The only two directions musicians go in as they age, according to Steve Vai
As musicians age, they either become legacy acts or a symbol of ridicule. If the latter, it’s often because audiences struggle to grapple with aspects of maturity, whether that’s changes to musical sensibilities or the musician’s actual appearance. While we can testify that the latter years of a musician’s career don’t always lack quality, Steve Vai contends ageing musicians can be placed into one of two categories.
Popularity is an interesting concept to Vai, who often analyses his own favourites, like an important science project. While many agree that acts like Kurt Cobain made extraordinary contributions to the grunge movement, Vai prefers to back up such claims with real evidence, naming him a “virtuoso” because of his “intention” to make good music.
Similarly, the idea that there is only one great guitarist seems “obscene” to him for many reasons, but mostly because the whole concept is subjective. If he had to choose, however, he wouldn’t opt for any obvious names like Jimi Hendrix. His affinity for musicians who were ahead of their time would urge him to point to Allan Holdsworth, who he believes did it better than anybody.
Similarly, Vai’s opinion on ageing musicians arrived with the same level of careful calculation. Instead of going into all the reasons why musicians’ careers dwindle as they age, he boiled the whole thing down to two fundamental categories. While Vai explained that maturity within musical careers is something we all “notice with real artists,” he explained the make-or-break element of growing older.
“They’re going to go one of two directions,” the musician told The French Connection. “Either they get bored and insecure about what they’re doing, and the authenticity gets eroded, or they’re going to really grow into their role with such authority and confidence,” he continued.
His remarks were originally related to one of his biggest idols, Alice Cooper. While some fade away and lose sight of what made them great in the first place, some, like Cooper, maintain their own standard all throughout their lives despite the implications that come with the passage of time. “There was something about Alice,” he said, admiring the shock rock hero. “The whole thing was rock ‘n’ roll, it was melodic, and it was great.”
Vai’s suspicion about some ageing rockstars still possessing immense talent was confirmed when he caught Cooper performing with Hollywood Vampires in Rock in Rio. However, this is also something he notices within himself. “I’ve been seeing in my mind’s eye an evolution in my playing,” Vai once told Louder. According to the acclaimed musician, there comes a time when ideas for future musical innovations appear as mere thought experiments. As artists age, it becomes more and more probable that they will stay that way.
