Sammy Hagar performs at DTE Energy Music Theater on May 22, 2019 in Clarkston, Michigan.
"I'm excited for the first time in a long, long time," Hagar says of the project.
The new Space Between is not only Sammy Hagar's first concept album. It's also put him in the film business.
"Affirmation," premiering exclusively below, is the third video from the Red Rocker's album -- and first studio set with his current band, the Circle -- as well as the third excerpt from Space Between: The Affirmation, an album-length short film he'll be rolling out later this year. Directed by ZZ Satriani, son of Hagar's Chickenfoot bandmate Joe Satriani, the "Space Between" film enacts the album's themes of "money, greed, enlightenment and truth," following the arc of a gluttonous lead character with plenty of pig-masked actors hoarding cash and snorting cocaine. By the time of "Affirmation," the ninth "chapter" in the film, the lead is beginning to see the error of his ways and, according to Hagar, "gets all puffed up and thought he was cool and goes to Vegas and gets taken down by the big boys."
"I gave (Satriani) a whole bunch of money and said, 'Go crazy!'" Hagar tells Billboard. "The reason I like this movie is it gives the album more legs. It's not just a record, and when you see this movie you're gonna go back and listen to the record and go 'Oh!' It elevates your listening and viewing experience." And, Hagar adds, it puts into play a potential sequel to Space Between, whose No. 4 debut on the Billboard 200 was his highest ever as a solo artist.
"Once you're elevated like that, if I make another record it's gonna start at Chapter 11," he says. "Why not? I really think it's an important statement. I think it would be exciting to find out what happens to a guy who has it all, loses it all, blows it, then comes back enlightened and starts over by trying to build it up again. We can see what he does with his money and his energies and his abilities to do something better with a second chance."
Hagar is still hashing out plans for Space Between: The Affirmation. He's hoping for a tour of film festivals and then a deal with Netflix or another outlet. "I just want people to see it," he says, and Hagar is hoping that the three videos so far and footage from the film that he's using during his concerts will stoke interest in the full film.
"It's expensive and self-indulgent as hell, but I love it," Hagar says. "I want to have something to say; Even if it's just purely how I feel about the world, I'd rather do that than just make up some silly shit. It's the first time I've ever tried to do something deep. It makes me look forward to playing every night, and I'm excited for the first time in a long, long time."