To the world at large, Joe Satriani has made his bones as an elite instrumentalist who has a following that’s voted him to the top of various reader’s polls in numerous guitar magazines. His six-string acumen is represented via a canon that is 15 studio albums strong, gotten him gigs as a Mick Jagger hired hand and to step into the guitarist role in Deep Purple after Richie Blackmore stepped out.
Satriani’s latest effort was last year’s Shockwave Supernova and while much of his musical output is of a solo nature, he’s also a member of Chickenfoot, alongside Sammy Hagar, Van Halen founding member/bassist Michael Anthony and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith. It’s with this quartet that the Westbury native managed to indulge in his passion for animation when they were guests on the Adult Swim cult cartoon Aqua Teen Hunger Force.
Satriani was not only stoked to be able to make that claim to fame, (“I was so happy that we got invited to fictitiously be part of that crazy show), but he’s currently working on a project with animators Brendon Small (Home Movies, Metalocalypse) and guitarist/animator Ned Evett called Crystal Planet. Satriani’s zeal for this particular art form comes as no surprise given the fact that he used the image from Silver Surfer #1 for his second studio album, 1987’s Surfing With the Alien. The following are some of Satriani’s favorite cartoons and why.
Aqua Teen Hunger Force (2000-2015)/ Metalocalypse (2006-2015)
“They’re both completely absurd, which is what I love about both of them. It takes the idea of animation to a level of unbelievability, but yet you laugh at it. And that’s the beauty of it. You can always get a camera and point it at someone standing on the sidewalk and that’s reality and you see that every day. But animation can have you get past the visual reality and say that this guy is a basket of French fries that talks and has a very funny attitude that, if it was a real person, maybe you’d take issue with it. But because it’s a box of French fries floating around, somehow you open your heart to what this character has to say. And that’s a very big part of it.”
Animatrix (2003)
“In the modern world, I thought Animatrix was really great. It’s the animated prequel to The Matrix. It was very creative and very outside.”
Attack On Titan (2015)
“From Japan, [I really like] Attack on Titan. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen it. That show is insane. It’s so weird. It plays like a really nice kid’s story in a way, but it’s got its basis in all the really good myth-building qualities that all good stories have to have. But the look of it is just so strange. You’ve got to see it. It’s really something.”
Bojack Horseman (2014-present)
“This one is on NetFlix. It’s kind of out to lunch, but again, when you have something so completely incongruous, sometimes it helps you make that leap into accepting the words that are coming out of a talking horse’s mouth. Whereas if it was a person, you’d impose social restrictions on them before you take them seriously because of the way they look.”
Joe Satriani and his G4 Experience will be appearing from Aug. 8 through 12 at the Glen Cove Mansion, 200 Dosoris Lane, Glen Cove. Visit www.g4experience.com for more information.
