Chili Peppers to Get Cooking on New Album

Three years have passed since the Red Hot Chili Peppers released their last studio album, the Rick Rubin-produced double-whammy 'Stadium Arcadium.' While it's been two years since they announced their indefinite hiatus due to exhaustion, it's not like the SoCal rockers haven't been busy.

Frontman Anthony Kiedis became a father and a vegan. Flea enrolled in music theory classes at USC, began work on a solo album featuring Patti Smith and introduced the world to the "Fleabass." John Frusciante dropped his 10th solo release, the concept album, 'The Empyream,' this past January. And drummer Chad Smith joined forces with Joe Satriani, Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar to form the supergroup Chickenfoot. Smith will also release the debut album with his other side project, Chad Smith's Bombastic Meatbats, on September 15. Seeing as RHCP's exhaustion has worn off, next up would be an end to the band's indefinite hiatus.

"Everybody was like, 'Y'know, I really like having this time off, not being a Chili Pepper and doing other things,'" Smith told Billboard. "It'll be two years in September, so now we're ready. You can't force people to play when they don't want to play or aren't ready to play or whatever -- not in our band, anyway."

The band plans on heading back into the studio to "do a lot of improvising and jamming" this October. "That's what we usually do. I don't know why it would be different," Smith said about writing what will be their 10th studio album. Although it's too premature for any new album details, Smith didn't shy away from the idea of having Rubin, who has his tag on the five previous Chili Pepper album jackets, back as producer, saying he "always ends up being the guy ... But we haven't discussed it."