Henry Rollins Chats With Guitarist Steve Vai | In Partnership With The Sound Of Vinyl

Punk icon and vinyl enthusiast #HenryRollins chats with guitarist #SteveVai in partnership with The Sound Of Vinyl. Vai has worked with artists as diverse as Mary J. Blige and Ozzy Osbourne.
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This interview was filmed prior to the Covid-19 pandemic

[@rottingcorpse6565]

Rollins and Vai the crossover we didn't know we needed.

[@myguitardidyermom212]

I'd pay good money to hear vai a Rollins Band joint

[@enricocavallo4386]

And then it turns out they both love Tom Waits

[@patrickkeenan6331]

This is BY FAR the best Steve Vai interview ever. Henry's questions were intelligent and curiosity-driven.

[@WeDontWantYourWar]

yes. nothing more to add but yes.

[@gtrguy3237]

Yes. Not the same questions. Awesome.

[@torreznor]

Yes indeed!

[@commentfreely5443]

vai looks strangely fat. the yngwie diet.

[@WeDontWantYourWar]

@@commentfreely5443 They both look great for 60 .. lets not be too harsh.. Vai is not fat at all, I think its the way he is seated and the lighting.. ;)

[@bigmanlars40]

Henry Rollins is such a well spoken and knowledgeable individual.. beyond being a great frontman...and Steve Vai?..I could listen to these 2 guys talk for hours

[@tomm.w.2033]

I can listen to this for a day, food and drinks on me!

[@cdwilliams6875]

about 10 years ago I saw Henry's spoken word tour. I was amazed how he spoke for 3 hours straight, never reaching for his water bottle. he never stumbled over his own words, never lost where the stories were going, and uttered an "um" or an "uh". Would love to meet him one day.

[@RobertSlover]

this interview has single handedly helped to like steve vai. his style of music is not my taste, but the conversation about the micro details of composing and active listening to music was wonderful. now what made me love steve vai is he said his favorite musician is tom waits!!!! mine too.

[@M17CH68]

I think what makes Rollins a great interviewer, apart from his intelligent and articulate questions is he sees himself as second on the bill. He wants people to be able to get to know the interviewee. This makes for entertaining viewing.

[@bigmanlars40]

I also think part of why he's a great interviewer is that most times he also a genuine fan of the person he interviews and that comes thru in his questions

[@minorthreat8240]

“I don’t have cars, I don’t have an expensive guitar collection....I got a system brother” - Steve Vai

[@honus20]

Vai is the best guy ever. Met him at the 20-year celebration of the release of his signature guitar and he treated me 10-year old kid like a king. Have always loved his music and will love him forever for how he treated my son.

[@MetaphysicalMusician]

Great guy...very cool

[@deangilberry4844]

Unlike many well known people, he's a truly great person.

[@wolfgang4136]

Henry Rollins is a great interviewer. He’s absolutely sincere and genuine.

[@manuelpuente7336]

I can listen this guy for hours to end and never get bored ... I don’t like black flag tho ... Steve vai is a god

[@DanielVerberne]

I've long been aware of the existence of Henry Rollins and I knew him from punk days and as a spoken-word guy, but he seems an energetic and confident guy.

[@alexanderwilliamson7431]

He learned from all the young journalists he used to bully I guess.

[@Jopeymessmusic]

Why isn't this a longer interview? These guys are ace.

[@trevormarcray]

Exactly my thoughts! We want more!

[@istillsuckatguitar]

@Joe Passenger If you're talking about Vai, he's been married for 30 years and has two grown children.

[@sebbach3747]

@Joe Passenger loser af

[@felsal20]

No, that Varonica Vaughn is one fine peice of ace. I know from experience! Me and her got it on! Whoah!

[@Jopeymessmusic]

@Joe Passenger Oh, I'm not up to date with terminology at all then. I only meant like it's a great interview, good vibes between them. I had no idea that "ace" meant anything else.

[@jonathanwright8802]

He got into Frank's circle for transcribing Frank's impossible guitar solos when he was 18!! 18 years old. Frank was so impressed he gave him a job, then saw Steve's playing and put him in the damn band. Vai is one exceptionally talented genius. A true music savant.

[@dssembler7922]

he auditioned, there is an interview where he mentions all this.

[@SecretEyeSpot]

"Your Music has so much Music in it" That in itself has to be the best compliment to an instrumentalist..

[@theodery2712]

Mad respect for both these legends. I remember the 80' s when they were both in the prime. Now their wise elders elucidating musical spiritual wisdom.

[@TheSaintedOne]

Steve is the kind of person who taps/pats/embraces you when you're talking to him. We need more people like him right now.

[@blakehafling6995]

Wait a sec... Lemme get this straight. The guy who spends a large chunk of every day perfecting his craft finishes a set where he puts his whole body into it celebrating a milestone in his life didn't give the couple who crashed the party the love and admiration they think they deserve? I think Steve might have thought you to be a jerk.

[@blakehafling6995]

@@thefog7067 regardless of your personal feelings you are still a jerk for what you did. And when you post to a public forum expect the public to reply. Have a good day!

[@kevindemattia]

@@thefog7067 Unfortunately, celebrities and rock stars can't always be "ON", they can't always be charming, gracious, humble or happy to interact with fans. It's not as simple as, "We love you, Steve Vai! We've been following your career since 19__ ! We own everything you've ever done! We named our son Steve after you! Now please recognize me as the amazing super-fan that I am, and reward all my years of fandom by being genuinely ecstatic to see me, and want to talk to ME, and take a photo with ME!" The guy gets off the stage, probably had a crazily complex long-ass day and night, he's probably tired after giving 110% on stage. If you met him at a different time, under different circumstances, I'm sure he'd be the most awesome, gracious person and you'd have an incredible encounter. But life is all about timing, and I'm positive you simply caught him at a not-ideal moment. Like I said, he's fucking human, and we can't all always be happy-as-fuck to see everyone all the time. This is kinda like the people that leave a negative Yelp review: there can be an amazing establishment, where people have worked and slaved for years to make it an awesome spot. And one customer has ONE (perceived) bad interaction with a staff member, and they write a 3 page Yelp thesis on how shitty the establishment is, how they shouldn't be in business, how dare they, blah blah blah. I've met a bunch of celebrities/rockers multiple times, and sometimes they were in a great mood and we had a great convo, other times they were in a "I don't really feel like talking/interacting" kinda mood. Give ole Steve another chance!

[@blakehafling6995]

@@thefog7067 if your butthurt over my opinion maybe not share your jerk actions on a public forum. Also, throwing your wife under the bus is a jerk move, ya jerk

[@thefog7067]

@Ittybittybabybubbies the3rd That's spooky ! Glad you had such a cool experience with Steve though 🙂

[@manuelpuente7336]

Wow, Tom waits, Vai’s favorite artist ... never seen that coming

[@urbanwizardsacademy9730]

Go out and get bone machine

[@UMAMIMAMU]

Just won SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many brownie points in my book.

[@wesforehand278]

I did. Frank loved Waits. Waits opened for Frank often. Frank was his mentor.

[@te9591]

@@urbanwizardsacademy9730 i recommend "Rain Dogs".

[@kookle658]

the black rider is excellent by Tom Waits

[@shawnmcvey7789]

When Steve Vai mentions Zappa Henry gives him total heart eyes emoji 😍

[@mikehydropneumatic2583]

The FZ re-issues on vinyl by Bernie Grundman are awesome!

[@loafersheffield]

Made him drool upon his dork And gave him a wanking Very silly. Please forgive me. I could't resist. Zappa fans will get that reference.

[@bobjenkins1757]

@@loafersheffield ....and eat the banana !

[@PatrickJWenzel]

I don't know why I'm always so surprised by SV's insights. He explains things exactly as they are and in a way that I personally find very easy to translate into areas of life that don't necessarily involve music. He's simply a great mentor and I appreciate his wisdom dearly.

[@eb972]

HR knows more about humanity than most. Rollins for President!

[@BigStevie]

Amen, Unfortunately the people of The USA couldn't handle his COLD HARD TRUTH.

[@silvamorphisphaeble7863]

BigStevie93 Shades of President Donald Trump!

[@Dweezil1996]

Man, really wish this was longer and that Steve could swap and have questions for Henry. Deeply respect both these gentleman.

[@bbtb785]

Solid explanation by Vai regarding the difference between discipline and passion in respect to his talent.

[@maxtalbert8519]

God rollins is such an amazing interviewer he listens hes obviously a big fan of steves and they both clearly have massive respect for each other damn this was awesome hope there's a part 2

[@linnovate360]

" I think the greatest tool is knowing how to listen " Excellent fundamental statement about life, not just music. Coincidentally, earlier in the chat, I was noticing how good Rollins is as a listener. He let Vai open up as a person, and he listened.

[@BigStevie]

Frank Zappa method: Think It, Do It. Simple.

[@markdemell3717]

That's how my golf game improved ,Jack Nicklaus said ,visualize and do it .These guys are now buddies ,chemistry was there ,take care every one.

[@TIRABATERA]

This interview should be waaaaaaay LONGER!!!

[@ericdont1459]

"your music has so much music in it..." -Henry Rollings

[@npc2071]

Surprisingly profound

[@TyCetto]

Two really great personalities FIGHTING to be the nicest! Love that kind of fight!

[@scottonanski4173]

Henry looks totally blown away by just being in the same room as him. Man, could you imagine being a musician and getting to pick Steve's brain?

[@joshuabrunetti2001]

this really needs to be 4 hours longer

[@tked970]

Henry, bring Glenn Danzig for next episode. That would be epic!

[@simonstevens8434]

"listening is hard", so so true. Most of us just "hear", most of the time.

[@poppycock6572]

Two amazing artists. We are looking at probably the two best examples of aging well in this industry 👏.

[@pseudosun]

so glad henry interviewed steve, instead of someone who'd ask something like "how does it feel to be a rockstar?"

[@bullfrogboss8008]

This is totally something Henry would ask as well

[@godsinbox]

'people who are famous, go insane'

[@scottperrin9655]

These are 2 of my favorite humans, I never thought these guys sitting down for something like this...incredible. If Mike Patton popped up from the behind the board I would have had an aneurism

[@JungleScene]

man, seeing Steve Vai play at a small intimate venue was one of the pinnacle moments in my life as a fan of music.

[@toxicwaltz69]

Absolutely agree. I've seen him more times than I can count, but I saw him play Whispering a Prayer for the first time live in a small venue, and it almost brought tears to my eyes. Vai feels every note.

[@LLCoolJeanLuc]

"Sonic integrity" is such a great phrase.

[@mrbrightside1965]

“Absorb the Obstacle.” This happens when you relax.

[@honigdachs.]

Oh man. Two legends ... and two very articulate, thoughtful people who really have something to say.

[@ambush1242]

Steve's backyard analogy to mixing was great. Another great Rollins interview.

[@bro7269]

Dallas, salad. Check out “The Art of Mixing” by David Gibson. The whole book is based around the concept of mixing within a cube (basically a room). It’s a very visual book on how to pan instruments left to right, front to back and up and down. It’s very good.

[@tonepoet]

I thought this as well, super interesting way to think of this concept.

[@matkamoon]

Two smart guys , different backgrounds. Could listen to them chat all day ..

[@magicrobharv]

This is an interview that should be used as an instructional video on how to conduct an interview. Henry Rollins is spot-on in his questions, not rambling but directly focused on asking the perfect question that we want to know the answer to. Fantastic interview ! I wish all interviews, on any subject, where this good.

[@MICKEYISLOWD]

''Passion And Warfare'' still blows my mind. When it came out it changed the game. Also I am English and I adore Henry Rollins. Zappa said to Steve ''keep your publishing'' which Steve didn't understand at first however this is the reason he didn't sign with the label for Flexible. Great advice:)

[@themadmattster9647]

Vai's work with PIL is also interesting and underrated.

[@jonesy2111]

Probably his best stuff up there with Roth and Zappa

[@Jaymzmiller]

Steve Vai is an alien for sure, he's barely aged in 40 years.

[@dohoeijmans2432]

Botox in his forehead helps

[@dankauffmanmusic]

Steve Vai loves Tom Waits..... never would have guessed. And I have Flexible on vinyl.... and it's great.

[@tommyt1971]

It's always so cool to hear Henry talk about vinyl. He did a spoken word thing in Dublin in 2016 where he talked about sitting next to Lemmy on a private flight and bugging him about old Hawkwind singles and LPs -- Henry got hardcore asking Lem about the paper they used, the alternate cover designs.

[@mojopin70]

I like Steve Vai a lot. He is a beautiful person and a huge talent.

[@earlofcockgobblingshire3666]

Henry is an amassing interviewer. He excels in everything he does. 10/10

[@craigbarnett5077]

I remember buying Flexible and Flexible Leftovers in 1986 through the mail along with a Steve Vai Light Without Heat t-shirt after hearing The Attitude Song on one of those Guitar Player song page. But the thing I really wished I had kept were the 10 or so photocopied guitar lessons of weird, quirky things that looked like they were typed on a Commodore 64 computer. Surprised Rollins didn't ask about Steve's Roth days. Henry was always a huge DLR fan.

[@pseudosun]

fastest 13 minutes of my life. Just let the tape roll, and let them talk.

[@Cocobeankf]

This is like watching your cool cousins from 2 different sides of the family finally getting together for a hangout!

[@nicholastotoro7721]

Henry is literally sitting on the edge of his seat, like he's genuinely interested and curious about Steve's answers and insight. You can't get better than that.

[@mauricedorreboom5388]

If ever the phrase "kindred spirits" would apply for any interview it is this one. HR is an amazing human being.

[@frankrandall8875]

Damn, 'Bone Machine' was the first Tom Waits album I heard and it's my favourite to this day. Absolutely nailed it.

[@TeleCarlitos]

I know of Tom waits but never listened to his music. So I should start with Bone Machine?

[@danielmiller9925]

@@TeleCarlitos I'd start with Rain Dogs, but Bone Machine is pretty amazing too. It's just super weird, but with Tom, weird, is good.

[@deanl0]

Dan Mil.>> Rain Dog was like a best of..really but it was is 8th. studio album and Keith Richards was also on that album.

[@megazoned3973]

Carlos Riollano dude! Bone Machine!!!!! Ugh. Get some headphones, lock yourself in a dark room and listen to it immediately. Let it take you away to a land of broken speakers and concrete chicken coops.

[@brianmiller1077]

@@TeleCarlitos Bone Machine and Mule Variations both have great range in the type of songs.

[@ponzo1967]

Steve meeting Frank was a match made in an Italian heaven. Love how Steve picked up that little slice of passionate insanity Frank had.

[@StahlsBlues]

Henry and Steve. Absolute treasure. My love to them both.

[@chrisniess1274]

Two of my heroes in the same room. Mind blown 🤯

[@JbfMusicGuitar]

Didn't realise how much I'd wanted too see these guys interact until now. Would happily listen to hours of that!

[@tch8787]

Why isn’t this a weekly show I loved the podcast all the great stories...miss the old ifc show too Henry Rollins is a great interviewer

[@jtron9k]

I love the way Vai talks with his hands. It's one of those things where its obvious why he is so expressive with his hands while he talks, but still fascinates me every time I see him talk.

[@LisaBellaDonnaMusic]

Steve Vai is such a balanced beautiful human. Love his interviews. Love Henry too, he’s just real as it gets.

[@tobymcgroby8967]

I love it when the interviewer actually has the same passion for the things that the guest has. Great job Henry, you guys look like two best friends

[@itsfine5818]

When he said he likes atmosphere I knew instantly where he was going. Tom is my favorite as well for that reason. Put on Rain Dogs and close your eyes, it will take you to a different world that he designed.

[@zippy61]

Great interview !!

[@ianbarcelos]

When Steve talks, you listen. That's it.

[@PooNinja]

👍🏽

[@adrianlee3497]

Henry as well.

[@gussygoro2469]

Steve's an unabashed genius. I'm glad he was around to look up to when I was a boy.

[@deanbodishowpodcast9437]

This was an awesome interview !!!

[@GEKO1200]

Every time I hear Mr. Vai talking, I learn several new words, similar to neologisms🙏😂🤘. Thanx Steven!

[@knoxrembrandt]

I love his music so much

[@birderybirdery]

All of this made me happy! Thank you for this.

[@kennydunk]

Wonderful interview. Love both these stars.

[@user-InvitationtoLove]

This is great

[@bmclaughlin01]

Fantastic interview.

[@SheaRecordmetal]

Legends!

[@terrytickler]

Awesome

[@Voidweaver100]

Absolute legends, two of my all time favourites in music. Hope there is more footage!

[@trevormarcray]

I can't wait to listen to this!

[@NojusLive]

Wish this interview was much longer, such a deep understanding and respect there, amazing insights

[@Rich2487]

So happy to see these two together.

[@218maryland]

These videos are so damn informative and fun to watch. Keep em coming!!

[@nikolasmatviko4700]

Great interview

[@andylorenxx1]

I could listen to these two guys for hours, great interview

[@graysonblanchette]

Well this is perfect. Amazing energy between these two...

[@memopinzon]

MORE OF THIS PLEASE. I could binge an hour or more tbh.

[@RobertSlover]

this interview has single handedly helped to like steve vai. his style of music is not my taste, but the conversation about the micro details of composing and active listening to music was wonderful. now what made me love steve vai is he said his favorite musician is tom waits!!!! mine too.

[@candydormizzi2500]

2 intense legends !

[@flaviolopes2613]

Really great interview

[@Felco6]

Great interview.

[@Aaron-zh4kj]

I was so excited to experience an interview from two very different worlds of music I both love. I only wish it was longer.

[@keithleeuwen877]

Great !

[@adammassacre1981]

Fantastic interview i could listen to these guys talk forever.

[@raygunromance772]

Two of my favorite musicians and thinkers having a convo. Love it.

[@killval849]

I love how he always mentions Frank Zappa, it's nice to hear.

[@BoomBoom-cn4km]

Yes man .. fz had huge impact in Steve playing

[@wretch1173]

I was gonna say something similar. Its definitely nice to hear him talk about frank

[@jimmyfreeman5235]

Nod to the guru / old school mentor.

[@johnwalliss]

Great interview - hopefully this is part of a larger interview

[@thehumandrive]

Man this is such a good interview! Legends!

[@EarthisnotforSale]

VERY fresh questions! Henry rocks with this interview

[@f115Recs]

been listening to these back to back today - amazing interviews!! all I can say is don't hold back on these edits. so much more to unpack on each of these! this one cut off way too early. thank you!!

[@Mr666Flake]

2 of My Favorites having a Conversation about Music, this is Epic!

[@jameshaas5130]

More! More! More!💞

[@TalkToMeGoose550]

I love listening to these guys. Awesome.

[@phillee3653]

Wish this were a longer interview. This was really great to listen to.

[@samreilly4360]

Respect for both

[@kyrkwalters964]

This guy is just amazing

[@massapower]

What a great & Informative interview. Thx Henry for Interviewing the Master STEVE VAI 😁🤟