of all this into account, it’s likely it was done around this timeframe.

ACOUSTIC RENDITIONS OF SHADOWS COLLIDE WITH PEOPLE

Dates: Early 2004
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home, Los Angeles, CA

• Carvel

• Omission

• Regret

• Ricky

• Second Walk

• Every Person

• Wednesday's Song

• This Cold

• Song to Sing When I'm Lonely

• Time Goes Back

• In Relief

• Water

• Cut-Out

• Chances

• The Slaughter

  Released on his official website in March 2004

John released an acoustic version of the album (sans the instrumental songs) as an alternative to fans that prefer a more raw, stripped down sound. Recorded directly into a mini-disc recorder in his living room.

DEMO SESSIONS FOR 2004 ALBUMS

Dates: 2003 - 2004
Players: John Frusciante, ?
Recorded at: ?

• Drill

• Become

• Time Tonight

  Released as bonus tracks on the digital download included with the Curtains 2019 vinyl repress

These songs were released fifteen years after being recorded and were unknown until this point. It’s unspecified exactly when and where they were recorded and who else plays on them. Allegedly, they come from demo sessions for the 2004 albums, but I don’t think that’s really the case.

After finishing the Chili Peppers’ By the Way tour, the band entered a six-month break from December 2003 to May 2004. Following the long and expensive recording process for Shadows Collide with People, John now intended to experiment with recording music in a quicker and minimalist fashion with Josh Klinghoffer as a collaborator. At this point, he had around 70 songs written and ready to be recorded, so he ended up doing an album every month, each one very different from one another.

During an interview for the Amplifier Magazine September/October 2004 issue, John mentions that at one point he went to check out a studio he was thinking of buying. To try it out, he intended to make one recording in a day with her drummer friend Carla Azar. The end result were two perfect sounding songs, when the original intention was to make mistakes all over the place and make “screwed up” versions of the songs.

This revelation would be the cataclyst for all the albums that would come next - shorter, quicker and more productive sessions. In my opinion, having demos done beforehand would be the opposite of that. Therefore, Drill could very well be one of those songs recorded at this unknown studio (our guess would be sometime between April and July 2003) while Become and Time Tonight are indeed most likely demos recorded at home, once he decided to build his own studio instead.

THE WILL TO DEATH

Dates: December 18-19, 2003 and January 8-10, 2004
Players: John Frusciante, Josh Klinghoffer
Recorded at: Mad Dog Studios, Burbank, CA & Larrabee East Studios, North Hollywood, CA

• A Doubt

• An Exercise

• Time Runs Out

• Loss

• Unchanging

• The Mirror

• A Loop

• Wishing

• Far Away

• The Days Have Turned

• Helical

• The Will to Death

  Released on album "The Will to Death"

The album was done in two sessions at two different studios. According to John’s letter, the first resulted in three songs over the course of two days, while the second yielded nine songs in three days. Some of them were written just prior to the recording sessions and some were written as long as three years prior.

The idea was to have the opposite experience of Shadows Collide with People and recreate the energy of albums from the 50’s and 60’s. It was recorded live onto 16-track tape and features very little backing vocals and minimal overdubs. The drums and guitar basic tracks were done in a maximum of two takes and the vocals were all done in the space of a few hours, without any reconsideration or backtracking. Every step of the recording was fully analogue without any use of computers, even the mixing and mastering process.

ATAXIA

Dates: Late January - Early February 2004
Players: John Frusciante, Josh Klinghoffer, Joe Lally
Recorded at: Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, CA

• Dust

• Another

• The Sides

• Addition

• Montreal

  Released on album “Automatic Writing”

• Attention

• Union

• Hands

• The Soldier

• The Empty’s Response

  Released on album “AWII”

Ataxia was born when John & Josh asked Joe Lally to join them for two live performances planned at The Knitting Factory. The original plan was to play songs from Shadows Collide with People and The Will to Death, which they eventually found a waste of an opportunity to create new music with someone they admired.

They decided to do something inspired by early Public Image Ltd, based on repetitive and hypnotic bass lines, joined by exploratory drums and guitars. They ended up writing ten songs during the last two weeks of December 2003 and booked studio time shorly after, recording for two days, then trying out the songs live at those two performances booked for February 2 and 3, and finally two more days at the studio. Pretty much everything was tracked live to tape, and then a lot of overdubs were done treating the tracks through synthesizers.

According to Ryan Hewitt, engineer for the sessions, some editing was done during mixing to shorten some songs and everything recorded during the sessions was released in the two albums.

DC EP

Dates: February 9-10, 2004
Players: John Frusciante, Jerry Busher
Recorded at: Inner Ear Studios, Arlington, VA

• Dissolve

• Goals

• A Corner

• Repeating

  Released on "DC EP"

The session was born after Ian Mackaye encouraged John to record some music at the studio where Fugazi and most Dischord Records used to record their albums. Mackaye produced the sessions, which to date remain the only one not produced by John himself.

The four songs were recorded and mixed in two days. John played every instrument except for drums (played by Jerry Busher) but none of his own equipment was used, so he would play what was available on the studio. For guitar solos he borrowed Guy Picciotto's Les Paul Junior played through Mackaye's Marshall amp (the one pictured on the cover of Fugazi's Red Medicine).

INSIDE OF EMPTINESS

Dates: March 8-13, 2004
Players: John Frusciante, Josh Klinghoffer
Additional Musicians: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
Recorded at: Sunset Sound, Los Angeles, CA

• What I Saw

• The World's Edge

• Inside a Break

• A Firm Kick

• Look on

• Emptiness

• I'm Around

• 666

• Interior Two

• Scratches

  Released on album "Inside of Emptiness"

A SPHERE IN THE HEART OF SILENCE

Dates: April 9-11 and 14-15, 2004
Players: John Frusciante, Josh Klinghoffer
Recorded at: Mad Dog Studios, Burbank, CA & Cello Studios, Los Angeles, CA

• Sphere

• The Afterglow

• Walls

• Communique

• At Your Enemies

• Surrogate People

• My Life

  Released on album “A Sphere in the Heart of Silence”

After a few months making raw and stripped down music, John and Josh decided to go back to making more layered and richly textured electronic music, but still recorded as if it were the ‘70s.

Sphere was originally written as a 30-minute piece meant to be performed live, but was later shortened for the purpose of fitting the record. It’s unknown if a longer version was recorded. The Afterglow, At Your Enemies and Surrogate People were originally intended for Shadows Collide with People but were left out that album due to the more experimental nature of the songs. They were previously mentioned during this early 2004 interview.

CURTAINS

Dates: May 8-14 and 19-23, 2004
Players: John Frusciante
Additional Musicians: Carla Azar, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, Ken Wild
Recorded at: John’s Home, Los Angeles, CA

• The Past Recedes

• Lever Pulled

• Anne

• The Real

• A Name

• Control

• Your Warning

• Hope

• Ascension

• Time Tonight

• Leap Your Bar

  Released on album "Curtains"

The album was recorded live by John sitting on a pillow on his living room floor with his back leaning against his couch, strumming and singing simultaneously, with the exception of Hope and Time Tonight where the acoustic guitar was recorded first and then the vocals were overdubbed. He mainly used his Martin acoustic guitars: two 0-15s and an 0-18, with the exception of a 40's 12-string guitar on Ascension.

Bass and drums were also overdubbed later over the initial recordings. This is the first album recorded at John’s home studio, on which he installed an Ampex 8-track machine from the early 70’s, done over a period of two weeks, halfway interrupted for a live performance by the instrumental project with Flea and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez.

TRICKFINGER

Dates: September - December 2007
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA

• After Below

• Before Above

• Rainover

• Sain

• 85h

• 4:30

• 100mc4

• Phurip

  Released on album “Trickfinger”

• Shift Sync

• Ruche

• Exlam

• Hasan

• Cuh

• Stall

  Released on album “Trickfinger II”

After learning how to use various synths and drum machines in hotels and buses for about a year during the Chili Peppers' Stadium Arcadium tour, John started recording these songs as soon as he got home.

This music was made at the same time he was working on The Empyrean, strictly to learn how to operate electronic machines, with no intention of them being released. Around 22 tracks were recorded and were gifted to friends for Christmas that year. Oliver Bristow from the Acid House label eventually heard them and asked John to put them out, picking the songs for each release.

Everything was recorded live directly onto a Tascam CD burner through a 16-channel Mackie mixer with minimal guitar overdubs added later. Electronic instruments used during the sessions were a R8, a 303, a 606, a 808, a 101, a 202, an ARP 2500 and an EMT 250 reverb.

THE EMPYREAN

Dates: December 2006 - March 2008
Players: John Frusciante, Josh Klinghoffer
Additional Musicians: Flea, Johnny Marr, Sonus Quartet, The New Dimension Singers
Recorded at: John’s Home, Los Angeles, CA

• Before the Beginning

• Song to the Siren

• Unreachable

• God

• Dark/Light

• Heaven

• Enough of Me

• Central

• One More of Me

• After the Ending

  Released on album “The Empyrean”

• Today

• Ah Yom

  Released as bonus tracks on the Japanese edition for “The Empyrean”

• Here, Air

  Released for free on John’s website on June 2, 2010

Seventeen songs were written for the album but it’s uncertain if the remaining four songs to be released were recorded during the sessions, although demos might exist. Likely, one of those songs is Scratch, later reworked and recorded for Enclosure, as it was originally written for this album. The sessions only took about two months total, but were happening on and off between touring legs for Stadium Arcadium.

4-TRACK GUITAR MUSIC

Dates: May 2010
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA

• Untitled #1

• Untitled #2

• Untitled #3

• Untitled #4

• Untitled #5

• Venice May 1

  Released for free on John’s Soundcloud

Recorded on a 4-track cassette recorder using 3 guitars (Mosrite Ventures and two different Yamaha SGs) and an Elektron Machinedrum. One song also features a Roland TR 707.

ELECTRONIC MUSIC SESSIONS

PBX FUNICULAR INTAGLIO ZONE

Dates: March - Late 2011
Players: John Frusciante
Additional Musicians: Kinetic 9, Laena Geronimo
Recorded at: John’s Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA

• Intro/Sabam

• Hear Say

• Bike

• Ratiug

• Guitar

• Mistakes

• Uprane

• Sam

• Sum

  Released on album “PBX Funicular Intaglio Zone”

The sessions for this album was the first ones recorded with intention to be released since he started working on his electronic music projects in 2007.

OUTSIDES

Dates: 2012
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA

• Same

• Breathiac

• Shelf

  Released on the “Outsides” EP

• Sol

  Released as a bonus track on the Japanese edition for the “Outsides” EP 

THE BLACK KNIGHTS

The three Black Knights albums produced by John came from the same recording sessions, which happened for a little over a year. It seems a few songs were taken off Excalibur at last minute, so some songs remain unreleased.

Dates: Mid 2012 - Late 2013
Players: John Frusciante, Rugged Monk, Crisis
Recorded at: John’s Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA

• Drawbridge

• The Joust

• Medieval Times

• Trickfingers’ Playhouse

• Sword in Stone

• Knighthood

• Déjà Vu

• Roundtable

• Keys to the Chastity Belt

• Camelot

• Released on album “Medieval Chamber”

• Wayne [Remix]

  Released as a bonus track on the Japanese edition for “Medieval Chamber”

• The Truth

• Hood Liberator

• World Renowned

• New Day

• Understanding (They Got Love)

• Ahead of My Time

• Darts of War

• Non-Believers

• Reptables

• Highrising

• Techniques & Shockwaves

• Hard to Be

• Finish Line

• The Almighty

  Released on album “The Almighty”

• Royal Bloodline

• Head Above Water

• Pocket Full of Hollows

• Sir Lancelot’s Love

• Medieval Chronicles

• Mind Elevation

• Lab Rat

• Saturday’s Children

• Prince Valiant and the Scarlet

• Scroll of Excalibur

  Released on album “Excalibur”

• Never Let Go

• Liquid Sky

• Roundtable Discussion

• Gang Related

• Shadows of a Panther

• Boondocks

• The Devil’s Pig

  Released for free on John’s website during 2014-2015.

ENCLOSURE

Dates: Early 2013
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA

• Shining Desert

• Sleep

• Run

• Stage

• Fanfare

• Cinch

• Zone

• Crowded

• Excuses

  Released on album “Enclosure”

• Vesiou

• Scratch

  Released as bonus tracks on the “Enclosure” Japanese edition

"WAYNE"

Dates: April 5, 2013
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA
Produced by: John Frusciante

Especially written and recorded for his friend Wayne, former road chef for the Chili Peppers, who passed away a few days before recording the song. It was released on April 7, 2013 as a tribute to his memory on John’s official website.

"FIGHT FOR LOVE"

Dates: November 2013
Players: John Frusciante, Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
Recorded at: ?

Interpretation of a song from the film Casa de Mi Padre. Uploaded to John’s Soundcloud on November 24, 2015.

"POEM"

Dates: July 2017
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA

Uploaded to John’s Soundcloud on July 10, 2017 with no information or description at all, but it’s believed to be inspired by Pierre Henry, composer and pioneer in the musique concrète genre of electronic music, and released as a tribute as he passed away a few days before the song was released.

“A3T1IP”

Dates: Unknown
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA

Uploaded to John’s Soundcloud on December 12, 2018, again without information or description, but the tags from the file state that it was originally named Pita 3.3 from Pita CD3, and was the third track from an eleven track collection of which no other tracks have been released.

MAYA

Dates: 2018
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA

• Brand E

• Usbrup Pensul

• Flying

• Pleasure Explanation

• Blind Aim

• Reach Out

• Amethblowl

  Released on album “Maya”

• Discobong Flange

• Simplicity

  Released as digital bonus tracks with the purchase of any piece of the Evar Records’ Trickfinger clothes collection on May 22, 2023

These songs were recorded after a period of not making music for a few years (2015-2018). After his divorce, John came back to his main house, rebuilt his studio and started approaching music in a new way - not worrying about the result, just challenging himself to discover new things with the equipment in hand. This album is the result of spending a whole year writing songs.

Discobong Flange and Simplicity are believed to be from these sessions, as they were previously featured on two different Aura T-09 sets from June 2020 and May 2021, which also featured songs from the album on February 2019 (Usbrup Pensul) and April 2020 (Amethblowl).

SHE SMILES BECAUSE SHE PRESSES THE BUTTON

Dates: 2018
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA

• Amb

• Brise

• Noice

• Plane

• Rhyme Four

• Sea YX6

  Released on album “She Smiles Because She Presses the Button”

Recorded just like the first two Trickfinger albums - live onto a Tascam CD burner through a 16-channel Mackie mixer, although not exactly using the same equipment used at that time.

“LYNG SHAKE”

Dates: 2019?
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA
Produced by: John Frusciante

Released on the Music in Support of Black Mental Health Bandcamp compilation on July 3, 2020. It’s possible this song was also recorded during the Maya sessions.

LOOK DOWN, SEE US

Dates: 2019
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA

• GR 8

• Meaning To

• Cymm Trace

• Look Down, See Us

  Released on the “Look Down, See Us” EP

These songs were the first being recorded in his new big studio with more gear and computers.

. I : I I .

Dates: Late 2021 - Early 2022
Players: John Frusciante
Recorded at: John’s Home Studio, Los Angeles, CA

• Clank

• Sluice

• Firpln

• Unitiled

• Pyn

• MK 2.1

  Released on albums ". I :" and ": I I ."

• OFD

  Exclusive to the vinyl version ". I :"

• Golpin

• Blesub Dot

• Frantay

• Galvation

  Exclusive to the digital and compact disc version ": II ."

Much like the first two Trickfinger albums, all tracks were recorded live to a CD burner with no overdubs and executed using one or two machines. Recorded after the Chili Peppers’ sessions for albums Unlimited Love and Return of Dream Canteen but before and during the mixing process.