Chickenfoot/Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith says his 'main' band will reconvene to work on new recordings in October 2009.

"That's the plan," Smith told Billboard.com. After a long hiatus after touring 2006's 'Stadium Arcadium', Smith adds: "Everybody was like, 'Y'know, I really like having this time off, not being a Chili Pepper and doing other things... 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."

Smith expects bassist Flea and guitarist John Frusciante to return.

Flea is currently studying music theory, composition and jazz trumpet at the University Of South California and is planning a solo album. And Frusciante told MusicRadar as recently as January that he had "no plans" to work with the Chili Peppers again.