You're co-writing with everyone in the business, and I was wondering, is it very different from one person to another?

It's always different, and that's what keeps it interesting. Everyone I've worked with has their own style of writing, so I do the best I can to prepare ahead of time.

Prior to writing with Aerosmith for the first time, I spent a couple of weeks immersing myself in their music. I listened to all their albums, then I started coming up with some ideas on my own ... you know, guitar riffs, drum feels. So, by the time I actually sat down with them I was already thinking like the sixth member of Aerosmith.

Because I'd done my homework, things meshed almost immediately. We wrote "Rag Doll" on the first day. If you're a freelance writer, if that's what you do for a living, then you want to make sure you contribute something that's going to make it on the album.

Well that's an excellent point because that would be a big danger if you listened to an artist's stuff and then said, OK, you want to write more stuff like that. And of course by the time you hook up with the artist they want to move ahead and expand, presumably.

Yeah, it's true. You always want to bring something new and interesting into the picture, but you should never forget who you're writing for!

I can't remember an exact example, but I'm sure there must have been a time when I wrote for Alice Cooper one week and Anne Murray the next. I mean, I'd have to completely change gears. If you're still in "Alice mode" when Anne shows up, it's probably not going to work! Its important to maintain your focus from artist to artist, because if your songs aren't making it on the album, then you'd better think about changing careers.

Do you write words and music?

I'm equally comfortable with music or lyrics. It really depends who I'm working with. With Ozzy [Osbourne] I contribute more to the lyrics, 'cause he's very strong melodically. Steven Tyler, on the other hand, will write 3 pages of lyrics when all you need is 3 lines, so I'll end up doing more on the music side. With Adams it was pretty much an even split, we both contributed music and lyrics.

What instruments do you play?

The very first instrument I learned was piano, when I was 7, classical stuff. I started playing guitar and drums when I was 13, after seeing the Beatles on Ed Sullivan.

I'm going to guess that if you're writing on piano or guitar, that would influence how you write.

Usually if I write on keyboards it ends up being a ballad, and if I write on guitar it'll tend to go mid- or up-tempo. So yeah, I'll switch between piano and guitar depending on what I'm going after.

With all this co-writing going on and having to fit yourself in to these different situations, do you ever get a desire to write a Jim Vallance tune that is just Jim Vallance for Jim Vallance, where it doesn't fit anybody in particular?

Very early in my career, in my late teens and early twenties, I wasn't in a band that needed songs, and I didn't know anybody who was, so I'd just write all these things and put them on the shelf. One day I got a call from some guys who were trying to get a record deal. They weren't having much luck, and they were looking for material. To make a long story short, they recorded 7 of my songs, got a deal, changed their name to Prism, and asked me to join the band. The album was a hit, and that's when I had my first success as a writer.

You must enjoy working with other people. You must be a people person.

Yeah, I do enjoy it. Writing on your own is lonely. It's like going to a movie by yourself, or going out for dinner alone. It's a lot more fun when you share those experiences.

I heard you were writing with Jon Bon Jovi over in France last summer.

Yeah, it was amazing. Miles Copeland has this castle in the south of France, and twice a year he invites a bunch of writers to come and stay for a couple of weeks. I mean, this is a real castle, hundreds of years old, with a moat and everything.

I've seen a picture of the place. It's quite imposing.

It really is, it's incredible. It's on a hill in the middle of nowhere. There's not even a village you can walk to, so you're kind of captive. You live at the castle, you eat there, sleep there, and from 10:00 in the morning until 1:00 or 2:00 the next morning you just write and record. Each day's a different writing team, it's always groups of 3, and you have one day to write and demo a song, then the next day you start again with a new group. What it proved to me is, if you have a week to write a song, then you take a week. If you have a day, you do it in a day. Actually, my trips to France were my original reason for sourcing out the VS-1680.

You knew you were going to France?

Well, I'd been to the castle a couple of times. They have 3 studios set up there, but you're only given a couple of hours to demo your song, which is quite restrictive. I thought, if only there was some way to have your own little setup.

So I started planning a portable studio. I put in a couple of DA-88's, but that was already six rack spaces, and quite heavy. I figured I could get away with one piece of outboard gear, like a multi effects unit, but then I'd need an amp for the headphones, and maybe a rack-mount guitar pre-amp, and a patch bay, and a mixer of some kind.

Then there was the issue of power conversion, 'cause France runs on 240. It didn't take long for the gear to start stacking up, and in the end it was too big and heavy to be practical. That's when I started researching other options. I looked at the Roland 880, but eight tracks wasn't enough, so I put it off for year. By then the 1680 had come out, and suddenly all my "portable studio" problems were solved.

I'm sure you've got both effects boards [VS8F-2] in your VS-1680?

Yeah! With the two effects boards I probably have the equivalent of eight or ten racks spaces of outboard gear - and you can put it under your arm and jump on the plane!

So how did your session go with Jon Bon Jovi?

It was fun. We wrote three or four songs. One of them we recorded in my bedroom at the castle 'cause all the studios were booked. I used my laptop to sequence the music, then we transferred everything to the 1680 and did the vocals and guitars. It turned out great.

Did you bring a couple of microphones with you?

Just an SM-58. I used the mic modelling in the 1680 to simulate a U-87, which seemed to be the best choice for Jon's voice.

So do you travel to the other guys' places to write or are they coming to your home? You sold your studio, right?

Yeah, I sold The Armoury to Bruce Fairbairn a couple of years ago. I really enjoyed designing and building the place, but once it was finished I hated owning it. You know, it's a business, with employees and tenants and clients, and there were occasional break-ins and vandalism, and it just wore me down.

How disappointing!

Well, you know, I'm actually glad I did it. I had to get it out of my system. So now I'm building a studio in my back yard, which is all I ever needed anyway. It's got 32 tracks of Pro Tools and an SSL console, and you look out over the pool. It's a really peaceful place to be creative.

So you're keeping it simple. Now when you have to go on the road you can grab your 1680 and then just use that.

Definitely. I'll always use the 1680 when I travel.

So you're still going to have a lot of artists coming to town?

Well I'm not going to do it to the extent I did before, not 50 weeks a year!

I remember talking to you a few years ago and you had list of who's who coming to town every week. It was like a parade.

It was endless, but I had the energy then, I had the fire in my belly. I'm not sure if I have that anymore. My plan is to write a couple of weeks a month. I'll be 50 in three years, and I have different priorities now. Spending time with my family is high on the list. Some guys in our business never figure that out.

It's been great talking to you. I write a lot of songs and it's great fun to talk to other songwriters and see what people are doing.

One of the joys of co-writing, or even talking about writing, is that you always learn something.

You start with nothing - and at the end of it you come up with a finished song and it seems to work and it makes you happy.

It's magic, in the true sense.