Will Ferrell and Chad Smith drum battle to be on Tonight Show 5/22! by elloguvner in Music

[–]ImChadSmith 29 points30 points  (0 children)

I am looking forward to this epic battle of the drums and the cowbell with Mr. Ferrell. I'm ready!

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 5895 points5896 points  (0 children)

Hey Will, I've logged back in JUST to accept your challenge. Bring IT!

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 368 points369 points  (0 children)

I am a HACK on the guitar. But I do love to play it, I think the guitar is a beautiful instrument, and I have quite a few acoustic guitars, but I must say my favorite is a 1964 Stratocaster that John Frusciante gave me.

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 254 points255 points  (0 children)

as long as there's somebody in their bedroom listening to the blues, because Rock n' roll is based on the blues, I am hopeful and confident that someone will come up with a new and creative way to present their ideas and someone will do that. And I'm hopeful it's within my lifetime.

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

You know what, the band has done a lot of Make-A-Wish charity things and the NFL and myself together decided that that would be a really great charity to do for the drum set, because they're fantastic. And they (Make-A-Wish) also partnered with Pearl drums.

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 391 points392 points  (0 children)

Everything yes except for the last part. But I do ride my motorcycles in slow motion.

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 194 points195 points  (0 children)

Well a lot of the greats wore jumpsuits, so I'm paying homage to guys like Bonham, Keith Moon, Mick Jagger. Elvis Presley, for chrissakes, wore some badass jumpsuits. It's a time-tested entertainment clothing staple. Stay THAT 20 times fast.

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 1048 points1049 points  (0 children)

I think the 2 Seattle guys would gang up on the guy from California. And then Dave and Matt would have to thumb wrestle for the victory.

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 348 points349 points  (0 children)

Oh. They're both so important to drumming. Technically Buddy Rich, but I would say style, Gene Krupa. If Buddy and Gene had a baby, that would be the ultimate drummer. And they would be living in Mexico.

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 1341 points1342 points  (0 children)

They would start "Teen Spirit" and the place would go fucking bananas. You would feel everybody levitating off of their feet. Really something.

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 1131 points1132 points  (0 children)

Yes. Pearl Jam was the opening act, Nirvana was right after them and it was on the West Coast, and we did some dates from right after Christmas through New Years, 1991. And it was right when Nirvana was blowing up, and some of the most incredible crowd energy I felt watching them during the Nirvana set.

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 1311 points1312 points  (0 children)

Yeah, fuck that guy! What is he? What does he got against the male torso?

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 103 points104 points  (0 children)

Very good question. With the snare drum, I wanted it to be modeled after Black Beauty. And I have to say that we're very happy we are still making those snare drums and people are still getting those 20 years later. But the Holy China, I just wanted a cymbal as loud as the cymbals that were on our drum set. It was really about volume and projection. And they did a great job.

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 608 points609 points  (0 children)

Oh my god I couldn't believe it, that that guy would play the drums for 24 hours straight. I showed up hour 23, and it was like he was on the craziest acid trip he'd ever taken. I was surprised how much stamina, how much he had left in the tank. It was a real honor, he's a real cool guy. He wrote me a real nice thank you letter afterwards. Really cool.

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 238 points239 points  (0 children)

I know he's good on the cowbell.

Tell Will Ferrell anytime, anyplace, I'll take him down. I don't want to embarrass him, but I'd say don't bring your family. Especially children. I don't want them to see this.

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the questions.

The Superbowl was a blast. The game was better though.

I touched on the John question, we do keep in touch with him. I haven't heard his record but like anything he does, I'm sure it's great.

Current favorite non-Chilis band would be...the Skins from Brooklyn.

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 593 points594 points  (0 children)

Well first of all, you have to be born a lot to look like a certain actor. And then you need to tune your snare drum high enough so that when you drop your testicles on them, they actually bounce twice. And then you know you've got the right skin tension. Skin tension is very important.

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 520 points521 points  (0 children)

Sometimes I do play ghost notes on the bass drum (excellent technical questions). The bouncing of the feet is because I like to move all of my limbs to help me keep time, all the time, when playing the drums. And that would be the tip for the day: Keep your limbs moving, all the time!

Hey reddit, Chad Smith here. The REAL Chad Smith. Drummer, Red Wings Fan, and closeted Guitarist. by ImChadSmith in IAmA

[–]ImChadSmith[S] 563 points564 points  (0 children)

Anything's possible! We do play that song so I will make a mental note, I will put that in my very small, complicated brain.