Why Red Hot Chili Peppers Hated Chad Smith at His Audition

Red Hot Chili Peppers didn’t assume a lot of Chad Smith when he auditioned for the band in 1988.

At the time, the group was in a state of flux. Guitarist Hillel Slovak had died of a heroin overdose, with John Fruscunte recruited to switch him. Meanwhile, drummer D.H. Peligro had been fired, and the band held open auditions to switch him. The turnout was lower than inspiring.

“I thought, ‘Oh, this is the Chili Peppers. We’re not going to have any problem at all getting a new drummer,’” producer Michael Beinhorn, who was working with the band at the time, recalled in a current interview with YouTuber Rick Beato. “[But] I have never seen a more lackluster group of drummers under one roof in my entire life.”

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The last drummer to audition was Smith, who, in keeping with Beinhorn, walked in “like he personal[ed] the place.”

“And all of us hate him instantly,” the producer recalled. “Everyone simply seems at him and goes like, ‘This fucking guy. What a prick!’”

‘Play Your Drums, Get the F–k Out’

The band immediately judged Smith for both his attitude and his attire.

“He looks like he belongs in a metal band,” Beinhorn explained. “He’s got a bandana around his head and stuff like that. Just so not right. And I’m just thinking to myself, I just want this guy to go. What’s your name? Chad? Perfect name. Play your drums, get the fuck out.”

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Of course, the mood in the room changed as soon as Smith got behind the kit.

“From the first hit I was like, ‘Oh my God,’” the producer confessed. “He was so good. He was SO good. And one thing occurred in that room that I’ve solely skilled a number of instances in my life, prefer it actually felt like some power portal had opened… It actually felt like a complete bunch of doorways had opened, like a magic incantation had been recited and all the things simply [fell into a place] like that in a film… Everything shifted. It was unimaginable.”

According to Beinhorn, Anthony Kiedis, Flea and Frusciante recognized that Smith was “not only the best drummer that they’ve auditioned, he’s probably the best drummer they’ve ever played with in their entire lives. They knew what they were dealing with and the vibe was so incredible. It was so good, you couldn’t deny it.”

Smith’s first album with Red Hot Chili Peppers, Mother’s Milk, was launched in 1989. He’s performed on the entire band’s releases ever since.