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" I can count on one hand the people who are legendary in my book, and Tom Waits is certainly right at the top. It's funny, though: When I tell people that I like Tom's music, it surprises them. "

Steve Vai

I Can

Book

Right

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" Possessing a healthy imagination is a necessary ingredient for creativity. "

" I know it is common nowadays for artists to start labels but this is a thoroughly constructed vehicle for inspired talent. This is a market that we've been living, breathing and eating for our entire lives - one where a huge void currently exists. Favored Nations is a long-term commitment. "

" If I remain true to what's in my heart, that's all the success I need. "

" It's hilarious, because my guitar has what's known as a tremolo bar or a whammy bar. And the whammy bar is probably the most alien thing on my guitar that could possibly relate to a classical guitar. "

" When I was young, I wasn't a misfit or anything. I had friends in all the different social groups. But I had issues - just personal issues, insecurities and other things that had happened in my life. "

" What I look for in music is artistry, sincerity, and simplicity, and Tom Waits has all of that. I want to make a connection to the creator. "

" History's most treasured musicians were believed in and cultivated to reach their potential. Today, it would be difficult for those musicians to get deals. We have the insight and the tools to identify and bring to fruition the dormant talent that our artists possess. "

" I was a kid, 12 or something, when the Partridge Family was big on TV. I liked the curly cord running from the bass to the amps, which were real fancy. That cord looked so cool. I said, 'Wow! I gotta play something like that!' "

" I've always considered transcribing to be an invaluable tool in the development of one's musical ear and, over the years, I have spent countless glorious hours transcribing different kinds of music, either guitar-oriented or not. "

" My past is very interesting, and I treasure it, but to write about it, it's just not on my radar. "

" Ray and I do not draw salaries, Any profits will be re-invested into marketing the music we believe in. "

" That's the thing about great artists: They find the thing that's most obvious to themselves, what's most conscious and natural, and they put it out there and the audience comes. "

" I have a deep love for life and my fellow human beings. I try to understand everything that everybody does, even if it seems wrong to me. "

Steve Vai

Understand

Deep

" I loved the idea of recording. The idea of sound-on-sound-recording captured me as a young kid, and once I realized what it was I had an epiphany. Before I was even playing the guitar, I would create these lists of how I would record things and overdub them, like Led Zeppelin song, 'I could put this guitar on this track...' and so on. "

Steve Vai

Young

Song

" My main calling in life is to seek and achieve spiritual balance, and to express that through my instrument. Everything else is here today, gone later today. "

" You know, there's times when you should play and there's times when you gotta hold back. "

" As far as Deep Purple goes, I mean, they're iconic. Their contribution is unquantifiable, and as far as the politics involved in things like awards, you know, I don't think anything, because I know what they mean to me, and I know what they mean to the people who like them. Awards are very politically based. "

" The only time I'm miserable is when I can't keep an instrument in tune. "

" When I was growing up, the blues did seem too simple to me. I was just a muso. "

Steve Vai

Blues

Simple

" A lot of those little things that I really like doing are just moments of cool articulation, just little moments of phrasing that probably go over everybody's head. "

Steve Vai

Moments

Little Things

" Criticism can be devastating. When push comes to shove, we are all very sensitive. "

" I didn't have any aspirations of becoming famous or successful; in fact I was scared to death of all that. I remember somebody once said that if a rock musician goes on tour, he goes insane. I was very impressionable and I carried this useless weight of fear around with me about going on tour, all because of this thing somebody said. "

" I was always one of those guys who was a seeker after truth. I want to know what's going on. "

" Favored Nations is a long-term commitment. Our hope is that those who are passionate about real musicianship will want to hear and own most of our albums. We will set out to attain the same direct relationship with our customers that we have with our artists. "

" I've been approached many times to write all sorts of books about my past and my personal life. I get interest from people who want to do reality shows, and somebody just offered me a huge amount of money to write my spiritual memoirs. I'm just not interested. "

Steve Vai

Life

Money

" The older I get, the more I just like plugging directly into my amp. I'm tired of trying to impress myself with weird sounds. It's about the notes more. "

" The classical guitar has a dynamic to it unlike a regular acoustic guitar or an electric guitar. You know, there's times when you should play and there's times when you gotta hold back. It's an extremely dynamic instrument. "

" I can tell you this: I'm an extremely passionate individual. I try to be careful how I display it because you never know how people are going to take it. "

" It just happens in life, where you resonate with a particular artist. Or it can be a kind of food or a fashion - you discover it and it gives you a whole new lease on life. "

" When I was a teenager in the '70s, I was really into those great bands like Led Zeppelin and Queen and Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Alice Cooper. "

Steve Vai

Deep

Purple