Flea

“I went to school and studied music for a year at USC, which unlocked a bunch of doors for me in terms of my relationship to music.”

“It's fun to just get out there and have a nice conversation when I'm running. To be honest, when I do longer runs, the trail that I like to run up in Malibu has mountain lions, so I always feel I want to run with someone else.”

“When I'm at home, I just run all the time, you know; I get up, and I go pretty much four days a week outdoors. I go in the canyons around L.A., Malibu - just around L.A. there's a lot of different spots.”

“When I first heard about Twittering, I thought it was the most disgusting thing I'd ever heard of in my life. It's like the devil: the idea that your personal life is there for everybody.”

“Playing music is a beautiful thing. But listening to music is just as great.”

“We were at the dark end of the L.A. punk scene, and that scene was full-on and violent and aggressive and wild and intense.”

“I started playing trumpet when I was 11 years old. All I wanted to be was a jazz trumpet player when I grew up.”

“A big part of my life is music education because it changed my life - but arts, academics and athletics should all be equally treated in the school.”

“Kids deserve arts, and it's just as important as science, math, history, English or athletics.”

“Before every show, we get into a circle, hold hands, and someone makes a speech. Most bands are too cool for that.”

“I studied music at the most remedial level when I was a kid, through the Los Angeles public schools, with a little private instruction.”

“I'm a performer and have managed to get my performing into the mainstream consciousness of the world, I guess.”

“Outside of a couple of times I ran without eating right or being too tired, I always feel great after I run.”

“All I knew about Ethiopia was from a few records that I like, as well as what I read about the famine. But you get there and it's another world. It's filled with art and music and poetry and intellectuals and writers - all kinds of people.”

“Steven Adler and I played football in the street when we were 12. I remember rehearsing in my bedroom with my first band, and some kid climbed over the fence of my backyard and peeked his head in the window to see who was rocking. It was Slash.”

“Being a rock star isn't all it's cracked up to be, let me tell you.”

“Ethiopia is such a great country, beautiful place.”

“I grew up with all these old jazz guys in the '70s in L.A., and they grew up idolizing Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Lester Young - all of these incredible musicians.”

“When I was growing up, in L.A., I went to these schools, Fairfax High School, Bancroft Junior High School, and they had great music departments. I always played in the orchestra, the jazz band, the marching band.”