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Inside:
How would you categorize the new album’s direction? Would you say it’s classic, kick-ass brown sound Van Halen?
Mike:
I think so. The hardest question to answer is when people ask what direction you’re going. We never take a direction. What comes out, comes out. Everything’s going to influence it, whether it be what each of us are listening to or what Gary’s singing. Let’s just say that the harder stuff, to me, is just kick-ass Van Halen. There’s no other way to describe it. There are a couple of ballads we’re working on. There was also a blues idea. We’re also kicking around the idea of something with just a guitar and a vocal, where the band comes in for certain parts. The bottom line is that whatever we do, Gary’s going to sing the crap out of it.
Inside:
Just guitar and vocal would be something different.
Mike:
Yeah. We’re always looking for different things. It’s not a real conscious thing. At the same time, I don’t expect us to sound like we did on our first album. It’s nice to step out every now and then and take a chance.
Inside:
Any idea how you’re going to do the second volume of the Best of?
Mike:
You know what We had even thought about doing more songs with Dave for that if things hadn’t panned out otherwise. But he kind of blew that out of the water too. Who knows what we’re going to do now. Not to say that it will ever happen, but there was talk of throwing something off of the original demo we did for Warner Bros. on there as a treat.
Inside:
Wow! You’ve got to!
Mike:
Like "Down in Flames," or something . Have you ever heard those?
Inside:
Of course! Those songs are amazing. I have a CD bootleg of many of the Warner Bros. demos. They’re unbelievable.
Mike:
Maybe we’d throw something like that on there for the fans who have been with us from the beginning. Not that it’ll ever happen, but it’s been kicked around.
Inside: What old pro-shot videos do you have in the can? You’ve got to dust of your memory for me here.
Mike:
We didn’t videotape a lot of the really early shows. But there was a point when we started taping and videotaping a lot of the shows. There’s a little bit of everything - on stage, backstage. Sometime we’ll just have to sit in the editing room and put out a whole Van Halen epic movie kind of deal.
Inside:
So many people want to see that.
Mike:
Hell, I’d like to see it! [laughs]
Inside:
So, would it be possible, even that you’re with Gary, to release some of that old video footage?
Mike:
I think so. It’s part of the band’s history. You can’t say, "I don’t want to see any of the old stuff again."
Inside:
So you’ve actually thought about that?
Mike:
We sat and talked to Ray recently about it because we’re putting out a compilation video too.
Inside:
That video just came out, but there’s still no old stuff on there.
Mike:
Well, you know what? Ed, Al, and myself OK’d footage from the old days - Oakland Coliseum stuff from way back when. We looked at a lot of old stuff like that, but Warner Bros. and Ray felt we shouldn’t put it on this one. We looked at the "Pretty Woman" video, among others. But all of it *will* come out. Because we picked a lot of old stuff. They just didn’t feel we should use it. As far as Volume 2, in terms of video, all that old stuff’s going to come out.
Inside:
Do you think all of it can fit on Volume 2?
Mike:
Who knows. We’ll put it on Volume 10! I don’t know how man people have seen the video we did with Hank Williams Jr. called "My Name is Bocephus." It won video of the year at the Country Music Awards.
Inside:
When Al was bald.
Mike:
Yeah, right after he shaved his head.
Inside:
Volume 2 already sounds kick-ass!
Mike:
It’ll probably be more of our own personal favorites.
And that’s only a taste of what’s in the new issue of The Inside. You’ll also find an update on what Sammy Hagar has been up to, info on Gary Cherone, tons of killer, full-color photos and lots, lots more!
How would you categorize the new album’s direction? Would you say it’s classic, kick-ass brown sound Van Halen?
Mike:
I think so. The hardest question to answer is when people ask what direction you’re going. We never take a direction. What comes out, comes out. Everything’s going to influence it, whether it be what each of us are listening to or what Gary’s singing. Let’s just say that the harder stuff, to me, is just kick-ass Van Halen. There’s no other way to describe it. There are a couple of ballads we’re working on. There was also a blues idea. We’re also kicking around the idea of something with just a guitar and a vocal, where the band comes in for certain parts. The bottom line is that whatever we do, Gary’s going to sing the crap out of it.
Inside:
Just guitar and vocal would be something different.
Mike:
Yeah. We’re always looking for different things. It’s not a real conscious thing. At the same time, I don’t expect us to sound like we did on our first album. It’s nice to step out every now and then and take a chance.
Inside:
Any idea how you’re going to do the second volume of the Best of?
Mike:
You know what We had even thought about doing more songs with Dave for that if things hadn’t panned out otherwise. But he kind of blew that out of the water too. Who knows what we’re going to do now. Not to say that it will ever happen, but there was talk of throwing something off of the original demo we did for Warner Bros. on there as a treat.
Inside:
Wow! You’ve got to!
Mike:
Like "Down in Flames," or something . Have you ever heard those?
Inside:
Of course! Those songs are amazing. I have a CD bootleg of many of the Warner Bros. demos. They’re unbelievable.
Mike:
Maybe we’d throw something like that on there for the fans who have been with us from the beginning. Not that it’ll ever happen, but it’s been kicked around.
Inside: What old pro-shot videos do you have in the can? You’ve got to dust of your memory for me here.
Mike:
We didn’t videotape a lot of the really early shows. But there was a point when we started taping and videotaping a lot of the shows. There’s a little bit of everything - on stage, backstage. Sometime we’ll just have to sit in the editing room and put out a whole Van Halen epic movie kind of deal.
Inside:
So many people want to see that.
Mike:
Hell, I’d like to see it! [laughs]
Inside:
So, would it be possible, even that you’re with Gary, to release some of that old video footage?
Mike:
I think so. It’s part of the band’s history. You can’t say, "I don’t want to see any of the old stuff again."
Inside:
So you’ve actually thought about that?
Mike:
We sat and talked to Ray recently about it because we’re putting out a compilation video too.
Inside:
That video just came out, but there’s still no old stuff on there.
Mike:
Well, you know what? Ed, Al, and myself OK’d footage from the old days - Oakland Coliseum stuff from way back when. We looked at a lot of old stuff like that, but Warner Bros. and Ray felt we shouldn’t put it on this one. We looked at the "Pretty Woman" video, among others. But all of it *will* come out. Because we picked a lot of old stuff. They just didn’t feel we should use it. As far as Volume 2, in terms of video, all that old stuff’s going to come out.
Inside:
Do you think all of it can fit on Volume 2?
Mike:
Who knows. We’ll put it on Volume 10! I don’t know how man people have seen the video we did with Hank Williams Jr. called "My Name is Bocephus." It won video of the year at the Country Music Awards.
Inside:
When Al was bald.
Mike:
Yeah, right after he shaved his head.
Inside:
Volume 2 already sounds kick-ass!
Mike:
It’ll probably be more of our own personal favorites.
And that’s only a taste of what’s in the new issue of The Inside. You’ll also find an update on what Sammy Hagar has been up to, info on Gary Cherone, tons of killer, full-color photos and lots, lots more!
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