{"id":23707,"date":"2025-08-06T19:44:07","date_gmt":"2025-08-06T19:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/?p=23707"},"modified":"2025-08-06T19:44:07","modified_gmt":"2025-08-06T19:44:07","slug":"my-stock-answer-was-no-most-people-who-approach-me-to-do-something-like-that-are-looking-to-relive-the-glory-days-of-80s-rock-why-steve-vai-dropped-his","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/2025\/08\/06\/my-stock-answer-was-no-most-people-who-approach-me-to-do-something-like-that-are-looking-to-relive-the-glory-days-of-80s-rock-why-steve-vai-dropped-his\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cMy stock answer was, \u2018No.\u2019 Most people who approach me to do something like that are looking to relive the glory days of \u201980s rock\u201d: Why Steve Vai dropped his anti-supergroup stance to help revive some of King Crimson\u2019s most celebrated work"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"article-body\">\n<p>Steve Vai<\/a> says he has turned down offers to join supergroups in the past, but when the prospect of forming BEAT \u2013 the King Crimson-honoring project created with Robert Fripp\u2019s blessing<\/a> \u2013 came along, he was forced to rethink his supergroup stance.<\/p>\n<p>Alongside Crimson alumni Adrian Belew<\/a> and Tony Levin, and Tool drummer Danny Carey, Vai was cast in Robert Fripp<\/a>\u2019s role as electric guitar <\/a>provocateur as part of the supergroup\u2019s lineup.<\/p>\n<aside data-block-type=\"embed\" data-render-type=\"fte\" data-skip=\"dealsy\" data-widget-type=\"seasonal\" class=\"hawk-base\" \/>\n<p>Across their recent US tour, Vai and co plucked hits from the band\u2019s trio of 1980s LPs, <em>Discipline, Beat, <\/em>and<em> Three of a Perfect Pair<\/em>, to help revive some of King Crimson<\/a>\u2019s most celebrated material.<\/p>\n<aside data-component-name=\"Recirculation:ArticleRiver\" data-nosnippet=\"\" class=\"pt-3 pb-4 mb-4 clear-both border-solid border-y border-neutral-300\">\n<span class=\"font-article-heading block pb-3 !text-base font-bold uppercase sm:text-sm text-[#333]\"><br \/>\nYou may like<br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Speaking in a new interview with <em>GW<\/em>, Vai explains what made this particular offer different from all the ones he had been quick to reject.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt 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, \u2018No,\u2019\u201d Vai says. \u201cMost people who approach me to do something like that are looking to relive the glory days of \u201980s rock.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love that music,\u201d he extends, \u201cbut I probably wouldn&#8217;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&#8217;s accessible, but not necessarily with an audience in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As Vai recalls, after a period when \u201cnobody was knocking on my door\u201d, Belew then came along with an offer he simply could not refuse.<\/p>\n<p> {<br \/>\n        window.reliablePageLoad.then(() =&gt; {<br \/>\n            var componentContainer = document.querySelector(&#8220;#slice-container-newsletterForm-articleInbodyContent-z6C8tMm3B59PrCGCF5suqj&#8221;);<\/p>\n<p>            if (componentContainer) {<br \/>\n                var data = {&#8220;layout&#8221;:&#8221;inbodyContent&#8221;,&#8221;header&#8221;:&#8221;Get The Pick Newsletter&#8221;,&#8221;tagline&#8221;:&#8221;All the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!&#8221;,&#8221;formFooterText&#8221;:&#8221;By submitting your information you agree to the <a href=\"https:\/\/futureplc.com\/terms-conditions\/\" target=\"_blank\">Terms &amp; Conditions<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/futureplc.com\/privacy-policy\/\" target=\"_blank\">Privacy Policy<\/a> and are aged 16 or over.&#8221;,&#8221;successMessage&#8221;:{&#8220;body&#8221;:&#8221;Thank you for signing up. 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It\u2019s Adrian Belew, and he\u2019s got Tony Levin and Danny Carey, and I&#8217;m like, \u2018Yes!&#8217;\u201d he goes on. \u201cThere was something that resonated in me that just said, \u2018Yes,\u2019 because when the appropriate creative project comes to you, there\u2019s something that feels enthusiasm and knowing that it\u2019s meant for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"youtube-video youtube-facade\" data-nosnippet=\"\">\n<div class=\"video-aspect-box\">\n<div class=\"watch-on-iframe-DH7ZoWRQMxk\" data-yt-video-token=\"DH7ZoWRQMxk\" title=\"BEAT (Vai, Belew, Carey, Levin) Final Song ever? Thela Hun Ginjeet, last encore of the final show - YouTube\"><span class=\"youtube-video-title\">BEAT (Vai, Belew, Carey, Levin) Final Song ever? Thela Hun Ginjeet, last encore of the final show &#8211; YouTube<\/span><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" data-src=\"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/maxresdefault.jpg\" alt=\"BEAT (Vai, Belew, Carey, Levin) Final Song ever? Thela Hun Ginjeet, last encore of the final show - YouTube\" data-aspect-ratio=\"16\/9\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Watch On <\/a><\/div>\n<p>Naturally, the project came with some challenges. Talking about the task of tackling the role, Vai has previously spoken of the \u201crelentlessness\u201d of Fripp&#8217;s picking technique<\/a> and the \u201cspecific and refined\u201d playing style he\u2019s employed across the band\u2019s celebrated discography. Another challenge lay in establishing a partnership with Belew.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt really came to the point where Robert and I had separated into our own worlds, like two sides of the same coin,\u201d Belew once observed<\/a> of the guitar partnership he built with Fripp.<\/p>\n<p>As for how that translated to Vai, he continued, \u201cSteve 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&#8217;re going to be a cover band, I believe we will make it our own.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>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<\/a> to say: \u201cYou can rehearse until you&#8217;re blue in the face, but once you hit the stage and the lights go out, all bets are off.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The full interview with Steve Vai will be published on <em>GuitarWorld.com<\/em> in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Steve Vai says he has turned down offers to join supergroups in the past, but when the prospect of forming BEAT \u2013 the King Crimson-honoring project created with Robert Fripp\u2019s blessing \u2013 came along, he was forced to rethink his supergroup stance. Alongside Crimson alumni Adrian Belew and Tony Levin, and Tool drummer Danny Carey, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":23708,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23707"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23709,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23707\/revisions\/23709"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23708"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/guitarmadrid.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}