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I just love to play and I get a chance to play with other musicians and I jump on it.
Chad Smith Chickenfoot -
Playing well with others is important - not being too flashy, just keeping good time and of course coming up with cool beats. A good snare drum, kick drum, high hat. Just getting good at the hand feet coordination.
Chad Smith Red Hot Chili Peppers
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I took a private lesson, but it didn't really work out, so I went back to playing along with records. That's really the thing that got me into playing a lot - getting excited about playing along with my favorite bands like Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.
Chad Smith Red Hot Chili Peppers -
I'm being a dad and a good husband.
Chad Smith Chickenfoot -
For live you need a microphone for the snare and the high hat, the kick drum, a nice stereo overhead and one for the toms - you can get away with using four mikes.
Chad Smith Red Hot Chili Peppers -
Drums all have their own particulars - each drum has a place where they sound the best - where they ring out and resonate the best, and the head surface isn't too loose or too tight, mainly so you get a good rebound off of the head.
Chad Smith Chickenfoot -
People who come up to me are drummers or fans of the band. I don't get it too much, but I'll be somewhere and someone will have me take a picture or something.
Chad Smith Red Hot Chili Peppers -
There's something about the rawness of the live thing, there's no rhythm guitars behind the solo, nothing other than what you hear the people playing at that moment. It's exciting, it's about the performance.
Chad Smith Chickenfoot
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Jazz can be so serious, no sense of humor.
Chad Smith Chickenfoot -
I met the guys through a friend of a friend, and their former drummer had quit. I wasn't too familiar with the Chili Peppers before that, so I joined at the end of 88' and we finished recording Mother's Milk at the end of 89', next thing I know I'm in Spin with a sock.
Chad Smith Red Hot Chili Peppers -
I just try to approach and serve the music in the way that I think is right for the band I'm in at the time.
Chad Smith Chickenfoot -
Edible names are what drives me as a musician. My next band will be called the Hot Dogs.
Chad Smith Red Hot Chili Peppers -
I had sort of exhausted all the avenues playing in Detroit. So again, through the stewardship of my brother, I ended up in California and went to the Musicians Institute in L.A. I wanted to get better as a player.
Chad Smith Red Hot Chili Peppers -
The Meatbats are a throwback band.
Chad Smith Red Hot Chili Peppers
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We always feel pretty creative as far as writing songs. We write them together; we just get in a room, or on occasion in Flea's garage. We just sort of improvise, like jazz musicians.
Chad Smith Red Hot Chili Peppers -
Flea and Anthony are into funk, like old school Meters and stuff like that.
Chad Smith Red Hot Chili Peppers -
I'm a little more of a lead instrument in the Meatbats.
Chad Smith Chickenfoot -
Family time is really important to me.
Chad Smith Red Hot Chili Peppers -
In some of the L.A. clubs, people can act too cool to get into your music. That can get to be a bit much.
Chad Smith Red Hot Chili Peppers -
Going up north with the redwoods and driving along the coast, it's got everything, man. It's got the desert, the mountains, and the ocean. It's beautiful.
Chad Smith Chickenfoot
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That's really the thing that got me into playing a lot - getting excited about playing along with my favorite bands like Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.
Chad Smith Red Hot Chili Peppers -
I was in every band class I could get in, like after school jazz band and marching band, and that's where I really learned to read music from elementary all the way through junior high and high school.
Chad Smith Chickenfoot -
The Chili Peppers do a lot of improvising, but it's within the framework of song structures. The Meatbats is from a purely instrumental standpoint. But when you hear the term 'instrumental music' you think it's real serious stuff and everybody's playing a million notes and it's about playing fast. That's not what we do.
Chad Smith Red Hot Chili Peppers -
I'm a musician. It's what I do! I wouldn't be too good at anything else.
Chad Smith Chickenfoot