Joe Satriani – HuffPost 4.23.14

Mike Ragogna: What advice do you have for new artists?

Joe Satriani: Oh! From the looks on people’s faces they’re always rather disappointed when I say this, because they usually want me to tell them, “Call this guy and he’ll make you famous,” or some sort of pure nugget, “take this pill and you’ll be amazing,” but what I think is the most important thing is for artists to learn how to tell their unique story. That is the most important thing that I look for as a listener. When I sit down and I poke through YouTube or Spotify or iTunes and I’m just hungry for music, or I’m asking my friends, “Who have you heard that I haven’t heard yet?” I’m waiting to hear something about life on the planet Earth that’s gone by me somehow, from somebody else’s perspective. It could pure fantasy, or it could be the usual, “I’m in love, I’m not in love anymore, I’m going here, I’m leaving, I’m coming,” things that we all write songs about. But that’s what I’m waiting to hear, I want to hear that unique story from that unique person. That’s what makes guitar players so unique, I think that’s what makes Hendrix unique, I think that when you hear somebody like Jack White that’s what you hear; you hear a unique story that only he can tell.

There are lots of bands that play great and they do all the right things and they look perfect for the part, but it kind of just doesn’t reach you, and then there’s the unlikely looking person that comes along that just sells a kajillion records and everyone goes, “Huh? Really?” It’s because they’re telling you the truth, they’re giving you their story, so that’s always my advice… Try to figure out how to tell your story, whether you’re going to try to be an instrumental guitarist or you’re a singer in a band or you’re a solo singer, you can’t hold back, you have to reach deep down inside yourself and tell a unique story that is going to help people celebrate and commiserate and everything in between, because that’s how we use music. Let’s face it, right? If you and I went out one night and we saw something terrible happen and it was a terrible experience, we would go home and put on something to help us get through it. The same thing, if we were on the same softball team and we won the softball championship, when you get into the car on the way home, you put on music to help you celebrate. That’s an important thing that I think musicians have to remember. Forget about the career, that’s usually the kiss of death, to think that you’re doing the right thing for your career, because nobody knows–it’s like the stock market. Nobody knows that they’re doing, it’s just something that’s happening.

MR: Is this same advice you would tell yourself at fifteen?

JS: I think I would benefit from a visit from Future Joe. Can you imagine what that would be like? I’d be sitting there, hair down below my shoulders, and all of a sudden future bald guy comes to me and says, “Don’t be afraid, young seventies Joe, I’ve got some advice for you.” I would probably dismiss the future Joe in a second, because I thought I knew everything back then. That’s the beauty of being in your teens, you think you know everything. But I think that sort of wonderful blindness is something that helps you focus on your thing, because if you really took in what was happening in your world you might just not walk out of the house in the morning.