Joe Satriani recently spoke with Sonic Perspectives and expressed his thoughts on Deep Purple’s Steve Morse’s replacement. Morse, who had been with the band for 28 years, left in July of last year to focus on his wife, who is battling stage 4 illness. Morse’s declaration comes just a few months after the guitarist said that he would be leaving the band in the hopes of rejoining when his wife’s health improved. Satriani was questioned in the interview if he received a call from his former bandmates to replace Morse. He refused: “Oh, no, I hadn’t considered it. I knew they had a large circle of superb guitar players among their acquaintances.” The guitarist then discussed whether or not he could make it work if he received the call: “So I just figured someone was already lined up, and even if they called, I’m so involved in so many things right now that I don’t know how I’d make that work.” It would be a lot of work because much of their act is from the Steve Morse era, which is Deep Purple’s most popular.” He then confessed that he was attempting to perform like another guitarist and went on to say: “A lot of Steve Morse stuff is extremely difficult to play.
” It’s distinct; Steve is a one-of-a-kind player. It was easier for me when I was thinking about attempting to play like Richie Blackmore, since you can’t actually play. They cannot be copied or replaced. But you can play like him since he was a blues-based classic rock player, which is more in line with my style. Steve is more progressive, so I felt for a moment that whoever takes Steve’s place would have their job cut out for them.” Satriani was Deep Purple’s touring guitarist from 1993 to 1994, following the departure of Blackmore. The band wanted Satriani to be the permanent guitarist, but he refused, claiming that no one could replace Blackmore. The guitarist quickly changed his mind and joined the band. The guitarist departed a year after joining, claiming that they called him while his solo career was at a high point. With Morse’s departure, the band is currently led by fill-in guitarist Simon McBride. Check out the video interview below.
