An In Depth Look at the Brilliantly Distinctive Way That Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers Plays Bass

Polyphonic takes a deep dive into the career of the incredibly talented bassist Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, specifically noting how Flea brilliantly combined his early funk influences, one of which is the great Larry Graham who created the slap/pop technique, with his punk roots to create a truly distinctive style of his very own. In doing so, Flea has opened up the role of the bass player to be so much more than previously thought.

There’s nothing wrong with a solid bass playing traditional bass lines but part of what makes Flea so great is that he isn’t confined to traditional definitions of what bass lines can be …Rock bass can sometimes feel like an afterthought thrown in just to fill out the sound but Flea’s bass lines never feel like that they always add something new and essential to the song.