Long Island guitar icon Steve Vai talks new album, Van Halen and more

Steve Vai has a confession to make. This international guitar hero, who grew up in Carle Place, bought his first guitar with the money he saved up from his Newsday paper route. Once he garnered enough cash, he went over to Matthew’s Music at Roosevelt Field and bought a Stratocaster.

Since that time Vai, 61, has put a lot of mileage on his famous fingers. At age 20, he was recruited by Frank Zappa to be a transcriptionist and play in his band. By 1984 he released his first solo album, "Flex-Able" and headlined My Father’s Place in Roslyn the year prior. After a stint in the metal band Alcatrazz, Vai joined former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth’s solo band touring the world including two sold-out shows at Nassau Coliseum in 1987 and 1988.

In 1990, Vai dropped his sophomore solo effort, "Passion & Warfare" all-the-while playing in Whitesnake for one album and tour, which hit Jones Beach that summer. But soon after Vai stopped joining bands and vigorously pursued a lucrative solo career that has kept him busy for over 30 years.

Most recently Vai released a new studio album, "Inviolate" and will be bringing his tour to Long Island when he headlines The Paramount in Huntington on Oct. 30. Newsday’s David J. Criblez spoke with Vai about his creative process, playing with Roth and his reaction to the passing of Edward Van Halen.

When going into a new album, what’s your approach? Do you have an overall theme concept or do you work song by song?

In the past I’ve fooled around with conceptualizing and doing records with stories in them but for "Inviolate" I wanted to just record a handful of songs that I knew I could get out on tour with and play. I kind of created a particular energy overview as opposed to a story. I knew I wanted a record that had great melody and the best of my ability to play the instrument that was accessible to the people who follow the kind of thing that I do. But, the truth is you have no idea what’s going to happen to your music after you record it. The most important thing is enjoying the process and that it is coming from a place in you where the ideas are accompanied by the feeling of enthusiasm.

Do you feel the sense of anticipation from your fans and does that affect your output?

There was a time in my life where I tried to guess what the fans wanted. But that’s futile. What I discovered that’s easier and much more effective is to do the things that are compelling to me and then allow the right audience for those things to be attracted to it.

Do you have a system to keep on top of your musical ideas?

Whenever I get an idea for something, I record it somehow. Back in the day it was on cassette now it’s on my iPhone. This is where the songs come from. Sometimes I just record a small snippet. Every night I pick up the guitar next to my bed and turn on my iPhone. I never know what’s going to come out. I just see what happens. A lot of times there’s a little thread of something that has juice in it. I put it on my infinity shelf which has thousands of ideas. If I’m looking for something, I’ll go and check the infinity shelf. At the end of each year I categorize them.

Were you surprised by the death of Edward Van Halen?

I wasn’t surprised because I know that everything in this world is coming and going. You just don’t know when it’s going to go. If it doesn’t go that means you went before it. Of course, it was a surprise but it wasn’t. Besides feeling gutted, more powerful than that was a deep feeling of appreciation that I was able to live at a time where he was doing his thing because his thing was so enjoyable to me. There was a period of time when I left Dave’s band that Edward and I hung out every day for a couple of months. But we are very different people and kind of went our own ways. There was sadness but just an overwhelming sense of appreciation.

Do you keep in touch with David Lee Roth and what did you make of his retirement announcement?

I’ve kept in touch with Dave periodically. We remained on pretty good terms. In a way I was surprised to hear he was retiring but when a musician says they are retiring, they’re not. They’ll retire until the little itch starts again. But I can see how it would be difficult for a singer, especially someone who made their mark so dramatically in a genre period. You have to learn how to navigate the ocean after that. Very rarely does it happen well. But David Lee Roth’s contribution to rock music is underrated. Dave with Edward and the sound of Van Halen coming together was the perfect storm. You can’t quantify the impact that it had. That does something to you.

How did playing with Roth impact your career?

I was able to be a rock star overnight by joining David Lee Roth’s group. But, I knew back then I was in the role of a rock star for a little while and that it was fleeting. It wasn’t something I wanted to hold onto and I don’t pine for the glory days of yore. It was more like, "That was a stunning experience — what’s next?"

By David J. Criblez

david.criblez@newsday.comDavidJCriblez

David J. Criblez is a reporter for Newsday's exploreLI, covering entertainment-related events from local music to stand-up comedy to festivals.