Joe Satriani and Steve Vai's careers have long been intertwined, so while it's not surprising that they formed a band together, it is surprising that it took them this long to do it.

Years before both Satch and Vai became synonymous with boundary-pushing instrumental rock music, they were guitar teacher and guitar student back home on Long Island. Vai quickly outgrew his lessons with Satriani, and the two formed a close friendship as peers chasing down their musical dreams.

Speaking with Q104.3 New York's Out of the Box with Jonathan Clarke, Satriani and Vai admit that the idea of doing an album together came up a lot over the years.

"We're so similar in that we're really driven and headstrong about the things that we want to accomplish in our own musical world," Satriani says. "But I don't think it ever stressed me out, I just figured the moment would come, and it did just sort of [happen] by accident."

The two guitarists have often toured together over the years. Satch says that it was last year, during their 'G3 Reunion' tour (which also featured Eric Johnson), that they both had the inclination and the schedule flexibility to collaborate on a record.

"Steve and I wanted to continue 'cause it was so much fun," Satriani continued. "Eric was already booked for like a year-and-a-half, so there was no way that he could continue this G3 Reunion tour. We said, 'Well, we'll keep going!' ... and then someone said, 'You guys should record a song!' And then, a second song. Let's do an album, and before you know it, that's where we were. It fell together very organically."

Vai added that the project advanced creatively when they bandied about the idea of forming one band, rather than touring with their respective solo bands.

"There's so much opportunity for us because we have our solo catalogs," Vai said. "This show really kind of ebbs and flows as a tag team, with perhaps the majority of the time we're actually on the stage playing together. It's either new stuff or maybe I'm playing on one of Joe's songs. We have a song that we've combined two of our tracks together. But I think for me, the real peak is when Joe and I are just standing on the stage and it's just an open E minor going on and we're trading."

Watch the full conversation via the player above!

Satch/Vai have released three singles from their forthcoming album, including a music video for "Dancing," which you can enjoy via the player below.

Go here for tour dates and more information.

Clint August