What Is This? was a rock band that originated in Fairfax High School in California and would play numerous shows along the coast of California. It was formed by guitarist Hillel Slovak, drummer Jack Irons, vocalist Alain Johannes, and bassist Todd Strassman. What Is This? released their debut EP Squeezed in 1984 and its only full-length studio album What Is This? plus another EP 3 Out of 5 Live in 1985. After this, the band broke up. Their song, “Mind My Have Still I” from Squeezed, was also featured on the soundtrack to the movie The Wild Life. Their second album, which featured a cover of the Spinners hit “I'll Be Around”, was produced by Todd Rundgren, who also played Fairlight Synthesizer on the record. “I'll Be Around” was released as a single and video; it peaked at No. 62 on the Billboard Hot 100. (More from Wikipedia)
Jack Irons and Alain Johannes were part of the coterie where the band Red Hot Chili Peppers was born. RHCP founding members Hillel Slovak (guitar) and Jack Irons (drums) were in a high school band in Los Angeles that was eventually called What Is This?, along with Alain Johannes (vocals) and Todd Strassman (bass). (The name is taken from the reaction they noticed by many people when they heard the band). A third founding member of RHCP, Michael Balzary, better known as Flea was the bassist in What Is This? for a time, but he later joined the punk rock band Fear (and began making numerous appearances as an actor); also, Anthony Kiedis was serving as a roadie and "hype-man" for What Is This?.
Meanwhile, Hillel Slovak and Jack Irons were still members of What Is This?; Slovak in particular was not initially ready to cast his lot with Red Hot Chili Peppers. What Is This? was signed with MCA Records at about the same time that Red Hot Chili Peppers was jointly signed by EMI America Records and Enigma Records. The debut EP by What Is This?, Squeezed was released in 1984, with Chris Hutchinson playing bass; after that, Hillel Slovak went back to Red Hot Chili Peppers and played on their next two albums.
In the following year (1985), What Is This? released their only full-length album, What Is This? plus a live EP, 3 out of 5 Live. After that, What Is This? broke up, and Jack Irons returned to Red Hot Chili Peppers also. According to Wikipedia, the band's third album, The Uplift Mofo Party Plan (1987) is the only Red Hot Chili Peppers album to feature all four original members – Hillel Slovak, Jack Irons, Flea and Anthony Kiedis – on each track.
While What Is This? was working on their album, Alain Johannes met Natasha Shneider, and they immediately clicked musically. She joined What Is This? shortly thereafter.
* * *
The two are better known for their work with Eleven, a hard rock trio that formed in 1990 when Jack Irons (drums) joined Alain Johannes (vocals, guitar, sitar, horns) and Natasha Shneider (vocals, keyboards, bass) of Walk the Moon; this band was also a partial reunion of What Is This?. Eleven have opened for major bands like Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Queens of the Stone Age, and Candlebox.
(April 2015/1)
