Josh Klinghoffer Says Producers Got In The Way Of RHCP 'Making Great Music'

When John Frusciante decided to reunite with Red Hot Chili Peppers, it was Josh Klinghoffer who got the short end of the stick. The band wasn't going to have two guitarists, so Klinghoffer got dismissed.

During a recent interview with VinylWriterMusic, Klinghoffer opened up about why he thinks producers got in the way of him and the band "making great music" together.

“I feel like this could be a long answer. Perhaps we can do a sit-down tell-all someday. I’m serious; someday, that’d be fun,” he said. “At this point, however, I might be a little too close to leaving to look back without a heavily biased and potentially warped opinion.”

“I’m incredibly conflicted about my output with that band because I feel like, in both circumstances, producers got in the way of us truly making great music or a great record," the guitarist continued, referring to the two albums he made with RHCP (2011's I'm With You and 2016's The Getaway). "I like almost all of the songs that we wrote together, but seldom did we capture them in the best way. I will say that in the case of I’m With You, I feel Rick Rubin was way more a hindrance than a help. He told me once, ‘I just want to help the songs be the best they can be.’ I should’ve said, ‘Well, then get your driver to come and get you.'”

The band ended up enlisting Danger Mouse for The Getaway because Klinghoffer "didn't want to work with Rick again," but that also ended with a dissatisfying result.

“I never felt like it was easy to fight for what I wanted on that record, so that record wound up being a bunch of songs I enjoyed, but I wasn’t happy with the way it sounded,” he admitted.

Rubin has produced a number of RHCP albums throughout the years, including this year's Unlimited Love and the upcoming Return Of The Dream Canteen.