Biografia Flea

Michael Peter Balzary was born on the 16th of October 1962, in Melbourne, Australia. When he was four, his parents divorced and Michael, his sister Karen and his mother Patricia headed for New York,but they didn't stay long and soon ended up in L.A. (in 1972), where his step-father, a jazz musician named Walter Urban Jr, intended to start a career. Flea would often sit in on weekly jam sessionswith his stepdad and the constant flow of musicians who trucked through. High school was not always an easy road for young Michael. He was kind of a misfit because of his unusual musical taste. Whilemost of the kids were into disco and dance music, Flea preferred jazz artists like Miles Davis and Dizzy Gillespie. Flea's first musical instrument were the drums, but soon he choosed the trumpet;after school he would race home to listen to his Gillespie records and play along with his idol. He counts as his greatest childhood memory the time his mother got him backstage to meet Gillespie afterone of his concerts. He also played with the Los Angeles Junior Philarmonic Orchestra. Influenced by some of his friends from school who shared the same passion for music - among them, Jack Irons andHillel Slovak, who would later play in the Red Hot Chili Peppers with him - his musical interests then diversified, he discovered funk music, and Jimi Hendrix became his new idol. At the end of 1977,he met Anthony Kiedis. For some reason, Michael was holding a young schoolmate named Tony Sherr in a headlock, when Kiedis, who was Tony's best friend at the time, came to rescue him, and the bothalmost had a fight, but soon became aware they were made to be friends, and have been inseparable since. The two became known for their mischievous antics, which often got them into trouble. That's alsoat this time that he gained his nickname Flea, while he was joking with some friends about calling each other with a cartoon name. Around 1979, due to Flea's obvious musical talent, he was sought out...