Arsenic Hand's Steve Vai Interview - date & validity unknown

It is a great priviledge to be able to bring this page to you, I have loved Steve and his work every since I came across his stuff when I was 13/14. I only learned 3/4 years ago that he played with Frank Zappa, but somehow I heard a similarity between them, and wasn't too surprised, although Steve and Frank are both Unique in their own right, kind of strange egh! Well enough of that. Here is a wonderful way of getting to know a little more behind the scenes about frank and the mothers from Steve Vai, for those of us unlucky never to meet Frank!

The first Vai-mail: (totally unexpected and gave me a heart attack when I read it, and realised who had sent it!)

I Love your Web page and would like to contribute to it. I have many fabulous Frank stories.
One time he was showing me a guitar part and then singing the vocal part. I said "why don't you sing it and play it"? He said " If I could do that I would have a career".Franks sence of humor and spontaneity was beyond description.

When he auditioned me at the first rehearsal, he played something on the guitar and then said "play it back, ok now do it in 7/8, ok now do it regae, ok now add a quintuplet to the end, ok now put a high E on it". With that I said, "Frank I'm sorry I can't do that and he said, "I hear Linda Ronstat is looking for a guitar player".

I can go on forever. I will occasionally drop you some great stories. Best of luck.Steve Vai

The second Vai-mail: 'Oops, sorry Steve', Ireland Gig
Steve Vai here. Thanx for the 2 notes you sent. It's interesting to see a classically trained saxophonist ( ...eugh, don't you mean guitarist, Steve, i think i may have mixed Steve up, i mentioned i always wanted to play the saxaphone in my e-mail to him, but that i couldn't afford it, but got a guitar off my neighbour for a (permanent) loan, ..i think i may have mixed him up, sorry folks)so into rock guitar playing, and so dedicated to Frank. I will tell Joe Satch about you too. Besides being an incredible guitar player, Joe is quite an incredible person. For me he has always been a constant source of inspiration both professionally and personally.

The Ireland gig...where the Steve Vai band (Sex and Religion) played with Aerosmith "Get a Grip Tour", in the Point Depot, in Dublin, on the 27th October, 1993.

I remember the gig I played in Ireland. It was my first time there and the audience was fantastic. One of the best audiences on the whole tour. I
remember that it was a rough gig for me because of equipment problems but hey, we did it. and I can't wait to come back.

The Persona non Grata" Frank Story.

I can give you another Frank story.

When I moved out to L.A. I was working for Frank as a transcriptionist. It was 1980 and I was 20 years old. He asked me to transcribe one if his
guitar solos at the time called "Persona non Grata". He then asked me to double it on my guitar. It was very hard and I workedlike mad on it . When
I went to his house to record it, I started to play along with the tape and he started laughing. I felt really bad because I thought I was doing so
awful he was laughing at me. He then picked up the phone and called his wife and said "Gail, come down here, you have to see this, this kid is
playing the solo note for note.' I discovered he was actually impressed. Pheww!!! what a relief. He released the song on "You are What you is" and is now called, "The Theme From the 3rd Movement of Sinister Footwear". I believe I'm panned to the right and he is on the left.See Ya Steve Vai

The third Vai-mail: Inspiration, Steve with the light Blue Hair! & A Frank saying...
InspirationWhat makes Steve tick, you might be wondering...
Here's what I asked Steve:
How do you go about writing songs, do you sometimes start with a lyrical or storyboard idea, and then compose the music around it, or do you start of with a
musical idea, and then work on the context or the interpretation lyrically that would best suit that piece of music. For example, i reckon, please forgive me!,
that Ya Yo Gakk, was sparked by your loving Julian Angel, who first "uttered those immortal words...", whereas For the love of God came straight from heaven! Anyway, do you take a lyrical musical, mixed or sometimes both approach?

When I write a song, the inspiration can come from just about anywhere and the song construction can start from a riff or a lyric, as far as Joe and Frank go, I don't know, but I'm sure you can find that out in the abundance of press they have done.

Steve with the light blue hair! ...Here's what I asked Steve:
Could you tell me if there is a joke behind Frank commenting on you on the Tinseltown Rebellion CD, as the "light blue haired Steve Vai"? What is the practical joke behind this strange comment!!!

Franks comment was just a true observation. I had light blue hair back then.

A Frank Saying...

Here is a Frank saying, "Two of the most important things you need in life are a good job and a sence of humor". See Ya Steve Vai