Hey Joe

Guitar colossus JOE SATRIANI, touring Britain this month, talks to Tim Jones.

How was the new album, Super Colossal (Epic), put together?

After the last tour I was confused, as usual, not knowing what journey I’d embark on. I write material all the time and, once I have to get started, I do a lot of editing. I thought I’d do a live in-the-studio album, jamming out. But I decided I didn’t want to do that and found myself alone making a record with very carefully-layered, interesting guitar sounds and grooves. I saw I could be a bit mysterious and ultra-melodic, but I needed focus. I had two groups of songs – tracks six-to-nine, and the others, plus the crowd chant. But when I wrote Super Colossal, that suggested the album could be open in terms of style, exploring more levels of emotion than before. The song was tongue in cheek – staring up at a 10-storey high guitarist and what it’d sound like… Maybe I’m disturbed and need help!

Will you do a 20th anniversary show?

No, ’cos while Not Of This Earth came out in ’86, it was recorded in ’85. But I did an EP a couple of years before – Christmas ’83, and I copyrighted it in ’84. I just want to know where the time went!

Is there anything unreleased in the archive?

No. Everything from Not Of This Earth …

by Tim Jones
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