BIOGRAPHY

David Michael Navarro was born in Santa Monica, CA on June 7, 1967. His mother was Constance Colleen Hopkins and his father is Michael Navarro. His father's father came to America from Spain (illegally). When Dave was born, his parents lived on Horseshoe Canyon Road in Laurel Cyn (Los Angeles). Dave has lived his entire life in LA. (He grew up with his mother in Bel Air). He now lives in West Hollywood. He has been married in a pagan ceremony and with a legal certificate but is currently divorced. Though he is a vegan, he does continue to smoke and drink coffee.

Dave started to learn piano when he was 6 or 7 years old. He didn't like it very much so they only lasted 2 or 3 years. When Dave was about 11 or 12 his father bought him an acoustic guitar at a garage sale. Dave's cousin Dan (you know, of Lowen & Navarro) played guitar and showed Dave a few things. Around this time Dave was still new to the guitar and at a skateboard park and could hear what he thinks was Jimi Hendrix's Voodoo Chile over the intercom system. The moment that he heard that song, it changed his life. It was then that he decided he wanted to could create those kind of sounds. It was then that Dave wanted to become "a rock guy." It wasn't long before Dave started playing electric guitar. This is when he began to practice constantly, to the point where he became isolated from the rest of the world. Shortly after Dave played in his first band, South Dakota Railroad. They mainly did covers of Cream, Jimi Hendrix, and Led Zeppelin. Also in this time period it can be noted that Dave went to elementary school with Eric Avery and dated his sister Rebecca in junior high.

Meanwhile, Dave's parents' marriage wasn't going very well and they got divorced when Dave was 7. Dave lived with his mother until 1983 when he was 15 because sadly, his mother and aunt were killed by Constance's jealous ex-boyfriend. (It was also at 15 that Dave lost his virginity.) This brutal event is said to be the cause of his unresolved "mother issues" and perhaps affection for those things dark, though he has thought about his funeral since he was much smaller. The ex-boyfriend was on the run for many years until the television show America's Most Wanted helped lead to his capture. Dave then moved in with his father. He attended the private Catholic Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks. In marching band he met Stephen Perkins and together they formed a short lived speed-metal band called Dizastre. Dave didn't do well in school--he and Stephen were well known for their drug use. Eventually Dave was kicked out for bad grades, long hair, and questionable ties to the LA drug community during 11th grade. He then enrolled in public school and well, he never really attended. Thus, his clasmates were the class of 1985, he was the one who didn't graduate. Dave eventually moved into his own apartment in Westwood. He lived there the entire length of his membership in Jane's Addiction.

Dave introduced Stephen to Eric's sister and Stephen began to date her. Eric met Perry Farrell through the now legendary "Jane" and he joined Perry's dwindling band Psi Com for one hot minute. They then decided to play under the name of Jane's Addiction. Their drummer was a good friend of Eric's and was in another band at the same time. He decided to leave Jane's for the other. In need of a bassist, Eric's sister kept raving about her boyfriend and thus Eric brought along Stephen. They did have a guitarist but he left. Stephen then raved about his friend Dave and called him, asking if he would like to jam. Dave had seen them live before and received a tape of theirs. He liked it enough to go to Perry's house and jam with the three of them. Dave started fiddling around with a riff that is now known as Mountain Song. Thus, Jane's Addiction as the world has come to know was born in 1986. You probably already know about Jane's Addiction. So much has been written on Jane's Addiction that I feel there is nothing I can say. Simply, their first gig was in 1986 and their last gig was in 1991.

Dave was the only child for many years until recent years when Dave's father had a son and named him Gabriel James. Baby Gabe can be heard crying on the Red Hot Chili Pepper's album One Hot Minute. Dave carries a tape recorder with him and one day taped his baby brother crying. On One Big Mob you can even hear Dave rewind the tape and play it over again. This may seem crude as far as recording techniques go, but it fits perfectly.

Dave was at first influenced by the classic rock guitarists such as Hendrix and then later Eddie Van Halen (for the skill), but in high school he began to listen to darker music. Briefly he listened to metal (for the speed--as you might recall he and Stephen Perkins were in a speed-metal band called Dizastre) and then he moved on to intellectual English music (for the sound). He learned from guitarists like Daniel Ash (Bauhaus, Tones On Tail, Love and Rockets, and solo work) and Robert Smith (The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Glove) that guitar playing didn't have to focus on skill or the technical side, but rather on simplicity of sound. Without a lot of technique Daniel Ash can play all sorts of hauntingly beautiful melodies. He is quite skilled at using an EBow and he is most likely the one to have influenced Dave on developing his own EBow skills. (Luckily for Dave all of the members of Love and Rockets live in Los Angeles now. Jane's Addiction even opened for Love and Rockets and at one show Love and Rockets joined Jane's on stage. In addition, all members of Love and Rockets contributed to Porno For Pyro's Porpoise Head. To top that off, not only do Dave and Chad Smith of the Peppers work out at the same gym as Kevin Haskins of Love and Rockets (and Tones on Tail and Bauhaus, who also did programming for the song So What on Kettle Whistle), but Dave and Daniel Ash share the same motorcycle mechanic!)

Back to Jane's Addiction...things seemed to go well for the band, drawing a large following in Los Angeles and eventually other major cities. They began to have a few hit singles, but by 1990 things were out of control. The members were not getting along anymore and the drug addiction was out of hand. When there were even just tiny rumors of this new concept of a travelling musical festival in America called Lollapalooza (1991), every Jane's Addiction fan knew that they would break up as soon as the tour ended. The night before the tour Dave tried to commit suicide in his hotel room (thank whatever you place faith in he didn't succeed) and during the tour Dave and Perry got into a brutal fistfight.

Eric became disillusioned with music and the industry after the Jane's Addiction experience, but still wanted to continue with music and asked Dave to join him in a project. They formed Deconstruction and only recorded one album, Deconstruction, and one video, LA Song. Both performed vocals on the songs. Deconstruction was never meant to be a lifelong project, but just a means to detoxify themselves from the Jane's Addiction experience and as a way of finalizing the splitting, a good-bye as musicians. Due to disagreements, one of them being as to whether they should tour or not (Eric was against it, Dave was for it), Deconstruction deconstructed.

Dave had been asked to consider joining the Red Hot Chili Peppers to help them with their 1992 Lollapalooza tour, but he declined because he wanted to be part of a writing process and not just play old songs, he had just toured Lollapalooza the previous year, and he was committed to the Deconstruction project. Dave was sought by other bands, including Guns 'N' Roses.

Finally, though, the timing was right when the Red Hot Chili Peppers asked again and Dave became an official member on September 5, 1993. His first gig with them was at the second Woodstock in 1994. He was so nervous that he didn't know if he could play that day. But, those lightbulbs suits (on display at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, Nevada) they wore were aided Dave in diminishing his fear. How? The suits were so uncomfortable that it took Dave's focus off the fear and on playing the song right despite the difficult attire. Soon they realized it was a bad idea to wear the lightbulb suits, removed them, and rocked.

It is odd that a guitarist mainly known for his rock style joined a band mainly known for their funk style. There are fans of both bands who have mixed reviews of this combination. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Music evolves as the people who create it evolve. We can only wait to see what their next album will bring. Unfortunately this will not happen as Dave officially left the Chili Peppers on April 3, 1998. He was going to pursue Spread with Chad Smith full time and possibly due a small scale tour, that is, until Smith left Spread. Dave is currently seeking musicians for a live show.