Rick Rubin
In addition to being a podcast host, Frederick Jay “Rick” Rubin is an American record producer and former co-president of Columbia Records. Along with Russell Simmons, he is the co-founder…
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Today we have the final interview in our month-long series with the Red Hot Chili Peppers in celebration of their new album, Unlimited Love, produced by Rick Rubin. There’s only one Chili Pepper left — it’s Mr. “I eat-drums-for-breakfast” himself, Chad Smith, on the podcast today.
Chad has always been a bit of an outlier in the band, he’s the only member who isn’t from L.A. He’s from the suburbs of Detroit and he was reared more on classic rock than punk like the rest of the band. But Chad is an integral member of the Peppers. His hard hitting style is the band’s foundation. And as we’ll hear him tell Rick, Chad fell in love with the Chili Peppers the day he auditioned for them close to 35 years ago.
On today’s episode of the podcast, Chad Smith and Rick Rubin talk about the lost demo sessions the Chili Peppers recorded nearly a year before they made Blood Sugar Sex Magik. Chad also talks about how “Californication” started out as what he calls “a bad reggae song.” And he remembers the time he and Flea got chased—nearly naked—by cops in Green Bay.
Hear a playlist of all of our favorite Red Hot Chili Peppers songs HERE.
The Hosts
Malcolm Gladwell
Malcolm Gladwell is president and co-founder of Pushkin Industries. He is a journalist, a speaker, and the author of six New York Times bestsellers including The Tipping Point, Blink, Outliers,…
Justin Richmond
Justin Richmond is producer and co-host of the music podcast Broken Record with writer Malcolm Gladwell, New York Times editor Bruce Headlam, and music producer—and Def Jam co-founder—Rick Rubin. Justin…
Bruce Headlam
Bruce Headlam is one of the co-creators of the music podcast Broken Record. He worked at The New York Times for 19 years, including two years running the 50-person Video…
