Interview

Trying to write a simple one paragraph introduction to Steve Vai is as overwhelming as the listening experience his music provides. Vai has such a rare combination of virtues within his gift that his playing often flirts with divinty. He has Zappa's sense of humor, and Satriani's sense of melody. He has the production and compositional vision of Jimmy Page, and the flash and chops of Van Halen. Vai has all the technical prowess you could ask for, yet he has all the class and sophistication of Prince. Vai's playing is often beyond transcription (at least accurate transcription.) He is able to emote and interpret all that passes through him on a level that puts him in the ranks of the all time greats such as Hendrix, Beck (that's JEFF Beck for all you alternative kids), and the afore mentioned Eddie Van Halen. The emotional and spiritual content of his playing has a depth all it's own. Have I gone too far? Then you haven't heard enough of Steve Vai's work. 2001 was a busy year for Vai. He released a double album containing his most ambitious work to date. He toured extensively both on his own and with Joe Satriani on the G3 tour. He also put together his first Box set, available through his web site Vai.com. He very graciously sat down with me in Detroit to discuss all of this and more on G3's summer tour of the States.

Question: Let's start with the new album Alive In An Ultra World, for people who might not know the story behind the album. It's not your typical concept album.

Vai: It was a massive undertaking really. I came up with the concept in about 30 seconds or less. I was just sitting in this bar in an airport in Perth Australia, at the end of the Fire Garden tour. I just thought "you know, I should do a live album, but all new material." I hate the idea of releasing a live album of all old material. It's unlikely that I'll ever do that. So why not record songs in different countries. Why not write music that is charactoristic of the traditional music of some of the countries? It was a great concept, but the tour was over, so I had to wait until they booked the Ultra Zone tour, which I said "look we'll go to any place that's unusual" and we got some great bookings. I wrote this music and rehearsed it and performed it in places all over eastern Europe. Bulgaria, Romania, Slovenia. I'm probably the first American artist to ever record a song live in Slovenia! I had never been to those places, or Istanbul or Poland. It was great. We also did recordings in Japan, Australia, South America, all through Europe, Italy, the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia and Holland. It was really nice. It was a lot of work. I destroyed (drummer) Mike Mangini. Poor guy! But he stuck it out, everyone stuck it out. They all had great attitudes. There's a lot of good vibes on my tours, because I have toured under every kind of situation you can imagine. It's not worth it to me to tour if it's not a comfortable environment. If you are going to make music with people, thats a very sharing experience. You want to do it with people who are receptive, appreciative, and who enjoy it. Like my Sex and Religion band, it was a horrible touring experience. I love the record, it came from real left field. Surprisingly it's one of my biggest catalog sellers. People are kind of rediscovering it. The fans that stick with what I do, that start to "get" me. They know that I'm just this odd ball that does all these eclectic things. Then they go back and listen to Sex and Religion and they go "it's not Passion and Warfare, but it's pretty cool!"

Q: My favorite Sex and Religion story is the one about the song Pig. How you went to sit down and write the perfect pop song and then came up with that! That's one of the wackiest, yet coolest things that you have ever done! I can't comprehend what is going on in that song!

Vai: Well thanks, because I can't comprehend it sometimes either! It's funny because when I finished that song, I actually thought that I had created a masterpiece. It was so out there, and so melodic and it grooves. That melody (sings melody) I wrote the melody and Devin wrote the lyrics. We sat and did it together. He's brilliant.

Q: Frank (Zappa) would have loved that (song.)

Vai: Yeah, he would have. But I remember listening to it and it was so weird, so brutal yet so melodic, and different than anything I had ever heard. The record company called me up and specifically pointed that song out and said "that song is a bad song, it's just a bad song." I said "you know that's funny, I get people that hear it and their mouths just hit the floor and they're like "what is this? This is brilliant!" And he (record company guy) just said "nope, they're wrong, it's a bad song."

Q: Maybe commercially......

Vai: Thats how record company executives look at it. I love it. Every time I hear it I'm like "holy shit! Where did I...... How did I have the nerve to do that?" So you mentioning it is very important to me, thank you. It's really nice when you bury your head down into something, and you think that you have come across something interesting. There is a lot of beautiful music in the world and a lot of great things, and I always felt inferior actually.

Q: Is that what drives you?

A: I don't know. The thing that drives me is the excitement of hearing and creating something that I hear in my head. The finished product is what drives me more than any thing else. More than the gigs, more than the money, more than anything. I get an idea for a song, and it's like a fever. There's a song on the Ultra Zone called OOOH. And when I played that song for the first time, I think we know when we're about to create something interesting or different, you kind of go into the zone, and I felt it happening. It was like ok grab the nearest instrument. So I picked up this guitar, and it was the Bad Horsie guitar, it was tuned way down. I just had a little cassette player and I just turned it on and (mocks guitar riff) and it all just came out. All those chords and the concept for it. Now, most people would hear it and think "that's a weird odd song, I don't like it." Some people like it. For me, all that I wanted to do was finish that song more than anything. I remember thinking "I hope I don't die before I finish this." Then after I finished it I thought "ok now I can die if I have to." It happens like that with a lot of songs. There's a song on the new record called Whispering A Prayer. After I wrote it I remember, this sounds totally stupid, but I wrote it and we were going to record it that night and I was just being very careful. I didn't want anything to happen to me before I recorded this song. Then when it was over and I knew I had a good take, I thought to myself "ok, it doesn't matter now." I mean, it's a stupid way to think, but in my heart I'm thinking that. Obviously I have a family, and I've got a lot to live for and I love life, but some times it's this odd thing. It's like "this HAS to get done, NOTHING can get in the way." There was another song like that. After I did, I listened to it and I thought it was the most intense, interesting, far out, musical, unaccessable piece of music I had ever written. Every time I hear it I think to my self " HOW, did I even do that?" It's a song on Passion and Warfare called Love Secrets. I can only say that, because to ME it is. That's all that matters. Most people hear it (and don't feel that way.)

Q: That album (Passion and Warefare) has got to be one of the greatest guitar albums ever!

Vai: I never really thought it was a real "guitar" record in a sense.

Q: That's the thing about your stuff, with the soul you have, and the melodic sense that you have, no album that you make will ever be JUST a "guitar" album. Even though it's primarily insrumental, you don't miss the vocals when you listen to it because it has such a melodic sense throughout the album, that even someone who isn't into guitar playing can still enjoy it.

Vai: When you look back through history and try to make a list of songs that actually have staying power, it's all about melody. Melody is the thing that touches us. It's the thing that we grab on to. Virtuosic technique is interesting, but it's not historical. It can captivate you if it's delivered with tenderness or ferocity, but melody has to be present. I've always loved and been attracted to melody. I am also attracted to the "pops and whistles" too. It's just interesting to me. I want it all. I had some great training when I was younger. I had this wonderful theory teacher in high school and everything was about melody. I learned how to play guitar from Joe Satriani. He was a musical mentor. Music flowed through him from head to toe. He's all about melody. He has more melodic sense than a hundred other players. So to me a song feels really empty unless it's melodic. Sometimes I do things that are completely unmelodic. On the new record there's the Power of Bombos. Which is in a Greek style.

Q: Did you have trouble naming some of the songs on Alive In An Ultra World? Did you know some of the languages?

Vai: I researched it. I got a call "ok Steve you have to have the credits in in 30 minutes and that's it" and I said "the songs aren't even finished" "well you have to have the names of the songs." So I wrote the names of all of those songs very quickly. Sometimes I work better under pressure.

Q: Another of the greats is (the album) Eat em and Smile. It's kind of an unsung classic.

Vai: Well, people do recognize it. It's not The Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bullocks. It will never be praised, because unfortunately people don't really respect David Lee Roth or what he contributed to rock n roll. And I'm not an icon. So that record was kind of like.......I know what you mean. It only sold a million when it should have sold 11 million.

Q: Did it blow your mind when Passion and Warfare went platinum.

Vai: I was stunned. Someone asked me the other day what the most shocking moment in my career was. First It was playing with Frank Zappa, then playing arenas with David Lee Roth and then Whitesnake. But I was nowhere close to prepared for that day. I had quit David Lee Roth's band. I was making great money and touring. I had this image of being this rock n roll guy. I just said "I don't give a shit about any of that. I am going to be forgotten in 10 minutes. I am making this record that's my complete psychological musical statement of everything that I am." I did not work with one person on that record. I had a second engineer. I didn't take anyone's advice. I locked the doors. I engineered it my self. I produced it. I mixed it. Everything. I hired some musicians for some things. I can't play drums and things like that. I knew when I listened to it I felt it was the best thing that I could do at that point in my life. I was fiercely proud of it, but I thought "so what, it's not even going to sell 10 copies." I just thought it was going to be an abysmal failure, but I didn't fucking care. It was like "I did this!" It was released while I was on tour with Whitesnake. It was out for one week and I was in Toronto walking into a radio station and this guy from the record company comes up to me and said "did you see the charts?" I'm like "what charts?" He said "Billboard" I go "no" yeah right like MY album is going to appear in Billboard. He said "Passion and Warfare is at #18 and it's GOLD." First week. I was stunned into silence. I just stood there and everything went into slow motion. I was like "what? You can't be serious." It was validation. All my records haven't sold that well, but sell sell pretty well for a guy doing what I am doing. They sell consistently. The Ultra Zone is like 300,000 world wide which is very good. I just think it's because my fans know that there is a lot of different music in the world, but to get a particular type of music, that they can't get anywhere else, they can get it from me. Not that it's better, it's just a little different.

Q: You are a heavy cat. You seem to have a rare balance in what you do. You indulge in the fun and theatrics on stage and in video's yet you have your tongue firmly planted in cheek. Yet you also have amazing technical prowess. But there seems to be a greater depth to you that seems to pull it all together. A whole other side that no one really gets to see, but you touch on it at times.

Vai: When we express our selves, when you go into that part of your brain that makes you a creative person, you always gravitate towards the things that interest you the most. Some people write thier poetry or art or music about politics. Some write about fast cars or love affairs or whatever. I have always been drawn, and I don't talk about it very often, towards the spiritual side of human nature, because to me that seems like the most important thing. It's really easy, and I have made the mistake, when you all of the sudden get some notority, people putting microphones in front of you, to philosophize. You know, give everybody your viewpoints on the world. As it turns out you read this stuff in print and you just look like an idiot! The thing I have noticed the most about my past is how much I've changed in the last 20 years. I've evolved. I allow myself to. To grab onto some humility. Let myself accept when I'm wrong, and try to understand what it is about human nature that is going to help me to evolve. When you allow your self to open up to those things....don't think that I didn't go through some dark dark times in my life where I was stubborn, and miserable and I had no light in my life. I couldn't tell you why. From hitting that rock bottom point in my life where I was manic, anxiety ridden and suicidal, and I don't know why, I wasn't doing drugs, I had a good gig, I'm talking 20 years ago. I had to ask for help, and there wasn't any one on the planet that I could (get it from.) So I had to go within. I had to go really deep. I had to go underneath it all. I had to BEG for help. Help came. I can't tell you how, but my life just got lighter. I started to become spriritually healthy. I started to see things in a different way. But I had to beg. I had to accept. Since that day, I have just been going up and up and up! Anything I do musically, anything I try to express, and I am still far far from being an enlightened person, there are people you meet every day that are much more worthy of this tape recorder than I am. But everything we do when we express our selves is a reflection of our spiritual growth.

Q: You and Joe Satriani have some similarities, but with you there is another dimension. Probably having to do with what we just talked about.

Vai: It's difficult for me to comment on that. There are definately musical elements to what Joe and I do that are different. I see him differently than anyone else does. None of his fans or anyone that really knows him has ever had the kind of contact that I have had with him. He was my absolute mentor and savior. When I was a kid and maybe I was taller than everyone else, or didn't fit in with a certain group or what ever it was, I mean, I had some family problems when I was younger that were pretty devastating, and I needed an escape. When I discovered the guitar, it was my escape. A normal kid does not play the guitar 16 hours a day! So my guitar lesson with Joe....first of all he was always musical, he was older than me, and he could really play. So he was a God to all of us back then in that little town for me and my friends that used to go there for lessons. So everthing he did, to me, was a reflection of how you should be as a musician. Thank God he was there, and he was who he was, and was as musical as he is because it nurtured certain things in me. But, personalities are what make effective art, not fingers, and amplifiers, and shit like that. So everyone has their personality that they express through their art. Everyone has different things that they gravitate to. Like I adore Frank Zappa. I really love Prince.

Q: Did you hear Prince's version of Tender Surrender? (Prince covered this song of Steve's live in concert and the show ended up on a bootleg cd)

Vai: Oh yeah!

Q: Did that blow your mind?

Vai: Blow my mind are you kidding? I almost died!! I was in Japan and I found this bootleg, and I remember seeing that there was a song called Tender Surrender, and my first thought was "of course there is a song called Tender Surrender on here, because it's a really cool name, and It sounds like something Prince would come up with!" All I thought was is "Prince is going to get credit for such a cool title!" Then later, I was listening to the cd, I just forgot about it, and then the song came on, and I just thought "No. It CAN'T be! It CANNOT be!" I just stopped, I got up, my wife was with me, it was four o'clock in the morning, and I said "you are NOT going to believe this!!" I turned the light on and looked at the cd an it said Tender Surrender (written) by Steve Vai. I started pacing the hallway! I was like "this can't be happening!" Then I remembered that I had sent (him) a copy of Tender Surrender.

Q: Didn't you play for Prince at Paisley Park, but he watched from some booth or something?

Vai: He was watching us on a video (monitor) while we played.

Q: Then didn't he just send someone down to get your number?

Vai: Yeah.

Q: So you never even met him?

Vai: I did meet him a while after that on the last G3 tour he was playing in town also. He held court in a club. I got in.

Q: Talk about heavy cats!

Vai: He's as heavy as it gets!

Q: I'm SCARED of him!

Vai: I'm scared too. He was an unbelievable gentleman. He really made me very very comfortable and happy.

Q: Did you ask him about Tender Surrender?

Vai: I kind of started to, but it was part of a bootleg, and he's really against bootlegs so...

Q: You seem to have a limitless scope when it comes to approaching the guitar. You don't seem to be bound by the limits of chords and scales and theory like the rest of us. You are able to immediately translate and emote with out interuption. Man, if I could just dip my toe into that just once every ten years...........

Vai: You're capable of doing it for sure. You just have to have the courage.

Q: Is it really like that for you though?

Vai: Well first of all I have to amuse my self. I have to feel like I am doing things that are unique, at least for me. Maybe not to the world. I certainly hear people play that knock me out. The thing that thrills me is coming up with some thing thats a little different. The thing is, is this: about six or seven years ago, I came to the conclusion that, when I am 70 years old, I want to be able to look back at what it is that I created,and brought into the world, and make sure that it was the best, most honest statement that I could make. And that if there is anything, ANYTHING that I have that is unique or a bit different or that I am capable of doing that's interesting, than it's my duty and responsibility to that particular talent to make it real in the world. Whether it's liked or not. And I had to feel like it was socially redeeming of sorts. Because we're all going to have to look back at it one of these days and just think "ok, did I contribute to the positive evolution of the race in any little bit? Or was I just this cranky, naggy, violent, brutal guy making horrific music about how miserable the world is?

Q: How do you still challenge yourself after all the ground you have covered?

Vai: You're capable of doing it. Everyone can do it, you just have to have the balls to do it. You have to be able to identify with that little voice, that little thing (that you have) that's unique.