Red Hot Chili Peppers Hiatus News

11/12/08 12:35pm

by Kate Harper (CHARTattack)

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are still on hiatus, but all four of its members are keeping busy.

Frontman Anthony Kiedis is developing an HBO television series based on his childhood.

Kiedis has partnered with producers Marc Abrams and Michael Benson of Capital 360. The series, which will be called Scar Tissue, was inspired by Kiedis' memoir of the same name. It will focus on Kiedis' unconventional childhood in Los Angeles with his father Spider, a drug dealer who provided many rock stars with their favourite narcotics. Spider now lives in Portland, Ore., but regularly corresponds with his son.

"He introduced me to the arts, to a more culturally magnificent life," Kiedis told Daily Variety magazine. "But some of it was this heavy, adult matter that I wasn't quite capable of digesting. ... It was a very rich but challenging period of my life. I was thrust into this adult mentality by age 11."

Kiedis, who's apparently considering making cameo appearances on the show and may also be its narrator, says the series will be an hour-long drama with comedic elements and will focus on the '70s rock scene as much as his unconventional childhood.

"I love mulling over all this raw material," Kiedis told Daily Variety. "[My father's] into it too. He sees it as our last great hurrah. For us to be reconnecting to construct these memories – the women and the rock bands and the doormen of these clubs – is exciting."

We wonder if the series will get into how Kiedis met Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea on a playground, where he put him in a headlock. Kiedis told him to stop, and the two eventually became friends.

Flea is set to appear on Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante's new album, The Empyrean, which will be released through Record Collection on Jan. 20.

The Empyrean doesn't yet have a track list, but it will feature guest spots from former Smiths and current Modest Mouse guitarist Johnny Marr, the Sonus Quartet and the New Dimension Singers.

The follow-up to 2005's Curtains will be Frusciante's 10th studio album. His Niandra Lades And Usually Just A T-Shirt debut came out in 1994.

Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith is recording an album with a new band that includes former Van Halen vocalist Sammy Hagar and bassist Michael Anthony, and guitar virtuoso Joe Satriani. The group recorded nine tracks over five days last month, and plan to mix the album in January and release it next spring.

While they're currently referred to as Chickenfoot, Satriani told Billboard.com that it was only Hagar's working title. A new name will be revealed closer to the release date of the album. If Hagar's involved, Chickenshit seems appropriate.

The Chili Peppers have been on indefinite hiatus since ending their lengthy tour in support of 2006's Stadium Arcadium.