It's really cool news that I've heard today about Flea from the Chili Peppers. He's enrolling back in school at USC for an undergrad in Music Theory. Right now, his classes are theory, composition, and jazz trumpet. Although widely known as playing a bass guitar (what I call his cockblocker), Flea used to play the trumpet in high school and is his preferred instrument.
When asked about students questioning why he's there, he insightfully responded:
"Well, not from people there, but people outside the school have looked at me like, what are you doing? Except for real musicians who understand. I think most people see it as being about commerce –- you only go to school to make money, and you already make money playing music so why would you go to school? It seems backwards but it makes perfect sense to me. My whole musical life has been an educational process and I’m just furthering my education and filling in the blanks. There’s stuff that I want to know that I don’t know."
This, from Needles:
