Poly Vai

Want Steve Vai to play on your album? Polyphia’s Tim Henson and Scott LePage (and Steve Vai!) tell you how it’s done. Behold the epic saga of “Ego Death”

- JOE BOSSO

LISTENERS ON A NONSTOP THRILL RIDE THROUGHOUT Remember That You Will Die, Polyphia guitarists Tim Henson and Scott LePage knew that their album closer, “Ego Death,” had to be a doozy of a definitive statement. And who better to aid them in their conquest than a guy who knows a little something about knockout grandeur — their guitar hero, Steve Vai?

“When Steve agreed to play on our song, it just blew my mind,” Henson says. “You know, right there I could just check off a box on my ‘dreams come true’ list.”

“And then it actually happened. We got the track back, and we’re like, ‘Yep, that’s actually Steve Vai playing on our music,” LePage says. “You’re listening to it and you think, ‘OK, it doesn’t get much cooler than that, does it?’”

Seated beside them is Steve Vai himself. He looks down, smiles appreciatively and appears to blush. “Oh, my God. That’s so sweet,” he says. The guitarist has just returned from a whirlwind tour of Europe, his first time out on the road since 2019, and as it turns out, Polyphia are just days away from starting their first tour in as many years. Despite the tight time frame in their schedules, the three gathered together during a summer afternoon at Vai’s own Harmony Hut home studio for a Guitar World photo shoot, after which they sat down for a Zoom chat about their recent collaboration.