Over the past few years, Chad Smith has probably patronized every Taco Bell from San Diego to Binghamton. So goes the life of a man who has dedicated his life to the cause of Rock and Roll. We're not talking about your grandpa's rock and roll, by the way. If you figure out a way to make the music heavier, let me know.

Chad recently spoke with XMFan while taking a much-needed break from a virtually nonstop touring schedule.

XMFan: Tell us where you grew up and when you became interested in music.

Chad: I grew up in Henderson, Nevada, which is a suburb of Las Vegas. My brother and me grew up with a lot of metal bands, good heavy music. We had the chance to see some bands like Pro-Pain, Testament, and Biohazard back in the day. Of course you'd usually start out with the Faith No Mores and Metallicas, then evolve into the heavier stuff -- we saw Pantera on the Vulgar Display Of Power tour and Sepultura on the Chaos A.D. tour and we were blown away. We both decided that's what we wanted to do, play heavy music. It just kinda evolved to where my brother, our old guitar player, and me got the band started, and it worked out that now I'm the last original member of the band. I've really enjoyed it -- love to travel, love to meet people and everything else that comes with it. I've been doing Hemlock since I was fifteen years old in high school playing around Vegas Valley, and then branching out to gigs in Arizona and California. It's a process of evolution where there's always room to grow.

XMFan: When did you first pick up the bass?

Chad: My uncle gave me my first bass guitar on Valentine's Day when I was thirteen years old. I clicked with it right away and just thought it was awesome. I think I learned to play the entire Appetite For Destruction album right away and learned some old Black Sabbath songs, along with some Metallica riffs.

Valentine's day, kinda cheesy. (Laughs)

XMFan: You started Hemlock back in 1993 during the peak of the "grunge" days. What was your opinion of popular music and the music industry at the time?

Chad: It was difficult back in the day for bands like Slayer because the media and radio stations would never really focus on this kind of music. Even ten years ago the band (Slayer) had already been out for a decade and still didn't get the kind of recognition I felt they should have. They had to build a die-hard fan base with fans that had to go out and search for that kind music. There has always been the problem of people being force fed the music radio stations are playing. As far as the general radio music scene back then, and even now to some degree, stations are finally starting to branch out and play more of the heavy stuff, but you still hear the Nickelbacks, Creeds and Godsmacks way more than the Slipknots.

I listen to everything -- once again that's one of the reasons I like satellite radio today, because it gives you options. I listen to everything from Portishead to Deicide, Neil Diamond to Slayer and everything in between, you know? All musicians should be open-minded to all kinds of music as long as it has creativity, heart and soul mixed into it. On satellite radio you'll hear Dying Fetus, Morbid Angel, Hatebreed. It's great to have a channel that plays them. Back in the grunge days I loved Smashing Pumpkins and Pearl Jam, but it was the metal that I was really in to. It was also cool then because much of the focus shifted from a band's image being the main focus back to the music. But I think that metal has always been kind of on the back burner compared to where it should be, and bands like Anthrax and Pantera didn't get the attention I felt they should have. Another cool thing about true metal is the bands have stayed true to their roots for the most part, while popular rock music has evolved from the hair bands to current day rap-rock.

XMFan: What's it like to be an indie band versus a band with label support?

Chad: We do it all on our own. We've been around for about twelve years now and have toured with some great bands like Slayer, Slipknot, Hatebreed, Chimaira, Danzig -- we even played with Snoop Dog and Cypress Hill at a show in Hollywood. A few years back our name was really starting to get known around the industry and we were getting ready to sign a deal with Roadrunner. Then September 11 happened and they seemed to change their focus on the kinds of bands they were looking for. So instead of sitting around and waiting for a handout, we'd rather just do it -- especially with the internet being there. It's almost easier to do it on your own in some ways anyhow.

We have been fortunate to play some huge shows, and try to rock just as hard every time we play. I used to get really bummed out that we weren't getting signed until I realized that labels come and go, but your fans will stick with you and be there for the next twenty years. There are still die-hard Judas Priest fans from back in the day because they have stayed true to who they are and to the music. I love going out and talking after the show and taking pictures with the fans to let them know we're thankful for them being there. We do all right financially when we go out on the road -- we don't make enough to buy mansions, houses, or cars, but the band keeps getting bigger every month. We take the money we do make and dump it back into the band. We took about $20K and self-financed our own recording, then duplicated and distributed it all on our own.

Local bands need to know there is hope out there even without a label. Most labels are really just a bank loan with distribution. Every bit of money a label gives you needs to be paid back with interest. You can get your own bank loan and a van and you're good to go, while giving yourself a chance to see the world without having to worry about a stupid piece of paper that was signed between you and some label. Also remember that most labels are going to want you to do what they feel will sell at the time. We want to do what we want to do without having all these crazy expectations, and because of all the legwork we have done on our own we feel we know what the fans are looking for. If you are just starting from scratch, a label will definitely take you to the next level -- but we've already surpassed that point in my opinion. I don't want to totally preach anti-label, because there are some connections that work out well, but we've managed to do a pretty good job on our own.

XMFan: Any favorite bass guitars?

Chad: I used to play an old Yamaha fretless that was pretty rad -- I liked playing it because you'd get a lot of "slanky" kinds of slides out of it. Recently, I've been rocking on the ESP B404. We got hooked up through ESP and my other bass really started to take a beating from being on the road and doing shows night after night. But since being endorsed by ESP they have been sending us free guitars, and the B404 is almost like the old bass I was used to playing. It's a good lighter weight so you can still jump around, but it's still heavy duty enough to get a good tone.

XMFan: What's it like being on the road?

Chad: I love traveling. I like getting out there on the road and doing shows and meeting people. Even when I'm not doing shows I still get the itch to go to that next town to see what's going on in the world. The fact that I can actually play music and get my art form out there, and hopefully influence a couple of kids to show them that there's more out there than just one way to do things, is very rewarding to me. Sometimes you'll get worn out on the road because of the lack of sleep -- you might go to bed at 4 a.m. because you're packing the trailer or waiting for the other guys who are still at the bar. Then you're off to the next town again. I probably book ninety-five percent of our dates and always try to hit a lot of the smaller towns that other bands don't hit. Those kids appreciate it because they don't get to go to shows every night or every other night. We might go to Hollywood for a show, then on to Victorville, or Fresno CA, or even Roswell or Farmington NM for the next. Even in some of these smaller towns we might have two to three hundred kids show up on a Wednesday school night.

XMFan: How does it feel to share the bill with the likes of Slayer, Slipknot, and Fear Factory on the Jagermeister Tour?

Chad: I was really stoked and excited -- we toured with Slayer and Hatebreed last October. Jager offered us our choice of dates and I told them to book us as far away from home as possible. We wound up doing almost two weeks out east in cities like Davenport IA, Columbus OH, and Philly PA. Slayer is the epitome of the ultimate metal band who has been true to the music all along, and it has been great to play with them. We're doing more dates with them in December. I just got some pictures developed the other day of me and my buddy Jager Rob with Kerry King, who was wearing a Hemlock shirt. That pic will have to go on our web page pretty soon. (Laughs)

XMFan: Fans can go to your website , www.hemlockworld.com, and get the latest news and tour dates, as well as post messages and buy some unique band merchandise. Do you have an active part in the website?

Chad: Yes I do. We also have a webmaster that lives here in Vegas. Our guitarist Brandon is really good at keeping the message boards going, and letting people know what's going on with the band. There's definitely more that we'd like to do to the site -- a lot of it involves money -- like getting a bigger server, hosting more video clips, and more flash. I'd like to step it up a bit more this next year so it doesn't just sit still. I basically have a hand involved in everything that goes on with the band, and it's overwhelming I'll admit, because that's one thing having a label would help with; If you have a label and an agent it takes a lot of the stress off of you so you can focus more on the music itself. I have managed us, been our agent, I'm in the band, write music, design merch and help to maintain the web page. You'll even find me at the nearest Kinko's at three in the morning cutting flyers and postcards.

The way I look at it is you're only young once. I don't want to be one of those 45 year old guys sitting on my recliner thinking, "Man, I wish I would have done that," or "I wish we would have tried a little harder because we could have done that." There are the times when I feel totally overworked, then I'll get a letter in the mail from a kid out in Texas or New Mexico who tells me how much I have influenced him and caused him to pick his instrument back up. That's why we work through all the craziness -- not to mention getting to play with the bands we looked up to all along. Being in this band has evolved beyond being a hobby -- Hemlock is my life. It's definitely out of control, but it's fun.

XMFan: Would you give us the rundown on your new album, Bleed The Dream?

Chad: It was released a few months back, and we did a tour for it across the entire U.S. which lasted about three and a half months. Musically we tried to stay true to the style we had already established, but at the same time you don't want to keep recording the same song over and over. We added some melody, but not too much, because we don't want to be classified as a mainstream radio band. I like writing songs that don't age as quickly as others. We have some songs we have been playing for seven years, and kids still get mad if we don't play them at a show. Those are the songs we are known for -- those are our personal Hemlock "hits." There's a song on Bleed The Dream called Raze To The Ground that I wrote when I was fifteen years old. I thought it would be a good idea to re-record that, and other than a different middle breakdown, it's the same layout. We also didn't want to do an album where by the time you were listening to track eight you'd think you were still listening to track three. We wanted each song to have it's own personality. Our CD Pigeonholed, which is the one before Bleed The Dream, sold over 10,000 copies, so we're going to work really hard at our goal of hoping BTD will sell over 30,000.

XMFan: Where does Hemlock go from here, and how has your effort paid off thus far?

Chad: We are going to keep touring, and hopefully get better distribution in the stores for our CDs. I tell everyone we are one of the hardest-working unsigned metal bands in the United States. We're not too rock-star to get out there and meet people, and we do much of the legwork right along with our street team. We're going to hopefully keep building the fan base and maybe find a good agent. We were on tour for eight months this past year, so a good agent would really help. Our ultimate goal is to take everything we have done and step it up three or four times this year.

You can always look back and realize there are things you could have done better, but I'm not upset about anything. I'm happy where we're at with everything, and every day gives you that much more experience, more room to grow. I've made tons of good friends, met fans, visited crazy towns. To walk through the graveyard in Sleepy Hollow, New York -- if I had worked a construction job or a 9 to 5 job, I know I would have never stepped foot there. To play CBGB's in Manhattan. Life is basically about how you are able to use your time, and I played some music, traveled, and had some fun. That's what life's all about.

Hemlock can be heard on XM Liquid Metal Channel 42.