Greetings folks,
Steve Vai here. I have to say that I'm embarrased that this is my first time visiting the Jemsite. I'm stunned at the dedication and passion that you all have for the stuff on this site. I really enjoy it myself and feel as if I just discovered a little treasure. Reading through it reminded me of when I was younger and would receive a new copy of Circus magazine or a new Carvin catalog. I'm having a nostolgic stroke!
Anyway, I have also read some of the complaints about vai.com. I have no words of apology that are adequate. I can tell you, and this is from the Bad Horsie's mouth, that very shortly, like next week, the flow of info and updates will start to happen.
Till then I would love to fill you in a bit on some of things that are cookin'.
Every day now I am feverishly at work on the new C D. It's actually a musical with characters and a story. It will be heavy on groove, melody and percussion. I made the mistake of picking up that Black jem with the reflective front (no it's not chrome) and it's tuned to C so the songs are turning out pretty heavy. If I use the octave divider my teeth start to come loose.
I am hoping to get some substantial guests artists to play some of the characters but it's all up in the air right now. I'm moving myself from the Harmony Hut (In Encino) to the The Mothership (In Hollywood) on Monday for a marathon recording session. On the 26th of November,
Billy Sheehan and I will be getting together at the Mothership to play with 3 drummers.
I'm so excited to be working on this record. It's thick and rich and whenever I'm sitting there doing it I'm in a state of bliss. I hope you feel the same when you hear it. It is different than anything I have done before.
The Archives Vol III. and IV.
Yes, they are all done and ready to go. The only problem is securing the licenses. This is tremendously complex, time consuming and expensive as my attornies need to contact all the owners of the masters and negotiate. Some of them want more money than the CD will make but I'm willing to make that sacrifice becuase I like the idea of having this stuff compiled on a few CD's.
It's changing a bit but hold tight. I'm shooting for a January release on vai.com but It's all subject to the completion of the master licensing agreements.
The plan is to make them available on vai.com for a limited run and then eventually make them available in a very limited number at retail. The reason I do this is because some people can't get is any other way than to go to a store and buy it.
The only 2 CD's that are in the box that will not be available outside the box is Archives Vo. 2 (Frrank Zappa) and The Alcatrazz "Distrubing the Peace" CD.
I read the controversy over what is believed to be the Chrome Jem I use in the DiMarzio ad. Actually it' snot chrome (and it' snot green) and I'm not really sure what the material is but due to the difficulty in working with this substance, the top area of the body where the wood bends, (the armrest) is wrinkled and kind of wacked out. I really love the way the guitar looks and the fret markers are actually little dayglow lights that actually light up when I want to show off.
I spoke to Ibanez about making this a
production model but it's tricky to figure out what to use to make it work. check vai.com in the future for updates on this.
Fire Strings, Ah. Hmmm... well lets see.... Hmmmm...
I've got it sitting on the shelf right now. I performed three nights and recorded 2 of them, plus 2 sound checks. Anthony Garone (my assistant) edited together Thursday's movement one and Friday's movement two. It's odd music brutha's. I have to let it live on the shelf until I can find the time to properly assemble the best performance bits, mix it so it sounds like an organic piece (Organic like poison ivy
) and then write an record an additional 20-30 minutes of music that can accompany this little delicacy to make a cohesive record of frequency perversions.
I actually filmed (only two cameras) one of the performances and although there is not enough quality footage to compile a full length and exciting DVD, I'm sure it will rear is atonal little head at some point.
The London DVD.
I started working on editing this myself. The way I edit is similar to my music production. Indulgent, overkill, yet compelling in an odd artistic way. Hence the working title "Freak show Excess".
It takes forever though. I got half way through it and had to stop to continue to work on the new CD. What I have so far is really quite cool. There will be many surprises when it's done. I decided to farm out some of the songs to various editors and at this time I have someone working on "Little Wing" and the Drum solo and Chameleon.
Bad Horsie is just way over the top. I can't wait for you to see it.
I would love to get this out before the release of the next record but...
Today I'm on my way to Pepperdine University to give a speech to law students. Next week I go to Vegas to be part of a producers roundtable discussion (sort of like a Q&A) with some other great producers. It's at the Hard Rock, open to the public and if you're interested you should check the NARAS site. I'm in the Mothership until X-mas, then it's off to Tahoe for the Holidays, (The little studio I have up there is called "La La Land") then when I return (Jan 3) It's back in the studio. In Feb I will be going to New York to be a presenter in the pre-telecast of the Grammy's and then on March 1st, I become a paintball hero as Fire (my son) is now addicted to the sport (as am I) and we have been going everyweekend. He wants to have his 11th birthday there with his retinue of prepubescent destructors. It's also Julians birthday too, the same day. He wants ***** but I can't help him!, I told him he's not allowed to have any more animals, Just kidding, he actually wants to be the best WarCraft player in the world.
Well, that's it for now. I will probably be checking out this site much more and once again, I'm tremendously sorry for the delays in the updates and the lack of attention to vai.com. I have actually stopped visiting the site myself. This is all in the process of changing and starting next week the site will be a thoroughly informative and entertaining experience. I'll be visiting the chat room again and reading your thoughts on things. I am very interested is hearing your feedback, even the brutal stuff. It helps me to get a perspective on what you're feeling. I appreciate the honesty.
I want to get to know you all better and I think the time is now.
It's impossible for me to express my thanks in words or even music to you all. When an artist feels support for his work, It's a validation that reaches down into the heart and soul of the artist.
by the way... I love you.
See you at vai.com
Novmber 16, 2002 12:03pm
Steven Siro Vai
