MusicRadar

Joe Satriani is all smiles as he plays in Bombay, India, 2005. © Punit Paranjpe/Reuters/Corbis

Now that Joe Satriani's new album, Black Swans And Wormhole Wizards, has been released, the world is finally getting a chance to hear what very well could be the guitar icon's finest work yet. And with a European tour about to kick off in a matter of weeks, audiences will be afforded the opportunity to hear a good chunk of the disc's 11 songs rendered live.

"I'm really excited to take these songs out on tour and see how people respond," said Satriani, who previewed the album exclusively for MusicRadar literally weeks after he finished overseeing the final mixes. "It's not a typical record for me," he explained. "Not that any record is 'typical' - I'm always trying to go somewhere I've never gone before. But with Black Swans, I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I've done just that."

MusicRadar caught up with Satriani as he was about to begin rehearsals for his tour. And our purpose? To pose reader questions - your questions, and they came in by the boatload - to the guitar star. Needless to say, it was a busy time for Satch.

"Every day is intense before I go out on tour," he said. "It's been a mad rush the past few weeks. Even before I get to go and rehearse with the band, there's so many things I have to take care. Household things, personal stuff - all kinds of crazy details in my life before I can focus on actually getting in a room with the guys and working out these songs.

"And then once I start getting the songs together with the band, I have to think about lighting cues and different elements of the production. It's unbelievable. There's the making of the album, and then there's everything else that happens afterwards. But that's the nature of the beast. I'm not complaining, even though it sounds like I am."

During a relatively non-intense, pre-tour half-hour, Satriani sat down with MusicRadar to have a go at your questions...

Rudra Patel says, I love what I've heard of the new album. But it seems like a very serious record. Do you worry about not having some Summer Songs on it?

"Oh, good question. I never think about making albums in that way. When I go in to make a record, I'm so totally into it that those kind of very important questions never enter my mind. It isn't until four months later, when I'm on tour, that I'll think about something that - and then it's too late." [laughs]

Gary Pronske asks, How long did it take you to record Black Swans? You seem to make records pretty quickly.

"This one was pretty fast, probably faster than other ones, really. I spent about five weeks at home recording some of the rhythms, melodies, some keyboard parts and bass parts. And then we spent four weeks or so at Skywalker Studios actually tracking the album with the band and producer Mike Fraser. Certain things we recut, and some of the things I did on my own we kept. After that, we spent 12 days mixing.

"Everything went so well making this record. I didn't hit any snags, thank goodness. Like I said, I usually do record fast, but that's not always the case. I've done some three-year records. [laughs] I definitely don't want to do those again."

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