Steve Vai says he has turned down offers to join supergroups in the past, but when the prospect of forming BEAT – the King Crimson-honoring project created with Robert Fripp’s blessing – came along, he was forced to rethink his supergroup stance.
Alongside Crimson alumni Adrian Belew and Tony Levin, and Tool drummer Danny Carey, Vai was cast in Robert Fripp’s role as electric guitar provocateur as part of the supergroup’s lineup.
Across their recent US tour, Vai and co plucked hits from the band’s trio of 1980s LPs, Discipline, Beat, and Three of a Perfect Pair, to help revive some of King Crimson’s most celebrated material.
Speaking in a new interview with GW, Vai explains what made this particular offer different from all the ones he had been quick to reject.
“It started about five years ago, before the pandemic, when Adrian called me. Before that, I was often asked if I planned to join a supergroup, and my stock answer was, ‘No,’” Vai says. “Most people who approach me to do something like that are looking to relive the glory days of ’80s rock.
“I love that music,” he extends, “but I probably wouldn't consider joining a supergroup unless there was a group of people that were wildly talented, innovative, not so concerned about commercial potential, and willing to make very creative music that's accessible, but not necessarily with an audience in mind.”
As Vai recalls, after a period when “nobody was knocking on my door”, Belew then came along with an offer he simply could not refuse.
“Boom, the phone rings. It’s Adrian Belew, and he’s got Tony Levin and Danny Carey, and I'm like, ‘Yes!'” he goes on. “There was something that resonated in me that just said, ‘Yes,’ because when the appropriate creative project comes to you, there’s something that feels enthusiasm and knowing that it’s meant for you.”
Naturally, the project came with some challenges. Talking about the task of tackling the role, Vai has previously spoken of the “relentlessness” of Fripp's picking technique and the “specific and refined” playing style he’s employed across the band’s celebrated discography. Another challenge lay in establishing a partnership with Belew.
“It really came to the point where Robert and I had separated into our own worlds, like two sides of the same coin,” Belew once observed of the guitar partnership he built with Fripp.
As for how that translated to Vai, he continued, “Steve wants to make sure that what we do is honorable to the originals. Not that we have to play them exactly the same and not that we're going to be a cover band, I believe we will make it our own.”
Vai has never shied from a challenge, and BEAT proved to be too good an opportunity to pass up. After the opening night of the tour, the guitarist took to Instagram to say: “You can rehearse until you're blue in the face, but once you hit the stage and the lights go out, all bets are off.
“It is so enjoyable to play this historical music for such a passionate fan base. I discovered the sincere devotion of the audience for this music and the whole band felt their firm support.”
The full interview with Steve Vai will be published on GuitarWorld.com in the coming weeks.
