25 Years ago, Steve Smith officially announced his band Vital Information with the self-named debut album. With already a career behind him with Journey, he found growth in other, new and foremost personal musical challenges. Ever growing since he started playing drums, he was more then willing to talk about the history of Vital Information. The interview below is a rewind back in time, with insides and need-to-know material about one of the greatest drummers of our time, his life, and the band he keeps going ever since the first idea for it came to mind.

The drummer who went to school with guitar player Mike Stern, who can be heard on the first VI record, talks openly about the history of the band and his person. About the good times, the hard times and the changes in time and consequently for the band.

In the interview he takes you from Journey to the early years of Vital Information, the almost break-up in 1993, and talks about reinventing the sound of the band around 1998/1999 on the \'Where we come from\' album. In the late \'90\'s Steve was rediscovering the roots of US-music. Listening to bands and artists like The Meters (Ziggaboo Modeliste), Booker T, Jimmy Smith (the organ player) and James Brown grooves opened new ways for the sound of the band. According to Steve Vital Information is about \"paying tribute to those who where there before us\". Philly Joe Jones, Max Roach, Art Blakey, Miles Davis and Tony Williams are just a few of the names that have shaped his perspective on music.

And still, Steve loves doing it, to bring the music out into world and the same cause stands strong for many years now:

\"We want to let people experience it live. Even if it’s for the first time. We are not recreating the music, but moving forward in different ways.\"

Vital Information 2008 is:
Baron Browne - bass
Steve Smith - drums
Tom Coster - keyboards
Vinny Valentino - guitar

Enjoy the videos and the complete interview with Steve Smith in the video listing below.

Recent and essential releases of Steve (and Vital Information):

Drum Legacy - Standing on the Shoulders of Giants (dvd 2008)

The Art Of Playing With Brushes (dvd 2007)

Vitalization (cd 2007)

Drumset Technique/History of the U.S. Beat (dvd 2004)

Where We Come From (cd 1998)

Vital Information (cd 1983)

Other \'Steve Smith & Vital Information 25th anniversary special\' articles on Drummerszone.com:
Steve Smith & Vital Information 25th anniversary special

Part I: Setting up Steve\'s drums

Part II: the sound check

Part III: the interview and the concert [this article]