Flea, the bassist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, recently shared memories of his wild teenage years with Anthony Kiedis in 1970s Hollywood during a chat with musician and YouTuber Rick Beato. He opened up about a childhood filled with poverty, crime, and chaos before the band formed in 1982.
Flea described himself as a “shy, weird” kid who transformed into a “wild” teenager after moving from New York to Los Angeles. “I was in the street, unwatched, getting into trouble, running around doing dumb, stupid f*ing crimes,” he recalled. He met Kiedis at Fairfax High School in 1976, and they quickly became inseparable. Flea told his mom that day, “For the first time in my life, I’ve found someone I can talk to.”
Reflecting on their adventures, Flea said, “Anthony and I, when we were kids, we were up to so much wild stuff. We were just loose and gone…in Hollywood in the 70s. It was crazy.” Both came from low-income families, and money was tight. “It was like, ‘How are we going to get lunch today? What are we going to do?’” Flea explained. This struggle helped shape their music.
When they formed the original band lineup in 1982, Flea and Kiedis were joined by high school friends Hillel Slovak on guitar and Jack Irons on drums. Their musical influences went beyond the funk-rock sound they became famous for. “We didn’t just listen to funk,” Flea said. “We listened to Ornette Coleman, the No New York scene, and we loved Led Zeppelin.”
In his 2019 memoir, Flea wrote about finding a “perfect partner in crime” in Kiedis, a guy who didn’t care about conventions. Their bond laid the foundation for the legendary band they would become.
