Kerrang! - June 2001
24 Hours In The Life Of... Dave Navarro
The former Jane's Addiction and Chili Pepper guitarist, is in Europe promoting his lovely new solo album, 'Trust No One'. Joining him in a swanky London hotel, we learn how he survives the boredom by working out, spending untold hours on the blower and gorging himself on raw fish...
"I run five miles every day. I do this regardless of where I am, because I want to live a healthy life and I smoke cigarettes.
"There's something about running in the gym that's really meditative for me. If I wake up and I don't get my blood pumping, my brain tends to start working overtime. For Me, it's just a way to quiet the head, quiet the voices. So there's a physical fitness aspect to the whole thing that's really important to me, but I would say it's even more important for my mental state over the rest of the day.
"This morning in London, I had a 9:30 wake-up call but I woke up at seven. Jetlag! I get it pretty badly. So at seven I got up, made a phone call to my girlfriend who was in a movie theatre in LA. This is going to make my life sound really boring! I had two shots of espresso and a pot of black coffee.
"Then I went and did my five miles, did some ab work, came back upstairs and ordered an egg white and vegetable omelette from room service, and looked at the television for a little while. Then I took a shower and made some more phone calls to friends back in Los Angeles.
"Then I wrote a letter to my girlfriend, which I do every day that I'm away from home - whether it's a long letter or just a sentance. The important thing is that she gets a piece of stationary from every hotel I stay at. It's kind of weird, though, because when I'm in Europe, I'm usually at home before any of those letters get to her. I guess I'm really into ritual and habit. Even when I'm at home, I make a point of writing my journal every day. There's something that's nice about having a cup of coffee and a cigarette, sitting at a desk putting pen to paper.
"I sent that off and went down and had another espresso, then did a photoshoot for Kerrang! in my hotel room. Then I had five minutes to get a protein bar, before coming up to this suite for another photoshoot.
"That's a typical day on the road. By this time at home I'd probably be sitting down for lunch. The rest of today consists of talking to journalists. On this press trip it's unusual for me, because before I've had three other guys to share the burden with, whereas now I', doing all of it. It's a little intense, and sometimes it's a little frustrating - especially when I'm speaking to journalists who expect me to write a record full of rock guitar solos. It's almost like people are a little indignant that my record isn't what they expected. It's surprising to me how many people are taken aback and stunned by the fact that I would make a record based on my own life experiences. I honestly don't understand what I'm supposed to make a record about. What would they rather I wrote about? Cars and Satan and chicks? That isn't interesting to me. The majority of it's been relatively painless, but there's the few here and there that make the time go so slow. But ultimately, I have to keep in mind that I am incredibly lucky to be able to be talking to anybody, regardless of what their frame of mind is. At least I know I'm grateful that I'm able to make music.
"I've been in hotel rooms pretty much most of the time. In Paris I got an oppurtunity to walk around, which was wonderful. The reason I chose the Metropolitan Hotel in London was because the sushi restaurant Nobu is downstairs. It's my favourite restaurant in Los Angeles and New York, so it's not my favourite restaurant in London too. So later in the day, lunch and dinner will be spent there. I like it here, there's something good about the modern aesthetic. For me it's clean and sterile, and on these kinds of tours I need that. I need my surrounding to be really maintenance-free.
"I'd really like to go on the big Ferris wheel while I'm here. And I'd love to go to a pub or something, but I really don't know what's going on tomorrow night. At this point I'll take on absolutely anything that's thrown my way. I'll take cock fighting, I don't care! Just get me outta here for five minutes, please!"
