Anthony Kiedis and The Red Hot Chili Peppers act out their separate lives together in their new video for “Look Around.” The song is off their new album I’m With You and promotes the band’s upcoming tour.
The alt-rock group has always been heavy on funk laced with hard-edged punk. Mix in hip hop and psychedelic rock and you’ve got “Look Around.” New Peppers same as the old Peppers, but who cares? Most fans can’t get enough of the band anyway.
The anthem can best be described as another tribute to getting crazy and keeping it that way. The Robert Hales-directed video is cleverly shot. Band members Kiedis, bassist Michael Balzary, aka Flea, drummer Chad Smith and new guitarist Josh Klinghoffer occupy their own spaces and do their own thing.
The camera spins in the center to capture the activity. Kiedis’ room shows a domesticated scene by Pepper standards. The frontman’s hometown newspaper in Michigan, caught up with his mother. She was visiting while the video was being filmed and confirmed that real son, Everly Bear, and dog Sam are in the video.
The girl in his room, however, is not his girlfriend. “It’s a young model/friend of the band. She was really fun to be around, good energy. The girl with Michael (Flea) is his girlfriend, also lots of fun,” said the mom.
Klinghoffer, who replaced veteran guitarist John Frusciante, exists in minimalist room with just a tiny lamp. He remains solitary, reading and playing his guitar.
Flea and girlfriend/actress, Sandha Khin, go wild, stripping to their undies, dancing and spraying each other with whipped cream and silly string. Chad works on a clog in a spacious bathroom when he’s not banging the drums.
“I can say that the band were great to work with — real gentlemen — and it was a genuinely collaborative process,” Hales told Spinner.
“They were all extremely involved creatively. Each room loosely represented the band members’ personalities, so almost all the props and artwork in the rooms came from their personal collections,” he explained. “They had a very clear idea of how they wanted to perform and they nailed it.”
Check out the video for ‘Look Around’ below. The Red Hot Chili Peppers will hit the road in March to promote their new album. The “I’m With You World Tour” opens in Tampa, Fla. Footnote: Check out Kiedis with short hair.