Cave’s comments about the Los Angeles funk-rockers have circulated as something of a punchline for roughly 25 years now. Though their exact origins appear to have been lost to time, the quote is often attributed to Cave as, “I’m forever near a stereo saying, ‘What the fuck is this garbage?’ And the answer is always ‘The Red Hot Chili Peppers.’”

There’s a famous Nick Cave quote that gets passed around whenever anyone wants to dismiss the music of a certain long-running Los Angeles funk-metal act: “I’m forever near a stereo saying, ‘What the fuck is this garbage?

Nick Cave explains how his Red Hot Chili Peppers diss became a meme and how he and Flea have since become friends.