What made the Red Hot Chili Peppers want to put out 18 unreleased songs between next month and January? According to drummer Chad Smith, the answer is simple: “They’re just really good songs and they just need to come out.”

“We just wanted them to come out because we just really like them,” Smith explained to Billboard in a recent interview. “We didn’t want them to get lost, so we’re gonna put them out, mainly for our fans. They would’ve waited for the Warner Bros. box set in, like, 2020, if there’s even a record company around then. I’m glad they’re going to see the light of day because it’s an important part of the band and what we were doing at the time.”

Smith described the sessions for the band’s last album, ‘I’m With You,’ as a creative high point. “We’re OKing [songs] for the mixes, and I’m like, ‘That one! I forgot about that one! That one’s really good!’ So it’s really cool to hear these again and know they’re going to get out there.”

And as if that weren’t enough, Smith also went on to reveal that the band still has leftover material from jam sessions that took place while singer Anthony Keidis was recuperating following foot surgery. “Those are just waiting,” he said of the tracks. “We’ll go back to those when we start writing again, I’m sure — or not. We’re just always trying to come up with new stuff; usually the latest and greatest is what we use, but you never know. If there’s something that’s really good or if Anthony’s really connected to any of them, that sometimes has something to do with it, so we’ll see.”

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