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here are some new interviews with spammy...goin out and dissin eddie again
Jeb: How is playing with the Wabos different than playing with Van Halen?
Sammy: Van Halen is about four individuals own musicianship. Van Halen goes out to exploit the individual musicianship in the band and songs are geared around that. I think Van Halen is really built around their hit songs – this is especially true of the last tour. Even if they were not Top 40 hits and were just album hits, there are certain songs that you just have to do. When you try to throw a new song in with Van Halen, the audience goes quiet on you. I’m serious, we would be up there playing "Poundcake" and everyone would be going nuts and then we would play a new one and the audience would go quiet. People come to see Van Halen for the history of the band and the musicianship.
With my band – now this will sound crazy but I have done it in Cabo way too many times – in my band, it doesn’t matter what songs we play. If I would go out there and play all ZZ Top songs for an hour, it wouldn’t matter; it would still be the same party. My band is all about the way we present the music. They don’t care if I don’t play Van Halen songs and they don’t care if I don’t play Montrose songs. They don’t care if I don’t play "I Can’t Drive 55." Somebody might say, "Aw man he didn’t play ‘One Way to Rock’ tonight" but it ain’t going to mean anything during the show and it ain’t going to mean that they won’t come back. The Wabos are all about the party and the way we present the event. The music is the catalyst.
It is like if you go to a great party and they are playing blues or old soul music or disco or whatever and you don’t give a shit because it is a great party. You just have a good time. I play hits up the ass because I have had plenty of them but we always throw in some crazy stuff. And the jams and the spontaneous stuff are outrageous. We attempt to play songs that we don’t even know, out of the blue, because I feel that particular song should be played right then. Toby Keith has a song called, "I Love This Bar" and he came out and played this with me once. I screwed the thing all up but it didn’t matter. That song has now become a staple in my set because of how many times someone has thrown a cowboy hat up on stage. I put it on and say, "Do I look like Toby? Fuck, if I look like him then I may as well play one of his songs." I would try to do that song and I would fuck it all up, but eventually I learned the song. If that isn’t crazy then I don’t know what it. Who in their right mind learns how to play a song by playing it in front of 14,000 people? That is what the Wabos are about and that is what makes it fun. We are not afraid to show our ass. If Van Halen went out there and made as many mistakes as we do and tried as many spontaneous things as we do that don’t work, then I don’t know what would happen. I am not sure if the fans would come back. They might ask for their money back.
Jeb: You are a person who really does whatever you want to do. You started your own company, you told Van Halen to fuck off, you have made solo albums and you did the Sam & Dave tour. It is really a rare human trait to have that much self confidence.
Sammy: I have to give Van Halen the credit for the self confidence. Back around the time of Standing Hampton, I was very insecure. I thought that everything could be over in about a week. I feared I would have to be back out there trying to find a job. I was not wealthy enough to say who cares at that point. Around the time of VOA I started becoming fearless. I knew I was going to make the album that I wanted to make. I don’t think there is anything wrong with my other records because I happen to think Standing Hampton is one of the best albums to be made during that era. What I am trying to say is that when I made that album, I was insecure and afraid. I was listening to my producer and my A&R guy and they were all going, ‘You have to write more songs like that." So I would go write more songs in the way they wanted. They were honest to goodness songs but I was not being an artist and picking up the brush and painting whatever my heart felt.
By the time I finished VOA, I was about to make that step. Instead of making a new record, I joined Van Halen. When I joined that band, the success exploded and I was on that trip where I did whatever I wanted. I said I would dress how I wanted, write the kind of lyrics I wanted and act on stage how I wanted. I said that if somebody didn’t like it then fuck ‘em. My self confidence started building and building. By the time I left Van Halen, I was fearless. I would do anything and I would try anything. I could care less if I made a record that bombed. How about that? That is when you go, "This is where it is at." It is really where everyone should be because at that point, your art is exposing who and what you really are. Every artist should be doing just that. There are clever businessmen who write songs for money. There is nothing wrong with that but it just means you are doing it for business. It means you are smart and clever and that you can tweak things like lyrics to make them more commercial. I am not downing people like that but that is not being an artist. If I am making a Sammy Hagar record then it has to be about Sammy Hagar and his lifestyle. Cabo Wabo is my lifestyle. I live here and it is what it is – everything is kind of about that. It is about having a couple of shots of tequila before you go on stage and it is about having waitresses bring you drinks while you are playing. It is really about pretending you are on the fucking beach!
Jeb: Sammy, I know your focus is on your solo career and your businesses but I have readers who will kill me if I don’t ask this question. Is Van Halen done?
Sammy: I don’t know. It is right now. They can do whatever they want. If Ed and Al want to get a new singer and a new bass player then they can do whatever they want. I wouldn’t complain and I wouldn’t say that they shouldn’t have done that. What I would say is that I think it is a big mistake to do that. I would never try to run their lives like they do me. They are free to do whatever they want. The way they want to do business and the way they want to mingle with their co-band members and other people who are involved in their organization, I don’t want any part of. I am a very happy guy. I have found a happy life. If their lifestyle could fit in with mine then I would have no problem doing it again. I think it is inevitable.
Honestly, straight up, Eddie has changed a lot. Alex is okay and Mikey and I are best friends. Eddie, for me, is the problem. If you talked to Eddie then I am sure he would tell you that I am the problem. If he doesn’t like my lifestyle then I understand that. He wants to be miserable and I want to be happy – it is really that simple. If Eddie wants to be friends again and not do this just for business or for other kinds of reasons – I really don’t know why he wants to do it. I don’t even know if he even wants to do it. But if he wants to do it and do it for the right reasons and get together on a really good level then I would do it. I thought it was going to be great. I was all for the last reunion and it turned out to be pretty fucking tough finishing that tour out. I have to tell you that there were times on that tour that after a show it was like, "Get Sammy out that door and get Eddie out the other door." That ain’t no way to do things. I am not interested in yelling and screaming at anybody much less having someone yell and scream at me for having fun. It is like, "Hey, get the fuck out of my face, dude." There were too many rules – lets put it like that for me. I was told that I can’t do this or I can’t do that or I can’t say this or I can’t say that. Yet, Eddie can go say and do the shit that he did? No way. Right now, it is over for me but if they want to do it on real terms and with no rules and no business shit then I am fine.
Jeb: How is playing with the Wabos different than playing with Van Halen?
Sammy: Van Halen is about four individuals own musicianship. Van Halen goes out to exploit the individual musicianship in the band and songs are geared around that. I think Van Halen is really built around their hit songs – this is especially true of the last tour. Even if they were not Top 40 hits and were just album hits, there are certain songs that you just have to do. When you try to throw a new song in with Van Halen, the audience goes quiet on you. I’m serious, we would be up there playing "Poundcake" and everyone would be going nuts and then we would play a new one and the audience would go quiet. People come to see Van Halen for the history of the band and the musicianship.
With my band – now this will sound crazy but I have done it in Cabo way too many times – in my band, it doesn’t matter what songs we play. If I would go out there and play all ZZ Top songs for an hour, it wouldn’t matter; it would still be the same party. My band is all about the way we present the music. They don’t care if I don’t play Van Halen songs and they don’t care if I don’t play Montrose songs. They don’t care if I don’t play "I Can’t Drive 55." Somebody might say, "Aw man he didn’t play ‘One Way to Rock’ tonight" but it ain’t going to mean anything during the show and it ain’t going to mean that they won’t come back. The Wabos are all about the party and the way we present the event. The music is the catalyst.
It is like if you go to a great party and they are playing blues or old soul music or disco or whatever and you don’t give a shit because it is a great party. You just have a good time. I play hits up the ass because I have had plenty of them but we always throw in some crazy stuff. And the jams and the spontaneous stuff are outrageous. We attempt to play songs that we don’t even know, out of the blue, because I feel that particular song should be played right then. Toby Keith has a song called, "I Love This Bar" and he came out and played this with me once. I screwed the thing all up but it didn’t matter. That song has now become a staple in my set because of how many times someone has thrown a cowboy hat up on stage. I put it on and say, "Do I look like Toby? Fuck, if I look like him then I may as well play one of his songs." I would try to do that song and I would fuck it all up, but eventually I learned the song. If that isn’t crazy then I don’t know what it. Who in their right mind learns how to play a song by playing it in front of 14,000 people? That is what the Wabos are about and that is what makes it fun. We are not afraid to show our ass. If Van Halen went out there and made as many mistakes as we do and tried as many spontaneous things as we do that don’t work, then I don’t know what would happen. I am not sure if the fans would come back. They might ask for their money back.
Jeb: You are a person who really does whatever you want to do. You started your own company, you told Van Halen to fuck off, you have made solo albums and you did the Sam & Dave tour. It is really a rare human trait to have that much self confidence.
Sammy: I have to give Van Halen the credit for the self confidence. Back around the time of Standing Hampton, I was very insecure. I thought that everything could be over in about a week. I feared I would have to be back out there trying to find a job. I was not wealthy enough to say who cares at that point. Around the time of VOA I started becoming fearless. I knew I was going to make the album that I wanted to make. I don’t think there is anything wrong with my other records because I happen to think Standing Hampton is one of the best albums to be made during that era. What I am trying to say is that when I made that album, I was insecure and afraid. I was listening to my producer and my A&R guy and they were all going, ‘You have to write more songs like that." So I would go write more songs in the way they wanted. They were honest to goodness songs but I was not being an artist and picking up the brush and painting whatever my heart felt.
By the time I finished VOA, I was about to make that step. Instead of making a new record, I joined Van Halen. When I joined that band, the success exploded and I was on that trip where I did whatever I wanted. I said I would dress how I wanted, write the kind of lyrics I wanted and act on stage how I wanted. I said that if somebody didn’t like it then fuck ‘em. My self confidence started building and building. By the time I left Van Halen, I was fearless. I would do anything and I would try anything. I could care less if I made a record that bombed. How about that? That is when you go, "This is where it is at." It is really where everyone should be because at that point, your art is exposing who and what you really are. Every artist should be doing just that. There are clever businessmen who write songs for money. There is nothing wrong with that but it just means you are doing it for business. It means you are smart and clever and that you can tweak things like lyrics to make them more commercial. I am not downing people like that but that is not being an artist. If I am making a Sammy Hagar record then it has to be about Sammy Hagar and his lifestyle. Cabo Wabo is my lifestyle. I live here and it is what it is – everything is kind of about that. It is about having a couple of shots of tequila before you go on stage and it is about having waitresses bring you drinks while you are playing. It is really about pretending you are on the fucking beach!
Jeb: Sammy, I know your focus is on your solo career and your businesses but I have readers who will kill me if I don’t ask this question. Is Van Halen done?
Sammy: I don’t know. It is right now. They can do whatever they want. If Ed and Al want to get a new singer and a new bass player then they can do whatever they want. I wouldn’t complain and I wouldn’t say that they shouldn’t have done that. What I would say is that I think it is a big mistake to do that. I would never try to run their lives like they do me. They are free to do whatever they want. The way they want to do business and the way they want to mingle with their co-band members and other people who are involved in their organization, I don’t want any part of. I am a very happy guy. I have found a happy life. If their lifestyle could fit in with mine then I would have no problem doing it again. I think it is inevitable.
Honestly, straight up, Eddie has changed a lot. Alex is okay and Mikey and I are best friends. Eddie, for me, is the problem. If you talked to Eddie then I am sure he would tell you that I am the problem. If he doesn’t like my lifestyle then I understand that. He wants to be miserable and I want to be happy – it is really that simple. If Eddie wants to be friends again and not do this just for business or for other kinds of reasons – I really don’t know why he wants to do it. I don’t even know if he even wants to do it. But if he wants to do it and do it for the right reasons and get together on a really good level then I would do it. I thought it was going to be great. I was all for the last reunion and it turned out to be pretty fucking tough finishing that tour out. I have to tell you that there were times on that tour that after a show it was like, "Get Sammy out that door and get Eddie out the other door." That ain’t no way to do things. I am not interested in yelling and screaming at anybody much less having someone yell and scream at me for having fun. It is like, "Hey, get the fuck out of my face, dude." There were too many rules – lets put it like that for me. I was told that I can’t do this or I can’t do that or I can’t say this or I can’t say that. Yet, Eddie can go say and do the shit that he did? No way. Right now, it is over for me but if they want to do it on real terms and with no rules and no business shit then I am fine.
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