World-renowned guitar ace Steve Vai has revealed that learning the hard way about life on the road from Frank Zappa saved him from becoming a rock and roll casualty. expert
The six-string sensation from New York, who rose to fame in the ’80s when he joined the touring band of the legendary late rock eccentric aged just 20, said that without that grounding in the ways of the travelling musician he’d have been a goner for sure.
“I was very young back then and had no idea how to take care of myself, whether it was staying up too late, not eating properly or drinking too much – so by the end of the third week of that first US jaunt with Frank I’d actually turned yellow,” laughed the 53-year-old, who plays Cardiff’s St David’s Hall tonight.
“I hadn’t gotten my sea legs and was completely dehydrated – I looked in the mirror and thought, ‘Man, you have got to get your s*** together’.”
So, by the time he became guitarist-for-hire with ex-Van Halen singer and long-haired wildman David Lee Roth, Vai said he was in a better position to deal with the excess and craziness that regularly surrounded him.
Well, almost.
“Life with Dave was all about projecting the rock star image and it became like a porno circus back at the hotel every night,” he added.
“One time I can remember looking out my bedroom door and seeing one of our roadies walking down the corridor naked and there was this girl, who was also nude, walking alongside him – except she was on her hands and completely upside down.
“I just rubbed my eyes and went back to reading my book,” Vai smiled.
“I was kind of like the honey bee who sat on the edge of the glass and sipped the liquid inside but never fell in.”
Talking of which, doesn’t he keep bees of his own?
“Yeah, it’s a fun hobby and one that’s getting more and more popular in the States.
“I actually sampled the noise they make once and stuck it on one of my records.”
And has he ever considered going the same route Paul Newman did with salad dressing and marketing his own band of honey?
“Vai’s Sticky Sweet Sauce, you mean? No, never though of it before,” he laughed.
“But now you come to mention it.”