Joe Satriani: The now is very important

SINGAPORE – Guitarist Joe Satriani needs no introduction, but we’re going to give him one anyway.

Through the years, Satriani has raked up a reputation of being one of the top rock guitarists of all time. He began his career teaching other would-be prominent guitarists such as Steve Vai (“I’ve known him since he was 12”) and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett; and he has since chalked up an impress catalogue of albums such as Surfing With The Alien and The Extremist, as well as collaborations such as the G3 performances with Vai and Eric Johnson, and his work with Mick Jagger and Deep Purple.

Nevertheless Satriani says his debut concert in Singapore on Nov 13, will be a special event for the band as it also marks the end of his tour in support of his latest album, Unstoppable Momentum. But the guitarist managed to take time off his busy schedule (he’s prepping new songs for a new album) to chat.

Q: What are you up to at the moment?

A: Trying to find an arrangement for a song that’s driving me crazy. But that’s normal. They drive me crazy until I can figure them out. But once that’s done, it’s easy. But during the process, it can be mysterious and annoying.

Q: How many songs do you have slated for the album?

A: I never really know until I put them all together and see which ones pop out sounding fresh. It’s like when you’re drawing, the piece you’re working on might be part of a developing process or the one great song on the record, but you don’t really know until you’ve written all of them and then you step back and try to listen to them like a fan would. But while you’re in the middle of it, you might as well give it 100 per cent and convince yourself it’s the greatest song in the world. But you gotta give it a chance.

Q: So you’re writing songs in the middle of your tour? Is this like living up to your album’s title?

A: I know. It’s kind of a trap. You name an album unstoppable anything and … I could’ve called it a lot of different things. But it seems like it. I’m looking at my board and the list of songs is growing and I’m not due into the studio until Jan. So I have a lot of writing to do. I generally write the most about twomonths prior to going into the studio. I’m just getting started. I’ve got about 13 or 14 pieces. That number will probably double by the time Christmas rolls around.

Q: You mentioned that some songs come really quickly for an album, but how long does it take for a song to come to fruition?

A: In my book I mention how some songs people thought were written in the studio for a particular record would actually be from something like six records earlier. And I’d leave the arrangements stylistically until it was able to find a home for a group of songs from a current album. There was a song on Surfing For The Alien that took about 15 years to do. I was just out of high school; I had this introduction and a melody and then nothing for over a decade. I wasn’t planning on putting it on the record until we took a break from the sessions and I thought maybe I should write two more songs. And I picked up that song from high school. But for some reason when I played it then, it sounded complete to me, so we recorded it. And it turned out to be a standout track. So if a song takes a long time, there’s nothing negative about it except that it took a long time.

Q: So this Singapore concert – what can we exect? And what kind of show are you expecting?

A: It’ll be a special event for us – the band and the crew who have been touring for more than a year on the Unstoppable tour. Hopefully, the theatre – it looks very nice but hopefully it’s not too nice, you know. I mean, it’s seated, so if the seats are too comfortable... I’ve been to Singapore a lot but I’ve never played a show there. My Singapore relatives are a pretty lively bunch, so hopefully the audience will be like that too.

Q: How often do you visit Singapore?

A: The first time I was in Singapore was in 1981. I just got married in San Francisco and my wife and I came to Singapore to visit her home here and to have a Singaporean reception. You have to remember, I’m an Italian American from New York, so when I was in Singapore, it was pretty exotic and exciting. Singapore is unique and it was so much fun. And it was great to have family there to be around with. I wasn’t ready for the weather though. I thought New York summers were hot and humid, but it’s not as bad as Singapore. I remember I used to jog every day and the first morning I woke up really early at the house on Branksome Road and I went running for an hour and I almost died from the heat. Then I realised, I think I should just hang around and eat, and not do any exercising until I got acclimated.

I’ve travelled around the area, tours have taken me to KL and Jakarta, we had some fun exploring the neighbouring area. But I’m looking forward to seeing how much more built up Singapore has become because when I started going there, they were a lot of construction going on, and every time I returned it was like a brand new city. I’ve just had a number of my Singpaorean relatives here in SF for a wedding and they telling me of all the changes in Singapore. So I’m really looking forward to it.

Q: So why did it take you so long to do a gig here?

A: Well, you know, first of all, you have to be invited to play. That’s how it works in the bizness, you need an invitation from a local promoter and that offer has to make economic sense with the rest of the touring. For example, sometimes we’d get better offers from other places in that area, but we haven’t really toured a lot in South-east Asia. I’ve only played Jakarta with Mick Jagger. We did a disastrous show in KL with the army coming on stage. And I’ve done some clinics in Bangkok and Taiwan. I’ve done some shows in Hong Kong. So it’s not like we’ve avoided Singapore – that whole region has never invited me with invitations that matched those by, say, Japan or Australia. It’s not unusual if you look at the numbers – it’s not the same as my return to Europe or South America.

Q: Of course, fans have their favourite albums, but does it annoy you that they want you to do Alien 2 or Extremist 2?

A: It is a wonderful problem to have. If you’re lucky enough to have fans asking you to repeat something, that’s amazing. I remember when I was in my late teens or early 20s, there was none of that. And I thought that it would be the greatest thing in the world if there was millions of people who like your record so much they want you to do it again. So I like to have that problem. And it’s very understandable. I’m one of those terrible fans too – I get stuck on a couple of records from an artiste that’s been around for 40 years. I still listen to Exile On Main Street. I’m sure Mick would get upset that we weren’t listening to the newer records. It’s difficult sometimes to follow an artiste as they go through changes, but I don’t think that means that fans shouldn’t change. They should like what they like and the artiste should let them like what they like. And in some way, an artist shouldn’t try to change. I mean, playing the guitar for a living is not much of a tough job. I’m getting off too easy. It’s not hard labour. It’s not like being a nurse or a teacher or people who build bridges – they work really hard. I just play guitar. Beause of that, I should accept the fact that there are going to be artistic challenges … But I don’t think you should cater to your audience in the big picture. Or go like, “That person is really popular, so I should be more like that person”. Or “that’s my most popular song on iTunes so I should just write 50 of those”. That would be terrible! My job as an artiste is to simply push the music out there and let the people decide how they should listen to it.

Q: What would you like the Joe Satriani legacy to be?

A: I never think about that. I figure, when you pass on, you pass on and you make room for someone else, that’s that. But I think it would be handy for my estate if I were to be remembered very fondly. These questions are so morbid; they make you think of not being around. People dwell on the past or the future, and neglect the present. I don’t really care what people think by then, I’d be gone.

How will I be remembered? Really, is that important? I do remember when my mother passed away. There was such a vacuum after she passed on. It made me think “people matter” and what we do to each other is the most important thing. You know how you can put money in a bank and take it our next time? Well, there’s no getting (life) back. When people leave the planet they don’t come back. The now is very important: What you do right now to the people around you.