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NYT Syndicate

The Red Hot Chili Peppers learned during the past year that, even when things change, they can stay largely the same.
The group's latest album, 'The Getaway', is exactly that ” the quartet's first album without producer Rick Rubin since 1991. Even so, with fellow Grammy Award winner Danger Mouse taking the producer's seat, the album was still the Chili Pepper's seventh consecutive Top 5 album on the Billboard 200, debuting at No 2 when it was released in June.
"You know, you just make your records and those are stand-alone documents," drummer Chad Smith said, speaking by telephone from a tour stop in Minneapolis."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 Anthony (Kiedis) singing and everybody playing."
There was no dramatic reason for the change in producers, the 55-year-old Smith said.
"We had great success with Rick and we loved working with him," he emphasised."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 working with him.
"But this time around we felt like we were in danger of making just another rock album, 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 certainly brought a different flavour to 'The Getaway'. Using subtle ear candy, textures and special ambience while still maintaining the Chili Peppers' funky roots, he brought out a different kind of pop melodicism and more psychedelic flavours than the group has explored in the past, although they were certainly in the mix before.
A kind of chill assurance replaces frenetic fury as the Chili Peppers' dominant characteristic, though there's still some kinetic edge in tracks such as the messy This Ticonderoga and in Detroit, which pays homage to Smith's home town.
Smith said that Danger Mouse's recording process was significantly different from the band's approach during the previous 25 years.
"He challenged us to use the studio as a writing tool, which we've never really done in the past," the drummer explained."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 we could.
"This time we just really surrendered ourselves to his method," Smith said,"and it worked. We ultimately played the songs as a band, but at the beginning the writing process of it was really different for us. We were really happy, right off the bat, with the way things were rolling, so we went with it."
So far 'The Getaway' has spawned the singles Dark Necessities, Go Robot and Sick Love, the last of which features a well-publicised guest appearance by Elton John on a tune that incorporates some of the melody of his 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," the drummer said,"and he said, 'Yeah, I'll come down.' We've met him a few times, and he's a fan ” he says."
The session was smooth, though Smith described John as"nervous" at first ” but only at first.
"As soon as he sits down at the piano and plunks his chubby little ringed fingers on that piano, it's Elton John," Smith said."You just hear it, no matter what he plays, and it's so ... cool. He ran through it twice, and there it was.
"And then, after we played, he was super comfortable," the drummer concluded."We just chatted in the control room about everything for an hour ” art and music and politics and whatever. It was a blast and, obviously, such an honour to have him playing our music."
Now the Chili Peppers' focus is, likewise, on playing their music, new and old alike. The group started touring to support 'The Getaway' last summer, and Smith expects the group to be on the road into 2018.
"It's going great, man," reported the drummer, who also is hosting a new PBS music-and-travel show, 'Landmarks Live in Concert', which will start airing in June."We're having a blast. People are coming. It's amazing. I think now we're really playing at a really high level, as humbly as I can say about our little band that we take so seriously.
"We've been on the road about six months," he said,"and we're hitting a good groove. The new songs are fitting right in, and people start cheering and it's a good feeling. We can't ask for any more, you know?"
Those fans, of course, will always ask for new music, and the Chili Peppers tend to take their time getting it to them. 'The Getaway' was the group's first new album in five years, which has been their usual pace for the past 25 years. Next time, though, Smith hopes for something to emerge a bit sooner.
"I think we really want to get back at it," the drummer said,"because it was really fun making ('The Getaway'). I'm not going to say for sure, but I wouldn't be surprised if we worked with (Danger Mouse) again, because it was a real positive experience for everybody. It's a ways off, but we'll keep going.
"What else am I going to do, man?"
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23/02/2017
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