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Since leaving The Red Hot Chili Peppers in 2019 when John Frusciante returned to the fold, Josh Klinghoffer has stayed busy with his solo music as Pluralone and touring gigs with Jane’s Addiction and Pearl Jam.
His departure wasn’t easy for him to stomach – at the time he told the band, “I wish I could have done something with you guys, musically or creatively, that would have made this an absolute impossibility.”
Reflecting on the Chili Peppers’ tendency to bury the music from his era, Klinghoffer tells Guitar World: “All of that makes sense to me, but I guess it’s strange for people that connected to some of that stuff. It’s almost like it disappears; it doesn’t have a chance to live.”
Klinghoffer’s upcoming Pluralone offering, A Drop in the Ocean, has a far better chance of life. “I don’t know how many people I reach with this music,” he says, “but the fact that I’ve made enough connections, and a few people like it – I couldn’t be more grateful.”
In 2022, Klinghoffer told Guitar World that his time with the Peppers had been “enormously stifling creatively.” He’s not in that space anymore: “I’m always writing. I have like a year's worth of ideas that I could be developing.
“But it takes quite a while to have a cohesive and finished song with lyrics. The lyrics are the real work; I could come up with compositions all day long. They just appear every time I pick up a guitar.”
Now, he’s over the Chilis trauma, and the devastation of a 2024 motor accident in which a pedestrian was killed, and he's enthusiastic about what’s to come. “I’m just so grateful that I have the opportunity to make records and put them out.”
Did the 2024 traumatic accident factor into your recent creativity?
I guess everything’s always affecting everything. But I started recording a lot of this stuff in 2022, though I finished off some lyrics recently. It was shelved while I was touring with Pearl Jam; 2025 was when I finally had a chance to finish. So I’d say none of the recent traumas have affected or influenced the writing too much.
Did the accident push you to pick things back up and wash some of the negativity away?
Mostly the reason for not being able to work and finish was the touring and being busy. I’m always sort of dealing with a lot, so there was nothing too new, or more, on my plate.
How has working with Pearl Jam impacted your approach to guitar?
I’ve always cited Stone Gossard as the reason I picked up guitar in the first place. Being able to have a front row seat to his playing has been amazing. Not that I’ve styled myself after his playing, but when I was starting, some of the songs of his I learned in standard tunings, then I figured out that they were in different tunings. So I’ve messed around with his tunings a bit.
How about Mike McCready?
I’m on the same side of the stage as Mike. I think of him as one of the best, most fluid soloists in the world. I just love watching him rip into something. I’m surrounded by great guitar playing. Eddie Vedder has an amazing right hand. Being around those guys is inspirational and influential.
How does your rig change between Pearl Jam and your own music?
It’s changed a lot. On the most recent Pearl Jam tour there was a movement to reduce stage volume a bit, and since I’m in the back on a riser, I was just using a Fender Tone Master Plus. And there’s an array of guitars, but what I have at home is completely different.
I’m not the lead guitarist anymore, so I don’t have to bring my best, you know? I still bring great guitars, but my Strat and my Chili Peppers guitars are the ones that I leave at home.
Has moving away from your usual lead guitar position changed your perspective?
It’s like night and day when you go from being the only guitar player to being one of four, and trying to fit in. It could just be atmospheric, but when there’s so much already, you’re really trying to work as a team.
There’s so much sound going on, so it’s a great chance to exercise restraint, and really listen and fit in. In the Chili Peppers you were free to move and any sound you made was part of a whole thing. So it’s a cool shift.
Did you write the songs for A Drop in the Ocean on guitar?
It was primarily on guitar – and that was because I hadn’t done a collection of songs like that in a while, you know? I’d spent a lot of time writing on piano, programming drumbeats, and having an electric guitar along with that.
The album is primarily acoustic.
I really wanted to make an acoustic album. This one is more fingerpicked and acoustic-based. I don’t have a set way of doing something; whatever I happen to be playing at the time is where an idea can come from. But this album was definitely consciously acoustic-based.
Is there a particular acoustic you used most often?
A lot of it is my 1947 Martin that I bought in 2000. It was the first nice guitar I ever bought when I got some money from playing with The Bicycle Thief. We got a little cash in New York City, and I went straight to the guitar shop and bought this Martin.
I bought a ’63 Strat that’s been really crudely refin’d. It was allegedly owned by Tommy Stinson – I thought that was cool
I used that all over the album and a couple of other great acoustics, like a beautiful Epiphone Texan, which is a very Beatles-influenced purchase. And I have a beautiful Martin D-28, and an amazing Martin made from koa wood.
The effects seem to be minimal throughout, with a focus on clean, sparse electric tones.
Yeah – I tried to keep the effects to a minimum and go cleaner. I treated my electric guitar once or twice with a modular synthesizer, but most of the electric guitars are clean, with maybe a bit of reverb in the mix. I used my Fender Tweed Deluxe and my Vox AC30.
I also used an Epiphone Casino, and there’s a Strat used, but not exclusively. I think I also used a Jazzmaster. But there’s not a whole lot of electric guitar.
Actually, I have a pair of ‘60s Strats that have both been refinished that live in my studio. They’re both funny colors. One is Cimarron red; when I bought it, they were trying to say it’s an actual Fender refin, but I don’t know if that’s true. Fender rarely used that color; it’s almost like a deep plum color.
Then there’s a guitar I bought on the last Pearl Jam tour in Minneapolis. It’s a ’63 Strat that’s been really crudely refin’d. It was allegedly owned by Tommy Stinson from The Replacements – I thought that was cool, so I bought it.
A couple of years back you filled in for Dave Navarro with Jane’s Addiction. What was that like?
It was amazing! They’ve always been one of my favorite bands. I became good friends with Eric Avery over the last 15 years, and when he rejoined – which was big news to begin with – Dave was struggling with his health and was unable to do it.
So Eric was in and Dave wasn’t, and it was like, ‘What are they gonna do?’ I was touring with Pearl Jam, so Troy Van Leeuwen did a leg of a tour, and there were bits where I’d visit and sit in. I played with them a few times.
It was just amazing to be around that music. I thought they didn’t have it in them to sound as powerful, but it was a really special thing. There was a huge shift between Eric and Perry Farrel – they were really connecting. It was beautiful.
I listened to the Chili Peppers' new stuff one time. I made some comments that people didn’t like – but I don’t think it was shocking
That surprised a lot of people.
I was blown away. And then when Troy was unavailable in 2023, I was. So without any tryouts I just stepped in, and it was great.
Were Dave’s parts tough to cop?
Basically, the entire time I’ve known how to play guitar, I’ve known those songs. But I had to work out some of the solos, like Three Days, to play them exactly the way they are on the records. Dave changed a little bit live sometimes, but he basically sticks to the beautiful, melodic thing he wrote.
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So I tried to do that too. It wouldn’t feel right otherwise. It was a really special challenge to do that stuff. I feel like I got it most, or at least some, of the time. Every night was a fun experiment of recreating these beautiful recordings I grew up with.
Some Chili Peppers fans prefer the music you and Dave made with them to the albums they made with John – who you both replaced and were then replaced by. Does it bother you that those records are ignored by the band?
Not really. But I appreciate you saying that. It’s a funny thing. I guess it’s particular to the way John views the band when he’s not in it, and it makes sense to me. They have enough music that they don’t need to look to some of the other records.
But for anyone who connected with those albums, like One Hot Minute, or the two I made with them [I’m With You and The Getaway]… I imagine it’s a little weird for me to be banished from the catalog and the live performance.
Why do you think that’s the case?
I guess it’s just something unique to that band, you know? Having such a revolving door there, and such a strong presence in John. He’s kind of the preeminent guitar player, you know? He’s the one who made the work with them where they experienced their global fame.
Have you listened to the albums they’ve have made since John returned?
I listened to their new stuff one time when it first came out. I made some comments in South America that people didn’t like – but I don’t think I said anything shocking. I just said that I thought that what I was working on with them was cooler! But I don’t really keep up so much.
It seems like whenever the Chili Peppers explore new territory, they return to a specific type of sound with John.
There’s been sessions with Andrew Watt where I’ve been closer to Chad Smith than we were in the Chili Peppers!
Yeah – they have their thing, their formula. I guess it’s so much more definitive to the main amount of Chili Pepper fans; you know, that’s just what the Chili Peppers are. It’s probably a testament to them that they can step out of that and do a good record with Dave Navarro. I like that record too.
The records that we made together… The only thing I would say – and I don’t know if it’s spoken or unspoken – is that there’s a little bit of a slight disrespect to the records that aren’t the John records. Once John’s back in the picture, it’s like the other records don’t exist.
That’s the only weird thing to me, because those records were important at the time, you know? They were important enough to go and play them around the world.
Recently you’ve been working a lot with Andrew Watt within his stable of studio musicians, and ended up on a lot of records.
Andrew is younger than me, but he grew up liking a lot of the same bands as me, so we have a kinship. He’s a real fan of live recording; all the records I’ve made with him rely on being in close proximity, and that’s been great.
There’s been sessions with Andrew where I’ve been closer to Chad Smith than I was when I was in the Chili Peppers! It’s an amazing experience recording at Andrew’s studio – which, sadly, I don’t really get to do on my solo stuff.
How has working with Andrew impacted your growth?
It’s the best thing in the world to figure out your part and how to best accomplish it. And he works really fast, which I like, so it feels very vibrant and creative. He’s very open to input; it’s just a very healthy and creative environment. And it’s shocking how successful he’s been!
But his methods are the way it should be: just people playing music together, you know? In this day and age there’s been certain changes in the music business. But Andrew has been able to create a very vibrant and creative system, and it’s always fun.
What’s next?
I have another album I’m finishing now. Hopefully it’ll be out this year, but if not, it’ll be early next year. It’s another group of songs I’d worked on in 2022 and 2023, so it’s that era of songwriting, but this next group isn’t acoustic.
- A Drop in the Ocean is released on June 12.
