CHICKENFOOT's vocalist Sammy Hagar, guitarist Joe Satriani and bassist Michael Anthony recently caught up with Peter Lindblad at Goldmine Magazine. An excerpt from the interview is available below:

Q: Is this the most fun you’ve ever had in music?

Sammy Hagar: "Damn near, you know. I didn’t have as much fun making this record as I did the first one. Don’t take that negatively; I think it’s a better record. But I really felt some pressure after the success of Chickenfoot, because no one cared if that one was going to be successful. No one thought it would be that successful. I mean, I thought it was going to be successful, but I didn’t think it would go gold in every freaking country. And it was on the charts for a year. I haven’t had an album on the charts for a year my whole life. So that caused some pressure. It took a little bit of the casual 'we don’t care' attitude out of it for me. And I thought, 'I do care. And I really gotta out-do that last record.' The first Chickenfoot record was pretty damn solid. It’s like every song, we looked at it and we said, 'Nope, throw that out. Throw that out. Put that in. Here’s a better bridge. Here’s a better chorus.' You know, we worked on it. And that work was not fun. I’m having a blast now that it’s done. I mean, I cue that sucker up. I get in one of my cars, a convertible, crank it up and shoot down Highway 1 and just f**king sing at the top of my lungs, having the best time I’ve had in a long time with my own music. It seems kind of narcissistic, but I’m having a good time."

Q: Michael, talking about how your vocals and Sammy’s work together, in Van Halen those harmonies were not pushed to the fore, as they are with Chickenfoot. Was that a conscious decision?

Michael Anthony: "Yeah, actually, Sammy and I did make a conscious decision that, in this band, we were really going to bring that out. And there were a couple of songs, like 'Turning Left' from the first album, where it’s like a two-part harmony lead vocal part through the song, but we definitely wanted to bring it out more, because it’s pretty signature-sounding. But in Van Halen, like you said, the background, my part, was more … not ghosting, but it was a little bit more in the background, where Sammy really wanted to bring it to the front. And on the new album, I think we really took that a lot further."

Sammy Hagar: "Singing with him, he’s the only guy that I know that could just go above [me]. I don’t care if I’m at the peak of my range; he can get up above me, just squeeze his nuts and get on up there – and right on key, he can mimic my phrasing. He’s just … he’s so fast. That’s the thing that people don’t understand about Mike. He learns faster than anyone I’ve ever met in my life. Joe Satriani, Eddie Van Halen … guys come up with riffs, and come on, I can’t f**king play them. I’m sitting here with an acoustic guitar around the house still trying to learn these riffs on this record, and I ain’t got ‘em down yet. And he’s playing his ass off in this band. He never played like this in Van Halen. Eddie (Van Halen) doesn’t even realize what a great bass player he had. I think he never realized it, and that is his complete loss."

Go to this location for the complete interview.

As previously reported, Chickenfoot have announced A Different Devil Tour, in continued support of their newest record, Chickenfoot III. The tour will kick off May 4th in Lake Tahoe, NV and BLACK STONE CHERRY has been tapped to support.

"The Foot are road tested and ready to roll and can’t wait to play the new songs for the fans!" says Hagar.

Tour dates include:

May

4 - Lake Tahoe, NV - Harrah's Hotel & Casino
5 - Lake Tahoe, NV - Harrah's Hotel & Casino
9 - Denver, CO - The Fillmore Aud.
11 - Minneapolis, MN - The Brick
12 - Chicago, IL - Chicago Theater
14 - Detroit, MI - The Fillmore
16 - Boston, MA - Orpheum Theater
18 - Atlantic City, NJ - House Of Blues
19 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun
21 - New York, NY - Beacon Theater
23 - St. Louis, MO - Fox Theater
25 - Thackerville, OK - Winstar Casino
27 - Pryor, OK - Catch the Fever Festival Grounds (Rocklahoma)
29 - Houston, TX - Bayou Music Center
31 - Tucson, AZ - Anselmo Valencia Amphetheater

June

1 - Las Vegas, NV - The Joint
3 - Portland, OR - Schnitzer Hall
5 - Vancouver, BC - Queen Elizabeth Theater
6 - Seattle, WA - WaMu Theater
10 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theater