Steve Vai Releases Music Video For Teeth Of The Hydra, Song Inspired By Greek Mythological Creatures With Many Heads

JAKARTA - Steve Vai and Favored Nations / Mascot Label Group released the official music video for the song Teeth of the Hydra. The music video is directed by BJ McDonnell and produced by John Heller and Jason Salzman.

The director of photography is Eric Leach, with art director Michael Mesker. As for Greg Wurth, he was the sound engineer and assistant director.

"The idea for this guitar and track came to me about seven years ago. I imagined writing and performing a piece of music on a multi-neck instrument where all the sound came from that one creation with the exception of some chords and drums," explains Vai, quoted from Blabbermouth, Sunday.

"I sent my ideas to Ibanez, and the makers sent this amazing wooden creature. I was blown away. It was amazing. The first time I saw it, I named it Hydra, and knew the title of the song right away. It's Teeth of the Hydra."

Hydra is a dragon-like creature from Greek mythology that has various heads. For every decapitated head, two will grow in its place. Vai then wrote a piece of music that took advantage of all the features of Hydra, but also stood alone as a delightful composition with a sultry melody and heavy dynamics.

“When I finally sat down with Hydra and started contemplating writing this piece and how I navigated the instrument in such a seamless way, it seemed impossible for a moment. I was just getting started slowly, and things started to unfold very naturally,” he continues.

"Things that seem impossible don't seem so impossible once you're just starting out. Every new discovery and achievement is treated as an exhilarating victory, even if it only involves finding one bar of music."

Meanwhile, Vai's latest studio album, Inviolate debuted at the top of Billboard's Hard Rock Albums Chart. Cumulatively, the album was streamed up to five million times of which one million was for the song Teet of the Hydra alone.

"The overall inner vision is the guide through the process, but with each achievement the process becomes more and more addictive. I became immersed in the splendor of Hydra. It was a meditative experience, and on the day when everything finally worked out, performing the song felt like silence in motion— that's when the show becomes almost effortless, and the freedom of expression nowadays makes you feel as if your feet are about a foot off the ground," Vai reiterates about the song.

"The fun is sometimes overwhelming. I really love the way this video was made, and having BJ McDonnell directing, along with his amazing crew, is so important. Enjoy!"