Chad Smith lived in New York for four years until this past spring. He managed to become buddies with Jon Batiste during his stay, and the two pumped out enough material for a new record.
The Process is due Nov. 4, and it delivers an eclectic mix of featured artists (Killah Priest, Garrison Hawk, Toshinori Kondo, Peter Apfelbaum and Dominic James) while forcing Smith and Batiste out of their boxes.
"I play very differently than I've ever played on a record," Smith told The Wondering Sound.
From TWS: Laswell pushed Smith away from his usual rock-funk drumming, while Batiste tends to play Wurlitzer, Fender Rhodes and Hammond B-3 organ here rather than his more familiar, New Orleans-infused piano.
Smith said the approach "makes you play differently and inspires you to come up with different ideas. It was really fun and inspiring."
TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe is the featured vocalist on "Drop Away," which you can check out below.
Tuesday has been big for Chili Peppers fans. Smith's news came after Rolling Stone released an interview with Flea, which provided details of RHCP's 2016 album.
"We had a new guitar player [Josh Klinghoffer] and it was a real feeling-out process with each other," he said about their 2011 record I'm with You. "We didn't want to play gigs with him until we'd made a new record. This time, it feels a lot better than the last one."
The band currently has 30 songs on tap, and Flea said the band will head to the studio soon to see which ones make the final cut.
"We've been writing and rehearsing, rolling up our sleeves, getting in the studio and doing it," he added. "We're nearly finished writing. We'll go in the studio sometime in the next couple of months."
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