[Berger_4_]

With their second round pick, Dr. Funke's 100% Natural Good Time Family Band Solution is pleased to select, in the position of Bassist--- Flea, from the Red Hot Chili Peppers

Michael Peter Balzary (born October 16, 1962), more commonly known by the stage name Flea, is an American bassist, trumpet player, and occasional actor. He is best known as the bassist and founding member of the alternative rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. His work with the band incorporates several musical styles, ranging from aggressive slap bass, to more subdued and melodic techniques. Aside from the Red Hot Chili Peppers, he has collaborated with many artists, including Jane's Addiction, The Mars Volta and Alanis Morissette. Drawing influences from funk and punk rock, Flea centers his bass playing on simplicity and minimalism, viewing complexity as a device that should be used in moderation.

Flea has displayed a wide variety of techniques throughout the years, ranging from his initial use of slapping and popping to the more traditional methods he has employed since Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Greg Prato of All Music Guide has noted that "by combining funk-style bass with psychedelic, punk, and hard rock, Flea created an original playing style that has been copied numerous times."[4] Flea has been considered as one of the greatest bassists of all time, with Greg Tate of Rolling Stone saying "if there were a Most Valuable Bass Player award given out in rock, Flea could have laid claim to that bitch ten years running."[55] Smashing Pumpkins front man Billy Corgan recalls that when he first saw the Chili Peppers in 1984, "Flea was playing so aggressively that he had worn a hole in his thumb and he was literally screaming in pain in-between songs because it hurt so bad. Someone kept coming out and pouring crazy glue into the hole."[5] Flea's sound is also determined by what type of instrument he plays. Before Californication, he did not believe the actual bass held much significance: "what mattered was how you hit them [basses] and your emotional intent, and I still think that's the bottom line."[54] Flea owns a 1961 Fender Jazz Bass, treasuring it for its "old wood sound".[54] He has contributed to the Red Hot Chili Peppers' sound not only with the bass but by playing trumpet, as well; it can be heard on several songs, such as "Subway to Venus" from their fourth album Mother's Milk or "Warlocks" from their ninth album Stadium Arcadium.

Flea's bass playing has changed considerably throughout the years. When he joined Fear his technique centered largely around traditional punk rock bass lines,[56] however he was to change this style when the Red Hot Chili Peppers formed. He began to incorporate a "slap" bass style that drew influence largely from Bootsy Collins.[16] However, this technique caused Flea to receive attention from the music world and was often copied, and he therefore felt it necessary to completely remove slap-bass styles from his repertoire following Mother's Milk.[4] Consequently, Blood Sugar Sex Magik saw a notable shift in style as it featured none of his signature technique but rather styles that focused more on traditional and melodic roots.[57] His intellectual beliefs on how to play the instrument was also altered: "I was trying to play simply on Blood Sugar Sex Magik because I had been playing too much prior to that, so I thought, 'I've really got to chill out and play half as many notes'. When you play less, it's more exciting—there's more room for everything. If I do play something busy, it stands out, instead of the bass being a constant onslaught of notes. Space is good."[57] During the writing and recording of One Hot Minute, Flea integrated some use of slap-bass progressions, but continued to center his technique around the philosophy of "less is more" rather than complexity: "I can't even think of anything I played that was complex [on the record]; even the slapping stuff is simple. It's original-sounding, and I'm proud of that—but what I played was more a matter of aesthetic choice."[57] This led Flea to alter the way he wrote music by playing alone, instead of the jam sessions that would dictate how the band conceived songs: "[One Hot Minute] is the least jam-oriented record we've made. I mean, we definitely jammed on the ideas, but there's only one groove on the whole album that came from a jam, 'Deep Kick'. The rest of it came from my sitting down with a guitar or bass."[57]
Flea became interested in electronica during the Californication era and he attempted to emulate the same atmosphere given off by synthsesizers into his bass playing: "I feel the most exciting music happening is electronica, without a doubt."[45] He ultimately decided against this, acknowledging that, aside from Frusciante, the band was not moving in the same direction.[45] Californication also saw him incorporate more funk-driven bass lines than he had on One Hot Minute. In By the Way, much of the bass-lines were entirely stripped of funk. Flea felt the chords Frusciante had written were not supportive of his typical technique; furthermore, he does not feel the musical direction of the record was specifically melodic, but instead "a result of each one of us being who we are. The way we [the band] compose music is a very communal thing."[58]

I don't know how to embed youtube videos, so I guess you'll just have to click on these for yourself haha.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DPGlB8PZ448

http://youtube.com/watch?v=QfvGUEdAjr8

http://youtube.com/watch?v=glwXu47HW94