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Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith offered an update on how returning guitarist John Frusciante is gelling now back with the band.

In December 2019, Red Hot Chili Peppers parted ways with guitarist Josh Klinghoffer — with Frusciante rejoining the group for the second time. Frusciante’s two previous stints in the group were marked by some of their biggest commercial successes.

Klinghoffer was in the Chili Peppers for a decade, playing on the band’s last two studio albums, 2011’s I’m With You and 2016’s The Getaway.

Ultimate-Guitar.com transcribed some of Chad Smith’s recent chat with SiriusXM, in which he shed light on what the Chili Peppers’ have been up to since Frusciante’s return: “He’s back in the group, and it’s really exciting and fun, and we just kind of picked up where we left off. We’ve known each other for so long — obviously, 30-plus years — so it’s like putting on a nicely well-worn pair of shoes that feel really good. And you get back in there and it’s comfortable and a little bit different, but still we’re doing our thing. So it’s been really fun.”

When talking about the long-awaited followup to the band’s 2016 album, The Getaway, Smith explained, “There’s been no hurry, with what’s happened over the last year or so. So, we’ve been kind of taking our time, and we have lots of new music, and we’re very excited about it. And when it’s done, it’s done, and we’ll put it out, and we’ll go play some concerts next year. We look forward to being in front of people again, like, everybody wants to be so badly — us included. Not only having new music to play, but also we just wanna play live. And that’s such an important part of life’s experiences and certainly of being a band.”

Smith said that live work is still a high priority for the Peppers: “It’s really important to us. We were gonna play last summer. But we want it to be safe for everyone and a really good experience for everyone, so we pushed everything off, but we’re coming back, and it’s gonna be great.”

Chad Smith told us a while back why John Frusciante has been such an important part of the Chili Peppers over the years: “He’s really inspiring to play — he’s an inspiring person. He’s amazing. He’s just all about music and art all day long and all night. It’s just what he lives for. It’s just really inspiring to be around somebody like that.”