Steve Vai Interview 

Mitch... you are a GREAT interviewer !!! You’re engaged, interested, non-intrusive...just a great balance if everything that makes a fantastic interview !!! Thanks 🙏 Ps Love ya Steve 🤩🎶🍻

i love how this guy presents himself. super humble, super talented, constantly sharing his mind.

Think for a moment that this could be the TV, Tv could be this: intelligent conversations with intelligent people, artists, philosophers, etc. But that would educate people, make them smarter, and of course they don't want that. Anyways, thank you both for this very enjoyable moment.

Glad to see Steve's hair back again.

Wow, such deep and spiritual lessons that go way beyound playing guitar. Vai is a great gift to me!

this man is responsible for many divorces... between frustrated players and their guitars

Great Interview Mitch..much Respect to the both of you..Steve Vai you’re the best🤙

Every time Steve Vai says “you know” we all get a dollar!

Steve presents as a very intelligent, knowledgeable and aware individual. I'm 63 and I started playing guitar a year ago. I started out by teaching myself the diatonic chord pentatonic scales. I listen to and play along with every style of music I can find. I do nothing but create solos and improvise. It gives me a tremendous amount of satisfaction knowing that involved in the creative process. But my real passion or talent is really in writing screenplays. Now, just like songwriting, there are several models or formulas for writing screenplays. Like many artists, I don't like having to adhere to any specific structure or formula. I feel that it inhibits my creativity or spontaneity in general. And yet I'm told that if I don't adhere to some type of structure or outline, that I risk writing screenplays that will only appeal to a very limited audience. I'm trying to find a balance between understanding or utilizing "story structure" and at the same time keep my spontaneity and do something original. I suppose many creative people struggle with this. This interview reminded me that a lot of self analysis can be quite negative and detrimental to the whole creative process. I also understand that in order to be successful you have to "produce." I've written 10 feature length scripts and have had seven of them "selected" by different contests. I have to remember to keep producing and hopefully my work will be appreciated by a larger audience.

Thank you for being a knowledgeable interviewer that can provide a little more depth and insight for players with more experience. Really appreciated!

I love Steve Vai's personality and his style of music.

Steve is so awesome that even his goofy flamboyance is charming

Damn. Sweetwater is killing it lately with awesome content. Thank you so much for the Ken Shepherd and Steve Vai interviews guys. Cheers!

you may not like his style. Steve vai is a true musical genius.... you have to speak or somewhat understand musical language to appreciate his musical palette.

Steve Vai is so expressive, his philosophical train of thought reminds me Jordan Peterson but revolving around music instead, yet could easily be applied to any aspect of life.

Great interview

Always dug Steve!! Amazing dude hot guy still,timeless!!!

He is a master. Period!

i wish steve vai would do inspirational speeches, the stuff hes saying is stuff i need to hear-----

plz Steve Vai, plz come back and play Ireland! I'd love to see stteve live.

This interview is a wealth of knowledge.

Yes nice interview, Mitch. Vai is of course an imprssive musician, definitely an impressive person as well

Now, this was a nice interview as you are hearing stuff close to the man's thinking. Good job..

Really interesting interview. You actually managed to ask very original questions. Learned a lot! Thank you!

I like his hair longer:) If you have ever read my comments on Steve, he is one of my greatest influences for the guitar and music. They broke the mold when he was made:) When you appreciate all of his musical gifts and just see how kind a person he is, to me, it makes me feel inspired. He trained hard, and while he says he is not gifted, lol, we know that isn't the case, but he is very humble and that alone is appealing and makes me like his work even more. I am sorry I missed that event:(

I would love to be able to have a long form interview Steve. I believe it would be very insightful into his creative process.

I played some of the best guitar of my life on that $4,000 guitar. I had it in a sound proof room for like an hour and a half a king with a brand new double stack line six spider 3 with a 1000 presets. One of the presets was titled, For The Love of Vai! Need I say more!

Great video, thank You.

Its always be placer to listen and see the God of Guitar....Thanxs Master.....:) :)

I want that multi colored Ibanez in the background soooo bad!! Hope its a sig model at some point!

Steve Vai = growth and development in several ways/depths...:)

That intro was an alien music 👽👽

Steve Vai, The Svengali of shredding.

Great gifted musician giving it away for everyone to understand some mystical aspects of the creative process many people shy away from talking about openly and so eloquently...Thank you very much. Very enlightning indeed... ^^

Good Job Sweetwater

Mr. Vai: a compositional wizard.

Woohoo! Jacob Collier working with Steve Vai is one of the best things that ever happened. Those two human beings are very special to me (and hopefully more people with time). Jonah Nilsson is awesome too of course. Nice shoutout, and great words of advice.

Anyone know where that jacket or anything like it can be purchased from?

One day I’m going to walk into a hotel lobby and the pianist will be playing a Steve Vai piano reduction. That will be awesome 😎

Genius...

man that tone!!!! Steve is a hero. Not only as a musician but as a business man, family man!

What the names of the 2 youngs musicien he talk about at almost the end ?

ik right!!! CAN:T wait #sweetwaterrocks

35:05 Whammy DT, the best pedal I ever bought

As Steve said, Jeremy Colson is an amazing drummer! Of course, his whole band is phenomenal as well!

Still looks cool

Steve Vai's a cool guy

He's not only responsible for blows people's head before Van Halen & Malmsteen but also he's the last real innovator with them. Also he's the responsible in the creation of some of the best electric guitars until today in every sense: originality, versatility and beauty... Joe Satriani it's the only legend that could match him in many levels but Vai it's a WIZARD and that makes him so memorable. His eccentricity it's his most powerful weapon. Let's see what PLINI, Jakub Zytecky and the new heroes does to keep guitar's legacy in terms of innovation.

I wish Steve Vai was my alien guitar teacher

Indonesia again please Mr Steve Vai ... 😀

I can't enter the pedal contest, i live in paradise! lol maybe next time...

God's work with the metropol orkestra is the epitome of his composition prowess.....

Jacob Collier plug at 33:08

20:11 I belong.... in the service of the queen (8)

"If there is one asshole in the band, it can make the whole tour experience a bummer". I detect a pattern in his metaphors.

Alguien lo puede traducir al español?

Interview pro tip: don’t say things like “mhmm” “sure” “right” after every sentence the subject says. Just listen, and ask good follow ups.

I will spend my money for new Steve Vai guitar.

Steve looks great. So good to see him without the Gucci glasses and expensive haircut. Great interview...

I'll be back Steve because I want to hear your theory, but right now I want your strings and this half a glass to take me to heaven. So play man.

should’ve asked how he kept his hair

Is there such a thing as being too good?!

Read Echart Tolle. Steve has learned a lot from him. I recommend A New Earth.

GD Steve, breathe man ,breathe! Ya' know ?

Steve is awesome, but so is Mitch.

Vai is probably the smartest guitarist.

Steve is awesome, but so is Mitch.

All my guitar heroes are getting old and I am getting older with them...

It’s important to archive what’s in Steve Val’s head........Excellent interview Mitch! Steve is so much more than just a guitar virtuoso. He is a composer, music philosopher, spiritual philosopher, intense music transcriber, & metaphysical psychologist....lol. The 17 year old kid in me remembers when live interviews like these.....didn’t exist for the masses. Guitar magazines were the only connection.....

Steve's point at about 17:00 thru 20:00 is probably the best advice on playing guitar I've heard. Vai interviews never disappoint!

"When I play, I quickly put myself into a light hypnotic trance and compose while playing, drawing directly from the emotions." - John Fahey

Thank you, Steve and Mitch! Great interview.

This video was absolutely beautiful. Steve is really opening up his ingenious mind and spirit, and sharing something with us that few other musicians have the experience or emotional awareness to share. What he said about understanding your own ego, and being conscious of your limitations to the point that you can be confident in your awareness of them, in order to truly express your uninhibited, unique and individual voice, really resonated with me. I've been in a rut for ages, and hearing these words has really moved me in a hugely positive way. Also, lovely to see a nod to Jacob and Jonah. The track Jacob released with Steve on Djesse Vol. 2 was just incredible. What a wonderful fusion of musicianship. I'm off to rewatch this interview. Thanks also to Sweetwater for recording and elucidating so much wisdom from Steve, for us all to absorb and learn from.

No matter what instrument you play this interview as a whole (ignoring the guitar stuff) is very inspirational.

Time to hit that bell sweetwater coming with the good stuff lately

We call that distracting voice in your head "Radio San Juan". It's the conversation in your head that keeps you from listening.

I wish I had a whole week with Steve to cram as much knowledge from his brain as I could get, what an amazing player.

Great interview. Talented man and a true artist.

This guy asked like three questions, Steve talked for a half hour. I love you Steve Vai!

Can he play smoke on the water?

Great interview Mitch. Keep up the great work that separates the Sweetwater channel. Would love to see another session like this with Vai.

Steve puts all his soul and his personality in the guitar. To me, it seems like the guitar is an extension of his body and he speaks through it

“Evolution of creative music awareness”, sounds the title of a book

It's always great to hear him because he touches those subjects in his talks that are important for becoming not just a musician or player but also a better disciplined person. Great interview by Mitch.

In short use theory to guide you, but follow your ears and let them inspire music.

For The Love of God is the first solo guitar instrumental song I've listened to when I started learning the electric guitar. The awe and shock I got that day is still engraved in my brain even after 11 years. Mad respect for you Steve and thanks for being awesome.

I paused the video at 5:29 and said to myself: "yeah, that's the ultimate human artform" :)

Great interview.

I wonder who are those people who press the dislike button on excellent,serious videos like this.Thanks Mr. Vai!

I love everything Vai but I have to say hats off to Mitch for asking such excellent questions. The Michael Aspell of Music interviewers. You gave Vai questions to really think about. Loved this.

26:52 dave ruf????

Never saw a Vai interview i didnt like. The man is a true inspiration

First time I saw Steve was with Frank Zappa !!!! The second time was also with Frank and I was pretty close to the stage and Steve Was flying around the stage like a maniac !!!!!!! It was insane !!!!!! The third time was with David Lee Roth and that show was ridiculous !!!!!! The fourth time was with the Jimi Hendrix tribute tour !!!!!!! I'm glad I got to see him play live !!!!!!!

Great interview, not the typical questions usually asked. I really dug when they started talking about music composition. Outstanding job Mitch.

that Jem behind Steve

Excellent interview Mitch. I had the privilege of playing an original composition with Steve a couple of years ago at his Academy 5.0 in Asilomar, Ca. Steve and his band were incredibly gracious and supportive of my nerve wracking 5 minutes on stage. It was the best 50th birthday present a wife ever gave a husband, and I'll never forget it. Thank you Steve for all of the wonderful music you have given the world. Thank you too Mitch~

This is my Michael Jordan 🙌🎶

I feel like I've had conversations with people like this where they just ramble on and on and you're sitting there going yep... Yep... Mmmhmm... Sure... Yep... Mmmhmm... And literally have no idea what the other person said.

Such a class act. Triple down on your strengths, ignore your weaknesses.

An absolute living legend....Sir Steve Vai much respect and love from Darjeeling, India....