Chili Peppers enjoying return to the road as their music continues to evolve
Eight months into their “Getaway World Tour,” the Red Hot Chili Peppers couldn’t be happier with the reception they’re receiving.
“We’re having a blast,” drummer Chad Smith said by phone. “I think we’re really playing at a really high level — as humbly as I can say about our little band that we take so seriously.”
“The Getaway,” released in June, marked the
quartet’s first album in five years and the first since 1991 without producer Rick Rubin.
Still, with Grammy winner Danger Mouse in the producer’s seat, the album became the Chili Pepper’s seventh consecutive Top 5 album on the Billboard 200, debuting at No. 2.
“You know, you just make your records and those are standalone documents,” Smith said. “You want those to be the best that they can be — and always changing and growing. We really challenged ourselves. It’s a little different for us, but it still sounds like the Chili Peppers; you’ve got (lead vocalist) Anthony (Kiedis) singing and everybody playing.”
The tour — including a stop next Sunday at Value City Arena has featured a blend of new and old, Smith said.
“The new songs are fitting right in, and people start cheering and it’s a good feeling.”
Besides Smith and Kiedis, the band includes bassist Michael Balzary (“Flea”) and lead guitarist Josh Klinghoffer.
Smith, 55, said there was no dramatic reason for switching producers.
“We had great success with Rick, and we loved working with him,” he said. “We’ve discussed other people in the past, but we always come back to Rick because he’s just so great and we’re so comfortable with him.
“But this time around, we felt like we were in danger of ... maybe sounding the same, and we really felt like it was time to work with somebody else and see what happened.”
Danger Mouse — whose credits include work with the Black Keys, Gorillaz and his own groups, Gnarls Barkley and Broken Bells — brought a distinct flavor to “The Getaway.” Using subtle ear candy, textures and special ambience while still maintaining the Chili Peppers’ funky roots, he produced a different kind of pop melodicism and more psychedelic tastes than group members have explored in the past.
A kind of chill assurance replaces frenetic fury as the Chili Peppers’ dominant characteristic, although there’s still some kinetic edge in tracks such as the messy “This Ticonderoga” and “Detroit,” which pays homage to Smith’s hometown.
Danger Mouse’s recording process, Smith said, differed greatly from the band’s approach of the previous 25 years.
“He challenged us to use the studio as a writing tool,” the drummer said. “We’ve
done most of our writing, and production stuff and arrangements and song ideas, prior to going into the studio — so when we would get in there, it was just a matter of capturing the best performance.
“This time, we just really surrendered ourselves to his method, and it worked. We ultimately played the songs as a band, but at the beginning, the writing process was really different. We were really happy, right off the bat, with the way things were rolling, so we went with it.”
“The Getaway” has spawned the singles “Dark Necessities,” “Go Robot” and “Sick Love” — with the last featuring a well-publicized guest appearance by Elton John on a tune incorporating some of the melody of John’s classic “Benny and the Jets” (1974).
“Anthony was singing this melody, and the verse had that little ‘Benny and the Jets’ kind of vibe, but we were like: ‘Whatever. It sounds good,”’ Smith recalled. “Then (Danger Mouse) maybe mentioned having (John) sing that part or something, and we were like, ‘Let’s call Elton up and have him come down and do something on it.’
“It was around when he does his big (party) around the Academy Awards, and he was in town — and he said, ‘Yeah, I’ll come down.’”
Smith expects the group to remain on the road into 2018.
As for its next album, the band is eager to produce something more quickly — perhaps with Danger Mouse again.
“We really want to get back at it because it was really fun making (“The Getaway”),” he said.
Smith is also hosting a PBS music-and-travel show, “Landmarks Live in Concert,” which is set to air in mid-June.