When John Frusciante quit the Chili Peppers, they needed a guitarist in a hurry and not just any old barre-chorder would do. They needed a rare combination of influences and Arik Marshall was it. Son of black and Jewish parents (same lineage as Slash and Lenny Kravitz), Marshall had started playing seriously as a Brian Setzer fanatic in a Stray Cats clone band, filled out with his two best friends, a pair of twins from Nicaragua, on bass and drums. Blessed with tolerant parents of eclectic taste and two older brothers who were also musicians, his playing quickly branched into funk, punk, metal, blues, jazz and just about anything else the Chili Peppers might need. When they called, he was ready to gig in three weeks. And what a gig it was, in front of 60,000 people in Belgium.
"I definitely noticed that I wasn't as nervous as people expected me to be," says Marshall. "I don't know what that is. I hope it's my confidence. Another reason is that the Chili Peppers have an attitude that I'm really comfortable with. It's just a group of friends who want to have fun. Nothing like, 'Play well or you're out.' And then there was my experience with Bootsy."
When Arik Marshall's age was still in single digits, he enrolled in the Los Angeles chapter of Boot Camp and became a Geepie -- Boot Camp being the official fan club of Bootsy Collins, Geepies being Bootsy's underage admirers. He got to meet Collins and other funk masters like George Clinton, hung out at state-of-the-art recording studios, and even appeared onstage once with Bootsy. "I was singing backup with the other Geepies, waving my hands and being wide-eyed," he recalls. "It was at the Los Angeles Coliseum in front of 60,000 screaming people. I remember the bright lights, the loud music. I was thinking, 'I could definitely get into this.'" Seventeen years later, he was into it.
With the Chili Peppers came money to buy equipment: a Stevie Ray Vaughan model Stratocaster, two '57 reissues and a '63. These he plays through a vintage Marshall head (doesn't remember the model) with a Crybaby wah and Boss overdrive and chorus. He fits the Chili Pepper music like a glove, but doesn't move around much on stage. People in the audience might mistake that lack of movement for fear, but it's just his laidback nature.
"It just fell into place easily. I had to learn the notes and chordings and certain dynamics, but the feel -- and feel is the most important thing -- I already had that. I'd been playing stuff with a similar feel for a while."
What do you think of a musician like, say, Neil Young who says he is completely a feel player? And Gene Simmons, who says scales are for fish?
"It's like language. There are some people who learn just enough to communicate and they leave the big words to professors and eggheads. They know enough to get their point across, and that's all they need. If they can do that and be happy, it's completely valid. Then there are others who are more curious. They get into the big words. Or for musicians, they open those books on scales and chords. If it feels right, that's valid too.
"If your heart is into the guitar -- and people know when it is -- just follow your heart and work hard. Listen to as much as you can. Be open-minded. Practice a lot, and don't take it seriously. You have to have a sense of humor to get where it's special. So take it serious, but don't take it serious -- if that makes any sense at all."