I’ve just added the scan and full transcript of an Anthony Kiedis interview from 7 Nights which is a supplement with the Sunday Mail, a newspaper from Scotland (UK). Here’s an extract:

But after the group’s tour of last album Stadium Arcadium in 2007 (the album became the group’s first US number one and also went to the top in Britain), John quit and Josh joined in 2009 after a self-imposed two year hiatus.

Anthony said: “One of the bits of karmic joy was that at a point in time where maybe it would be difficult to keep it fresh, along comes a shift in our lives, whereby John decided that he wanted to do something else, creating an opportunity for us to be fresh again.”

There was no fall-out with the band that includes other founding member Flea on bass and drummer Chad Smith – and it seems Anthony doesn’t have a real reason, or one he’s giving us, as to why John quit.

He said: “Maybe he wanted to start off by doing something fresh on his own and maybe somewhere in the recesses of his mind he wanted to create an opportunity for us to do something fresh without even knowing it.

“It wasn’t even a divorce, it was like ‘mission accomplished, go rock out, we’ll see you somewhere along the way!’”

The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie, the group’s first single in four years following the 2007 release of Hump de Bump, is now on the radio ahead of the album I’m With You, Josh’s first with the band.

He fills Chili guitarist shoes that include John, Dave Navarro and Jesse Tobias – but Anthony doesn’t think Josh should be intimidated.

He said: “Josh has played with PJ Harvey, The Sparks and Cee Lo Green of Gnarls Barkley, so really I had some flipping big shoes to fill.

“Those are like a whole gang of strong vocalists that he’s accustomed to playing with.

“But does anybody care about the shoes I had to fill? No, I didn’t think so.”

Anthony is excited about the new Chilis line-up. He said: “It feels fun and like a good fit, and I think more will be revealed when we start playing live and doing things like that.

“Musically I think we’ve reinvented ourselves in the best way possible where it’s still The Red Hot Chili Peppers, but it’s the Josh Klinghoffer era of Red Hot Chili Peppers.”

Full scan and transcript HERE