Steve Stevens On Ciari Signature Series Guitar, New Billy Idol Album

By: Jim Ryan

Guitarist Steve Stevens poses with his new Signature Series Ascender guitar line, now available via Ciari Guitars

For artists across the country, the idea of traveling with a musical instrument can be a complicated one both logistically and financially.

Seeking to address that problem, Ciari Guitars has created a uniquely engineered instrument that’s foldable for travel, a guitar that’s able to be stowed easily in most airplane overhead bins or under most airplane seats.

Partnering with guitarist Steve Stevens, Ciari launched their debut signature series, the Steve Stevens Signature Ascender, this week.

“I mean, this is a real solution to a problem,” confirmed Stevens during a recent video call. “More and more, touring musicians are having to write while being on the road. I have a little recording set up that I put in my hotel room and this has enabled me to continue to write and send off guitar ideas. I’ve even recorded tracks for people's records on this while I've been on the road,” the guitarist explained. “It's not a gimmick. It's a really great playing guitar that happens to fold up. And I think there's a good price point for it, you know?” Stevens said. “We were really concerned about the affordability of it - because it's a super high quality instrument. But I think it's within the grasp of people.”

NEW YORK, NY - [July 1983]: Steve Stevens and Billy Idol perform July 1983 in New York City. (Photo by Bill Tompkins/Getty Images)

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Since 1982, Stevens has worked alongside rocker Billy Idol, co-writing hits like “Rebel Yell,” “Eyes Without a Face” and “Flesh For Fantasy.” On the new album Dream Into It, Idol’s ninth (now available on CD or vinyl and for online streaming via Dark Horse Records/BMG), Stevens co-writes each of the record’s nine tracks.

Set to begin an international tour this Friday, May 23, 2025 in Toronto, Canada, one which travels abroad through June and July, Stevens will join Idol and fellow punk Joan Jett for a U.S. summer run set to kickoff Thursday, August 14 in Tinley Park, Illinois.

I spoke with Steve Stevens about traveling with gear, the Ciari Steve Stevens Signature Ascender series, the autobiographical storytelling that drives Dream Into It and the key to maintaining a partnership with Idol that now spans nearly 45 years. A transcript of our video call, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows below.

Jim Ryan: Every time I travel with my photographer, and he’s trying to carry on thousands of dollars in lighting and equipment, it becomes a complete mess at the gate. And, every time, I wind up thinking, “How is a musician even able to travel with a guitar or an upright bass or any other instrument anymore?” How is Ciari kind of addressing this?

Steve Stevens: Well, amazingly, they’ve designed a guitar that folds up and fits in a backpack - you can stow it away underneath the seat of a plane.

Ryan: How did this partnership come about?

Stevens: My older brother of five years is an industrial designer, so I’ve always been intrigued by new designs - and [Ciari founder and CEO] Jonathan Spangler brought one down to a Billy Idol rehearsal. He takes it out of the backpack and unfolds this thing and it's perfectly in tune - plays great, sounds great! And I'm like, “This is revolutionary.”

I mean, this is a real solution to a problem. More and more, touring musicians are having to write while being on the road. I have a little recording set up that I put in my hotel room and this has enabled me to continue to write and send off guitar ideas. I’ve even recorded tracks for people's records on this while I've been on the road.

It’s not a gimmick. It's a really great playing guitar that happens to fold up. And I think there's a good price point for it, you know? We were really concerned about the affordability of it - because it's a super high quality instrument. But I think it's within the grasp of people.

Ryan: I’ve seen Jonathan kind of make that distinction that it isn't just a guitar that travels well, it's a guitar that plays well. In terms of a playable instrument, what does the Steve Stevens Signature Ascender deliver both to you and other players?

Stevens: Well, sonically, it’s super versatile. I thought, if you’re going to be traveling with one guitar, it’d be nice to have one that can replicate all the classic guitar sounds, from a Les Paul to a Strat to a Tele. So, we have a nice set of pickups in there. And I've worked with the Bare Knuckle Pickups company for a number of years and they helped us design a really versatile pickup.

Everything about the guitar is quality - really amazing components. I’m so proud of the wiring and the mechanics of this guitar that I insisted on having the back plates clear so people could see what's going on there. Originally, they had black plastic. But I said, “No. We gotta show the guts of this thing!” Because it's really, really cool.

Ryan: I imagine there’s going to be a skeptic out there who reads this and scoffs at the idea of a foldable guitar. But you’ve traveled with it. You’ve performed on stage with it. What do you say to that person?

Stevens: Play one.

I mean, the proof is in the pudding. I can talk about it till the cows come home. I was that same person. I was skeptical! When Jonathan sent me photos of it, I said, “Oh, well, bring one by rehearsal and, if I have time, I’ll check it out.” And then I saw the incredible mechanics that go into this thing and how it feels. And what's really cool about it is that it's still a rock and roll guitar. The body style is very rock and roll. And it's a cool little, hot rodded, fold up guitar.

Ryan: Let’s get into the new album. What struck me about Dream Into It is the narrative that drives it. I know that’s a bit of a departure from how Billy usually handles an album. I remember you kind of telling me previously that you take your musical cues from his lyrics. So, what was it like working on the music this time around from that sort of autobiographical template?

Stevens: Yeah, I sort of approach my role with Billy as almost a director. I’m presented with a storyline and that's my motivation. What emotion is behind it? What's the feeling that he's trying to convey? And then it's my job to create the sonic picture that fits with that narrative.

I’m very rarely concerned with showing off my guitar capabilities or something like that. Maybe early in my career that was something - but I'm certainly not waiting for my three minutes into the song solo and, you know, my moment of glory. As a matter of fact, I kept making the solos - if there were any solos on this record - shorter. Because I wanted this record to feel and sound contemporary. And there's not a lot of guitar solos on contemporary records. It's a don't bore us, get to the chorus kind of thing. And if a song needed a solo, sure - but we didn't necessarily have to put one in just for the sake of it being there.

Ryan: In terms of the storytelling too, it almost kind of takes on a cinematic feel to me in the way the guitar playing combines with the lyrics to drive the story. You get those flamenco flourishes we know from you so well on “I’m Your Hero.” There's also more rocking elements. But, in terms of that storytelling, who's a guitar player who really takes on that kind of cinematic feel and drives the narrative in that way to you?

Stevens: Pete Townshend would be the ultimate. Because he’s a writer, you know? I mean, there's guitar players - and then there's writers that play guitar. I understood that early on: that if you want to have a career, it has to be more than just being able to play guitar.

And that is the basis of my partnership with Billy. I’m a co-writer on all these songs. And we work with some other really good writers on a lot of these songs. But it always starts with us two sitting in a room with a couple of acoustic guitars and pen and paper going, “Alright, what's going on?” And then there's a little bit of a therapy session - what's going on in each other's lives? Or what movie we happen to watch or what's a great line from a movie that can spur an idea?

It’s been that way from day one with Billy - and it's never changed. That is how we operate. And I think that's something that's really cool about the chemistry between us.

Ryan: Well, there’s obviously such strong female vocalists on this album. Were you kind of writing with them in mind or did they arrive after the songs were written?

Stevens: I think that idea really came from when we did the concert at Hoover Dam. Alison Mosshart came and joined us and I thought she was phenomenal. And she had requested that we do “John Wayne.” And we were like, “Oh, really?” It wasn’t a particularly well-known tune on one of Billy's records. “OK, great!” And she interpreted it so well! We were really open to having other collaborators on the record. Avril Lavigne became interested in doing something.

I think that the chemistry between Billy and a female is really cool. And we’ve always had that. We had our female keyboard player Judi Dozier back in the day. You just get a female’s point of view on things, a female perspective. Because lord knows Billy’s got a lot of female fans. So, I think they identify with that.

Ryan: You mentioned Alison and Avril. Joan Jett’s also there on “Wildside” as part of that kind of age old tale of not slowing down that defines the song (as well as the impact that can have on the relationship side). But I love the solo in that. What was kind of your approach there?

Stevens: I’m always the classic rock guy. I'm always the one going, “Hey, what if we did something that sounds like Brian May or Jimmy Page or something? Or Billy Gibbons?” I just throw out these influences and little snapshots or little flavors of things.

And, way back in the day, I had actually guested with Joan. I got up and played with her at, I think it was Disneyland. She did a show in Los Angeles. We’ve crossed paths over so many years. And, from what I understand, she was actually in London in like the early days of the punk thing. And I think our original demos were cut with Steve Jones and Paul Cook from the Sex Pistols. So, she's got that connection to Billy way back then.

Ryan: Well, it’s hard to believe we’re coming up on almost 45 years here. Through highs and lows, ups and downs over that period, what’s been the key to keeping that partnership with Billy Idol together?

Stevens: Respect. He knows that I don’t have my own agenda. As a collaborator, I'm there to make the very best Billy Idol music that I can. And I'm a really good team player. I love collaborating with not only Billy, but other writers that we worked with - and Tommy English, our producer. I really love those working relationships.

To me, that is what is so amazing about making music. There are those guys that create their own thing. And they sit in a room and turn out a record. I’m just not that guy. I've always been a band guy and I've always loved reading stories about bands. When you're in making a record, you really are creating a band for that period of time. And we're so fortunate to have Josh Freese on drums and Chris Chaney on bass. That's the band that created this record. And those guys are not only phenomenal musicians but they're friends of ours.

Ryan: Well, it’s such a unique stretch here for Billy with the autobiography and the documentary that's coming. And now Dream Into It also takes a look back. I know you're always striving to push this stuff forward, but what's it been like taking this look back with Billy the way you have?

Stevens: I mean, I know all the stories of his life before I met him. Obviously, I was there from the moment that he pretty much arrived in the U.S. So, there’s a lot of shared craziness that's gone on!

Being a part of the initial success with him and all of the things that accompany that for an artist making a big splash in the 1980s? I haven’t seen the documentary but I'm sure that it will reflect that. Those were crazy times - and amazing years to be successful. I was all of 22 years old. And we enjoyed every bit of it, you know?

But it’s the music. I always tell people that and they say, “Well, the drugs and booze and chicks and girls…” And I go, “But the music always came first.” We always made sure that we put the music first and all the other stuff could wait.

I don't feel that the music ever suffered.