The moving Neil Young quote that encouraged Flea to make a jazz album: “Failure is important”
Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea has explained how a quote from Neil Young inspired his new jazz album, Honora.
The upcoming record, which is the first solo offering of Flea’s career, is set to arrive on March 27th, 2026, featuring appearances from special guests including Nick Cave, Thom Yorke, and Jeff Parker.
Now, ahead of the release, Flea has explained how the process for Honora was born while he toured the world with Red Hot Chili Peppers between 2022 and 2024, when he forced himself to learn the trumpet.
He told the Sydney Morning Herald why he decided to pick up the instrument, revealing, “I got really excited about this new jazz scene I was hearing in LA – Kamasi Washington, Thundercat, those guys. It had this revolutionary spirit I hadn’t heard in jazz in a long time.”
After feeling the wave of inspiration, Flea told himself, “So I decided I’m gonna play trumpet every day for two years, and at the end of the two years, I’m gonna make a record.”
The bassist continued, “I don’t know how good I’m gonna be at the end of two years, but I know I’m going on a two-year-long stadium tour with the Chili Peppers and I can play in my hotel room, and that’s what I’m gonna do, and that’s what I did. I practised every day for two years, and went and made my record.”
Once the tour concluded, Flea stayed true to his promise and recorded Honora with producer Josh Johnson.
Flea then shared that he felt “emotional all the way through” the recording process and admitted of his self-belief woes, “I’d get worried with the trumpet playing because I got insecure that I wasn’t good enough.”
He also said that he “was prepared that it might not work, that it might suck” and “prepared to fail”, before a quote from Neil Young made him unafraid of failure, adding, “But I read this thing by Neil Young where he goes, ‘I’ve made shitty records and I still put them out because failure is important.'”
Flea elaborated, “When I read that by Neil Young, someone I admire so much, I was like, fuck yeah! If I fail, great. It’s beautiful to take a risk. If I fail, I fucking tried.”
With Young’s quote ringing in his ear, Flea completed Honora, and it will now hit shelves next week, which is a victory in itself.
Additionally, to celebrate the release of Honora, Flea is set to embark upon a theatre tour across North America, Europe and the United Kingdom later this year, including a performance at the Koko in Camden on May 26th.
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