In a new interview with Songfacts’ Greg Prato, guitar legend Steve Vai discusses his Stillness In Motion CD/DVD. An excerpt follows:

Q: Let's start by discussing the DVD/CD, Stillness in Motion.

A: “Well, I had done the Story Of Light record, and I wanted to set out and do a very in-depth tour. I wanted to really hit the road as hard as I could, and we had 253 engagements, basically, between the master classes and the shows. We did America twice, Europe twice, we were in Russia eight times. I spent a month in Russia, playing in places like Siberia and places I was told had never had an American rock band. I was in Kiev during the war. It was a very extensive tour. I really used it as an opportunity to dig as deep as I could into every note.

“So there's opportunities to film these shows occasionally, and I look for the best opportunity. We had a show scheduled in Los Angeles [filmed October 12, 2012, at Club Nokia], and AXS, which is a high-definition Cable station, approached us with a desire to film it and have it seen live into like, 35 million homes. So I thought that would be a great opportunity to get a good videotaping of the show. And part of the deal was they gave me all of the tapes, and it was a beautiful nine-camera shoot. So that's pretty much how that came about.

“Whenever I do a project, I try to bring something a little different than what I had done last time, and hopefully, something I've never seen really done before, so I kind of put that out there to the universe.

“Recording the show, mixing it, and editing it, that's pretty common - it wasn't a big challenge. I didn't want to have just another live DVD, so towards the end of the tour, I came up with this idea - I was just waiting for something to come to me. The idea was, because this tour was so expensive and we went to so many different places, why not create a video diary of sorts, of bonus footage that would have every stop on the tour - at least a photo or some footage.

“This idea came after the fact, so I had to go and dig up all of the footage that I could find - from the band, crew, fans, myself, my wife, anything that I could find - and put it in chronological order of the tour itself. It turned out to be three hours and 40 minutes of bonus footage called The Space Between The Notes. It's in nine legs, and I had such a blast doing it.

“For people who are interested in this kind of thing, it turned out really good, because it's a really intimate look into the touring experience. You get to see how much we really enjoy being with each other and touring. There's a lot of love on tours, so to speak.

“I think that was the real special thing that I was able to bring to the DVD and that was more of an incentive to do it. It just took a really long time to get all that footage and then put it in order and edit it. And there were pieces missing, so I had to hunt on YouTube for any kind of footage of the gig. It was a vast project, but it's done and it's out.

Read the full interview at this location.

Vai recently checked in with the following announcement:

"Hey Folks, Steve here. We are thrilled to be posting The Space Between The Notes one leg at a time (nine in total) once a week over the next nine weeks, in full resolution! This bonus footage was culled from multiple sources including pics and vids from fans, band, crew, family, and myself. It’s a chronological video diary that has bits from each of the 253 engagements and 52 countries we visited on the last tour, The Story Of Light tour. It was a glorious life experience for us and we are stoked that we can present it here for you. Enjoy!"

Story of Light Tour: The Space Between the Notes (Tour Mischief) runs down as follows:

Leg 1 (Rehearsals/USA)
Leg 2 (Europe/Eastern Europe)
Leg 3 (Vegas/Netherlands/Russia/Ukraine/Europe)
Leg 4 (Australia/NZ/Indonesia/China/S. Korea/Japan/Taiwan/Thailand)
Leg 5 (Europe...again)
Leg 6 (USA...again)
Leg 7 (Mexico/South America/China)
Leg 8 (Vegas/Singapore/Malaysia/Israel/Europe/Russia/Ukraine)
Leg 9 (USA/St. Barths/Japan/France/Poland)

Leg 1:

Leg 2:

Back in April, Vai released  a video for the song “The Story Of Light” from the Stillness In Motion DVD. This selection opens The Space Between The Notes – a fascinating tour diary and video montage of life on the road with Vai and the band.

Vai states: “This is the piece that took the most time and the one I’m most happy with.”

An exclusive full performance of guitar legend Steve Vai's "Weeping China Doll" from Stillness In Motion: Vai Live In L.A. can be viewed below:

The double album and DVD, was released April 7th through Sony Music Entertainment and Legacy Recordings, were recorded October 12th, 2012, at L.A.’s Club Nokia. It was the 49th show from Vai’s Story of Light World Tour.