By Greg Pratt

STEVE VAI may be a virtuoso guitar god who has sold, with all his various bands and solo projects, over 20 million records in his 30-year career, but he’s an easy guy to talk to. Especially if you’re interviewing him. Take his answer to question number one I posed to him when I got him on the blower to chat about his new live DVD (also available on Blu-ray) and CD, Where The Wild Things Are. Said question being: how are things going?

“I’m focusing on promoting and prepping the release of my new concert DVD,” he begins. “That in itself is a big focus. When you’re an artist you have these phases of a project you go through. First, there’s the fun part; you just have the blank slate and it’s just limited to your imagination. That’s the time I like to conceive of an entire project, how it’s going to look, whether it’s going to be a DVD, what kind of instruments I’m going to use, the musical dynamic, the band, all of that. Then you go about the phase of making it. That has a lot of elements to it. You have to get the band together, you have to rehearse them… Then after that, you plan the tour—how are you going to get out there, where are you going to go? That has a lot of interesting challenges, getting the music in shape, are you going to record it, are you going to make a DVD, what is it going to be like, how many countries are you going to go to? I love it, I gotta say, virtually every aspect of being a musician to me has very enjoyable moments. Some of it’s really difficult and tedious, when I have to edit certain projects and get in there and forensically fix shit, when you’re not feeling well and have to get on stage… there’s little challenges. The phase that I’m in now is I’ve got a product and I’ve got to let people know it’s out there (laughs).”

Yowza. Dude likes to talk just like he likes to play a mean goddamn axe. And play a mean goddamn axe he does all over this DVD. And it’s no surprise that the performance features a decidedly orchestral edge (but, in a non-pussy kinda way), given that Vai had just finished a CD and DVD project (Sound Theories and Visual Sound Theories) with the METROPOLE ORKEST.

“I was ready to get back to work and the next project I was slated to do was a studio record,” he says, “which would have meant I would have been in the studio for quite some time and it would have been a long time before I got out on tour. So I decided to put a unique band together and go out and do a small run—a month in Europe and a month in America. I always like to change the band up and give it a facelift with different instrumentation. A couple of the concepts that I’d like to explore are with two string players and with two percussionists along with the drummer; another would be with a whole horn section. So I decided to do the strings since it was more in line with the orchestra project.”
“So I dug into my catalogue,” he continues, “grabbed a bunch of tracks, orchestrated them and we went to work for about 30 days, 12-15 hours a day in rehearsing the stuff and getting it in shape for the road. I regret I didn’t go longer because this was really a great band and a unique show. It was really wonderful and I’m glad we captured it in Minneapolis there because it’s a beautiful venue and the band was oiled up and just ready to go; I’m very happy with the way it turned out.”

The addition of a violin player in this version of Vai’s backup band is one that works wonders on the DVD, the back and forth between the hysterical lead guitar work and the just-as-hysterical violin playing jaw-dropping at times. But don’t sweat it; this is still hard-rocking stuff.

“As soon as you mention the words ‘violin’ or ‘orchestra’ people immediately think it’s going to sound like classical music,” says Vai, “but it’s not like that at all. I’m not a big fan of classic classical music. There’s contemporary stuff I like, but when I write music for an orchestra it doesn’t even resemble contemporary classical music.”

And to keep things different all around, Vai is going to have a screening of the movie in Hollywood (on September 15 at the Egyptian Theatre); there will be a silent auction that night and there is also an eBay auction taking place, all of which benefit Hollywood Arts, a charity that Vai is on the board of directors of. OZZY, Tom Morello, Nicko McBrain and many other celebs (including sports folks and actors) have donated items for the auction.

“I’m very excited about that,” says Vai. “It’s a fantastic charity; they take at-risk and homeless teens from the street and put creative tools in their hands. I gotta say, some of these kids, their challenges in life have been unbelievable. And even when you think you can imagine what some of these kids have been through, you really can’t. Their minds are obsessed with their life and what they’ve been through, but give them an opportunity to use a different part of their brain and really focus on their creative element and you’d be shocked, man, what it does for these kids. There are unbelievable success stories where a lot of these kids have gone off to college and become vital, great contributors to a healthy society, whereas before they were just fighting their demons.”

Vai says he was “surprised” about all the items they received to auction off. There is one item in particular that he’s got his eyes on. “There’s one thing I know I’m gonna buy and I don’t care what it costs me… one of TOM WAITS’ hats,” he chuckles.

Getting back to the new DVD, it’s only natural to wonder about that name, given the movie of the same name being released mid-October. Vai says he did indeed take the name from the kids’ book the movie is based on; he loves the book and long wanted to name a project after it.

“I always liked the title,” he admits. “I thought it was mysterious and fun and always wanted to use it. I was going to name the DVD Paint Me Your Face. But Where The Wild Things Are kept sticking in my mind; I tried to name a couple of projects that but always pulled back. I thought, I’m going to go for it. The moment I decided to go for it, and had everything printed up, Warner Bros. decides to release a film called Where The Wild Things Are. (laughs) But, who cares?”

Sounds like the wise words of a man content with his career, content with his life. And considering where he’s at—where’s he’s been—he should be. And, did we mention he’s a beekeeper in his spare time?

“Well, it’s not like I’m a commercial beekeeper; it’s a hobby,” he says. “I like it because it doesn’t take much time and it’s an opportunity for me to be by myself and get really close to nature. Bees are fascinating creatures; they have a phenomenal social infrastructure. It takes a couple of hours a month to go in and check the hives. And we get tons and tons of honey; we have a little honey harvest party once a year.”

And in closing, we’ve got the scoop for you Vai nuts in regards to what the man is up to next. Sounds like he’s going to be keeping busy, as always.

“It’s been so long since I’ve released a new product,” he says. “I’m going to start releasing one song a month digitally only. It’s called VaiTunes (laughs). Then I’m going to start working on a new studio record and I’ve got some cool ideas for the recording and the filming, a very unique filming of a new DVD and a new record. So I’m looking forward to that. I’d like to use this band; I don’t know if we can because of peoples’ schedules, but if I can, I certainly will. I’m going to be doing a tremendous amount of touring next year; I’ll probably do a sweep of the world twice. I’m really looking forward to it. I love getting out there and playing. It’s been too long.”