I Heart Guitar: So the 25th anniversary release of Flex-Able is coming out soon – when is that coming out?

Vai: Well I’m working on it right now! As I’m sitting here talking to you I’m looking at the machine. It’ll probably come out next year some time. I’ve got a lot of things coming out right now, and you’ve got to be careful how you position things so you’re not killing everybody.

I Heart Guitar: And of course the anniversary of Passion & Warfare is coming up soon too. Do you have any plans to do something for that?

Vai: Well… Flex-Able is hitting 25, and I’m doing a complete remastering which is sounding unbelieveable. And also adding bonus footage and doing all that stuff… making a package for the fans that really like that stuff. And if I was to do something for the 20th anniversary of Passion & Warfare it’d be like next week or something. So I figured I’d wait for the 25th and then do things. I like 25.

I Heart Guitar: How do you feel about Passion & Warfare now? It was a huge one for me – it coincided with the end of grade school and the start of high school for me, and it was like this world of musical colour right when I was really falling in love with the electric guitar.

Vai: I just feel very blessed and fortunate that I had an opportunity to do that record, because it was a long time coming. Because when I was with Alcatrazz… no actually, from as long back as I could remember, when I was a little boy and I discovered music, I knew that I had my own musical voice, so to speak. And it wasn’t a unique kind of thing, it was just something that I think songwriters and composers have. And through the years, one thing led to another led to another, and when I did Flex-Able it was just a time when I was very free, I had no expectations, I didn’t expect to become famous or rich or even that the record would be released. It was really just an opportunity for me to have fun with my friends and do stuff that made us laugh. I had tonnes of stuff recorded – tonnes and tonnes. Flex-Able represents probably five percent of what I recorded in that period. And when it came out, when I actually figured out how to put it out there and it started to sell, I realised it was really a conduit to people: making music and releasing it. Then when I joined all these big rock bands in the 80s, that stimulated a particular desire for me, when it comes to satiating a rock and roll sensibility and being a rock star and all that, that was fun. But through all of it I knew there was this music in my head that really needed to be expressed. I started working on Passion & Warfare right after Flex-Able, but because when I joined Dave Roth I couldn’t release it, when I joined Whitesnake I couldn’t release it. Then finally after I left the Roth band and I quit Whitesnake I just knew that this brand of music had to be created, y’know? I locked myself in the studio and I just felt a lot of liberation and freedom. Because like I said, I didn’t have any expectations, and that’s really one of the best ways – for me at least – to create music, because you’re really free to do what you’re hearing in your head. When I released that record I really didn’t expect it to sell at all. I thought ‘Who’s gonna want it? There’s nothing like it.’ I thought it was good, I enjoyed it, but that didn’t mean anything. How do I know what other people would think? So I was somewhat detached, y’know? And the first person I played it for was David Coverdale. I told him, ‘It’s probably not going to sell anything.’ And he said [adopts David Coverdale voice] ‘Steven darling, I think you’re wrong. This is a tremendously beautiful record. You’re going to be very surprised.’ And he was right, because it was gold in one week. But I get that a lot, that a lot of young people discovered it when they were going to school and it was the soundtrack for their year or something.

I Heart Guitar: I used to sit around and harmonize to ‘The Riddle.’ I didn’t have a 7-string so I thought ‘how can I play along if I can’t do those low notes? I’ll just play a harmony.’

Vai: Well there ya go!

I Heart Guitar: Let’s talk about the Ibanez Jem and Universe for a while. I’ve got one of each, and even though they’re your guitars I kinda feel like they were designed for me. They just fit my body and way of playing so well.

Vai: You must have a body like an upside-down question mark also!

I Heart Guitar: Haha. Do you have any new developments coming?

Vai: Yeah there’s always new developments! That’s one of the fun things about being Steve Vai! They’re willing to build anything you want. In the beginning, back with even Alcatrazz, my style was developing and there were certain things I wanted to do, and certain things I wanted in a guitar, that no conventional guitar really had. So I went to this little guitar shop around the corner and I got a piece of wood, told them how to carve the body… because I liked the way Strats looked, and I couldn’t seem to sit with a Les Paul, but there was something about Strats… they were beautiful, but they weren’t sexy enough. So I thought, how do I make them look a little cooler? It was just my taste – to me it didn’t mean anything to anybody except me. I thought, ‘This is just me, I can do anything I want because I’m buying the piece of wood,’ y’know? So I had the body shaped a particular way and it sits really well for me. Nobody was making 24 fret necks for guitars with whammy bars – it was really unheard-of – so I said ‘Make me a 24-fret with this scale length so it works with this kind of guitar…’ And then I had the cutaway cut really deep because it’s just practical. I can’t reach the notes on another guitar. When I go to play a Strat and I go to play high, the body gets in the way, so it’s like, ‘Just cut it out!’ And I did that and it looked good and it worked great. And then the pickup configuration at the time was completely unique. There was nothing like it. Nobody had three pickups, two of them being humbuckers, on a guitar with a whammy bar. And the thing is, the way that it was wired with the 5-way switch was unique too. When you’re in the neck position you get a humbucker, but between the middle pickup and the neck position you’ve got them both on and it splits the coil in that position, so you get two single coils, which gives you that cool Stratty kinda sound, which I love. And no noise too, because the hum is getting bucked! And then there’s the whammy bar. I wanted to pull up on the whammy bar, and no guitar let you really pull up on it. I just looked at it and I thought, ‘Well, the only thing stopping it is this piece of wood here…’ So I took a screwdriver and a hammer and I just banged out the wood, and that was the first real floating tremolo system. And then there were the practical things – like, I don’t need two tone controls, the volume knob should be here because it gets in the way when it’s there. And just simple things like the input jack. Guitars had input jacks pointing down, so you’re always stepping on them and pulling the cable out.

I Heart Guitar: And cracking the little plastic bit around it if it has that kind of design. I’ve replaced so many of those damn things!

Vai: Yeah! And I just thought, well why not recess it and put it on an angle? It’s such a stupid, simple idea that no-one ever did, that works perfectly. So I had this guitar that was really exactly what I want. All these guitar companies were approaching me to play their instruments and I just couldn’t understand why they would want me to play their instrument when I had one that was so perfect for me. So I said ‘If you want to make this instrument for me, I’ll play it, if it’s good.’ Because it was a pain in the ass having this guitar – I had four of them made, and it would be great to have a real company making them. So they all approached me, and I said whoever makes me the best guitar based on my specifications is the one I will use. And so many guitars just gave me back crap. They would take a guitar that was in their line, alter it a bit and say ‘Here ya go, Steve.’ And it was nothing to do with what I wanted. So Ibanez, within two weeks, created an instrument that was absolutely flawless and perfect. It was exactly what I wanted. So that was the Jem, and that’s what it’s been for 22 years now.

I Heart Guitar: So where to from here for the ‘ol girl?

Vai: There’s always little innovations. We’re working on a new material pattern – remember the floral pattern? Oh my gosh, we’re doing something like that again but ah, the pattern is so gorgeous. When you see it you’re going to die. And also there’s one innovation, I can’t really tell you what it is, but it’s revolutionary. It’s one of those very simple, practical things that no-one ever did, and it’s just like, ‘Well duh!’

I Heart Guitar: Is this going to be at NAMM in January?

Vai: Yeah, we’re going to have a couple of things there. NAMM show’s amazing. Just tonnes and tonnes of cool stuff!

I Heart Guitar: I notice you’ve been pictured a lot with the ‘For The Love Of God’ Universe lately. Are you using that much?

Vai: Yeah! I’m thinking of using it for my next record.

I Heart Guitar: Cool! What are the plans for the next one? How far off?

Vai: I’ve got a couple of projects I’m working on. One of them, I have to finish up this DVD (Where the Wild Things Are) which at this point means press. Then I’ve got the 25th anniversary of Flex-Able I need to complete. Then I’m getting together a big handful of songs that I’m going to be spoonfeeding digitally once a month. Because I’ve got a vault just filled with stuff in various forms of completion that never quite fit for a particular project, but now if I release them all as singles it doesn’t matter. Then I’m hoping to go into the studio and create a studio record, and I’d like to use the band that I had on the DVD.

I Heart Guitar: One of my readers wanted to know if there were still any plans to do another Alien Love Secrets kind of thing like you mentioned a few years ago.

Vai: Yeah, y’know, it’s one of those things I’d like to do. It’s just that I’ve got so many ideas for various projects and each one can take a year, y’know? So I’ve gotta be really careful with my time. I know that that particular type of record would be something a lot of my fans would really like to hear, but if it’s up to me – which it is [laughs] – to go and do a stripped-down trio record right now or take this band with string players and create a whole record with a concept and all that, it’s a hard choice. Frankly putting a show on is much more entertaining when you have a bigger band, so I have to keep that component in mind. So I don’t know. Right now I’m leaning towards doing something with the band.

I Heart Guitar: Another reader question was whether you’d be interested in doing something like Joe Satriani has done with Chickenfoot – although you’ve already had a band with a Van Halen singer!

Vai: Yeah, I’ve been there, done that, I guess! You know it’s interesting, I get asked that question a lot. I went to see Chickenfoot and it was a lot of fun. A great party band. I saw Joe and it looked like he was having a great time. In my mind I put myself in that position and thought it sure would be nice to take a break from all the hard solo work and being the guy that has to make all the decisions, and just put a bunch of guys together and go out there to play simple rock music to people who want to just party and have a good time. But then I thought ‘…Nah.’ There’s just way too much I want to do that’s really very compositional and theatrical and rich. And you know what? The great thing is, for me, I did have that opportunity in the 80s. And I really embraced it and I loved it. I played every arena in the country five times. And it was really fun, and part of me pines for those days. But really, when I think about the here and now, it’s all really about exercising my potential as a guitar player and a composer to the best of my ability, and I just don’t think I could do that in a band situation.

I Heart Guitar: As a fan I’ve loved that over the last decade or so you’ve seemed a bit reflective about the back catalogue, with orchestral reinterpretations, various live versions and stuff, but now I’m like, ‘Man, I want to hear some new music.’

Vai: Yeah, me too! I’m starting to feel like, ‘Gee Steve, remember you used to write music, Vai?’ But I’ve got some fun stuff up my sleeve. It gets better, stick with me!

I Heart Guitar: Another reader wanted to know about your approach to improvising – what you think about when you’re improvising. What goes through your mind?

Vai: Well, a part of me thinks about real practical stuff – ‘We go to this piece of gear here, we shift into this mode here, we try this harmonic atmosphere.’ But that’s a very small part. The thing that I try to capture is, it’s a particular frame of mind. It can be elusive, but there’s this focus that you go to, this little place that exists between your brain and the tip of your fingers and your ears. It’s this process of listening to your environment, processing it with your creative element, then letting that creative element take control of your fingers and just trying to step back from it. But it’s easy to lose that focus, because when you’re doing that, usually for me, you’re in the moment. Improvising, most of it is listening – responding to what’s coming into your ears and letting your fingers move in an unobstructed way. And there are all these little flashes that are just comfortable visuals, like you’re hearing something and you know that there’s a particular scale or note or atmosphere or chord that’s going to work. And that’s just like a ghost to letting your fingers speak. And here’s the trick with being in the moment: you almost have to be a little bit ahead of the moment. You have to think about where you’re going, and then once you’re exploring where you’re going, your fingers and everything are performing where you were thinking about going. So you’re almost not even a part of the playing – your whole consciousness is in that elusive space of just a little bit ahead of what you’re about to play.

I Heart Guitar: I know for me something happened about five years ago with improvising. It was almost like time was slowing down and I was getting in between the notes and hearing things before I play them.

Vai: That’s the thing. It’s like becoming one with the note.

I Heart Guitar: Yeah. I felt I was in a rut before this, and one day I just stopped thinking so hard and started listening, and I felt like my whole playing opened up.

Vai: And you’ll notice that there are plateaus to each zone. And as you go through life and you keep doing it, it becomes a cathartic process of self-discovery. You just have to keep doing it. It’s about letting go of your hang-ups, about being afraid of what’s going to happen, about letting go of the big fear of being accepted, or that what you’re playing isn’t good enough. So many people get hung up on that shit. ‘I don’t have the cool gear,’ or whatever that is, you know? And you’ve really gotta let go of all of that shit and be in the moment of the note. And being in the moment is that frame of mind where you’re not thinking about these other things. Because the moment you’re thinking about these other things, you’re creating the future and the past. But you’re right on when you say that time starts to stand still and slow down. Because what happens is the mind is constantly creating the future and the past because of the way we think. We’re always thinking about what we’re gonna do, or what we did, or what happened yesterday, or what’s going to happen tomorrow. But when you bring your focus of attention to what you’re doing at hand, you’re not thinking about the future and the past, so time is actually slowing down. It’s just a perception, really.

I Heart Guitar: It’s really deep to discover this side of myself personally and musically. It just seemed to open up so much more!

Vai: Yeah, and that’ll continue to open up, the more you let go.

I Heart Guitar: Man I love music!

Vai: Yeah. It’s a good life!