Musicians are born shortly after demonstrating their skills and talents on their instruments or vocals. After showing what they have, they get labeled according to genre categories, such as metal drummer, rock drummer, or funk drummer. It takes a while for the listener to understand and acknowledge the unique sound of each musician, but once their sound gets established, it is hard not to put one in a specific category.
While it may seem like music styles are utterly different from each other, and a musician’s career is established on a particular style, this can change over time. Music preferences are fluid, and genres are not necessarily a determining factor in one’s career. However, the case might be different for a drummer who is known worldwide. Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith surprised his fans by confessing that he would have loved to play for Black Sabbath in one of their heavy metal songs.
Chad Smith Has Always Wanted To Play In ‘Supernaut’
Released in 1972 ‘Supernaut’ was a huge source of inspiration for great names, including Beck Hansen, Frank Zappa, and John Bonham. These names knew what they were doing when they referred to the song as their favorite, as it became a teaching melody since its release. Especially its drum solo is often described as ‘out of this world’ thanks to Bill Ward’s inhuman strength on the instrument.
Chad Smith agreed with these icons in a 2015 interview with Music Radar. He confessed that he has always wanted to be a part of the song and play Ward’s drums even though he knew he wouldn’t be able to pull it off. The RHCP icon confessed, “I could never play that very well, but I like it,” and thus praised Ward’s unmatchable talents.
Smith’s fascination with Bill Ward’s playing was to such an extent that he thought there were two drummers playing in the recording of the song. To explain why he thought so, the rocker mentioned the Deep Purple song ‘Space Truckin’.’
He said, “I always thought that middle drum solo was two drummers. In ‘Space Truckin” by Deep Purple, there were two drum kits, and I could hear that.” However, when it came to ‘Supernaut,’ he was surprised to find out that there was only one drummer playing all the parts.
This aspect must have triggered and challenged Chad to learn and play this song, but as he mentioned in the conversation, he didn’t believe he could pull it off. So, it’s highly probable that he never even tried. Nonetheless, even though he has built a reputation as a funk rock drummer, Chad Smith’s love for heavy metal became apparent in this chat, which raised the question of whether he would make a good metal drummer.
