Around the age of eighteen, Dave and a high school friend, Stephen Perkins(former Jane's Addiction drumer, currently of Porno for Pyros) formed a speed-metal band called Disaster, which played local Los Angeles clubs. Dave admits to have taken the money earned from these gigs to get drunk with. At that same time, Dave was kicked out of Notre Dame High School, a private school located in Sherman Oaks, for drug abuse and poor conduct.
Eric Avery (former Jane's Addiction bassist), a long time friend of Dave's, was currently involved with a band called Jane's Addiction. He asked Dave if he'd like to be thier guitarist and Dave agreed. The years that would follow, 1987-1991, were crazy times for Dave and the members of Jane's. Although Jane's was very sucessful, Dave was very unhappy. He and lead singer, Perry Farrell violently hated one another. At times they would get into physical fights while performing. Dave was also in the midst of a heroin addiction, and admits to have tried to take his life before Jane's played Lollapalooza, their last and final tour. After Jane's played their last show, Dave decided to clean himself up. He checked into the Exodus rehab center with Eric Avery and left as a new man, but not without paying the price,however. Dave's marriage of a few years failed and the divorce was very difficult for him. He recorded a solo album in his home studio which dealt primarily with his divorce. Dave keeps the CDs in a box in a kitchen cabinet vowing they would never see the light of day.
After the demise of Jane's Addiction, Dave and Eric Avery joined up with drummer, Mike Murphy to form Deconstruction. The CD featured Eric Avery on bass and vocals and Dave on guitar and backing vocals. The project was short lived, and the only song released off the album was "L.A. Song."
In 1993, Dave joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers after turning down a job offer from Guns N' Roses. It had been known for a while that the Chili Peppers wanted Dave as thier new guitarist, but Dave took a while to make up his mind. After finally deciding to become a Pepper, Dave set out to play his first gig with them, Woodstock. As they went on stage, Dave's presence was known, and before long Dave began to attract many female fans, who wondered 'just who was this gorgeous new guitar player?'
Currently, Dave is a vegan (one who does not eat any animal products including eggs and milk), although he does now eat some meat. Often people ask him how he can justify smoking, which is a health risk, while keeping to a vegan (very health concious) diet. To this, he has replied that his eating habits have little to do with health, and is merely done to keep up his pyshical appearance. Dave has a younger brother, Gabriel, who is at this point two or three years of age. Amongst Dave's personal items is his coffee/coffin table (yes, he has a coffin in his living room!) Dave's house, which he decorated all himself is beautifully done in the Gothic fashion, some of his walls are black, the carpet in his room is black, and most of the furniture is velvet. Dave also has an assasination scence painted on his dining room wall. While people might say this is sick, it really is an hommage to Woody Allen, one of Dave's favorite film makers, because the picture of the assaination scene is found in one of his movies. Dave is often times questioned about his views on sexuality (People speculate that he is bisexual). To this he replies "Human sexuality is interesting to me. Whether it pushes the envelope or makes people uncomfortable, all aspects of it are fascinating to me. I am personally a heterosexual male. However, I think it's kind of cool when we can make people uncomfortable with non-resistance or the willingness to investigate other areas. I don't think I'd be the person I am today if I didn't try everything that was intersting to me. That's not to say that I'm completely happy with who I am. Everybody has something about themselves, some character defect, that they're working on. But for the most part I am fairly happy with who I am. And I wouldn't be happy if I hadn't looked into certain sides of sexuality, experimented with drugs, or picked up a guitar for that matter." Dave is currently single, he often aknowledges his poor track record with women. In fact, his new project, Spread, primarily focuses on his relationships with women. Because he has experianced many bad relationships he has donned a tattoo which boosts that "love fades" along with his other that says "trust no one. Dave has also recently modeled in an Anna Sui fashion show, and occasionally does magazine spreads. Dave also appeared in the movie, "Floundering", where he plays a drug addict. He also writes the movie section for "Bikini" magazine. Dave recently left The Red Hot Chili Peppers to explore other artistic outlets. He also recently participated in the Jane's Addiction relapse tour, and is now focusing all of his attention to his new project Spread. The highly anticipated album deals with many of the painful issues that Dave has had to deal with his entire life. More infomration on Spread can be found at his Spread web site
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