Carlos Santana & Chad Smith: Where Music Becomes Meaning
In this Drum Channel conversation, Carlos Santana and Chad Smith sit down to talk about what lies beyond technique. From the stage to the studio, they explore how music is a force that uplifts both players and listeners.
Click here for the full interview and video.
Carlos Santana: I love drummers. Drummers uplift you. They remind you of grace, imagination, and energy. We all need to be needed. And I love when someone says, ‘I need you to play this song,’ because that song meant something in their life.
As musicians, we have to be present, take it as far as we can, and then celebrate it. That inner child, that innocence, we all have it. It’s like fireworks on the Fourth of July. You know it’s building to something.
A solo is the same way. You build toward that emotional crescendo, that explosion of feeling and color. That’s what people remember.
But to create something outside of time, you can’t think. The moment you think, you’re out of it. Thinking is tied to time. I want what’s beyond that.
When someone says, ‘You touched me in a place I’ve never been touched before,’ that’s the highest compliment.
Chad Smith: Not every performance gets there. But when it does, when everything locks in, it’s magical.
People have memories tied to songs. When you play those songs live and connect in the moment, it becomes something new. That’s the beauty of music. It brings you back while also creating something fresh right in front of you.
Carlos Santana: Wayne Shorter called it ‘completely new, totally familiar.’ Everyone, even non-musicians, has a forgotten song inside them. Musicians help them remember it. A plumber, a brain surgeon, everyone has that song. Music activates it. It helps people remember their purpose.
Miles Davis could make people who were high feel sober, and people who were sober feel high. Music operates on a molecular level. It rearranges something inside us. That’s what chills are. That’s what crying or laughing is.
When you see people air drumming or air guitaring, that’s the barometer. That’s how you know it’s working. And for me, I need to see people moving, especially women dancing. That tells me we’re connected. I need two things in every song: spirituality and sensuality. Those are what make people feel free.
All humans want to aspire to something greater. And when you inspire that in people, something powerful happens. Elvin Jones inspired me. When I was a kid, I told my mom I’d buy her a house, a refrigerator, and a dishwasher, and I did. I achieved what I set out to do quickly. But something was missing.
Then I started listening to George Harrison, Ravi Shankar, Coltrane, Mahalia Jackson, and Martin Luther King Jr. They showed me there’s something far more fulfilling than houses, cars, or platinum records. To find that, you have to risk everything. Sometimes you have to do what people don’t expect, even what they might call ‘career suicide,’ to follow what you truly feel.
Chad Smith: That’s so true. People chase surface things – cars, jewelry, but those don’t fulfill you. As musicians, we aspire to make our art. And when you have a hit, people want you to repeat it. But we’re not going to make the same record again. That’s not who we are. A record is a chapter in a book. Some people won’t like certain chapters, and that’s okay. That’s growth. Life changes, so the music has to change too.
Carlos Santana: Exactly. You have to be honest, genuine, and authentic. That’s the fuel. And you have to live life. It’s not complicated. Put the instrument down sometimes. Go outside. Feel the grass. Then, when you play, people hear your story, and it becomes their story too.
I love life right now. I’ve never felt clearer or more at ease. On my last tour, I learned how powerful it is to be at ease. When you stop overthinking, you create things that even surprise you.
Everything I read on this last tour pointed to the same thing: affirm grace. There’s no luck, chance, or fortune; there’s only flow. If you want abundance, appreciate what you already have.
Chad Smith: Gratitude is everything. People forget that. They get caught up in everything else and miss what’s right in front of them.
Carlos Santana: I’m grateful for your band, RHCP. When your band plays, you captivate people. You take them somewhere real. It’s like pure joy – no ego, no insecurity. Just presence. We can do the same, shake off doubt, fear, all of it.
Music is a gift.
I’ll leave you with something I learned this year from a woman named Thelma in St. Louis: It’s a blessing to be a blessing.
This was a small excerpt from an excellent discussion. You can check out the full conversation HERE.
