Flea

“We must improvise, and we must experiment, and we must do things that might go wrong, and everything we bring - the people and the equipment - must serve us in that goal.”

“Music is made up out of these building blocks. Studying how these blocks go together and what they consist of and the math of how it works - it's all the same stuff; it's just different aesthetics that we're talking about.”

“I'm always put in the unfortunate position of asking people to donate money and people I know in bands to play benefit concerts and all this stuff.”

“I love my life and my mistakes and my triumphs - all of it.”

“My father was out of my life when I was pretty young - when I was 7 years old, he was gone. I didn't see him for the rest of my childhood.”

“When I was a kid, and it was time to go to college, I thought, 'College is for people who don't have the street smarts to make it on their own - get in a band, get in a van, and get rockin'.”

“For me, music was the only reason I went to school. I was kind of a street kid, in a lot of trouble committing crimes and stuff. Music gave me something to focus on.”

“I was on a path that could've really led to disaster, and the one thing for me that really kept me focused and gave me something to believe in and a sense of self-worth and a discipline was music.”

“I love literature deeply. I view books as sacred things, and in writing my story, I'm going to do my best to honor the form that has played such a huge part in shaping who I am.”

“Running opened up something beautiful in my life. I try to send the energy all over my body. I love the feeling of it.”

“I worked full time jobs, basically doing manual labor until I could make enough money supporting myself as a musician.”

“Being a dad and being in the Red Hot Chili Peppers and all the stuff I have to do... The trumpet requires a lot of diligence, and I haven't had the time.”

“Anything worth doing good takes a little chaos.”

“I studied chord theory and started playing the piano.”

“When you make music, you're forming these invisible vibrations in the air into different shapes and consistencies and speeds in order to create music, and understanding how the math of that works just gives you more colors to paint with, and allows you to get to what you want quicker.”

“I feel like if we're not running, we're basically disrespecting our bodies. When you're running, you're really using your body for what it's meant to do.”

“Turning 50 is a little bit of a 'taking stock' moment. I feel probably a little dumber. I don't think I'm as sharp as I was when I was younger, but I'm definitely wiser and less likely to make gigantic blunders of an intellectual, spiritual, emotional or physical type.”

“When Hillel died, it was during one of the happiest times of my life. I was married and completely in love and had a baby on the way.”

“You teach your kids about your beliefs and tell them what you think is right and the conclusions that you've come to from living in the world, and then they can make their own decisions.”

“I played trumpet in the school bands. I learned things I liked to play on my trumpet, but I didn't learn why this note goes with this note and why it produces that sound. Or how to create tension in the composition.”