Steve Vai is by no means a new entrant on the Music scene, his career has spanned some 27 years. Fresh out of Berklee in the early 80's, he was featured as Frank Zappa's "Stunt Guitar" player, aptly named to describe the precision, the execution, and the stratospherical proportions of his deep capabilities. He then ventured out as a solo Guitar slinger taking the "guitar shredding genre" to a new level by introducing complex composition, feeling, and tonal expansion of the guitar combined with blistering speed and dexterity. All this, while inventing new horizons for guitar music. Then, as a "hired guitar gun" to provide innovative world class guitar capabilities for the likes of Alcatraz, David Lee Roth, and Whitesnake. It has been during the last 19 years though, that he has squarely landed as a World Class Guitar Shredder, Virtuoso, Composer, Arranger, and Entrepreneur. Releasing more than a dozen solo titles as well as a number of collaborations with other world class musicians including a 2006 world tour as a "special guest" on the Zappa Plays Zappa tour, giving Steve an opportunity to go all the way back to his musical roots and supporting Dweezil Zappa in bringing his father's music forward for the world to hear live again. Steve has also developed the innovative Jem guitar for Ibanez, The Legacy Series of guitar amplifiers for Carvin, and the Bad Horsie guitar effects for Morley.

I had the wonderful opportunity to have a conversation with Steve in early August just as he completed his successful European tour. We discussed the many elements required to make the leap from World Class \ Virtuoso player in obscurity, to one known the world over. We also discussed his new double live CD Sound Theories Vol. I & II and his soon to be released DVD Sight & Sound Theories that showcase his deep compositional and arranging capabilities that match his playing. We also discussed his US tour that kicks-off September 7th in Las Vegas, NV with local appearances in Hartford , CT at the Webster Theatre on October 3rd; Boston, MA at Berklee Performance Center on October 4th; and Providence, RI at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel October 5th.

Sound Theories Vol I & II released in June by Epic, is a double-live CD featuring Steve Vai's collaboration with the Netherlands Metropole Orchestra. The two-disc set features rare exceptional material pulled from five European performances, a studio session and a sound check rehearsal recording. These all took place in mid-2004 and 2005. This two CD set will be supported by a world tour and a soon to be released DVD Sight and Sound Theories which features the 5th European performance. The DVD is set for release in September.

BG: Composition has always been very important to you, why release Sound Theories Volume I & II now?

SV: "I am primarily a rock musician that plays the guitar, that's what I am known for, through the years I have played rock and spent a lot of time playing pop rock, which is not what my music is. My music is unique to rock music. My music is very guitar focused. I have always had a real attraction to orchestral music. Even contemporary well accepted composers have a very difficult time getting their music played. So composing and stacking scores in the back room for years has been a hobby of sorts and I had to wait until I had an opportunity to put it out there. I finally had the opportunity to work with Co de Kloet who was working on NPS radio (Dutch Public Radio & Television) in Europe and he would put these shows on the radio and solicit funds to bring them to reality. The Metropole Orchestra is an orchestra out of Holland and is one of those little satellite orchestras that are filled with, you know, folks who are interested in doing these new things. He (Co) paired me with the Metropole. It was basically Co's invitation that made this whole thing happen."

. BG: Will you be performing anymore orchestral music in 07, 08, or even 09 as you look out to the future?

SV: "In 07, no." "Orchestral performance is cost prohibitive and the timing takes a minimum of a year in advance for planning. Orchestral music requires booking a year in advance for schedules, booking and fees. raising funds. I have already been approached by several orchestras around the world to participate with them. But if I am going to do more orchestra work I want to write more and do different stuff, yea, absolutely I am looking forward to doing much more of this kind of thing." "They say a composer's best years are between the ages of 50 and 70, by that time the old fingers may be slowing down some where I may want to focus more on that. I am still primarily motivated by the guitar and trying to find truth with that thing."

BG: When you compose guitar music, do hear how it is going to sound when you are writing or is that what happens when you actually play it? Especially your use of the tremolo (whammy bar) it creates a violin like sound at times and other sounds that are not of this earth?

SV: "It happens in different ways, the first thing you have to do is plant mental seeds, you know you have to imagine it. I tell myself, don't do anything I have heard before and if you do, you must evolve it to something unique to you. You have to think it is possible, so you have to imagine it , believe it, and be capable of doing it, and why not, there is no law in the universe that says if it is capable of being manifested why can't I do it or anyone else, the difference is, I am telling myself that I am capable and then after that, it is just allowing these things to flow through you, sometimes it is just sitting and playing the instrument until something weird comes out, maybe it is a mistake that I keep developing into an idea. A lot of times, I just sit and imagine, I visualize myself playing things that are unorthodox, maybe impossible and unique. Why would I visualize myself doing something that someone else does? And then what happens is that they just start to become your reality and maybe not exactly as you envisioned them, but pretty close and it is up to you to cultivate those ideas and sort of incorporate them into your fingers and your music. But most importantly, the caveat I impose on myself is that whatever it is that I do, has to sound like music, whether it is noise or a dynamic idea all of these mental parameters you put up become your reality."

BG: Do you think about what is going to be heard on the other end of what you create in terms of your company, the fans, concert promoters?

SV: "Well, everyone hears things differently you know, there are as many perceptions as there are ears out there. Primarily, I just see myself as a guy that has particular talents and it is my responsibility to cultivate them so that a certain group of people will find some stimulation. You know, I am an artist, and that's what artists do. I don't have any preconceived notions to change the world or anything. I am just doing my best, to be the best entertainer I can be. So however it comes out, usually if I am having fun doing it and I get a kick out of it, or if it is something that is deeply moving to me, passionate, that group of people that I resonate with, usually find it to be stimulating to them. So, if I make a sound that I think is funny, the group I resonate with will as well. If I create something that is stimulating others, those who find what I do stimulating, the people that I am communicating with will feel a certain way. You have to find your audience. That is the beautiful thing about music, there are many different types, just as there are listeners."

BG: Have you seen your audience come with you through each era of your music?

SV: "Many of my fans have migrated, many have fallen off, many are young and new, it is really a pretty vast sampling. In the early days I was playing all that pop music \ pop rock, there was an audience that liked that stuff, they liked the songs, they represented a small portion of my audience as they like the songs, I was not a pop star so to speak. Then there are the people who love the shredding violent virtuoso guitar playing, this is primarily my audience. Through the years it is very difficult to maintain a career when you play the kind of music that I play because I don't have the outlets like the big artists who have radio. You will never hear my music on the radio, television, VH1, MTV or whatever it is. Large magazines like Rolling Stone are not going to happen. It is really word of mouth and concert performance. The past 27 years that I have been touring, my audience has ebbed and flowed, I don't just get up there and shred guitar, the body of my work is compositional, some shredding, some intense stuff, there is some accessible stuff, and some challenging stuff to listen to. As a result, my audience has ebbed and flowed. As my work encompasses all of the aforementioned, those who just shred may have dropped off, and...ultimately what happens, if you can withstand the torrents of challenges, the core element of what you do is embraced by a particular group of people who find it particularly stimulating, those people know...5% out of a 100% like what I do, I might have 3% of them, I have to keep building and fortunately, I mean tremendously fortunate for me through the years without all of those potential marketing avenues, I have still been able to slowly grow my audience because what we offer is a little different than what you can get any place else."

BG: How does an world class guitar player go from obscurity to notoriety?

SV: "Being a world class player takes one brain muscle, and to market what you do, it takes another brain muscle. In order to cultivate an audience, it's a whole different approach, I went to school with guys who can play me under the table, guys on street corners around the world can play me under the table, there are certain elements I had in place that made what I do, made me more accessible. Maybe the way I look, my intensity, my history, Frank (Zappa), big bands, innovative things that I have done with the instrument...The Ibanez Jem is a totally innovative instrument and the approach I have taken to playing the instrument. The reason Edward Van Halen is so much more popular than me, is because his application of his innovation was in a much broader field. So that guy in the supper club (I mentioned to Steve, that it is difficult to understand why world class players have to struggle so much) may be a fascinating player, and he may be a world class player, he may be the best in the entire world, but it doesn't necessarily make him a great musician & entertainer. It doesn't necessarily make you an accessible personality. That is what people are stimulated by. I used to go to a local supper club over here, I think it was Spago's and I used to see Ted Greene and Jay Graydon and see these guys playing, they are playing and they are phenomenal, they are ridiculous, they are just ridiculous players...the input jack on my guitar closes up when I get near them. I hear them play and they can't even sell out a supper club, yet they are world class players. Guitar playing is only really fascinating to a very small group of people and it requires more than just guitar capability to cross over."

BG: The business side of what you do must be immense with your music, touring, product innovation and brands?

SV: "The business side of the music industry is bedazzling to a lot of artists, to me it has always been very natural. I understand it implicitly, I get it, and I protect my intellectual property because it is very valuable and I don' let anybody take advantage of me. I don't, to the best of my ability. I have tried to not let anyone take advantage of me. The business is easy. It is like music...It is like writing music, there are many artists, guitar players that say they don't know music, it is this daunting field that they feel is impossible to embrace, it is just black dots on a piece of paper with a couple of little things and some practical theory applications. It's really very simple. They don't give their brains the opportunity to embrace it. They take the same approach to business....I am the artist, I don't care about the business....GUESS WHAT, YOU SHOULD! the difference between....I should say, a musician is fascinated with the little black dots, and fascinated with the performance, and the artistic value. Business people, are fascinated by the numbers, and nary do the two twains meet. Whenever I saw a deal that didn't make sense, I would just say it, NO!"

BG: Do you have any other projects in addition to your current tour with the "String Theories Band" like anymore ZPZ dates?

SV: Yes, in addition to my solo tour I am scheduled to do Zappa Plays Zappa in Australia in November and Japan in January. I am really looking forward to playing with those guys, I had so much fun with them last year.

If you have never heard of, or seen Steve Vai, don't miss this opportunity to see him up close and personal at any of his New England appearances, you will be glad you did. See Steve's web site at WWW.VAI.COM for all his latest info and tour information and fan blogs.