GW Flex-Able also introduces the alien/extraterrestrial persona that would become another key element of the Steve Vai mythology. Do you really believe that there are other life forms out there?
VAI Well, I think it’s extraordinarily arrogant to believe we’re the only living or intelligent creates in the universe. But back then, as I say, I was researching a lot of things. And I got into UFOlogy. When I was much younger, I used to go to this store called UFO News in New York City. In those days you had to call in advance to make an appointment. You get there, they check you out, and you go in. So at my house I still have these rare UFOlogy papers: “How to Build a Spacecraft.” Really! All this stuff about gravity and antigravity, the Philadelphia Experiment [an alleged 1943 U.S. naval military experiment in which a ship was to be rendered invisible] and the Hollow Earth [the belief that Earth has a hollow, habitable interior]—all this really fun, fascinating stuff. I was really curious about it at one point. And it’s not unlikely to me that some of this stuff is real, if not all of it. One of the things that actually makes some sense to me is the idea of interdimensional beings.
But as I started to prioritize my spiritual goals I realized that, even if aliens exist, they still have to answer the same basic question that humans do: Why are we here? Why do we exist? And we each take that journey alone. So all that stuff—extraterrestials, UFOlogy, seances, mediums, numerology, reading the stars—I don’t discount that it exists. But I went through that stuff and it now resonates at a very low level for me, spiritually. In fact, it’s a deterrent, because you get lost in that stuff and lose sight of the real goal. I just think that the thing an alien would have to discover is the same thing we humans have to discover—which is what some spiritually advanced people have always known. And they all say the same thing: the creator and the whole creation is in the core of the human consciousness. And you have to figure out how to get there. That makes sense to me. There’s no alien that can tell me anything different that’s gonna make more sense. Where I want to go is way beyond that alien stuff. But because I wrote a song called “Little Green Men”—which was a piss-take of that whole UFO movement, basically—that whole alien thing kind of stuck with me. There are people who literally believe I’m an alien!
GW Yeah, there probably are. Do you have weird fan experiences?
VAI Through the years, I’ve seen everything. In fact I just had a message on the phone yesterday from the F.B.I. who need to investigate some bizarre stuff that’s going on with a fan. It’s just part of the territory. Yes, there are people who actually believe I’m an alien, but that’s not a product of me. That’s a product of their mind.
GW So for the edification of those people, you’re not an alien. But have you ever seen a UFO or been abducted?
VAI Not that I know of. The last time I received any kind of anal probe, it had a rubber glove on it and charged me $900 for the privilege. I didn’t even get a walk along the beach after it.
GW Rather than an alien, I tend to think of you as being more like a monk or yogi in your absolute devotion to the guitar. It takes an incredible amount of discipline to perfect the kind of guitar techniques that you’ve brought to rock music.
VAI But when you love what you’re doing, there’s no discipline involved. I was in pain when I wasn’t sitting for hours playing. When I look back, when I was younger, I wasn’t very bright in school, really. There was nothing special about me. And I had some issues in my life, and perhaps those things made me gravitate toward being very intense about one particular thing: the guitar. Maybe it was an escape. My desire to play so much and be so into it—I don’t necessarily say was a healthy desire, because nothing else mattered to me. When I was younger and playing the guitar I didn’t really care about anything else. It was a selfish frame of mind really. All through Flex-Able and Passion & Warfare, my addiction to being a workaholic was a very selfish thing. But I did understand, through all my work ethics, the importance of balance in life, and how to become a good time manager.
I gotta tell ya, I never struggled a day in my life with my instrument. And I never struggled with my career. I always had more than I could use. I’ve achieved much more than I ever expected to. If everything stopped now, I’d say, “Nice run. More than I ever expected.” But having said all that, I still love doing it. I want to continue and have a lot more plans. But if I had to put it in a nutshell, I just love playing the guitar. And every time I was able to play something new and different that I didn’t hear anywhere else out there, I would jump for joy. The guitar, for some reason, was always beautiful to me. It was enigmatic. It was gorgeous. It was this untouchable, beautiful piece of loveliness. It was this gateway to freedom. Playing the guitar every day is still an honor, a privilege and a joy.
Comments