| Steven Siro Via HOME PAGE | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ABOUT STEVE!!!!!!!!!! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Steve Vais full name is Steven Siro Vai.He was born June 6th1960 in New york USA.He is currently married to Pia Vai in Encino Calafornia with his two children named Julian and Fire. His best onstage moment was in 1981 with Frank Zappa at Santa Barbra California when Frank stopped the band to congradulate Steve on his preformance. His worst onstage moment was in 1988 when he was preforming in England and saw two children get trampled infront of him. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Febuary 17 1997 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Febraury 17, 1997 Hey folks We are on a plane right now on our way to Seoul, Korea. We just finished the Down Under leg (Australia and New Zealand) and it was so much more than I expected.� Every show was jammed, with enthusiastic supporters, (unfortunately many were turned away).� I just didn't expect it.� They really participate in the shows down there.� The exciting thing for us is that now we can go back in 18 months to two years and have a great audience. Let me fill you in on some of the things that happened on the remainder of the "Down Under".� I think when I left off, I was torso sunburnt from laying on the beach on Rottnest Island. Well I got back to the hotel and put some lotion all over those red parts and a day later I had an allergic reaction to the lotion.� So you can imagine what it was like to do simple things like walk and sit, not to mention flail about like a lunatic on stage.� In the immortal words of Mike Keneally, "Ouch...a lot!" Back in the 80's, at the end of the shows I used to throw my guitar to my guitar tech. Well, I think it was in Melbourne that I got the bright idea at the end of the show to throw my guitar to Roger my guitar tech.� In the early days I used to use a wireless system but these days I use a cable.� Now Evo is the name of the guitar I use and have been using on basically every recording and tour since "Sex and Religion".� It's a white Ibanez Jem with the first DiMarzio Evolution pickups made and that's why I call it Evo.� I am exceptionally fond of that guitar.� It feels and sounds like an old friend.� One of the few guitars I've grown impassioned to. So there I am thinking, "Well I can throw this guitar, hey, Roger can catch anything."� Well he can, but what I didn't realize was that when I had thrown it, the cable had wrapped around the strap and when the guitar got half way to Roger in mid air, the cable caught and the beautiful guitar smashed down like Wile E. Coyote chasing the Roadrunner and falling of a cliff.� The darn neck cracked.� It was paper thin anyway.� I've tried to have that neck duplicated dozens of times but to no avail.� No one could duplicate that neck so it felt identical to the original.� For the remainder of the tour we put another neck on her, poor girl.� See, that's what I get for showin' off. I'm probably the biggest poser you know, right? The record company and promoters stuffed every little crack of time I had with press.� Ugh.� Contrary to popular belief, press can be no fun at all.� Sometimes it's just these reporters who know nothing about you except what they read on the same bio that everyone else in the world got.� How many times can you tell people how the bus burned down, or why you decided to sing.� How about 137 times so far this year alone (no kidding).� Sometimes it can be interesting when you get journalists who are real fans that ask genuine questions.� They undeniably do their home work, but it still keeps ya in the hotel when everyone ells is at the beach.� Oh well, gotta work. We visited a lot of Hard Rock Cafes all over the Eastern Hemisphere.� I really enjoy them, it's like a little piece of America wherever you are.� Their vegetarian fajitas are good and the decor, well, totally LA. I notice when I don't sleep and have to travel a lot (I'm talking 2 hours of sleep a night and airplanes everyday along with press all day until soundcheck, then a 2 hour show for 5 days in a row), it catches up with you.� I usually enjoy the challenge and face it head on with a "screw you" type attitude but this time it caught up with me and boom!� I was pretty down and out by the time we got to Melbourne.� I remember I was online one night and got an instant message from Joe Satch.� He recommended Sudafed or some bourbon and warm water. I opted for the first, canceled all press and slept for 15 hours.� The next show went great. I have gotta tell ya about this gig in Brisbane.� It was this big funky club that holds about 1000 people.� They crammed about 1300 people in there and the air conditioner had broken 2 days earlier. Now remember, it's winter north of the equator but down under it's the dead of summer.� They were experiencing record high temperatures reaching as high as 104 degrees Fahrenheit.� When I walked onto the stage I thought someone was playing a joke on us, that's how hot it was. The lack of oxygen and sheer weight of the air is one thing but the 100+ high-powered lights burning your body from 3 feet above your head is an interesting sensation.� I drank about 2 liters of water and just went for it.� After the first song we all started shedding cloths like they were hot potatoes.� I remember looking at my arm and watching the sweat actually excrete from my pores and form little round blobules of liquid on my skin.� All we could do was laugh. People in the audience were dropping like flies.� I just don't know how Mike Mangini our drummer did it.� I mean it was battlefield conditions.� You had to look ahead and pace yourself for every 30 second interval or you would fall over, and there's Mangini firing away on the kit.� I watched his solo in utter disbelief. They reckon it was upwards around 130 degrees on the stage. My cloths are still wet and I came off the stage about 6 lbs lighter and I'm already rail thin.� When I looked at myself naked in the mirror sideways, I looked like half of the letter "h". Ah yes, that's what touring memories are made of and I wouldn't want to change any of it for the world.� But wait, that's not all... We get off stage and I'm railing to Gungi (our 6'11" tour manager) "This is the last time I every do a gig in this heat with no AC, there was no excuse for them not to fix the AC when they new there would be a concert here.� I was breathing so hard out there that my heart hurt!� We couldn't breathe and the kids were dropping like flies.� If we get to Sydney and the AC is broken, I'm not doing the show!�� I promise I'm not doing the show!� I don't care how much money I lose."� Gungi looked down to me and said in his inimitable 6'11" Scottish accent, 'If yew dewnt dew de Sydnay shew, yew will loose all ye profits fram de tewr". (translated to English he said "If you don't do the Sydney show, you will lose all your profits from the tour).� "I don't care!", I wailed in true primadona fashion.� "It's unhealthy and I will never do it again bla bla bla..."� I just kept going on and on knowing full well that I was going to do the Sydney show and that at some point in my life I will most likely play a hotter show than the one there in Brisbane (I don't know if I'll live through it, but I'll do it).� Everyone assured me that the AC worked in Sydney. We got to Sydney and during soundcheck the AC made the room so cold that we all had to wear jackets.� I guess the AC was working alright.� It was so cold that the guys that didn't have jackets had to go backstage to warm up between songs. So I'm standing there thinking to myself, "Yeah, a little drama goes a long way.� I knew they would have this fixed because I'm so heavy and bad that if they didn't..."� Right at that moment, all the electricity in the entire building went off.� I kid you not.� We stood there on that stage in the dark with the only light coming from the little emergency bulbs in the room.� We all made funny jokes and I said, 'if this happens during the show, I'll just go backstage until it comes on'. We figured that they had the AC blasting so much that they blew a fuse, but when the electricity didn't come on for about 5-10 minutes, we got suspicious.� Someone finally came in and said, 'it's not just this room, it's the whole building', then they came back 5 minutes later and said, 'it's not just this building but it's the one next to us too'.� Still later they came back and said, ' it's not just this building and the other one but the whole town is out.'� "Oh fine, we blew up the town because I was hot in Brisbane, I'm going to get some precious sleep. Someone wake me 20 minutes before we go on", I exclaimed. So I found this very dark little room with a little bed in it and passed out.� I don't know when I woke up but it felt like I had slept for a long time and the electricity was still off.� It seemed like the time to do the gig had long passed.� "That's it," I thought, "there's no electricity and there's no gig."� I lay there in the bed and started to make a mountain out of a mole hill.� "Geez, isn't this ironic.� Me complaining and threatening like I was yesterday about not doing the gig and now I have no choice.� Me and my big mouth.� There goes my tour profits because of ME AND MY BIG MOUTH!!!� It serves me right.� The law of Karma is teaching me a good lesson here".�� Then I started to repent... 'I will never complain again. Look how lucky I am to be able to come to a place like this and play my music to people who come to hear it and here I am threatening not to do a show because of a little heat� --� what a wuss!� That's it, I'm going to be a pillar of strength for all from now on and face every obstacle like a trooper.� Damn I wish we didn't lose this gig.� There's 100 people from the record company and 2500 kids who were waiting to see this show, and my tour profits!� Ugg!� Maybe the Lords of Karma will be compassionate and let me make up the gig tomorrow which is a travel day to New Zealand, but then we'll never get to New Zealand. Oh me and my big mouth.' Right at that moment, I hear a rap on the door and Richard Pike (my assistant) walks in and says, "20 minutes, Steve". "What do you mean, what about the electricity?" I queried.� He paused for a minute and then hit the light switch on the wall and exquisite white light illuminated the room.� "You've been asleep for 2 hours and the electricity came on an hour ago," he said.� "But the air conditioners weren't on so the room is blistering hot."� Me and my big prayers, I thought to myself.� The inexplicable laws of Karma prevailed once more.� I thanked the Lord and a good hot gig was had by all. So for a kick we put "Twist & Shout" in the show (in the key of A) so I could make believe I was a pop star amidst all the clamoring teens.� At the end we would usually add the national anthem to whatever country we were in.� I was told that in Australia they love Waltzing Matilda and that for most people that is the national anthem.� Who am I to question such a fine choice right?� So we would play Waltzing Matilda and it would� get them every time.� Kind of grew on me too, the little lady. Okay, so we get to Auckland (New Zealand) and the crowd is outrageous. We actually had stage divers and mosh pits, believe it or not.� We're doing "Twist & Shout" and I go into Waltzing Matilda but the band sounded like a train wreck in back of me.� I'm thinking, 'What's with these guys, how could they screw this up so bad?'� I turn around to find Mike Mangini, open mouthed, his flailing arms waving hysterically at me, Phil Bynoe in a state of utter confusion� with a "do you know what your doing Steve?' look on his face, and Mike Keneally hiding behind his amps with a 'Oh I just need to fix this amp here and I'm not really part of the band right now' look on his back. "What?," I thought as I proudly plowed through the ol' girl.� I turn around to the audience to see faces stunned into silence and a growing growl of boo's under the massacred melody.� Then it dawned on me that even though New Zealand and Australia are neighbors, if they are anything like the rest of the world they are probably fiercely proud of their country and hate each other.� I was right, Oooops.� Me and my big fingers.� How the hell am I gonna get out of this... I couldn't. It amazed me that two countries could be such close neighbors with similar people, language, architecture, etc. and be so patriotically effected by some 6/8 waltzing melody.� It's just a song, but then I realized wait a minute, this is the human race now.� Macy's never used to tell Sears, and IBM never tells Macintosh, and... oh never mind.� The audience seemed to rebound when I walked up to the microphone and said "Hey, you know that bitch Matilda... she blew me!..." (just kidding). At the end of the show I was compelled to jump into the audience and crowd surf.� I forgot that this isn't America and that over here they think I'm a real rock star or something.� I was mauled.� They grabbed and pulled every inch of my body like I was made of silly putty.� I had to hold my hands in tight fists as hard as I can so that they wouldn't break my fingers.� I had red marks on any touchable epidermis in reach.� But ya know what, I loved it, yes that's right.� I only hope I can still have children! And some guy, some guy took my right shoe off and ran!� The shoe I wore for every gig since Whitesnake, and almost every photo shoot. The ones I was hoping to wear for another 10 years and then auction off to charity.� The ones that cost me $600.00.� Now listen, if you're out there and you have my shoe, would you fuckin' mind?� It's not that great of thing dude.� Send it to me at the address on the Fire Garden CD please.� OK, if you want to fetish it for a little while be my guest but if you send it in like a good sport I'll... I'll... I'll introduce you to Matilda.� [Webmaster's note:� The shoe was finally returned to Steve after a ransom request was refused.� Some people are unbelievable.] If anyone comes across this shoe, it's the same one I'm wearing in the centerfold of the Passion and Warfare CD.� It's black suede leather with little silver studs on it.� If you don't return it, I hope the fumes make ya sick. One thing that struck me pretty wild was how many people have Steve Vai tattoos.� I usually see the Light Without Heat Logo (the eye in the pyramid), but here down under I saw more people with actual pictures of me tattooed on their body.� I don't know how to feel about this.� Many people wanted me to sign their body so they could get my autograph tattooed on themselves.� Now, I'm flattered but come on.� Be careful of stuff like that.� Think it out thoroughly.� What if I make a record you don't like? Another very unique event took place in Sydney.� For about 2 months before we got there, there was a young man who called our office and asked if it would be possible for him to propose to his girlfriend backstage in front of me.� It seems that they were both big fans and he wanted her to "remember the event in a special way".� I thought sure, I'm there.� It was actually very beautiful.� They came back after the show and we had a nice chat for a while and then he said to her, "Well dear, the reason I brought us backstage was because... " And she said, "What are you doing?"� Then he pulled out the ring and popped the big question.� (I had to tell him to get on his knees, though.)� Her little eyes were aglow as she accepted his offering of love and devotion.� It was very touching and I actually found myself choked up.� It reminded me of when I proposed to Pia in that funky Italian restaurant in Minneapolis.� I have it on video because at the time I had to go everywhere with a bodyguard. Anyway, it was a wonderful thing and I told them that the happiest day of my life was the day I got married and that they should never go to bed arguing.� Always resolve with kindness and understanding.� And then they blew me (just kidding!!!).� I felt like the odd man out and figured it was time for me to go and leave the two love birds to their "Touching Tongues". All in all it was so much more than I anticipated.� Australia and New Zealand, you two have great countries with great people and I can't wait to return.� Next time I'll bring two pairs of shoes though. | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Vaiography | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| [Image] The term 'virtuoso' has existed for many years, long before there was anything called the music "industry" and years before there was recorded music.� Usually reserved for only the most brilliant musicians in classical music, such as Paganini and Stravinsky, the term was later adopted by the jazz community when musicians like Miles Davis and John Coltrane were simply not done justice by any other title.� Still it is a term held very close to the heart for schooled and unschooled music lovers alike, regarded as too great an honor to bestow upon anyone less than the highest order.� In the world of rock music, a genre still only 50 years old, virtuoso are few and far between.� Jimi Hendrix may have been the first, paving the way for the likes of Edward Van Halen and Michael Hedges, musicians whose vision and unfiltered expression on their instruments did not hearken to their musical ancestry but instead cleared a new musical path and in doing so, changed the way we understand music.� Steve Vai is part of that tradition, one of few generally accepted as true virtuosi in an age when there are more incredible musicians alive and making music than ever before.�� With a professional musical career that is stunning in its diversity and history, Vai is a unique and interesting character who refuses to stop growing, unable to be confined to one style or stereotype.� Because like most other virtuosi, he doesn't know how. [Ima[Image] [I[Image] [Image] [Picture] Steven Siro Vai was born June 6, 1960 at Nassau County Hospital in New York, the fourth of five children born to John and Theresa Vai.� Growing up in Carle Place (Long Island, NY) and influenced at an early age by his sister's love of music, Steve started playing organ at age 6 (the first melody he ever played was the theme from the Bette Davis movie "Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte"), and at 10 years old started playing accordion.� "I never got into music, I was just always into music from as early as I can remember", Steve recalls, recounting "Yogi Bear & Friends", "The Partridge Family Picture Album", Frank Zappa's "Freak Out!" and Deep Purple's "Machinehead" as the albums that were most important to him at that age.� When Steve was about 13 years old however, he picked up a guitar, and he hasn't been quite the same since. [Image] [Image] [Image] Knowing that he wanted to play guitar like Jimmy Page but not knowing how, Steve turned to local guitar hero Joe Satriani.� Satriani was also young, only four years older than Steve, but he already had a local reputation as a great guitarist and Steve started taking guitar lessons from Joe at $5 each.� In the beginning, in fact, Steve and another friend both took lessons from Joe at the same time so they could better afford it at $2.50 each.�� Steve continued to take lessons from Joe for about three years, and Joe Satriani was an undeniably massive influence on a young Steve Vai in the mid 70's. Steve played with several different bands during these years, including performances at Carle Place High School and with his bands Circus and Rayge (click here for comprehensive info on every band with whom Steve has played), and also teaching guitar to students of his own.� In 1978 Steve packed up and left Long Island for Boston's Berklee School Of Music, where he would form the bands Morning Thunder with Randy Coven and Axis Bold As Love with Stu Hamm, meet his future wife Pia Maiocco, and record a demo cassette for one Mr Frank Zappa. [Ima[Image] [[Image] [Image] [Picture] The Zappa demo included Steve's recordings of Zappa's "The Black Page No. 1", a ferociously difficult piece of music played at regular tempo, and then played again at nearly twice the speed.� Vai's transcriptionist talents were also obvious to Frank, and an invitation to try out for Frank's band was extended.� Steve moved to Los Angeles the next year and at 19 years of age became the youngest musician ever to join the Zappa ranks. Steve toured and recorded with Frank Zappa from 1980 through 1983 (click here to view the discography, complete with memoirs), and achieved a number of milestones while with Zappa.� In October 1981, Zappa's Halloween show from New York's Palladium was the first live music video to be aired on television, and in 1982 the band was the first rock band to ever play in Sicily.� They were also the last.� [Image] [Image] [Image] Leaving Zappa's band in 1983, Steve soon recorded his first two solo albums,� the LP "Flex-Able" and "Flex-Able Leftovers", a 10" record of material that didn't make it on "Flex-Able" which was released in extremely limited quantities (1000).� Both records were a testament to Steve's artistic playfulness, with three different covers being designed for "Flex-Able" and two for "Flex-Able Leftovers".� While both albums enjoyed popularity among Zappa fans and Steve's growing fan base, it was one track in particular from "Flex-Able" called 'The Attitude Song' that helped catapult Steve Vai into the guitar world. 'The Attitude Song' was released as a 7" flexi-disc soundpage in a 1985 issue of Guitar Player magazine and nothing would ever be the same again.� The guitar community was up in arms about this new kid in LA whose chops were unlike anything they had heard, and it was that song which landed Steve his role in the movie "Crossroads".� Local LA club shows started selling out quickly, and soon Steve was enlisted to replace Yngwie Malmsteen in the band Alcatrazz.� Steve would record all of the guitars on the "Disturbing The Peace" album in 1985, and the following tour would spawn a home video called "Power Live".� The 80's spawned a number of other albums with Steve Vai on guitar as well, click here for the full discography. Soon after the Alcatrazz tour, Steve joined with David Lee Roth to record the 1986 Warner Bros multiplatinum record "Eat 'Em & Smile", and so began one of the biggest chapters yet in the story of Steve Vai.� The timing could not have been better and his alliance with Roth threw Vai into the global spotlight like never before.� Music videos for 'Yankee Rose' and 'Going Crazy!' were in heavy rotation on MTV and music channels all over the world, and Steve found himself on the cover of countless music magazines.� It was during this time that designed and developed a line of guitars with Ibanez, called Jem guitars, which were instantly popular and continue to sell very well worldwide.� His partnership with Roth would include another multiplatinum album "Skyscraper" and its following worldwide tour (as well as several more videos, Top 20 singles, and magazine covers) before Steve finally left in December 1988 to marry his longtime love Pia, and pursue a solo career. What came next was as much a surprise to Steve Vai as anyone else.� While preparing to record his long awaited solo album, Steve was asked to join the rock band Whitesnake.� Though Steve wanted to concentrate on his own album first and foremost, the Whitesnake situation was too good to pass up.� Steve joined the band, recorded all of the guitars on "Slip Of The Tongue" (Whitesnake's guitarist Adrian Vandenberg could not record due to injuries), did a successful world tour, and cross promoted his solo album, the epic "Passion And Warfare". "Passion And Warfare" is considered by many to be Vai's finest work and one of the greatest instrumental guitar albums of all time.� Recorded immediately after the Whitesnake recording but before the Whitesnake tour, it was an album many years in the making and is an incredibly diverse and colorful work, utilizing 7-string electric guitars (designed by Steve with Ibanez, these guitars were instantly popular and Steve is considered by many to be responsible for the advent of the 7-string guitar).� With its rich musical tapestries and exploratory studio experimentation, it was a favorite of fans and critics alike, and generated three videos, 'The Audience Is Listening', 'I Would Love To', and 'For The Love Of God'.� The album received a Grammy nomination and netted countless awards from various music magazines. It was also during this period, on March 1 1990, that Steve & Pia Vai had their first child, a son named Julian Angel Vai.� Later in 1991, Steve Vai would participate in the "Zappa's Universe" tribute performances in New York, bringing Steve a Grammy Award for "Sofa". In 1991, after leaving Whitesnake, Steve put on his Producer hat for the band Bad4Good, featuring young guitar prodigy Thomas McRocklin.� The Bad4Good album "Refugee" was released in 1992.� On March 1 1993 Steve & Pia had their second son, Fire Vai, born on the same day that his brother Julian was born three years prior.� Soon after that, Steve went to work on his new project tentatively titled Light Without Heat. Light Without Heat eventually became VAI, an incredible ensemble featuring Steve on guitar, Devin Townsend on vocals, TM Stevens on bass and Terry Bozzio on drums.� The album, "Sex & Religion", took everyone by surprise.� When everybody expected a safe & bankable sequel to "Passion And Warfare", Vai took a sharp left turn and did the completely unexpected.� It was a savage and unrestrained record that blended explosive aggression with beautifully moving instrumentals, and which was met with mixed reviews.� It is the "sleeper" Vai album, one that long time fans are still coming around to, and many fans consider it their favorite.� A world tour followed, starting in September 1993 and ending in January 1994. 1995 was another busy year for Vai.� Intensive work was underway on a new album tentatively titled "Fire Coma", and it was turning into a massive undertaking.� To tide over his fans for a while as he finished the album, he quickly wrote, recorded and released a 34-minute EP called "Alien Love Secrets".� It met with great reviews, was nominated for a Grammy Award, and Bon Jovi asked Vai to open for them on their 1995 US summer tour.� Amidst much press and the touring, Steve continued to work diligently on the "Fire Coma" project (which was released in 1996, called "Fire Garden", but more on that later). 1996 was another huge year.� Steve played with Chick Corea on RCA's "Songs Of West Side Story" CD, which was a dream realized, as Steve listened to the original soundtrack endlessly while growing up.� The Hendrix album Steve plays on, "In From The Storm", gained popularity worldwide, and a Steve Vai signature model wah-wah pedal was developed by Morley.� The biggest happenings of '96, however, were certainly the release of Vai's long-awaited "Fire Garden", a 74-minute collection of music that marked Steve's real debut as a vocalist, and Vai's involvement in the G3 concert tours featuring Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson & Steve Vai.� The G3 tours brought the three guitarists to sold-out venues nationwide, and produced a live CD & video (three songs of which, including Steve Vai's "For The Love Of God", were nominated for Grammy Awards). With 4 Grammy nominations and 1 Grammy Award under his belt and millions and millions of records sold worldwide, Steve Vai shows no signs of slowing down.� To the contrary, he is busier than ever working on a number of projects more diverse and exciting than anything he's done yet.� Stay tuned and hold on tight.� It's been a very interesting ride so far, and we're not even halfway done.
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