The Darkness’ Justin Hawkins has slammed John Frusciante’s ability as a guitarist, declaring that he believes his playing to be “overrated” and “child-like”.
The frontman aired his divisive thoughts during a recent episode on his Justin Hawkins Rides Again channel while in conversation with invited guest Pat Finnerty of What Makes This Song Stink.
In the episode, titled How NOT to Write a Song, Hawkins addresses his previous statements made in regards to the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ guitarist, explaining why he thinks him to be not as talented as their fans believe.
When introducing the topic, the vocalist questions: “Why are the Red Hot Chili Peppers fans so sensitive? The videos that we do on them receive a lot of ‘critique’ from RHCP fans.”
Explaining his less-than-positive views on the axe-wielder, Hawkins says: “My issue with Red Hot Chili Peppers is that I get nothing from John Frusciante’s guitar playing. I feel like if we can call [Dire Straits’] Mark Knopfler an underrated player, I would describe John Frusciante as an overrated player. In fact, I have done that more than once”.
He continues, “It’s always like, ‘You’re jealous because he sold more records than you have.’ And it’s like, well, Mark Knopfler has sold a lot more, more, more records than me, and I’m not jealous of him. I love his guitar playing. So that argument doesn’t really hold any water.”
In support of Hawkins’ statement, Finnerty agrees: “I don’t know why [Frusciante] is so revered. I feel like whoever’s listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers only listens to the Red Hot Chili Peppers.”
Discussing what exactly it is about Frusciante’s playing he dislikes, The Darkness mainman declares: “Somebody said to me it’s deliberately minimalist. Maybe it’s like that thing where you become a super-accomplished painter and start doing some naive child-like daubings, and that’s your phase. I think that might have been one of the things he was exploring, but it doesn’t stop it from being shit.”
Watch the moment below:
