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Chad Smith

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For other uses, see Chad Smith (Disambiguation).
Chad Smith

Chad Smith (born October 25, 1961 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA) is the drummer of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers. He joined the band after Jack Irons quit because of the distress and chaos over Hillel Slovak's death. In 1993, he released "Red Hot Rhythm Method", an educational video for aspiring drummers.

Biography

Smith grew up in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan and attended Andover High School and Lahser High School, graduating from Lahser in 1980. Whilst he was still at school, he ran away from home for a period of time. When he returned, his mother sent him to a boarding school. He then worked a series of jobs while playing in several bands, most starting with the letter T: Tilt, Tyrant, Terence and E-Trian. One of them, Toby Redd, put out a record; and opened for Kansas.

Later in his twenties, he moved to California, where his brother Brad lived, and ended up in Los Angeles where he joined the Red Hot Chili Peppers. According to Anthony Kiedis' autobiography Scar Tissue and Flea's notes on Mother's Milk reissue, after Smith's first audition for the band, Kiedis told him he was allowed to join the band if he would shave his head, to test Smith's devotion to the band, but mostly because of Kiedis' dislike of Smith's more conformitive Rock & Roll hair style (which Kiedis' likened to a Guns N' Roses look; long hair and a bandana), as it didn't mesh with the band's punk/funk, and Alternative image. Smith came back the next day with his hair still in a bandana, yet was allowed to stay as Kiedis found his obstinancy impressive, and according to Flea, they like his funk-groove drumming style. Smith's tenacity to keep his long hair was most likely due to Smith's discomfort with his receding hairline, thus clarifying the reason why he almost always wears a baseball cap.

Although he is mainly known as the drummer for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Smith's drumming is featured on over a hundred albums, not including those recorded with Red Hot Chili Peppers. He has also toured the world extensively performing drum clinics, and recently did a series of clinics with one of his drumming heroes, Deep Purple's Ian Paice. Chad is currently developing a side project called "Chickenfoot" with former Van Halen members Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony.[1]

Personal life

He was married in 1994 to Maria St. John and while together they had one child: Manon St. John (1997). He has three other children: Justin (1998), Ava (2000) and Cole (2005). The two divorced but he has since remarried to an architect named Nancy on May 8, 2006 in Hopetown, Abacos, Bahamas. When not onstage or in the studio Smith enjoys scuba diving, baseball, basketball, and riding his Harleys (he owns a black Road King that he has personally done modifications on, and in a 2006 interview with Modern Drummer magazine, said that his 2003 100th Anniversary issue Soft Tail was his "main mode of transportation"). He also lives in a 1929 Spanish house that Cary Grant and Randolph Scott lived in together from 1932 to 1936. Ex-Deep Purple bassist Glenn Hughes recorded an album in Chad's "home studio" in late 2005 - early 2006.

Chad Smith's Equipment

The kit presently used by Chad Smith is a typical example of a Rock drum setup. He currently endorses Pearl Drums and Sabian Cymbals, and uses a new custom Pearl CeeLite drum kit when performing live. He has also helped design the new Pearl Reference Series kit, which he used to record the Red Hot Chili Peppers latest studio album Stadium Arcadium. He also has made with Pearl his own signature snare drum. The Chad Smith Signature Snare is a 14x5” inch snare which has a Black Nickel Plated Shell. Chad has also designed a number of signature cymbals with Sabian - the 18.5" “Chad Smith Explosion Crash” and the 20.5" “Chad Smith Explosion Crash.” Chad also endorses Vater drumsticks. He has a popular pair of signature sticks. The Chad Smith Funkblaster sticks have a unique shape wood tip which makes them stand out from Vater’s other signature sticks.

In 2005, Chad Smith helped Pearl develop the Pearl Reference Series drums. Chad used them to record the Red Hot Chili Peppers latest studio album, Stadium Arcadium. Later that year, Pearl and Cee-Lite created a drum kit incorporating Cee-Lite's lighting technology to illuminate his Pearl Masters kit on stage. Chad's new Pearl kit is wrapped with Cee-Lite's flat, flexible Light Emitting Capacitor (LEC) panels which can be programmed to dim, fade and flash. The kit features 6 ply 7.5 mm 100% aged maple shells with chrome hardware. Chad first played this kit on NBC's Saturday Night Live on the 5/6/2006.

The following are the Drumkits used by Chad Smith during the past 8 Years with the Red Hot Chili Peppers:

File:0702rhcpwall 03 1024.jpg
Chad's with new Cee-Lite Kit at the 2007 Grammys

Stadium Arcadium (2006-2007) Tour Kit:

    • Pearl Masters Custom (MRX) Drums and Sabian Cymbals:
    • Pearl Drums - Silver Sparkle, Piano Black or Custom Cee-Lite Special [2]
    • 12x10" Tom
    • 14x14" Floor Tom
    • 16x16" Floor Tom
    • 5x14" Pearl Sensitone Classic II Snare
    • 5x14" Pearl Masters Snare (with snare turned off)
    • 16x24" Bass Drum
    • 19" AA Medium Crash
    • 20" AA Rock Crash (Chad uses a 22" AA Rock Crash Live)
    • 21" AA Rock Ride
    • 14" AAX-Cellerator Hi-Hats
    • 19" AA China
    • 18" AA China
    • 10" AA Splash

Californication & By the Way (1999-2005) Tour Kit:

    • Pearl Masters Custom (MRX) Drums and Sabian Cymbals:
    • Pearl Drums - Blue Satin[3], Peacock Satin[4] or Silver Sparkle
    • 12x10" Tom
    • 14x14" Floor Tom
    • 16x16" Floor Tom
    • 5x14" Pearl Sensitone Snare or 5x14" DW Edge Snare
    • 16x24" Bass Drum
    • 19" AA Medium Crash or 18.5" Chad Smith Explosion Crash
    • 20" AA Rock Crash or 20.5" Chad Smith Explosion Crash
    • 21" AA Rock Ride or 21" Ed Shaugnessy Ride
    • 14" Flat Hats Top, AA Top for Bottom
    • 19" AAX or AA China
    • 10" AA Splash
    • Chad also uses Pearl Hardware, Remo Drum Heads and LP Percussion.
    • Chad also has used other snares in his time with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, he has used a variety of snares while recording, including a Ludwig Black Beauty used on Blood Sugar Sex Magik and Brady 5.5"x14" Jarrah Wood Model used when recording One Hot Minute and live from 1992 to 1997.
    • In late 2006, Chad added a side Snare Drum and another China to his Kit.

Selected Discography

Trivia

  • At 6'3 (191 cm), Chad is the tallest member of the Chili Peppers.[2]
  • He holds a world record for playing with a 308-piece drum kit.[3]
  • Chad was named the best drummer alive in a recent Doell & Ford Magazine writers poll.
  • During the 49th Annual Grammy Awards, Chad played drums with the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the eventual album of the year winners, the Dixie Chicks.
  • He is noted as looking very similar to actor Will Ferrell.
  • Chad is a smoker.
  • Chad cites Deep Purple drummer Ian Paice, Mitch Mitchell from The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Roger Taylor from Queen and Led Zeppelin's John Bonham as his primary influences.

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.vhnd.com/articles/070109-03.shtml
  2. ^ celebheights.com
  3. ^ [1]
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