Red Hot Chili Peppers have re-iterated their plan to take two years away from the music industry.

Earlier this year, frontman Anthony Keidis revealed that the band had decided to take time off following extensive touring of their last record, ‘Stadium Arcadium’.

The singer said the group had been left “emotionally and mentally zapped” by the tour.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, bassist Flea confirms Keidis' comments. "We just needed two years. We had our noses to the grindstones so hard for so long,” he said.

“We needed to get away from it and get a fresh perspective on things."

Flea recently enrolled in the University of Souther California's music programme in order to learn “the math and academics” of music.

"I'm glad my music education has developed the way that it has, but it's so much fun to learn this stuff because I never knew anything," he said.

"I played trumpet in the school bands. learned things I liked to play on my trumpet but I didn't learn why this note goes with this note and why it produces that sound. Or how to create tension in the composition.

"The Chili Peppers did that in our song structures but all based on emotion and intuition as opposed to knowing the math and academics of it. Knowing the structure is really fun."

(by Jason Gregory)