Hillel Slovak

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Hillel Slovak (April 13, 1962 – June 25, 1988) was an Israeli-American musician best known as the founding guitarist of the Los Angeles rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Slovak recorded two albums with the band, Freaky Styley (1985) and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987).

His guitar work was primarily rooted in funk and hard rock, although he often experimented with other genres including reggae and speed metal.

He is considered to have been a major influence on the Red Hot Chili Peppers' early sound. Born in Haifa, Israel, Slovak immigrated with his family to the United States in 1967 when he was five years old.

Slovak met future bandmates Anthony Kiedis, Flea, and Jack Irons while attending high school in Los Angeles.

He joined the group Anthym along with Irons while attending Fairfax High School; Flea would later join the group, which later changed its name to What Is This?.

Slovak, Flea, Kiedis, and Irons started Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1982, which became popular in the Los Angeles area, playing various shows around the city.

However, Slovak quit the band to focus on What is This?, which had been signed to a record deal, leaving the Red Hot Chili Peppers to record their debut album without him.

He rejoined the Chili Peppers in 1985, and recorded the albums Freaky Styley and The Uplift Mofo Party Plan with the band. During his career, Slovak developed a serious heroin addiction.

He attempted to quit the drug many times, but ultimately succumbed to his addiction, dying of an overdose on June 25, 1988 at age 26.

He was replaced by guitarist John Frusciante, who was greatly influenced by Slovak's playing style.

Several Red Hot Chili Peppers songs have been written as tributes to Slovak, including "Otherside", "Knock Me Down", "My Lovely Man", "This Is the Place", "Dosed" and "Feasting on the Flowers".

In 1999, his brother James Slovak published a book entitled Behind the Sun: The Diary and Art of Hillel Slovak, which features Slovak's diaries and paintings.

Slovak was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers on April 14, 2012, with his brother accepting on his behalf.

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Life and career

Hillel Slovak was born in Haifa, Israel, to Jewish parents who were Holocaust survivors. His mother was born in Poland, but his father grew up in Yugoslavia. They lived in New York City's Queens borough and then migrated to Southern California in 1967. Slovak developed an interest in art as an infant and spent time painting with his mother, Esther. He attended Laurel Elementary School in West Hollywood and Bancroft Jr. High School in Hollywood, where he met future bandmates Jack Irons and Michael "Flea" Balzary. Slovak received his first guitar at the age of 13 as a bar mitzvah presenter, and he played the instrument into the late hours of the evening. He was heavily influenced by hard rock music, such as Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, and Kiss during this period.

Slovak, a freshman at Fairfax High School, formed a band with the Irons on drums, as well as two other high school classmates, Alain Johannes and Todd Strassman. They referred to their band Chain Reaction, but they changed the name to Anthem after their first gig. Slovak welcomed audience member Anthony Kiedis to his house for a snack after one of the company's performances, and invited him to his house for a snack. "I felt completely different from most of the people I'd spent time with" after Kiedis' autobiography Scar Tissue, "I'd say within a few minutes of hanging out with Hillel" he said. He knew a lot about music, he was an excellent visual performer, and he had a sense of self and a calm about him, which were both riveting." Slovak, Kiedis, and Flea were among the best friends who used LSD, cocaine, and methamphetamine recreationally.

Slovak began teaching Flea to play bass, replacing the original bassist for Anthem, which was renamed to Anthym. Flea developed skills and a strong musical chemistry with Slovak after several months of dedication to the instrument. Strassman quit the band after discovering Anthym songs on his drums, but Flea was quick to replace him. Anthym also won second place in a local Battle of the Bands competition a few weeks later. Despite the fact that the participants were all underage, Anthym began to perform at local nightclubs. The band changed to What Is This? after graduating from high school. Flea left Anthym around this time to accept an invitation to play bass in Fear, a well-known L.A. punk band.

What Is This?

Many shows along the California coast continued and performed many shows.

After being inspired in a punk-funk fusion band named Defunkt, Slovak, Kiedis, and Flea started to make their own songs. The three musicians formed Tony Flow and the Miraculously Majestic Masters of Mayhem, with former Anthym-drummer Jack Irons. The band had only one song, titled "Out in Los Angeles," and was created for the sole purpose of playing the song once more. The album was based on a guitar riff that Slovak wrote while "jamming" with Irons, but it wasn't planned to be a real song until Kiedis decided to rap over the music. Following the group's first appearance at The Rhythm Lounge, the bar's owner requested that they return, but instead of one. The band's name was changed to Red Hot Chili Peppers after several more shows and the addition of several songs to their repertoire.

Kiedis began writing more lyrics as the band's fame grew among the Los Angeles club scene. As a result of months of playing local nightclubs and bars, the lyrics would eventually become hit songs such as "Green Heaven" and "Does Don't Kill Coyotes," and the band's concert repertoire quickly grew to nine songs. The Red Hot Chili Peppers appeared in several L.A. clubs over the next six months and became something of an underground celebrity. Slovak, Kiedis, and Flea all migrated into a tiny house in a high-crime neighborhood in Hollywood, where they collaborated musically and continued their heroin use. The threesome travelled to New York City to perform more shows and to "spread Chili Pepperdom." Slovak and his partner moved out of the company's shared house shortly after the trip to live with his girlfriend.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers arrived in Bijou Studios to record a demo tape and then signed a record with EMI. The Red Hot Chili Peppers were feared by Flea, who was destined to pursue them.

At the same time, What is This?

He had also signed a record deal. Since Slovak viewed the Chili Peppers as merely a side project rather than a genuine commitment, he decided not to worry about What is This? Flea ultimately accepted the decision, but the band would survive musically without him and the Irons. Cliff Martinez and guitarist Jack Sherman were hired by Kiedis to fill Irons' and Slovak's positions, respectively. What is This? is the second episode of the recording of the second What Is This? Slovak became dissatisfie with the band and contacted Flea about returning to the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This was timing for the company's dissatisfaction with Slovak's replacement, Jack Sherman, who had been unable to do so. Sherman's guitar work "didn't have the same energy" that Slovak contributed to the band's success, according to Kiedis. Kiedis responded as Flea asked Kiedis how he felt about Slovak's return to the band by saying, "I'd give my firstborn son to get him back in the band." Sherman was fired after the band's promotional tour for their first album, and Slovak rejoined the band.Slovak's Freaky Styley, their second album that was released on August 16, 1985, has returned to the Chili Peppers for their second album, Freaky Styley.

What is This?

Martinez was fired after being disbanded, and the Irons returned to the Chili Peppers in mid 1986. Particularly Flea, Slovak, and Kiedis were heavily dependent on opioid use, and their friendships were strained. Flea remembered that "it began to look bleak to me and not fun"; our contact was not cooperative. Kiedis became dependent on heroin, forcing the majority of the group to produce a large amount of the album's content by themselves. For a part of the album's recording, the band lived in Detroit, where Kiedis and Slovak indulged in heavy cocaine use. When Slovak was under the influence, he would often dress in vibrant colors and dance in a "shuffling" style, which inspired the band's song "Skinny Sweaty Man." After Kiedis recovered from a stint in rehab, he rejoined the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Los Angeles to record their third album, The Uplift Mofo Party Wishlist. Slovak felt a deep connection to the album; he wrote in his diary, "It was so fun." I'm so proud of everybody's work—it's at times genius." "Skinny Sweater Man," "Me and My Families," and "No Chump Love Sucker" featured Slovak on the program. Before starting a guitar solo, Kiedis referred to him as "Slim Bob Billy," "Slim," or "Huckleberry." Slovak experimented with new musical styles on the album "Behind the Sun."

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