Guitarist leaves legacy
By Rachelle Imson
Daily Forty-Niner
On June 27, 1988 Hillel Slovak, the original
guitarist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, died of a drug overdose in his
Los Angeles apartment, leaving behind a legacy of music and a diary.
His music is world renowned, but the thoughts
and pictures he recorded in his private journal during the last four years
of his life have never been publicly released, until now.
"Behind The Sun" is a collection of Slovak's
words and pictures, expressing himself in an entirely unique way, as unique
as the sound of the Red Hot Chili Peppers-the band he helped to create
and to which he contributed his musical genius.
The concept of the book comes from Slovak's
brother, James, who found the diary among his belongings.
James prepared the diary for publication
as an expression of love for his late brother, and as a contribution to
the arts and letters of the generation that continues to applaud the Red
Hot Chili Peppers and helped launch their spectacular fame.
"Behind The Sun" offers readers a four-year
long chunk of Slovak's life told through his own words and art.
In his diary entrees, readers can feel
Slovak's intensity in his quest for love and romance as well as his addiction
for drugs.
The art in "Behind The Sun" consists of
self portraits, paintings and scribbles revealing "a lot of feeling," said
Anthony Kiedis, lead vocalist of the Red Hot Chili Peppers in a press release.
"Hillel was a highly free and versatile
artist able to express his relationship with creative spirits in many different
ways: making love, drawing pictures, guitar playing and poetry to name
a few," Kiedis said.
The group of friends, later to be known
as the Red Hot Chili Peppers began to experiment with music in 1978 while
attending Fairfax High School in Los Angeles.
Slovak, Jack Irons and Flea gathered together
for jam sessions. On a whim, Kiedis jumped on stage with his friends in
a dive bar on the Los Angeles Sunset Strip and had given birth to a new
band.
"We loved each other the best we knew how,
and tried so hard to deal with our pain," said Flea in a press release.
"We made huge mistakes but they came from love and one mistake made one
less of us." |
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