'Chili Peppers' Drummer -- SUPER BOWL ADVICE FOR KATY PERRY ... 'Plug In and Play'

Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith has one MAJOR piece of advice for Katy Perry when it comes to playing the Super Bowl halftime show this year -- don't do what they did.

Of course, Smith is referring to the RHCP performance at the Super Bowl last year ... where the band pre-recorded it's performance (everything but the vocals) ... and pretended to play their instruments along with the music.

At the time, Flea said if he could do the whole thing over again ... he would do it the SAME WAY -- because he still felt like he was able to bring the "spirit of who we are to the people" despite the fact their instruments weren't plugged in.

But it seems Chad feels a bit differently -- even though he says he felt like it was still a "performance" -- he's advising Katy to "plug in and play" when she takes the stage.

Check out the clip -- Smith praises Perry as a pretty good performer ... but when it comes to the greatest Super Bowl halftime performance of all time, there's only one person who comes to mind.