Chad Smith: ‘It’s Horrible’ That the Military Uses Red Hot Chili Peppers Music for Torture
Drummer Chad Smith is outraged, and a little sickened, over a recently released report stating that the CIA employed a music loop featuring the Red Hot Chili Peppers as part of its interrogation of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay.
U.S. officials, speaking anonymously to Al Jazeera, confirmed the technique was used to break prisoners during the George Bush administration following the attacks of September 11, 2001.
"Our music is positive," Smith told TMZ, after a reporter broke the news to him outside of a restaurant. "It's supposed to make people feel good, so that's very upsetting to me. I don't like that at all."
The report specifically states that a suspect named Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn Abu Zubaydah was subjected to repeated music from the Chili Peppers while imprisoned between May and July of 2002. The specific song or songs was not identified.
A visibly upset Smith, still clearly coming to grips with the news, added: "It's a poor use of ... you shouldn't do that. You shouldn't be doing any of that s---. It's horrible. I just ate; I don't want to, like, throw up."
This particular interrogation tool, unfortunately, is not new. Previous reports have stated that songs by Metallica and Skinny Puppy have been simiarly used. In the latter case, Skinny Puppy threatened to file invoice the feds for "musical services."