blackholesunshower

March 28, 2026

The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother Hillel released earlier this month on Netflix. While I haven’t listened to the Red Hots in a while, they’ve always been one of my long standing favorite bands, so I checked it out.

Hillel Slovak was a founding member of the Red Hots. His style of guitar playing contributed to the band’s original funk inspired sound. Slovak died of a heroin overdose in 1988. The documentary depicts Hillel as a quiet, creative type who befriends singer Anthony Kiedis and Flea in LA during High School. He and Flea played together in the band Anthem with Alain Johannes and Jack Irons. Talk about talent!

Ultimately, Hillel, Kiedis and Flea formed the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and despite a rocky, start the band took off.

If anything, Our Brother Hillel feels more like a feature about Red Hot Chili Peppers and not a bio-pic on Slovak. We still get to know Slovak, a rocker who died right as his career was taking off. There are interviews with his brother and former girlfriend, but the real emotional weight is carried by BFF Flea. When opening up about how much it meant that Slovak trusted him enough to join his band, Flea cried. In that vulnerable moment, we forget his normally wacky persona and realize he’s a grieving friend, still, more than thirty years later.

Keidas presents a more stoic persona, slumping back in his chair, legs spread, poker face. He recalls doing drugs with Hillel, and how bad their addictions became.

One thing that turns me off about this documentary is that it used an AI voice for Slovak. Couldn’t they have hired an actor to portray him (as the voice)? I think it’s a bit creepy to insert such a realistic voice of the deceased, but maybe that’s just me.

As a young teen, I listened to the Red Hot Chili Peppers, starting with the Uplift Mofo Party Plan. Man, I loved them, and when Mother’s Milk came out, I saw them live in 1989 in Houston. They were popular, but not that much because I remember getting up close.

This documentary provided just the right amount of nostalgia mixed with new information to keep me engaged throughout. John Frusciante came in towards the end. At first I found it strange they didn’t bring in Chad Smith, but he probably didn’t know Hillel well, or at all.

Overall, it’s a show worth watching. If anything you’ll take a nice trip down memory lane and remember those days when you could actually afford to see the Chili Peppers live.