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Legendary rock guitarist Steve Vai just launched a new motorcycle inspired album titled Vai/Gash. ADVMoto Publisher Carl Parker scoops an interview with Steve to talk Music, Motorcycles and Mojo for ADVMoto Pod #9. We discuss Steve's riding history, the story of "Gash", his love for the community, some of the cool Harley Davidsons he's owned and what riding has in common with music. Also, don't miss some of Steve's life advice on overcoming fear and being the boss!
Tune in to the podcast (ADVMotoRadio.com) audio stream and video below. Also be sure to check out the new Vai/Gash album story and links in the following press release!
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> Steve Vai's Vai/Gash album is FREE to listen or download at the following links:
• Steve Vai Shares the Story of his Vai/Gash album:
This record was written and recorded in somewhat of a stream of consciousness in 1991 within perhaps a 2-week period as an answer to my desire to have a particular kind of music to listen to when I was riding my Harley Davison motorcycle with my friends. It’s reminiscent of a certain type of rock music I enjoyed as a teenager in the 1970’s. These recordings sat on the shelf for over 30 years and are being released now in 2023.
Here’s the story…
When I was a teenager in the 1970’s, my older brother Roger, and a particular group of friends I hung out with at the time, rode Harley Davidson motorcycles together. They were all tough “greaser” types that partied, fought, and rode hard, but had big hearts. The band I was in at that time was called “Rayge” and we played driving rock music at backyard parties, clubs on Long Island and any gig we could get. Our club gigs usually turned into a den of iniquity with my biker friends dismantling many of the venues from the bathroom on up the moment we broke into “Born to be Wild”.
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Almost more than wanting a new guitar, I wanted a Harley but could never afford one. I used to sneak my brother Rogers custom chopper (with a 16” over front end, ape hanger handlebars and a sissy bar higher than your head) and rip through towns on Long Island with my best buddy Joe Despagni. We must have been 14 when this all started. I could hardly navigate my brother’s beastly bike but some of my fondest memories are of riding with Joe and our friends.
Being a part of this culture was the highlight of my teenage years and I think a part of me psychologically froze at the age of 17 because sometimes I still feel like a teenager… well, maybe a little more than sometimes.
Flash ahead to 1985 and I was joining the David Lee Roth Band. I had just saved enough to buy my first real motorcycle, a Honda 750. I rode it everywhere but at some point, it was decided that it would be best, for safety reasons, if I didn’t ride motorcycles while in such an accomplished touring rock band, so my little Honda sat in the garage for 5 years.
Every time I passed it, which was multiple times a day, the thought that someday I would be able to ride it again loomed in my mind. And then that day came, and I thought “Hey, I can ride my Honda again. Hey wait, I can finally afford a Harley”. I proceeded to buy 7 Harleys and by 1990 I was fully engaged in the Southern California Yuppie biker culture.
At that point I was overcome with a desire to rip out what I thought would be a straight-ahead type of rock record that contained the kind of music I wish I had to listen to when I was that teenager ensconced in the biker culture.
And then I met Johnny “Gash” Sombrotto.
John was born in Queens, New York and as a youth was an avid motorcycle enthusiast. In 1977 at the age of 21 he was out riding his dirt bike in some very dense woods out on eastern Long Island. After a while, he got a little lost. He had no compass and with the sun starting to set, and rain threatening, he knew that he was in trouble. Desperate to identify his location, his only hope was to climb a tall electrical tower to get a view on where he was. At one point the electrical current going through the wires arced and went through him leaving him numb and dangling. His body caught fire and he plunged 30 feet onto a barbed wire fence. Another young dirt bike rider found him and they both managed to hobble to a near-by farmhouse. The owner called 911 and an ambulance took him to Southampton Hospital. Within hours he was helicoptered over to the Nassau County Hospital Burn Unit in East Meadow. The doctors told his family that he had third degree burns over 60% of his body, and that if he even survived, there was a strong possibility that he would lose his right arm and left leg. While in the Burn Unit, John endured excruciating pain, especially when given the intense daily cycle of hot baths for his burns. He soldiered on, and after a month he was finally discharged from the hospital. Luckily, no limbs were amputated. He was, however, left with a partial left ear and layers of skin grafts over his neck, arms, legs, and entire chest.
The stories he told about his recovery and the excruciating pain involved were crushingly gut wrenching. But he survived, and eventually thrived again. He made his way out to Los Angeles in 1982 and got right back up on his motorcycle.
I met John through a mutual friend, Mark Cimino. We originally bonded over biker culture, and he choose the name “Gash” as a nickname. It’s difficult to describe John’s enigmatic personality and sense of humor. As a descendant of Italian Americans and growing up in New York, he wore who he was on his sleeve and you never knew what surprising, bold and sometimes shockingly outlandish things were going to come out of his mouth, and you had better be ready. But there was always something in his delivery that never felt like he was attacking anyone, but instead made you laugh.
I’ve observed many people interacting with him on our numerous motorcycle road trips and other adventures. At first sight, many people could be taken by his bald head, scarred neck and burnt-off ear. Looking as he did and riding a Harley it was easy to assume he was perhaps a tough, menacing biker with a nefarious attitude, but after engaging with him for even a minute, his charm and magnetic charisma had them laughing in their shoes and completely enjoying his uplifting presence. He endeared people with his wit, warmth, and sparkle.
John hit it off instantly with the most unlikely of people of every age, color, size, political or sexual persuasions. He was non superficial and never judged people. This allowed his engaging personality and intoxicating charm to draw you in. Under all those scars was a bold and fearlessly warm heart that can be seen in his disarming and big soft blue eyes.
John was virtually fearless when he rode his motorcycle. His confidence was overwhelming, and it was not uncommon to see him drive by sitting on the back seat facing backwards and waving to you while he read a magazine. He was a daredevil of the highest order and virtually carefree about performing death-defying stunts.
The first time I heard John sing was on a tape he made imitating his vocal hero Frank Sinatra. No kidding. He had this silky crooner voice that sounded like Sinatra. Every now and then I would hear him punch out a Led Zeppelin line or throw out a very rock and roll sounding “ohhh yeah” and I thought… “Hmmm”.
Although I don’t believe he sang rock and roll before, and I had never heard him try, something in me wanted to get him in the studio and see how he would belt over these biker type songs I had demoed, but nothing could have prepared me for the voice that came out of his mouth.
I had to think, off course he sounds like that because that’s him, confident, authentic, fearless but with a lighthearted intention. This was the voice I wanted to hear wailing over these slamming rock tracks. I was stunned.
Around that timeframe I was also starting to launch work on “Sex and Religion” and was hoping to eventually record more than the 8 songs I had laid down with John for an alternative project, but that was proven impossible. On September 7th, 1998, two days after my father had passed away, the phone rang, and it was John’s beloved girlfriend Nancy. Her voice was quaking, and I somehow knew what she was going to tell me. “John was in a bike accident and was killed”.
Still processing the loss of my father, this news made me numb. He had cheated death so many times but his daredevil fearless approach to riding had finally caught up to him. He would have absolutely been the greatest rock lead singer you would ever want to know. All the elements were in place, but he was gone. Disheartened, I put the entire project on the shelf, and would listen to it at least once a year for the past 30 years, especially around the anniversary of his passing. Then recently something compelled me to want to put it out now.
I wish you would have had a chance to get to know John. I believe you would have loved him just as we all did. For now, he is "In the Wind".
Special thanks to Nancy Ranyard, Joe Sombrotto and Mark Cimino for additional photos and helping me put the pieces together so this project could see the light of day.
