Beat a Go Go

Yes. I want the music to motivate and stimulate the listener. The music should be like a soundtrack to their lives.

Besides guitar, you also play a few other instruments - bass, keyboards, harmonica - and you started your music education with the drums.  What led you to all these instruments?

If I could play them all, I would, but... Instruments are tools to expression - the more tools you can work with, the more you can express.

You have said that Jimi Hendrix was the biggest influence for you.  Miles Davis also mentioned him as his hero.  What was there about Hendrix that made him and his music so meaningful to so many artists?

Jimi Hendrix was so powerful on so many levels, both musically and creatively. He was an innovator on the guitar and in the studio. However, it was how he used it all that made him a star.

On your album from 1989, Flying in a Blue Dream, you debuted as a singer. Did you ever doubt the success of instrumental music?

I'm not a singer. I added those songs to the album to bring a little something extra to the overall listening experience. It also helped me grow as a player, since I play differently on vocal songs.

In most cases where you are singing, your guitar takes the place of vocal in your music. There is a feeling like the guitar is telling us a story, while the vocal is providing the instrumental.  This is unusual.  Can you talk about this?

I try and tell a truthful story with every instrumental I record and perform. I put all I have into the phrasing to illustrate as closely as possible my true feelings.

Most of your songs have strong melody, good grooves and very interesting harmonies - for example, "Speed Of Light", "Ceremony", "The Extremist".  How do you compose this powerful music? Do you need a special mood, inspiration....or you are playing guitar or bass or some other instrument and suddenly you hear the music?  What is the "secret"?

There is no secret, just hard work. I like all those elements you mentioned, so, I just keep working it until I've reached the right level of intensity.

There is a song on Is There Love In Space, "I Like the Rain", where the voice of a motorbike is heard at the beginning.  How did you make this sound?  

My guitar tech Mike Manning is a Harley rider, so we recorded him outside the studio one afternoon as he was starting up and pulling away.

On Extremist there is a song entitled "Motorcycle Driver".  Do you ride a motorcycle?

Not any more. Too dangerous for a family man who plays guitar for a living!

The day after your G3 concert in Ljubljana this summer, I went into one guitar shop in the city.  The guy who sells guitars there was playing your piece "Always With Me, Always with You"....the moment was extremely beautiful, all the feelings were coming up from the night before when you were playing the same song in the concert.  You have written a bunch of beautiful love songs: "Rubina", "The Crush Of Love" - do you think that all good love songs are dedicated to one real person?

Mine are dedicated to my wife Rubina, so...

"All Alone" (also known as "Left Alone"), written by Billie Holiday and Mal Waldron, must be a very special song for you. Can you say something about this song?

Billie Holiday was a great musician and singer. I grew up with a lot of jazz in my house and became familiar with Holiday's music at an early age. "All Alone" was just one of those songs that seemed to perfectly capture her power as a singer of sad songs.

I always enjoy reading your explanations of titles which are connected with your son ZZ. "Like A Train Of Angels", "ZZ's Song", "A Piece Of Liquid" (this one is my favorite - it goes with the title of the album, Crystal Planet...all this associations, crystal of water-ice-snow, and at the same time a child's gift of expression)  ZZ  is also playing bowed bass in "Bamboo", the last piece on Is There Love In Space.  Can you tell us how ZZ has inspired you in your music and what it's like to see him becoming an instrumentalist?  Can we expect some more beautiful music from father and son in the future?

ZZ is a very creative person both in his music and his personality. He's becoming a very good guitarist, and maybe someday, if he feels like it, he may decide to do something with it. But, that will be his choice.

There are two very short, brilliant songs in your music treasury: "Baroque" and "Tears In The Rain".  From where are they coming?

I love classical music. Every once in a while I imagine I am from another time and I compose music influenced by those periods. Of course I put my own little spin on it.

Engines of Creation is something that is completely different from your other albums.  What was the inspiration for this?  Was it composed in the electronic mode because of the upcoming new millennium?

That album was great fun to make. All in the computer, no speakers used. There were no compositional roadblocks because there was no band to write for. It was liberating. It just felt like the right thing to do at the time.

What memories do you have of your tour in Japan with Mick Jagger, years ago?

Playing with Mick was great fun and very exciting. He is a true star and a wonderful person to be around. We always had a good time, worked hard and put on a great rock 'n' roll show. He was always generous with his time and attention to detail, and made everyone feel part of the group. I have great memories of being on stage with Mick as he poured all he had into each and every show.

How did you feel when the legends Deep Purple invited you to replace Richie Blackmore?

I was a bit shy at first, because Richie is one guy that cannot be replaced! So I decided to play it like the luckiest fan in the world, the kid that gets to play with their favorite metal band, just like a dream come true. The guys in D.P. were and are tremendous players and fantastic people - it was a supercharged set of tours on and of stage.

You have also played with Dream Theater, a metal group with academy-educated musicians.  How did you get involved with them?

We decided to do some touring together a few years back, and having been a fan of John Petrucci's for years, things came together nicely.  Everyone in D.T. is a fantastic player, they were great to listen to every night.

About G3: this is always an incredible combination of three different guitar virtuosos playing together. You and Steve Vai were playing with Eric Johnson, Yngwie Malmsteen, Robert Fripp... Of course the audience was full of enthusiastic guitar fans, but what was it like from your position? Can you explain how the three different styles, personalities, sounds worked together?

G3 is something I put together back in '96 to enable me to jam with great guitarists, on stage, as much as possible. I still get a lot out of it every night on tour. Mixing it up with different performers with different styles makes the whole thing work. It's always very exciting, taking your playing right to the edge, and all the while standing right next to two other killer guitarists.

Can you give your thoughts about the Neil Young song "Rockin' In the Free World" which you are playing with G3?  What do you think the song means to the world now, after the election in the US?

I am a fan of all of Neil's work, he has given us so much good music. That song is a perfect example of someone looking around and not liking what they see, not liking where their country is going, and feeling a little powerless to change it. The chorus of the song brings the singer and the audience together to voice these feelings, and that through music, maybe we can spread these concerns and eventually make changes to make some of these wrongs right.

I was at your Joe Satriani world tour concert in Munich years ago.  At one side of the stage were a whole lot of your  guitars.  That was really something to see! What is the most special about your JS Ibanez models?

My Ibanez JS guitars are simply the best guitars made for anyone who needs to play as much as I do. They are elegant and sexy, and they are the best tools to get the job done. They look cool and sound great and feel amazingly comfortable.

Do you use any old school tube-valve amplifiers?  If so, what do you think of them?

I like old Fenders, Marshalls, but they are difficult to work with because good ones are hard to find and maintain.

About teaching: you have taught guys like Kirk Hammett, Steve Vai, Charlie Hunter - and you have also written a book on how to play guitar.  How do you approach teaching that is different from others?  In teaching, do you have a kind of philosophy, or special focus, that you can describe briefly?

Play what you feel. Memorize everything there is to learn. Play with as many people as you can, as much as possible.

Is a knowledge of classical guitar (scales, notes, counterpoint) important or useful in acquiring expertise on electric guitar?

Yes, I think so.

About styles: it seems to me that the band Cream was very influential in rock history and was the beginning of the hard rock/heavy metal style, especially the song "White Room".  What do you think about this?  What other bands/pieces do you think were the most important early influences on the birth of this style?

In '66 The Beatles Revolver LP, Jimi Hendrix' first LP in '67, Led Zeppelin in '68 along with Cream and many others created the style we now call rock. I'm not sure they knew what they were up to, but they are giants in music history nonetheless.

How important will classical instruments be, as opposed to programming, in the future?

I think people will always like to hear a good instrument played well.

The American author Ursula K. Le Guin once wrote, "Music and thinking are so much alike. In fact you could say music is another way of thinking, or maybe thinking is another kind of music."  What do you have to say about this?

Music is alone and unique in its nature.

All the songs you have created are living their own lives somewhere "outside of you".  It happens to every piece of art - books, songs, pictures, films... they are like children.  What is your wish for the art you have created?

I want my music to be listened to and enjoyed for as long as possible.

Dedicated by Taisija

to Taj, Lija and Benjamin

Joe Satriani's official website, with song samples: http://www.satriani.com/

Taisija's second interview with Joe Satriani