In previous sessions, “we would always throw it out there and then everybody would do their own thing to it, and everybody's ideas were digested and listened to. He kind of had more of an idea of what he wanted prior to (the recording) and (didn't) let everyone do his own thing to it.”
After By the Way, Smith said Frusciante seemed to realize he had made a mistake. “He was like, ‘That's kind of a selfish way of being, and I'm not using these other musicians to their fullest.”’
Frusciante, who has developed into the main music writer in the band, while Kiedis writes the lyrics and vocal melodies, did a better job embracing the idea of teamwork on Stadium Arcadium. But Smith said the members' lives outside of the band helped improve the chemistry among the four musicians.
In 2004, after five years of nearly nonstop touring and recording, the group took a very rejuvenating six-month break. By the time they convened that fall for jam sessions, each band member's personal life had become far more settled: Smith is married, Flea is engaged and Kiedis and Frusciante are in long-term relationships.
“I think that we've found a balance,” Smith said. “And if you're happy at home ... then that's going to carry over into your — if you want to call it your workplace, or whatever it is that you do.”
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