The band had to blaze through its initial sessions because of drummer Chad Smith’s schedule, as he gets set to rejoin the Red Hot Chili Peppers to finish recording their album before heading out on tour with them.
"The pressure's on, I guess," Joe Satriani tells Music Radar. "We're making this record very quickly. Our debut album was also recorded quickly, but as a group we did it in stages. We couldn't do that this time. I finished my Black Swans tour, knowing that we would have Chad for only a certain amount of time because of the Chili Peppers. So we had to meet up and blast through the tracks, which resulted in a terrific amount of energy and enthusiasm. It's like we were bottled up for so long, just waiting and waiting to get together to make this record. This isn't going to be a laid-back album by any means. It kicks pretty hard."
So what stage is the project at these days? "Last week, we finished 99 percent of the drums, bass and guitars,” says Joe. “Because we're not always in the same room together - or the same town - there's always a little bit of hesitation of where to go with the finishing touches. In this particular case, Sammy [Hagar] and I have been watching each other as to how we're developing our parts over what the entire band did when they were together. So the songs are still developing lyrically and vocally, and I don't want to commit 100 percent what the guitars will do until I hear Sammy's finished vocals.”
Chickenfoot began work on their second album knowing that touring without Smith was a very real possibility, but Satriani has been trying to avoid thinking about that while he maintains his focus on the project at hand. “I haven't even bothered to get involved with speculating about that. I'm pretty good at waking up in the morning and saying, 'I will think about this today, and I will not think about that.' [laughs] And Chad's thing…it was too disruptive to consider. I just concentrated on the fact that Chad is the drummer in Chickenfoot, he's the drummer on the album, he's playing great, and my role is to play the guitar as best as I can.”
"Once the record is done, I'm sure we'll go out to dinner and Chad will tell us what is happening,” adds Satch. “The Chickenfoot album will come out in the fall, we know we'll tour, and we know that Sammy, Mike and myself will be there. Like I said, Chad is the drummer in Chickenfoot, and anybody else who shows up will be temporary for live shows."
Check out the full Satrinai session at Music Radar here.
Chickenfoot Chickenfoot - Sexy Little Thing
Montreux Jazz Festival – Montreux, Switzerland – 2009
See also:
VIDEO: Chickenfoot in the studio
Chickenfoot: recording update from Sammy Hagar
