Whether it’s a chicken hitting piano keys with its beak or that dog who plays the kick-drum, we’ve all seen more than enough videos of animals ‘playing’ musical instruments to last us a lifetime. But when RHCP bassist Flea got to bond with Koko the Gorilla over his chosen instrument, it made for one of the sweetest moments of last year for anyone with a love of music and animals.
Rather than just a cute trick, the meeting demonstrated the level of intelligence possessed by a gorilla, and Koko took to Flea’s bass like a natural. While her gorilla-sized fingers may have resulted in something that sounded a little worse than the first time any of us tried to bust out our first Nirvana bassline, she clearly grasped the concept in a different way to, say, keyboard cat, and in a new interview Flea has talked more about the opportunity.
“Meeting Koko the Gorilla was a beautiful, beautiful thing that I’ll never forget,” he tells 106.1 CHEZ in the video below, as reported by Ultimate Guitar.
“Having an opportunity to connect with an animal like that – actually be able to communicate and play with a big ape like that, it was just a beautiful, beautiful experience, something I hold very dear to my heart.
“I showed her how. She was so capable of understanding what I was saying,” Flea adds. “I showed her the tuning pegs and the strings and the knobs and how everything works, and she just listened, I gave it to her and she just got it, completely.
“It was amazing, truly amazing.”
Now I just want someone to teach Koko the intro to ‘In The Air Tonight’ on drums, and my life will be complete.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5mX8pgheZc&t=120s
