Today I spent much of the morning listening to Joe Satriani. I am a big admirer of “Satch” for his guitar talents; less so for his compositional skills; and least of all for his sense of taste, or more specifically, his willingness to indulge his worst inclinations for cheese and schmaltz. Most of his harder rock tracks are enjoyable, even if a bit formulaic and unfashionable.* His “space voyage”/world music tracks are usually pretty good. But it’s the ballads that repulse me.
Even more than I dislike the ballads for my own sake, I avoid them because I don’t want to get caught listening to them. I guess that’s where the “unfashionable” part comes in. It’s not just that it’s not cool to be listening to Joe Satriani because his music is too geeky and technical; it’s that some of these songs display such a profound lack of taste that it calls the listener’s own sensibilities into question.
Which brings me to my own music. I make music that I want to hear, but I also want it to be music other people want to hear. Beyond that, I want it to be music you wouldn’t be embarrassed to be caught listening to. At least, not for the reasons I’m embarrassed to be caught listening to Joe Satriani.
Music you won’t be embarrassed to be caught listening to™. It’s the Room 34 guarantee. (Results not guaranteed.)