Steve Vai

Steve Vai

Steven "Steve" Siro Vai (born June 6, 1960 in Carle Place, New York) is a Grammy Award winning guitarist, composer, vocalist, and record producer.

Career

1970s and 1980s

In 1974, Steve took guitar lessons from guitarist Joe Satriani, and played in numerous local bands. He has acknowledged the influence of many guitarists including Jeff Beck and fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth. Vai then attended the Berklee College of Music. Vai mailed Frank Zappa a transcription of Zappa's The Black Page, an instrumental song written for drums, along with a tape with some of Vai's guitar playing. Zappa was so impressed with the abilities of the young musician that he hired him in 1979 to do work transcribing several of his guitar solos, including many of those appearing on the Joe's Garage album and the Shut Up 'n' Play Yer Guitar series. These transcriptions were published in 1982 in The Frank Zappa Guitar Book.

Subsequent to being hired as a transcriber, Vai did overdubs on many of the guitar parts for Zappa's album You Are What You Is. Thereafter he became a full-fledged band member, going on his first tour with Zappa in the Autumn of 1980. One of those early shows with Vai on guitar, recorded in Buffalo was released in 2007. While touring with Zappa's band, Vai would sometimes ask audience members to bring musical scores and see if he could sight-read them on the spot. Zappa referred to Steve as his "little Italian virtuoso" and was listed in liner notes as "stunt guitar" or "impossible guitar parts." He would later be a featured artist on the 1993 recording, Zappa's Universe. In 2006 he returned to Zappa Music, as special guest on Dweezil Zappa's Zappa Plays Zappa tour.

After leaving Zappa in 1982 he moved to California where he recorded his first album Flex-Able and performed in a couple of bands. In 1985 he replaced Yngwie Malmsteen as lead guitarist in Graham Bonnet's Alcatrazz with whom he recorded the album Disturbing the Peace. Later in 1985 he joined former Van Halen front man David Lee Roth's group to record the albums Eat 'Em and Smile and Skyscraper. This significantly increased Vai's visibility to general rock audiences, since Roth was in a highly public battle with the Van Halen members and Vai was favorably compared by many commentators to Eddie Van Halen.

In 1986 Vai also surprised everyone by playing with ex-Sex Pistols John Lydon's Public Image Ltd on their album Album (also known as Compact Disc or Cassette). Then in 1989 Vai stepped into guitarist Adrian Vandenberg's shoes to record with British rock-group Whitesnake after Vandenberg injured his wrist shortly before recording was due to begin for the album Slip of the Tongue. Vai also played on the Alice Cooper album Hey Stoopid along with Joe Satriani on the song Feed my Frankenstein.

1990s and 2000s

Vai continues to tour regularly, both with his own group and with his one-time teacher and fellow guitar instrumentalist friend Joe Satriani on the G3 series of tours. Former David Lee Roth and Mr. Big bassist Billy Sheehan also joined him for a world tour. In 1990 Vai released his critically acclaimed solo album Passion and Warfare. The song For the Love of God was voted #29 in a readers' poll of the 100 greatest guitar solos of all time for the magazine Guitar World.

In 1994 Vai began writing and recording with Ozzy Osbourne. Only one track from these sessions—"My Little Man"—was released on the Ozzmosis album. Despite Vai penning the track he does not appear on the album. His guitar parts were replaced by Zakk Wylde. Vai's band members throughout the 1990s included drummer Mike Mangini, guitarist Mike Keneally and bassist Philip Bynoe. In 1994 Vai received a Grammy Award for his performance on the Frank Zappa song Sofa from the album Zappa's Universe.

In July 2002, Steve Vai performed with the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra at the Suntory Hall in Tokyo, Japan, in the world premiere of composer Ichiro Nodaira's Fire Strings, a concerto for electric guitar and 100-piece orchestra. In 2004, a number of his compositions for orchestra, as well as orchestra arrangements of previously recorded pieces, were performed in The Netherlands by the Metropole Orchestra in a concert series entitled The Aching Hunger. In 2003, drummer Jeremy Colson joined Vai's group replacing previous drummer Virgil Donati. Vai's latest album, Real Illusions: Reflections, was released in 2005, and Steve Vai and the Breed, as the band is now called, has embarked on a world tour in support of that album.

Steve Vai released a DVD of his performance at The Astoria in London in December 2001, featuring the lineup of bassist Billy Sheehan, guitar and piano virtuoso Tony MacAlpine, guitarist Dave Weiner and drummer Virgil Donati. In 2004, Steve Vai was featured on Xbox's Halo 2 Volume 1 soundtrack, performing a heavy rock-guitar rendition of the Halo 2 Theme, known as Halo 2 Theme (Mjolnir Mix). He also performed on the track Never Surrender. In the second iteration of the soundtrack, he performed on the track Reclaimer. He was also featured on the Volume 2 soundtrack.

In February 2005, Vai premiered a dual-guitar (electric and classical) piece that he wrote called The Blossom Suite with classical guitarist Sharon Isbin at the Châtelet Theatre in Paris. In 2006, Vai played as a "special guest" guitarist alongside additional guest Zappa band members, drummer Terry Bozzio and saxophonist-singer Napoleon Murphy Brock in the Zappa Plays Zappa tour led by Frank's son Dweezil Zappa in Europe and the U.S. in the Spring as well as a short U.S. tour in October.

On September 21 2006, Vai made a special appearance at the Video Games Live concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Hollywood, California. He played two songs with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra. One song being the Halo Theme, the second was for the world premier trailer for Halo 3.

Steve Vai made an appearance at the London Guitar Show 2007 on the 28th April 2007 at the ExCeL Center by doing a masterclass. In late April of 2007, Vai confirmed the release of his next record, called Sound Theories, on June 26. The release will be a 2-CD set consisting mostly of previously released material that Vai rearranged and played in front of a full orchestra. Vai says that the project was a great joy because he considers himself to be a composer more than a guitarist, and he is happy to see music he has composed played by an orchestra that can play it well. A DVD will eventually accompany the record but will be released in August. He makes a guest appearance on the most recent Dream Theater album, Systematic Chaos, on the song "Repentance". However, this appearance is vocal rather than instrumental, as Vai is one of many musical guests recorded apologizing to important people in their lives for wrongdoings committed in their pasts.

Vai is set to release a DVD of his show (09/19/07) at the Minneapolis State Theater from his 2007 Tour.

Movies

Steve Vai's music has been featured in a number of feature films, including Dudes and Ghosts of Mars. He appeared onscreen in the 1986 Ralph Macchio movie Crossroads, playing the demonically-inspired Jack Butler. At the film's climax, Vai engages in a guitar duel with Macchio, whose guitar parts were dubbed by Vai and also Ry Cooder, who played the initial slide work in the duel and Macchio's earlier performances in the film. The fast-paced neo-classical track entitled Eugene's Trick Bag with which Macchio wins the competition was also composed by Vai. The body of the piece was heavily based on Paganini's Caprice #5. He later borrowed the opening riff from the track Head Cuttin' Duel for a song called Bad Horsie from his 1995 EP Alien Love Secrets. Later the Crossroads duel reappeared on the 2002 album The Elusive Light and Sound, volume 1.

In 1991's Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey the introductory riff to KISS' God Gave Rock 'N Roll To You II, as performed by the Wyld Stallyns in the Battle of the Bands was performed by Vai. He also composed and performed the soundtrack to PCU (1994), and made contributions in 2001 to the score for John Carpenter's Ghosts of Mars, performing on the tracks Ghosts of Mars and Ghost Poppin. His track I'm the Hell Outta Here can be heard during 1992's Encino Man in the scene where Brendan Fraser is taking a driving lesson. In an episode of Jackass season 1 Johnny Knoxville walks into a Guitar Store while having a fake erection and asks if they have the guitar Steve Vai played.

Musical style

Where Vai's contributions to others' material has been constrained by the largely rock or heavy-rock style of those bands, his own material is somewhat more eclectic. Vai's playing style has been characterized as quirky and angular, owing to his superb technical facility with the instrument and deep knowledge of music theory. Vai has been credited with the recent revival of the 7-string guitar, and has used double and triple neck guitars on many occasions.

An interesting point to note is Vai's commitment to practice. In several guitar magazines and texts, he is reported to practice eight hours a day, a habit he began as early as his high school days.

Equipment

Vai is an accomplished studio producer (he owns two: "The Mothership" and "The Harmony Hut" and his own recordings combine his signature guitar prowess with novel compositions and considerable use of studio and recording effects, such as the Eventide H3000 ultra harmonizer and Digidesign's Pro Tools HD recording system and plug-in effects architecture.

Vai also helped design his signature Ibanez JEM series of guitars. They feature a hand grip (fondly referred to as a "monkey grip") cut into the top of the body of the guitar, a humbucker-single coil-humbucker DiMarzio pickup configuration with several different types of pickup including Evolution, Breed and EVO 2. He also uses Ibanez's Edge locking tremolo system, as well as an elaborate and extensive "Vine of Life" inlay down the neck. Steve also equips many of his guitars with an Ibanez Backstop, a tremolo stabilizer that has been discontinued. Steve also has a 7-string model designed by him named Ibanez Universe. The Universe later influenced the 7-string guitars used by Korn and other bands to create nu-metal sounds in the late 1990s. He also has a signature Ibanez acoustic, the Euphoria. Before he used Ibanez, he briefly endorsed Jackson guitars, but this relationship would only last for two years.

Steve Vai has also worked with Carvin Guitars and Pro Audio to develop the Carvin Legacy line of guitar amplifiers. Vai wanted to create an amp that was unique and equal in sound, versatility, and affordability to any guitar amp he had previously used. Over his long musical career, Steve Vai has used and designed an array of guitars. He even had his DNA put into the swirl paint job on one of his signature JEM guitars, the JEM2KDNA, in the form of his blood. Only 300 of these were ever made. Nowadays he mainly uses his white JEM7V, which is inscribed with the letters "Evo", mainly in order to allow him to distinguish between the guitars he uses onstage which are practically identical, his "Flo" guitar however is equipped with a Fernandes sustainer pick-up in the neck.

He also has a guitar named "Mojo" in which the dot inlays are blue LED lights. Additionally, he has a custom-made triple-neck guitar that has the same basic features as his JEM7V guitars. The top neck is a 12-string guitar, the middle is a 6-string, and the bottom is a 6-string fretless guitar with a Fernandes Sustainer pickup. This guitar was featured on the G3 2003 tour on the piece I Know You're Here. Vai's effects pedals include a modified Boss DS-1, Ibanez Tube Screamer, Morley Bad Horsie, Morley Little Alligator Volume pedal, Digitech Whammy, and an MXR Phase 90. His flight cases are labeled "Mr. Vai", or latterly, "Dr. Vai". He used a number of rack effects units controlled via MIDI, but used a floor-based TC electronics G system instead for the Zappa Plays Zappa tour.

Philanthropy

In 2005, Vai signed on as an official supporter of Little Kids Rock, a nonprofit organization that provides free musical instruments and free lessons to children in public schools throughout the U.S.A. He sits on its board of directors as an honorary member.

Favored Nations

Vai owns Favored Nations, a recording and publishing company that specializes in internationally procuring and maintaining recording artists. Favored nations is separated into three sections, 'Favored Nations', 'Favored Nations Acoustic' and 'Favored Nations Cool (Jazz style)'

Current artists on the Favored Nations label include Yngwie Malmsteen, Eric Johnson, Tommy Emmanuel, Vernon Reid, The Yardbirds, Larry Coryell, Mimi Fox, Eric Sardinas, Dweezil Zappa and Dave Weiner.

Personal life

Vai is married to Pia Maiocco, former bass player of Vixen, who can be seen in Hardbodies. Steve and Pia have two children, Julian Angel and Fire. In his spare time Vai enjoys keeping bees, which regularly produce a crop of honey that Vai sells for his Make a Noise Foundation.

Meet & Greet Contests

Vai has online forums at www.vai.com, contests to win backstage passes are regularly organized by Steve's art director and webmaster Michael Mesker. Fans enter their name on messageboards and are entered in draws to meet Steve after the show. Steve and his fans are equally enthusiastic about meeting each other. Special premium ticket packages - dubbed the "Evo Premium Experience" are also available at most shows since 2005's Real Illusions tour. These exclusive ticket packages are usually limited to 30 tickets per show (sometimes 40) which allow fans access to Steve - including a 1 hour question and answer session, the chance to watch the band soundcheck before the show, and an exclusive merch bag usually featuring unreleased music or video. The EVO Premium Experience ticket usually includes preferred seating in seated venues.