Flea Wearing a Temple Jersey
— What a Certain Photo Symbolized
I once found myself laughing when I saw a certain photo. It was a picture of Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea playing bass on stage while wearing a Temple University basketball team jersey.
It seems to be a photo from when Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Flea's band, Atoms for Peace, performed at Temple's arena in September 2013.
And I thought, "What is this?" Because the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Temple University, the two things that have had the greatest influence on my life, were existing simultaneously in that one photo.
◼️At 13 years old
I started listening to the Red Hot Chili Peppers when I was 13. At the time, I was just an ordinary middle school student who didn't know much about the world. However, I was strongly drawn to their music. The attitudes of Flea and John Frusciante, in particular, were impressive. They seemed to stand somewhere a little different from the world's models of success. Rather than being nouveau riche, they were people with a more purely musician-like temperament.
Prioritizing their own sensibilities over others' evaluations, valuing their own expression over trends, and seeming to have little interest in posturing or hierarchy. Looking back, I think their values significantly influenced my personality.
◼️Temple University
I graduated from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. As an American public university, it is rare in that its campus is located within a major city. It is a very liberal and diverse university, and a school that emphasizes practical learning and has a thriving sports culture.
Graduates here grow into practical people who hold onto ideals while also understanding the realities of a big city. I believe my own thinking style was solidified to some extent here.
◼️And Flea's jersey
So, when I saw the photo of Flea wearing a Temple jersey, I felt a bit strange. It was because two elements of my life seemed to have intersected by chance. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, which I had been listening to since I was 13, and Temple University, which I would later attend. Two worlds that wouldn't normally be close were naturally connected in that photo.
◼️Life's intersections
Life sometimes has strange intersections. There are moments when, looking back, you think, "Perhaps this event and that event were actually in the same flow." In my case, music, school, and my thinking style all seem separate, yet I feel they are connected somewhere.
◼️In the end, the influence remains
People continue to be influenced by the culture they encountered in their youth more than they realize.For me, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were not just a favorite band. In a sense, they might be the band that taught me a sense of "how to live." That is why even now, when I see the photo of Flea playing bass in a Temple jersey, I find it a little funny. Because fragments of my own life appear to overlap beautifully in a single photo.
◼️Commonalities with Flea's mindset
The combination of Flea and Temple is not just a coincidence; I feel something symbolic in this pairing.
As far as I know, the only university jerseys Flea has worn are from UCLA and Temple.
Both are highly symbolic public universities in the United States. And these two schools share commonalities. They are cultures of being "urban," "diversity," "public," and having a "civic culture."
Temple University is exactly that kind of university. Located within the city of Philadelphia, it is also a school with many immigrants and students who are the first in their families to attend university. It is different from the so-called rich, upper-class Ivy League universities like the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) in the same city of Philadelphia. I took classes at Penn as well, so I understand the differences between the two schools well.
Temple is rather a gritty, civic-minded, and liberal university. I feel that this atmosphere somehow suits Flea's character. While he is a flashy and unconventional rock star, he is also a quite civic-minded person who consistently supports public education, continues his music education initiatives, and values his relationship with the community.
Thinking about it that way, it feels somewhat like him to have worn jerseys from both UCLA, the public university representing the West Coast of his hometown Los Angeles, and Temple, an urban public university on the East Coast.
◼️Temple and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are culturally similar
Looking at the photo of Flea wearing a Temple jersey, there is one more thing I think about. That is that Temple University and the Red Hot Chili Peppers are culturally similar in some way. At first glance, these two have nothing to do with each other. One is a university in Philadelphia. The other is a rock band from Los Angeles. However, when you think about it, they have something in common. That is a culture that keeps some distance from elitism. As mentioned earlier, Temple University is different from Ivy League universities. It is an urban, public, and diverse university. It is a bit rough around the edges,
gritty, and energetic. On the other hand, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have a similar vibe. They are a Los Angeles band, but they are a bit different from the so-called glamorous Hollywood rock star culture. They still strongly possess elements of punk, funk, and street culture. In other words, they are a counterculture band.
Neither Temple nor the Red Hot Chili Peppers are purely elite culture, yet at the same time, they both possess strong energy. They are also connected to the diversity of a large city. In these respects, the two are somewhat similar. Therefore, Flea wearing a Temple jersey might be more than just a coincidence; it might be culturally fitting.
Looking back, I myself have been quite influenced by these two cultures. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, which I started listening to when I was 13. Temple University, which I ended up attending later. Even though these two seem like completely different worlds, they strangely have the same scent. Perhaps I was naturally drawn to the culture that both of them share.
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