What Is This (known prior to 1980 as Anthym) was an American rock band that originated in
Fairfax High School in Los Angeles, California. Formed by guitarist
Hillel Slovak
Hillel Slovak ( he, הלל סלובק; 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, with whom he recorded two albums. His guitar wo ...
, drummer
Jack Irons
Jack Steven Irons (born July 18, 1962) is an American drummer. He is the founding drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers and is a former member of Pearl Jam and Eleven.
Alongside his work with Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam, Irons ...
, vocalist
Alain Johannes
Alain Johannes Mociulski (born May 2, 1962) is a Chilean-American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, whose primary instruments are guitar and bass. He is a founding member of several bands, including the alternative rock group Eleven, and has b ...
, and bassist Todd Strassman, the band served as the nucleus for the
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...
. Members of the band would go on to perform with
Eleven,
Chris Cornell
Christopher John Cornell (né Boyle; July 20, 1964 – May 18, 2017) was an American singer and musician best known as the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and primary lyricist and songwriter for the rock bands Soundgarden and Audioslave ...
,
Pearl Jam,
Mark Lanegan,
Them Crooked Vultures
Them Crooked Vultures is an English-American alternative rock supergroup formed in Los Angeles in 2009 by Josh Homme (of Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss) on lead vocals and guitar, John Paul Jones (of Led Zeppelin) on bass and keyboards, and ...
, Alain Johannes Trio and
Queens of the Stone Age
Queens of the Stone Age (commonly abbreviated QOTSA) is an American Rock music, rock band formed in 1996 in Palm Desert, California. The band was founded by vocalist and guitarist Josh Homme, who has been the only constant member throughout mul ...
.
History
Originally named Chain Reaction,
the band would later change its name to Anthem, then later to Anthym (as there was already a band using the former moniker), and then finally to What Is This, which was a tongue-in-cheek reference to the reaction they usually received from first-time listeners.
During their tenure as Anthym, guitarist
Hillel Slovak
Hillel Slovak ( he, הלל סלובק; 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, with whom he recorded two albums. His guitar wo ...
became acquainted with an audience member at one of their shows,
Anthony Kiedis, who was then brought on as a
roadie
The road crew (or roadies) are the technicians or support personnel who travel with a band on tour, usually in sleeper buses, and handle every part of the concert productions except actually performing the music with the musicians. This ca ...
and "
hype-man" for the band. After a while, the band began to find bassist Todd Strassman's musical abilities unsatisfactory, so they considered replacing him. Slovak decided to teach a friend of his at Fairfax,
trumpet
The trumpet is a brass instrument commonly used in classical and jazz ensembles. The trumpet group ranges from the piccolo trumpet—with the highest register in the brass family—to the bass trumpet, pitched one octave below the standard ...
player
Michael "Flea" Balzary, how to play bass. Soon he replaced Strassman as What Is This' bassist. After graduating high school, the band began to play gigs in the Los Angeles area. Flea eventually left the band to play in the punk band
Fear
Fear is an intensely unpleasant emotion in response to perceiving or recognizing a danger or threat. Fear causes physiological changes that may produce behavioral reactions such as mounting an aggressive response or fleeing the threat. Fear ...
and was replaced by Chris Hutchinson.
Around this time, Slovak and
Jack Irons
Jack Steven Irons (born July 18, 1962) is an American drummer. He is the founding drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers and is a former member of Pearl Jam and Eleven.
Alongside his work with Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam, Irons ...
decided to play a show with Anthony Kiedis and Flea under the name Tony Flow and the Majestic Masters of Mayhem at the Rhythm Lounge. It consisted of the musicians improvising a
punk funk
Dance-punk (also known as disco-punk, punk-funk or techno-punk) is a post-punk subgenre that emerged in the late 1970s, and is closely associated with the disco, post-disco and new wave movements.Rip It Up and Start Again: Post Punk 1978-19 ...
jam (like
Defunkt
Defunkt is an American musical group founded by the trombonist and singer Joseph Bowie in 1978 in New York City. Their music touches on elements of punk rock, funk, and jazz.
Career
Joseph Bowie is the brother of big band musician Byron Bo ...
or
James Chance and the Contortions) while Kiedis rapped a poem he wrote titled "
Out in L.A." It was intended to be a one-time performance, but the show was received so well that they were asked to return again the following week. The group decided to change their name to the
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates elements of alternative rock, funk ...
, played several more shows at various Los Angeles clubs and musical venues, and eventually recorded a
demo tape, all while Slovak and Irons were still playing with What Is This. A few months later, What Is This received a record deal with
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
Pre-history
MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 w ...
, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers received a joint deal with
EMI America
EMI America Records was started in 1978 by EMI as a second US label next to Capitol Records. It absorbed Liberty Records in 1984. In the late 1980s, EMI America was consolidated with Manhattan Records to form EMI Manhattan Records, which lat ...
and
Enigma Records
Enigma Records (also known as Enigma Entertainment Corporation) was a popular rock and alternative American record label in the 1980s.
History
Enigma Records launched as a division of Greenworld Distribution, an independent music importer/d ...
. Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons decided to leave the Red Hot Chili Peppers and stay with What Is This as the latter was their primary musical project while the former was seen as side endeavor.
What Is This released their debut
EP ''Squeezed'' in 1984. Around this time, Hillel Slovak had become uncertain of his role in the band and decided to rejoin the Red Hot Chili Peppers. He left What Is This in 1985, and later that year the band would release its only full-length studio album ''What Is This?'' and its final EP ''3 Out of 5 Live''. After this, the band broke up.
Alain Johannes
Alain Johannes Mociulski (born May 2, 1962) is a Chilean-American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, whose primary instruments are guitar and bass. He is a founding member of several bands, including the alternative rock group Eleven, and has b ...
later met
Natasha Shneider
Natasha Shneider (May 22, 1956 – July 2, 2008), born Natalia Mikhailovna Schneiderman (russian: Наталья Михайловна Шнайдерман, ), was a Latvian-born Russian-American musician and actress. She was most notably the keyb ...
and the duo formed Walk The Moon, whose sole studio album featured Jack Irons and Chris Hutchinson on several tracks. Jack Irons later rejoined the Red Hot Chili Peppers in 1987, but would then leave the next year due to Hillel Slovak's death via a heroin overdose. Alain Johannes, Natasha Shneider, and Jack Irons later formed the band
Eleven. Jack Irons would later leave Eleven midway through the recording of their third album to join
Pearl Jam (with whom he recorded two albums) only to later rejoin Eleven in time for their fifth album. Eleven disbanded after the death of Natasha Shneider. Both Johannes and Irons were later part of
Spinnerette
Spinnerette was an alternative rock band formed in 2007. The band was a vehicle for the solo career of Brody Dalle following the breakup of her previous band, The Distillers, in 2006. The band featured Tony Bevilacqua (also from The Distillers) ...
.
What Is This's song "Mind My Have Still I" from ''Squeezed'' was also featured on the
soundtrack
A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...
to the movie ''
The Wild Life''. Their second album, which featured a cover of the
Spinners hit "
I'll Be Around", was produced by
Todd Rundgren
Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...
, who also played
Fairlight Synthesizer
The Fairlight CMI (short for Computer Musical Instrument) is a digital synthesizer, sampler, and digital audio workstation introduced in 1979 by Fairlight.
— with links to some Fairlight history and photos
It was based on a commercial lice ...
on the record. "I'll Be Around" was released as a single and video; it peaked at No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Members
Original line-up
*
Alain Johannes
Alain Johannes Mociulski (born May 2, 1962) is a Chilean-American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, whose primary instruments are guitar and bass. He is a founding member of several bands, including the alternative rock group Eleven, and has b ...
: Lead Vocals, Guitar
*
Hillel Slovak
Hillel Slovak ( he, הלל סלובק; 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, with whom he recorded two albums. His guitar wo ...
: Guitar, Backing Vocals
*Todd Strassman: Bass
*
Jack Irons
Jack Steven Irons (born July 18, 1962) is an American drummer. He is the founding drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers and is a former member of Pearl Jam and Eleven.
Alongside his work with Red Hot Chili Peppers and Pearl Jam, Irons ...
: Drums
Later members
*
Flea
Flea, the common name for the order Siphonaptera, includes 2,500 species of small flightless insects that live as external parasites of mammals and birds. Fleas live by ingesting the blood of their hosts. Adult fleas grow to about long, a ...
: Bass, Backing Vocals (replaced Todd Strassman)
*Chris Hutchinson: Bass, Backing Vocals (replaced Flea)
*Michael Bocretis: Keyboards
Partial discography
References
{{Authority control
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Alternative rock groups from California
1980 establishments in California
Musical groups established in 1980