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A little Sunday present from our contributor Brian H, an audio interview of Michael Anthony from the Eddie Trunk podcast show. Trunk gets Michael to dish up 30 minutes of “things Van Halen”. (See the minute mark 16 through 46.) Many times an interviewer’s questions are as significant as the interviewee’s answers, setting the tone and purpose of the interview, and this is definitely the case here. Basically, Trunk makes his case that the first four Van Halen records are definitively iconic in the same vein as Led Zeppelin is viewed today, and that Van Halen should reunite with Mike because of the significance of that period. Trunk asks questions around that premise, including the reasons that Mike is not in the band, when the last time was Mike talked to Eddie Van Halen, Mike’s views on Wolfgang having been groomed to take Mike’s place, Mike’s views of A Different Kind of Truth, and most significantly Mike’s views of Eddie to confirm Eddie’s importance. Mike answers definitely showed me that he wants to reuinte, and that this was a PR move toward that end.
As if to build past on present, like a therapy session to resolve a bad break-up, the first questions centered on the past, starting with the reasons Mike left Van Halen. Addressing that subject, Mike cites the tumultuous nature of the personal lives of Eddie and Alex in that time period, as if to say changed circumstances of happier lives should make a difference. 22:22 – 22:08. Mike says his reasons to play with Sammy were nothing other than he wanted to play at a time when Van Halen was very inactive. 24-23-25:08. Interestingly, I agree with Eddie on this one; Mike says Eddie didn’t want Mike to guest on the shows where Sammy Hagar and David Lee Roth played together (seemingly because the show concept was circus-like). Mike doesn’t blame anyone for inactivity, rather he blames bad circumstances. Again, with changed circumstances, there can’t be personal blame — Therapy 101!
On the obvious — Wolfgang is now the legitimate bass player — both the questions and the answers focused on the past. Mike joked he should have pushed Wolfgang around a bit more, but notes he knew Eddie was grooming his son to be a musician and that Eddie wanted to play with Wolfgang, but that it would be in another way. 26:16.
On the second obvious — communications, Mike says he hasn’t talked to Eddie since 2004. Yet, seemingly referring to communications through others, Mike says he knows Al wants a relationship with Mike, but that Al defers to Eddie on this point. 27:47.
Mike had lots of discussions about Van Halen III and the difficult times of Gary Cherone, making the parallel that everyone had difficult times in Van Halen in that time frame. Both Trunk and Mike went on a tangent from the other premise, discussing Cherone demos recorded after Van Halen III that are much better than the songs on Van Halen III. On this Van Halen III tangent, but relevant to the discussion, and a point Trunk missed entirely, Mike said the sessions for Van Halen III were the first time the “four” did not record in the studio together, and noted Eddie played bass parts on that record, seemingly contrasting that record from anything that came before. 33:27. I viewed Mike’s statement as very carefully crafted to rebut fan views that Eddie recorded bass parts on the early records, an often-cited sentiment as to why Van Halen doesn’t need Mike now even for the legacy view. Trunk totally missed the boat on this point and didn’t follow up, likely taking the cue that Mike wanted to contrast the work on A Different Kind of Truth, with that being the next subject. On that subject, Mike said he only heard a few songs, specifically the songs taken from old demos. 36:40. Really? Mike hasn’t listened to the entirety of that record, the latest record of this band he would like to rejoin? Again, showing Trunk was missing the subtext of Mike’s discussions, Mike himself took Trunk’s Led Zeppelin cue, noting that all the original members of Van Halen are still alive with Mike’s implication that they should reunite.
And as I say Trunk missed Mike’s subtext I wonder. Perhaps understanding that this has to seem totally and completely casual, and understanding the power of flattery, Trunk’s next subject (other than some fluff about drinking) was whether Mike realized in the early days that Eddie Van Halen had the makings of a legend, that Eddie was to be a game changer. Mike said both yes and no, then settled on yes. Mike cited early examples of the band’s awareness of Eddie’s prowess — David Lee Roth (who Mike referred to throughout as “Roth”, a point that bothered me) wanted Eddie to turn Eddie’s back when they were playing in clubs, and other unnamed guitarists showing up outside their Pasadena garage to listen for clues as to how various techniques were done — and ultimately Mike took Trunk’s cue to finish the interview with the acknowledgement of Eddie’s genius. Humm… yes indeed; on second thought, perhaps Trunk steered all of that exactly as it was designed to be– therapy: address the past as a matter of circumstance, rather than cast personal blame, say communication should happen, have Trunk himself rather than Mike say what the band needs (a reunion with Mike), then have Mike praise Eddie’s obvious genius. Yes, indeed this was Trunk’s therapy session supporting his case for a reconciliation. Check it out for yourselves.