I have a love-hate relationship with Joe Satriani. I love his music, but I hate that he ruined the guitar for me.
This may seem a little overdramatic, but hear me out. For when I was a young naïve lad, trying to learn the guitar, the first song I attempted was Joe Satriani’s “Tears in the Rain” from his acclaimed album The Extremist. This attempt failed miserably, forever turning me off of stringed instruments, and forcing me to swear a blood oath of vengeance against Satriani…
…all of which flew out the window the moment I learned I would interview him about his latest album, Unstoppable Momentum, released earlier this year.
“The whole album really is all about the different shades of my continuing, unexplainable enthusiasm about all things musical,” explains Satriani.
Enthusiasm is right. With over 14 released studio albums, the savant guitarist is nothing if not prolific.
“I think I’m much better today than I was 20 or 30 years ago,” he says, when asked how he feels his music has evolved since his beginnings.
“The hope is that you go into this thinking ‘I can do this better than ever before.’ And I know a better way to tap into what my true talents [are] and how to more effectively connect the hearts with the note and not let the profit of making a record derail my emotional intention.”
It’s that emotional intention that makes Satriani such a versatile composer. He draws on his life and day-to-day experiences and incorporates them into his music in order to create something people will find both compelling and relatable.
“When I was 14 years old, I was just so excited about getting into writing for the new album, turning into music all sorts of feelings that seemed to be surrounding me. Things going through life—the good times, the bad times; I really wanted to annotate musically and share it with people. The music on the record is a real journey. I think people will be able to see it’s a real cathartic record.”
Released in May, Unstoppable Momentum is a fantastic symphony of optimism and energy that has almost come to define much of Satriani’s work.
“One of the high points of this album was that there wasn’t anything that was really very difficult […] which is why I think the album is so energetic and accessible. I think the emotion you can get out of the track has a quality to it that is a result [of not having] to struggle so much.”
Along with enthusiasm and love of music, one of the more prevailing themes that Satriani has often visited in much of his work is that of science fiction. From Surfing with the Alien, which featured comic book character Silver Surfer, to album titles like Time Machine, there has always been an underlying sense of otherworldliness with much of Satriani’s music.
“Science fiction doesn’t seem that odd to me at all. It’s a method of telling the story of the human experience […] which is that we are human beings, on a spinning ball, that [is] part of a solar system that [is] part of a galaxy.”
“I’m not like a ‘Trekkie’ or anything like that,” he adds hastily. “I guess I’m a fan of science.”
Unstoppable Momentum is yet another fantastic album from the acclaimed musician, and if the album’s title is any indication, then it is clear that Satriani has no plans to slow down anytime soon.
“I’m living one day at a time, and I react with what goes on in my life by writing music, so I don’t know what’s coming at all.”
Joe Satriani performs at 7:30 p.m. on October 9 at Théâtre St-Denis (1594 St-Denis). Tickets are between $62-$92.
