Chad Smith – HuffPost 8.20.12

Mike Ragogna: You being a musician, being famous, etc., what keeps you creative and pushes you to continue?

Chad Smith: I got really fortunate from an early age. At seven years old, I found my passion, which is to play music and play the drums. I always loved it and I always wanted to play, learn and grow. I was a curious little critter. I played sports too, like a lot of the other kids, but when high school came around at 15, I was all about music and drums. I just continued that path and wanted to learn more about playing music. It was all-consuming to the point that I barely even graduated from high school. I just wanted to be professional and play right away; I knew it’s what I wanted to do. For many years, I played at clubs in Detroit and made 165 bucks a week playing 3 sets a night, 6 nights a week, traveling all over the greater Detroit area. I loved it and knew it’s what I wanted to do. I had a yearning to learn and grow, change, and get better. It’s really satisfying. As an artist, you must change and grow and seek out new things to inspire you and challenge you and help you grow on your instrument. You’re never done. When you say, “That’s it, I’m good enough, I’ve got my thing”…it’s great to have your thing on your instrument, but to not want to continue to challenge yourself, I think, you’re dead in the water. To me, that’s not fun anymore. It’s fun to explore new things, whether it’s things in life, music, movies or art…whatever it is. I’m a sponge and I take it in and it comes out through my instrument. Fortunately, I have a way to express myself and I want to keep doing it because it makes me happy. Luckily, sometimes people say “Wow, that’s pretty good, I like it too.”

MR: You’ve already touched on this in your last answer, but do you have any advice for new artists?

CS: Wherever you are, do your thing and do it with all of your heart, love, and open honesty you possibly can. Listen to everything. Steal from everybody. It’s not going to sound like them. I listened to Led Zeppelin and I love John Bonham but I’m never going to sound like that guy. It would be like me doing a poor imitation. Go to stuff you really love and eat it up. Then go to stuff you don’t love and don’t understand it–like why does everyone love George Jones or Hank Williams or Bob Marley? Even if it’s not your thing, check it out, because there’s always something good you can learn to make yourself a better musician. Be well-rounded. I wish I was more well-rounded at an earlier age. I stuck to that real rock because that other stuff was more challenging for me, but once I got turned on to great jazz drummers like Elvin Jones and Tony Williams and Billy Cobham…I would never be playing like I do now or for the Meatbats or the Chili Peppers. Soak everything up. It’s out there more and more with social media and, in general, with our media-driven culture, good and bad. If I could have seen my favorite drummer playing on YouTube when I was 10 years old, I would have been freaking out. I just listened to records. There’s so much stuff out there and so much information. It’s really great. Find some like-minded people and make some music just to make it. You’ll be a happier human being because of it.

MR: You might just say that new artists should always be moving on to “Higher Ground.”

CS: Yeah, Stevie (Wonder) said that. Just find other people where you are who are into the idea of wanting to create and be creative people, whatever it is. Be hot where you’re at and have fun at it, especially when you’re young. It should be really fun.