I’m sitting here with one third of Chickenfoot - Joe Satriani, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony - we’re missing Chad Smith who is with us in spirit…

I understood that ‘Chickenfoot’ was a working name but it seems to have stuck…

It just went so far on the Internet and got so big. We had other names but people kept referring to us as Chickenfoot. First people kept saying ‘you can’t call yourself Chickenfoot, it’s such a silly name’. And we were on the defensive saying it was just a working name, but younger people especially liked (’kind of a cool name’) it… It was our public statement for a while that Chickenfoot was not the final name but secretly it kind of was… Ultimately we became Chickenfoot, that’s what happened and Chad reminded us the other day that we’d been together for a year and we had become Chickenfoot.

But the music is swampy, it’s funky, it’s hard rock, it’s down and dirty, it’s tripped-out - it’s as stripped-out as a fuckin’ chicken foot…

You guys have been referred to as a ’supergroup’ because you all come from big bands, big backgrounds. Do you feel there is too much expectation put on the band?

I hadn’t really thought about that, as being a ’supergroup’ but within us four we don’t see it like that, we just want to have a great time. When you hang around with these guys you know they are not bringing that baggage with them. The cool thing about being grown-up and being from these big bands is that we’ve been through all the jive of the early years, and that’s perhaps why our band has survived for eleven years.

We all individuals and not twenty-years-old trying to establish ourselves, as Chickenfoot we just want to make great sounds. If people want to see as a ’supergroup’ well that’s up to them.

Before you guys got together and jammed and decided this is something that could be a band, did you guys have any discussions about what this band should avoid, having been in bands before and made the mistakes…

From that to the recording I don’t think there was any kind of discussion about how we should act or how we should play, or anything…

We had no time… we had other schedules. Between the four of us we have had previous interaction and played together, so we weren’t strangers to this.

We didn’t talk about ‘let’s be like this’ and Joe just came in with his music and starts playing and then Chad chimes and Mike chimes and that’s the way we did it, song by song.

I guess what I’m getting at is personality-wise and coming from different bands did you check each other out, like ‘let me make sure this guy’s not crazy…’

I don’t think the four of us collectively have spent enough time together to know that. Perhaps when we tour we’ll find out more about each other. Joe’s he one who keeps us sane, we’re like, ‘Joe’s not going to go with this, better not do it…’

I’ll tell you right now Chad’s the craziest guy, Joe’s the straightest guy but with the most twisted mind though - Joe’s got this smart mind while Chad’s got this reckless, mind whereas Mike and I will go along with whatever happens…

Now Joe, this is something you’ve wanted to do for quite some time - be part of a highly rated rock band - the instrumentalist. So let’s say Chickenfoot is successful, what happens to the solo career?

Like the others, regardless of how well this goes, we will all want to keep doing our own thing. From my own perspective it’s quite unique because I did fall into the instumental thing, just by accident and it was so much fun and so natural to do, that I just went with it. I’ve had this amazing career being able to do all that stuff on stage, but this in the last six-seven weeks has been pretty amazing to see the idea of being able to have a few days here and there recording, and seeing it all come together. It was like wow! And I’m in a band with these guys!

What’s Chad’s status of being in this band?

He spoke to me and said that he had a year clear to do this band before the Chilli Peppers re-convened. I recently spoke to John Fruscianti from the Peppers and he basically said that the band had no plans.

The great thing is we have not put pressure on anyone to do this, we’re just rollin’ the dice in the belief of divine intervention… And musically it friggin’ happened like a mutha man! It was beyond anybody’s expectations and we’re hoping it just continues like this. I can’t see anyone wanting to go back and do what they did previously without playing in this band.

I know I don’t!

I cannot see this band going out to play this music. We made a record that was way, way too serious to say well it was this little side project…

Michael, what is it about this band that feels so different?

It feels like it did at the beginning for me. It’s exciting, everybody brings something to the table that makes it sound better than we originally thought. Even Joe’s playing better, he’s playing every damn style at the highest level on this record. It’s like ten records on one, but the thing is Van Halen flagged that. When I joined Van Halen I thought ‘oh my God, this is really great.’ I know these guys are great but I never saw them creative-wise and it makes you go home and want to play better.