Chad Smith

Chad Smith
Smith in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Chadwick Gaylord Smith
Born	(1961-10-25) October 25, 1961 Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States
Genres	Funk rock, alternative rock, funk metal, experimental rock, hard rock, heavy metal, jazz-funk
Instruments	Main: drums Occasional: piano, guitar
Years active	1980–present
Associated acts	Red Hot Chili Peppers, Chickenfoot, Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats, Glenn Hughes, HSAS,The Avett Brothers, Toby Redd

Chadwick Gaylord "Chad" Smith (born October 25, 1961^[1][2][3]) is an American musician, best known as the longtime and current drummer of Red Hot Chili Peppers, whom he joined in 1988. Smith is also the drummer of the hard rock band Chickenfoot and the all-instrumental outfit Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats. As one of the most highly sought-after drummers, Smith has recorded with Deep Purple vocalist Glenn Hughes, Kid Rock, Jake Bugg, The Dixie Chicks, Jennifer Nettles, Johnny Cash, and The Avett Brothers, to name a few.

In 2010, Smith released Rhythm Train, a critically acclaimed children's album which he recorded with Dick Van Dyke and Leslie Bixler.^[4] In April 2010, MTV named Rhythm Train one of the best children's records of all time.^{[citation needed]}

Music career

Smith was born on October 25, 1961, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, but spent most of his childhood in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. Anthony Kiedis admired Smith and found his persistence pretty impressive.^[5] Smith joined the Chili Peppers in December 1988 and within a few months was recording his first album with the band, Mother's Milk. Smith reflected on joining the band in a 2012 interview by saying “I remember thinking, ‘Oh, cool, they have a record deal. Great! I’d love to be in a band that has a record deal. We started playing, and right away we just hit it off musically. I was like, ‘Man, this is a blast! These guys are great!’ … We were just doing what we do. We just jammed, which is what we still do today. It’s very similar.”^[6]

In 2007, Smith, along with fellow Glenn Hughes alumni, guitarist Jeff Kollman and keyboardist Ed Roth, formed an all-instrumental band inspired by their shared love of 1970s funk and fusion. Still unnamed at the time, the group, rounded out by bassist Kevin Chown, debuted at the 2008 NAMM show in Anaheim, California. The band has released two studio albums and a double live disc as Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats since its inception.^[7]

In 2008, while still on break from the Chili Peppers, Smith joined the hard rock supergroup Chickenfoot, whose other members are Sammy Hagar, Joe Satriani and Michael Anthony. The group has released two studio albums and a live album to date.

In 2008, Smith was also a judge for the 7th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers.

In 2011, due to touring commitments with the Chili Peppers, Smith was unable to tour with Chickenfoot and was temporarily replaced by Kenny Aronoff although Smith still remains a member of the band and plans to record more music with them during the next break away from the Chili Peppers.

In August 2011, the Chili Peppers released I'm with You, their tenth studio album, the seventh with Smith. The band expected to be on the road until at least 2013 supporting the album although Smith said a new album isn't expected until at least late 2013. In April 2012, the band was inducted by Chris Rock into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

On May 16, 2012, Smith rejoined Chickenfoot for a four-song encore at the Orpheum in Boston, Massachusetts.

In March 2012, Smith released The Chad Smith Drum App, which is free mobile application for iPhone, iPad and Android devices and features his "Drummer GPS". The GPS section of the app spotlights drummers Smith has been influenced by and those he regards as some of the best drummers around today. The Chad Smith Drum App has received great praise from both fans and from fellow drummers.^{[citation needed]}

Smith and the Chili Peppers will wrap up their I'm With You World Tour in April 2013. The band will take a break before writing music for their eleventh studio album, which Smith said will be around September 2013.

In April 2013, Smith was asked by NAMM, the National Association of Music Merchants, to represent the music community by going to Washington, D.C. as a lobbyist in support of music education in US public schools. While in DC, Smith had the opportunity to meet with congressional leaders and share his experience as a student who learned his craft entirely within the public school system. Smith has since been invited back to lobby in April 2014 in support of public school music education.

In May 2013, Smith launched In Conversation with Chad Smith, his own podcast through MusicRadar where he interviews other musical artists.^[8]

Smith joined Sammy Hagar in the studio to work on music for his twelfth studio album. They were joined by guitarist Neal Schon and bassist Michael Anthony and according to Hagar it was the rebirth of his 1980s band HSAS, which featured Schon and two other members.^[9]

In May 2013, Spin Magazine named Chad as #10 on their list of the 100 Greatest Drummers of Alternative Music.^[10] In June 2013, the readers of UK-based Rhythm magazine ranked Smith and Red Hot Chili Pepper bassist Flea the fourth-greatest rhythm section of all time.^[11]

Personal life

Smith is married to architect Nancy Mack, with whom he has three children.^{[citation needed]} In addition, Smith has a daughter from a previous marriage and two other children.^{[citation needed]}

He is an active supporter of a number of non-profit organizations including Surfer's Healing, SeriousFun Network, MusiCares, Silverlake Conservatory of Music, Guitar Mash NY and Camp Korey.^{[citation needed]}

Smith lives in Malibu, California.^{[citation needed]}

He is also known for his strong resemblance to actor and comedian Will Ferrell, which he has capitalized on by wearing shirts reading "I Am Not Will Ferrell" in live performances. Smith claims that they first met in a food line in a cinema. Ferrell looked him up and down, said "you're very handsome," and immediately left. Smith recently challenged Will Ferrell to a drum battle to shut him up.

Equipment

Chad's Pearl Acrylic kit:

• 12x8 tom
• 14x14 floor tom
• 16x16 floor tom
• 24x16 kick drum
• 14×5 Pearl Ultracast Snare or a 14x6 Pearl Sensitone Elite
• 14x6 acrylic Free Floating snare (auxiliary snare)
• 6x12 acrylic rocket tom
• 6x13 acrylic rocket tom
• 6x14 acrylic rocket tom
• 6x16 acrylic rocket tom
• Adams Professional tunable tympani

Note: Smith rarely uses his signature snare.

Sabian cymbals:

• 14" AAX-Celerator Hats,
• 21" AA Rock Ride,
• 20" AA Rock Crash,
• 19" AA Rock Crash,
• 21" AA Holy China,
• 10-inch AAX Splash

Vater Percussion sticks:

• Chad Smith Funk Blaster

Pearl hardware:

• C1000 straight stand × 5
• P2000C bass drum pedal
• H2000 hi-hat stand
• S2000 snare stand
• D1000S throne
• T2000 double tom stand
• B1000 boom stand
• AX20 adapter

Remo drumheads:

• Clear Powerstroke 4 (bass drum batter): 24-inch
• Clear Emperor (Bass Drum Resonant): 24"
• Clear Controlled Sound(Tom Batters): 12", 14", 16"
• Clear Ambassador (Tom Resonants): 12", 14", 16"
• Coated Controlled Sound X (Snare Batter): 14"
• Ambassador Hazy (Snare Side): 14"
• Coated Ambassador (Auxiliary Snare Batter): 14"
• Controlled sound (rocket toms)
• Renaissance (tympani)

Gon Bops Percussion:

• Red Rock Cowbell

Latin Percussion:

• Red Jam Block

Discography

Red Hot Chili Peppers

• Mother's Milk (1989)
• Sock-Cess (1989)
• Blood Sugar Sex Magik (1991)
• What Hits!? (1992)
• The Plasma Shaft (1994)
• Live Rare Remix Box (1994)
• Out in L.A. (1994)
• The Best of Red Hot Chili Peppers (1994)
• One Hot Minute (1995)
• Under the Covers: Essential Red Hot Chili Peppers (1998)
• Californication (1999)
• By the Way (2002)
• Greatest Hits (2003)
• Live in Hyde Park
• Stadium Arcadium (2006)
• iTunes Originals – Red Hot Chili Peppers (2006)
• George Clinton and His Gangsters of Love (2008) (features Chili Peppers on the song, "Let the Good Times Roll")
• 10 Great Songs (2009)
• Road Trippin' Through Time (2011)
• I'm with You (2011)
• Official Bootlegs (2011–2013)
• 2011 Live EP (2012)
• Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Covers EP (2012)
• I'm with You Sessions (2012–2013)
• I'm Beside You (2013)

·

Glenn Hughes

• Songs In The Key Of Rock (2003)
• Soulfully Live In The City Of Angels (2004)
• Soul Mover (2005)
• Music For The Divine (2006)
• First Underground Nuclear Kitchen (2008)

Chickenfoot

• Chickenfoot (2009)
• Chickenfoot III (2011)

Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats

• Meet The Meatbats (2009)
• More Meat (2010)
• Live Meat And Potatoes (2012)

Other appearances

• Toby Redd – In the Light (1986)
• Second Self – Mood Ring (1990)
• Session Man (TV short) (1991)
• Twenty Mondays – Twist Inside (1992)
• Queen Remix (1991)
• Wild Colonials – Fruit of Life (1994)
• General Clusterfunk – Starin' Straight at the Sun (1994)
• Various Artists – A Means to an End: The Music of Joy Division (1995)
• Original Soundtrack – Grace of my Heart (1996)
• Wayne Kramer – Dangerous Madness (1996)
• Thermadore – Monkey on Rico (1996)
• Howard Stern's Private Parts The Album (1997)
• Lili Haydn – Lili (1997)
• John Fogerty – Blue Moon Swamp (1997)
• Leah Andreone – Alchemy (1998)
• Fishbone – The Psychotic Friends Nuttwerk (2000)
• Various Artists – Loud Rocks (2000)
• Dave Navarro – Trust No One (2001)
• Johnny Cash – Unearthed (2003)
• Hughes Turner Project – HTP 2 (2003)
• Players - Clear The Decks (2003)
• John Frusciante – Shadows Collide With People (2004)
• Dixie Chicks – Taking The Long Way (2006)
• B'z – Ichibu to Zenbu/Dive (2009)
• Rhythm Train with Leslie Bixler, Chad Smith and Featuring Dick Van Dyke – (2010) ^[12]
• Paul Oakenfold – Pop Killer (2010)
• Kid Rock – Born Free (2010) ^[13]
• Flea - Helen Burns (2012)
• The Avett Brothers – The Carpenter (2012)
• Sammy Hagar – Sammy Hagar & Friends (2013)
• Steve Lukather - Transition

References

External links

• Red Hot Chili Peppers Official website
• Chad on Twitter
• Rhythm Train
• Guitarworld
• Chad Smith on Drum Channel
• Chad Smith Interview with Sonifly.com