Josh Klinghoffer (Former Red Hot Chili Pepper) Begins Next Creative Chapter As Pluralone (INTERVIEW)

In December 2019, music fans heard the news that guitarist Josh Klinghoffer was no longer a Red Hot Chili Pepper. “We are parting ways with our guitarist of the past ten years,” the social media announcement read. “Josh is a beautiful musician who we respect and love. We are deeply grateful for our time with him and the countless gifts he shared with us.”

Klinghoffer was surprised but not surprised. The band was working on a new album and they wanted to bring former bandmate John Frusciante back into the mix. They parted amicably. 

For Klinghoffer, he was already in the midst of seeing his first album under the moniker of Pluralone debut in November. A mesmerizing mix of hypnotic moods, tones and vibrations, To Be One With You brings out the creative diversity that did not always show up in the Chili Peppers oeuvre. Here, he can be soft, shockingly expressive in a way fans of the funky rhythms of RHCP may not be used to. But it’s there, on songs like “Save,” with it’s gentle piano intro, and “Fall From Grace.” Through ten songs, he shows off his experiments with instruments and the mixtures they concocted together, how his lyrics intermingled into the atmosphere of dayglow keyboards and spiderweb guitar licks. It is a Klinghoffer breaking free of mortal constraints as he reaches for the outer boundaries of the human psyche.

For the California kid who dropped out of school to pursue music, Klinghoffer may appear to be the shy, quiet one, who says little except through his music, he comes absolutely alive when performing. Having seen him numerous times freaking out sonically with the Chili Peppers, his presence is electrifying – something that might be hard to notice when sharing the stage with three other big live personalities – but he made an impact. He recorded two studio albums with them, 2011’s I’m With You and 2016’s The Getaway, after coming on board officially in 2009. 

The RHCP wasn’t Klinghoffer’s only foray in bands. He has played with The Bicycle Thief, Gnarls Barkley, PJ Harvey and even Frusciante. So now the world is again open for him to explore and experiment, with instruments and his own vocals, taking them to new places. He’s almost like a Tesla Ball about to crack open and what he comes up with next will be exciting to hear. He’ll also be taking those sounds on tour soon, opening for Pearl Jam starting on March 18th in Toronto and running through April as Pluralone.

In the meantime, Klinghoffer took some time to answer a few questions via email about his new record, his songwriting, learning to play guitar and how the music of New Orleans has affected him.

This album, To Be One With You, has a very surrealistic feel to it. What was the genesis of the music – feelings? melodies? – and did these songs come quickly to you or did it take a while to flush them out?

Thanks for listening! I suppose a good way to say it is they came fast and slow. It may be more of an indictment of my attention span or work habits, but songs can write themselves in about as long as the length of the song itself, or sort of kick around for a decade. Both examples are prevalent on this record. For me, sometimes and sometimes sadly, it has to do with having a context with which the song can exist. Meaning, if I don’t have a place for it, i.e. a band to play it with or a record to put it on, it will most likely stay incomplete until such a situation arises.  

Sometimes I’ll finish a song in one burst, but often I wait until it has a home. Sometimes lyrics can take a while to make sense even to the person who’s writing them. I always like to leave them open until the last minute. I’m in no way saying this is a good method by any stretch of the imagination, it’s just how I do it. It can get a bit tricky sometimes because when things take time to consummate, they can lose their initial spark. I think I felt that a little with this record. All in all though, it’s what I enjoy. The mixing of machines and acoustic instruments, the combination of space and air and dense clusters of sound. I wish I went a little further to the extremes in both respects. Next time!

Oh, I didn’t address feelings, or melodies. Well, feelings, like I said above can change over time. I suppose if you can create a feeling in yourself with the music you make, you may be doing something right, but I hardly think I can speak to the feelings it creates in others. I think the accomplishment may exist in creating something that’s open and allows people to feel rather than being something either rigid or seemingly uninterested in emotion. As for the feelings I have or had when working on this music … it’s all the same. I guess a reflection of my feelings about the state of the world, which in no way could I say are worth expounding on, at least in free form.  

When writing songs, how deep into your psyche do you submerge yourself to feed off what lives there? And how much honesty do you allow to come out?

I think I’m always striving to go deeper. Deeper and more truthful than before. I’m not sure it’s a conscious choice to be honest or not, at least for me. The words and the style with which they wind up on the page are a direct reflection of the dialogue between my mind and … well what my mind thinks works with the music, or what my mind thinks others will connect with … or what I connect with. I think it also depends on how well I organize my life around me and how much I can emerge in the work. Sometimes writing is done in-between two band practices and with the feeling that you have to deliver. It’s all valid but perhaps not as easy to plunge the depths under those circumstances. 

Which song on the new album changed the most from it’s original conception to it’s final recorded version and how so?

Honestly, none of them strayed too far from the original idea or demo recording. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

You’ll be going on tour with Pearl Jam – what can we expect from your set?

A whirring dervish with a horse voice.

What was the first song you obsessed over as a kid and what about that song attracted you the most?

There are probably a load I’m not thinking about, but the first one that came to mind was “Strawberry Fields Forever.” That name, that image. I was about five years old and quite liked strawberries, so that may’ve played a part in it. I listened to it, and many other Beatles songs, on my Dad’s 45rpm Fisher Price record player, playing beautiful old Capital and Apple singles. “Revolution,” the fuzzed out, more rocking version. “Rain!!!”  “Rain,” “Strawberry Fields,” and “Revolution.” Those three were absolute mind blowers to little me. That’s probably why I can’t shake the desire to write pretty and melodious songs, even though the other side of me wants to make experimental noise. Much like the noise going on outside my window at present!!!

When you first started learning to play guitar, what was the hardest thing for you to get the hang of?

I guess doing anything fast with my fingers, as in soloing. I grew up in an era where it wasn’t such a part of the conversation. Especially since I learned by myself and after listening to the music I liked when I was sort of 8 or 9 years old, I just had no interest in doing that. I’ll always feel like less of a player because of it. Oh, also, it requires work that me as a young player didn’t want, see the need, or enjoy doing. Habits, timing, desire. They shape.  

What instruments did you predominately play on To Be One With You; especially which guitars?

I play a lot of piano on this record. Guitars? I know a lot of them were done with two Strats I got from Emerald City Music in Seattle. One is a Sunburst ’59 Hardtail and one is a ’59 factory refin Fiesta Red. Both just gorgeous. A lot of the bass was done with an Ovation Magnum. Jonathan [Hischke] from Dot Hacker had been suggesting I get this one particular bass that had been sitting on Reverb for a while. It’s got an incredibly low serial number (I won’t say which one). I was being hesitant on it then went to see Pearl Jam in Rio de Janeiro and saw that Jeff [Ament] had one on a stand. I asked George his tech about it and stared at it for about thirty seconds and bought it with my phone right there on the side of the stage. Rather privileged experience, I know.  

Who would you consider your greatest influence as a guitar player and as a songwriter?

There are so many. I really feel like it would be a misstep to try and name one.  

As a songwriter, what has been the hardest aspect of it – lyrics, melody or the revealing of emotions?

I suppose lyrics. Mostly because I know how I want them to sound. Perhaps due to some ever-present fear of emotional responsibility or honesty, I sing and always have in this sort of, less than upfront style, shall we say. It’s more fluvial, the way the words come out rather than like rocks tumbling down toward the listener. I’m often trying to speak about a particular thing of emotion whilst getting it to conform to a rhythm or sound. 

I often improvise songs and spend ages trying to make something out of the sounds that were recorded. “Fall From Grace” is one of those. “The Ride,” on the other hand, all just came out. The song and the lyrics were written basically in the amount of time it takes to play the song. Then there is something about that that makes me feel like I didn’t spend enough time or invest enough emotional energy into it. All of this shit is just thoughts in your mind. The same as the lyrics, the thought that tells you this or that about it is just a feeling though. Like I said earlier, with a song like “The Ride,” because of how quickly they came, I even get to listen to them and have them mean new things to me every time I hear or sing them … if I can remember them.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are huge fans of the music here in New Orleans and they always brought people like Trombone Shorty and Rebirth Brass Band onstage with them during their concerts here. What made this music special to you and performing with them?

New Orleans always seemed to me to have music and a sort of vibrance through music woven into everything about it. Everything about the city, and the people, even the weather. There is a rhythm to it that beats on your skin like little drummers in the air. All the wonderful musicians I’ve met from New Orleans, be it Rebirth or the incomparable Ivan Neville. George Porter, Zigaboo [Modeliste], Leo [Nocentelli] … everyone has something special. It’s infectious. There is a special rhythm to how people speak and move down there. I love it. I’d love to come hang for a bit.

Live photos by Leslie Michele Derrough