IN DECEMBER 2019, Josh Klinghoffer’s world was upended when he was given the stunning and abrupt news that, after 10 years of membership in the Red Hot Chili Peppers, his services were no longer required and that the band’s longtime guitarist, John Frusciante, was rejoining. He didn’t see it coming, and for a period he felt numb, but given time and space he’s been able to process his dismissal and put things in perspective.
“Obviously, it’s sad when something is taken from you,” Klinghoffer says. “I did a perfect 10 years with them, but for as much as I love those guys and loved playing with them, it was also enormously stifling creatively. They’re an established band with an established sound, and I learned over time how little deviating from that was possible.”
Asked to elaborate, he says, “When I first joined, I wouldn’t use certain chords when I was writing if they sounded
