And Introducing

#112 FLEA!

And Introducing

Show Notes

This week (month...summer...) we are talking about none other than FLEA. One of the world's funkiest living bassists, Flea has kept it thick on the low end for the Red Hot Chili Peppers for almost forty years. His 2019 memoir Acid For The Children enthusiastically details his life from conception to right as the Peps formed.

It's a tale of Dickensian proportions: street rapscallion lifestyles, dirty Hollywood escapades, 1970s high school vibes, various freaks and creeps practically vibrating off the page. Shooting cocaine on an Amtrak train, hitchhiking, actual hiking, wrap party meth sharing, jeans that show off one's camel toe, puking at the club, dine-and-dashing at the local BBQ joint, and of course the power of jazz: it's all here and sometimes it's in ALL CAPS, BABY. Join us as we trace Flea's path from Australian childhood to Anthony Kiedis-enhanced adolescence and beyond.

"Give It Away [8 Bit Tribute to Red Hot Chili Peppers]" - 8 Bit Universe "Night of the Thumpasorus Peoples" - Parliament Funkadelic "I Don't Care About You" - Fear "Out In LA" - Red Hot Chili Peppers The National Anthem - Flea "Give It Away" - Red Hot Chili Peppers "Party Party Superstar" - Pretty Dim Wonder

More from And Introducing

Jan 27, 2026

Oops! We podded again. We are ever so slightly back with a fresh episode on…Britney Spears’ ‘The Woman In Me’! Along with Black Bubblegum Podcast’s Jasmine Danielle, we get into Brit’s chaotic Southern Gothic childhood, her ‘cosmic consciousness’ and paranormal experiences, her misguidedly Method acting for Crossroads, and the conservatorship that almost took her down.

Feb 26, 2025

And Introducing film correspondent, Blank Check pod & the Atlantic’s David Sims returns for two more recent musician biopics: James Mangold’s A Complete Unknown & Michael Gracey’s Better Man. Two very different movies about very different musicians that nonetheless explore similar themes on the nature of fame, talent & musicianship. We talk Timmy, Bobby, Robbie & more, and see if there’s still juice to squeeze from the biopic genre. Plus of course: does the monkey play?

Feb 18, 2025

Welcome to the Willenium, baby! We’re joined by YouTube’s Todd in the Shadows to look at the musical career of Will Smith. From growing up under the influence of his demanding father, to discovering his performing (and lying) abilities in school, clicking with Jazzy Jeff, indulging in “chicken wings,” his super-star turn to acting & extremely self-conscious return to hip-hop, we track Will’s music & celebrity up to “the slap” and beyond from his 2021 memoir Will. As Todd says, may be one of the weirdest guys he’s ever encountered.

Dec 11, 2024

And introducing…on lead vocals, it’s Serj Tankian! We delve into the life of turn of the millennium metal icons System of a Down’s frontman Serj Tankian. Repping Armenia via Glendale, Serj’s life covers everything from founding software companies to composing whale-themed orchestras. We look into his politics, nu-metal in general, a passion for espresso, his signature growls and yelps, and revolutionary participation, as with SOAD’s wild musical success along the way.

Aug 18, 2024

It's part 2 of our excavation of Phil Collins' memoir Not Dead Yet: The Memoir. We've reached the mid-1980s and the boy is absolutely everywhere...can he sustain the breakneck pace of being one of the most celebrated (and oversaturated) Brits in pop music history? We cover his stressful transcontinental Live Aid experience, his Disneyfied '90s, his vibrant but turbulent romantic life, his big band era, and much much more.

See all episodes →