STEVE VAI Talks Upcoming Album “Inviolate” and Creative Process Behind It: “My Only Responsibility to Myself Is to Be As Brutally Creative As I Possibly Can”

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“…There’s no better feeling than when your inner ear tells you to go some place and you get there…”Steve Vai

Steve Vai is gearing up for a very productive year in 2022. The first shows of his “Inviolate World Tour” have already been booked, with over 50 shows booked for North America. This run is the first excursion of many planned, which together are a multi-faceted world tour that will bring the guitarist and composer to most continents across the globe touching down in dozens of countries. The appearances will present an all-new show featuring a lot of new music, with plans for performances to be staged for the next several years. Vai will be joined by his long-tenured ensemble members Dave Weiner (guitar / keys), Philip Bynoe (bass), and Jeremy Colson (drums).

As an accompanying piece of the tour, Vai and Favored Nations / Mascot Label Group have announced his new studio album titled “Inviolate”, to be released digitally and on CD January 28, 2022. The LP will follow on March 18. The album contains several compositions which were shared publicly in 2021, and some that the fans are yet to experience. Vai composed and recorded the song “Knappsack”, following his shoulder surgery, at a time when his right arm was in a sling (or, as his surgeon, Dr. Knapp, called it, a “knappsack”), and thus was able to use only his left hand when playing the piece. On “Candle Power”, Vai not only set up parameters outside of his comfort zone (Strat-style guitar; clean tone; no whammy bar; no pick), but also developed an entirely new guitar technique that he calls “joint shifting.” The core concept there, he explains, is to enact simultaneous multiple string bends in opposite directions, which “requires bending only the top joint of the finger independently from any other finger.” And while he acknowledges that bending multiple strings is not a new concept in and of itself, “I had not seen any of it done in the way I envisioned it,” he says.

“Inviolate” Album Artwork

In parallel with the album and tour, Vai has also announced the next installment of his coveted workshop, Vai Academy. Entitled ‘Vai Academy 6.0 – Finding Your Note’, the event will be staged August 4-8, 2022 in Las Vegas, Nevada at the Hilton Lake Las Vegas Resort & Spa. Featured guests at this year’s gathering include Nuno Bettencourt, Guthrie Govan, Larry Mitchell, Joe Robinson, Billy Sheehan, Yvette Young, plus special guest Tommy Emmanuel. Planned activities at the four-day event for players and music lovers of all ages, interests and tastes include jamming with Steve and his band, master classes with Steve in the quest to “find your note,” nightly concerts featuring Steve & Friends, and a special master class and matinee concert by Tommy Emmanuel. There will also be intimate breakout workshops and master classes with Nuno, Guthrie, Larry, Joe, Billy and Yvette. Camper jamming is planned until the break of dawn every night.

Sonic Perspectives interviewer Rodrigo Altaf caught up with Steve Vai to discuss the new album, his views on creativity, his new monstrous three-head guitar named “Hydra” and much more. For more interviews and other daily content, make sure to follow Sonic Perspectives on Facebook, Flipboard and Twitter and  subscribe to our YouTube channel to be notified about new interviews and contents we publish on a daily basis.

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