steve vai

The Gauntlet: Where the Wild Things Are comes out next month.


Steve Vai: I enjoy doing these DVD's. They are a documentation of a time and group of people. I had just come off of a double live orchestra record and I didn't want to sit in the studio for another year and work. So I put this band together to fulfill this fantasy I had with these two violin players. It was hard to find the right players as most of the people that came down to audition were metal shredding violin players and they didn't understand the nuances of the kind of thing that I do. I needed someone that could read music but everyone that could was classically trained and sounded wimpy when it came time to let loose. I found these two players, Alex DePue and Ann Marie Calhoun. They are just monsters. It was a great opportunity to just take these songs from my catalog and add this dimension. The violin and the guitar work beautifully with these thick harmonies. It was something I heard in my head and it turned out better than I had expected.


The Gauntlet: Does it make it difficult doing what you do and the ability to read music in metal basically being a lost art?


Steve Vai: I don't know about metal, but with Steve Vai it is necessary. It isn't a lost art in metal as it was never found. No one really ever implemented it. No metal bands require anyone to read music. With me it is according to the piece of music. Sometimes I say play this and I can just show them the parts. But when we take a piece like "Now We Run"� which is the opening piece of the new DVD; that is about 40 pages of intense chaos. Being able to read it is going to be a lot more convenient than me sitting there telling you how to do it.


The Gauntlet: What kind of preparation went into the live show?


Steve Vai: Because it was a different kind of band, I wanted to put on a show with music that hasn't been performed often or that has never been performed. More than 3/4 of it is music that I have never performed before. This took intense rehearsals. We rehearsed for 30 days and for 8-12 hours a day. It was a short tour, I didn't plan for a long tour. We just did a month in Europe and American and then South America. It was a blast on tour with these people. What I enjoy doing most is visualizing a project. That is where it all comes together with no barriers. I visualized before I did anything in my head the kind of show I would like to see at a concert. I like to be musically entertained and want to see incredible musicianship but not beat up by their musical intellect. A lot of people think that if they come to one of my shows I just stand up there shredding to impress myself. Parts are like that as I love impressing myself. But the majority of the show is a very musical experience with a lot of dynamics that are really intense and tender. I like to see a show and want people to feel like they are part of the experience. I want them to feel they got a show they can't get anywhere else and are uplifted by it.

The Gauntlet: Is there anyone that has inspired your stage antics?


Steve Vai: When I create a show or when anyone sets out to create the best thing they can at the time, it is a culmination of all of their influences and experiences. I was in a lot of bands in the past and with a lot of historical musicians. If you watch the performance, you are not going to be able to see where I got this or that from. There are elements of it. I strive to make my performances unique.


The Gauntlet: Do you prefer studio or live?


Steve Vai: I enjoy both. By the time I am done with a studio album, I am ready to do a live album. It is all good. I work with great people, travel the world, make music and record it. An artist is very fortunate when they find their niche. Although I am not a popstar, thank god, or a multi-platinum rock band, there is an audience out there that enjoys the thing I do. That core audience supports me. What you find out is the dedication on how dependent with how sincere and honest with the music you make. That is the case for any artist. If you think about the bands you really like, you know that it affects you with how honest they are. You know that you won't hear AC/DC play a Jethro Tull song. It is like beef yogurt and doesn't work. I found the kind of thing that inspires me and the thing I do best along with the audience that enjoys it.


The Gauntlet: Did you enjoy your pop-stardom in the 90's?


Steve Vai: It was part of the process. I got a kick out of it. I knew it was fleeting and temporal and I was going to make the best out of it. In this part of the movie, you play the pop star so I did my best.


The Gauntlet: Did you set out to make this live album different from Live at Astoria?


Steve Vai: Oh yeah. We have a totally different band. With Astoria, it is more like a metal sounding band. Where the Wild Things are is much more refined although more intense too. Every time I get on a stage, every time I play a show or make a record, I make a conscious effort to raise the bar. That bar consists of my musicality, my debt with the melody and the intensity of the message; whether it is subtle or brutal. What happens is as you grow in whatever field you focus on, if you keep that focus, you peel off layers and layers and get deeper and deeper into that focus. I have made a very conscious visualization of what that focus is. With the Astoria DVD, it was a snapshot of a particular band, time and focus that I had like with any artist. The Wild Things DVD / Blu-Ray has violins and a cleaner sound so to speak. The intensity is higher and the stakes have risen.


The Gauntlet: This will be your first venture into the hi-def realm by releasing Where the Wild Things Are on Blu-Ray.


Steve Vai: Most artists don't control their catalogs or careers. If you take a DVD and shoot your concert, most artists don't own it, it is owned by the label. When it becomes time for that label to release the product, they crunch numbers. To author a blu-ray is very pricey. It is extremely expensive and thus your profit margin is cut way down. Because I control and own all of my own product through my record company and control my distribution, I decide what I am going to do. I can take the hit simply because I love watching it in high definition. When I watch it on DVD compared to the blu-ray, it is like somebody shot Santa Claus. Even if only a small percentage of my fanbase can view this on blu-ray, I will know they are getting the best I have to offer with the best quality sound. I went through great pains to mix this. The audio on this is just superb and that is hard to do with a live concert.


The Gauntlet: Will you ever get your revenge on Ralph Macchio? (click here if you have no idea what this is regarding.)


Steve Vai: I'm gonna kick that little white boys ass! [laughs] As a matter of fact, it is funny you ask. I am working on something with that but it is still in the brewing stages. He still wins but in a more preposterous way. You will have to see it. We are actually talking to Ralph about it. It will be for a promotional DVD or something.


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Tags:  steve vai  , Steve Vai, interviews

Jason Fisher    August 06, 2009