Steve Vai: The 1986 "Eat 'Em and Smile" Interview

This two-hour interview took place during July 1986 at Steve Vai's Stucco Blue home studio in Sylmar, California. It mainly focuses on David Lee Roth’s "Eat ’Em and Smile" album, which Steve had just finished recording. As we delve into the tracks, Vai talks about his songwriting, solos, recording techniques, instruments, amps and effects, and the stories behind some of the songs. At various times he picks up an unplugged electric guitar to demonstrate his playing style. We also touch on Steve’s earlier projects with Frank Zappa, Alcatrazz, Whitesnake, PIL, the "Crossroads" film, and his "Flex-Able" solo release.

During the outro to this podcast, I mention Steve's 1984 hand-written transcription of Eddie Van Halen’s “Eruption” guitar solo. Here's a link to a high-res scan of this extraordinary seven-page document: https://jasobrecht.substack.com/p/ste...

Steve and I did another interview in 1988, when he recorded David Lee Roth’s "Skyscraper Secrets." This one has already been posted:    • Steve Vai: The David Lee Roth "Skyscraper"...  .

If you're into 1980s hard rock/heavy metal guitarists, I invite you to check out my Talking Guitar podcasts with young Eddie Van Halen, AC/DC's Angus and Malcom Young, Yngwie Malmsteen, Michael Schenker, Joe Satriani, Vivian Campbell, Ratt's Warren DeMartini and Robbin Crosby, and others. And please subscribe--there are lots more interviews to come!

The "Guitar Player" magazine cover photo of Steve Vai and inscribed promotional photo seen during the intro were taken by Neil Zlozower. Thanks, Neil! And thanks to engineer/producer Nik Hunt for filming the intro and outro and enhancing the sound of the 38-year-old master tapes.

For more than 230 other blues-, rock-, and guitar-intensive podcasts, interview transcripts, and articles, visit the magazine version of "Talking Guitar" at https://jasobrecht.substack.com/. #stevevai #daveleeroth
#davidleeroth #vanhalen #jasobrecht #talkingguitar #nikhunt

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