Aside from being one of the greatest guitarists in rock history, Eddie Van Halen was known for crafting some of the genre’s most iconic guitar solos and chord progressions.
In a new interview, Alex Van Halen opens up about Van Halen’s early creative process as well as the very moment he realised his brother’s songwriting genius.
Speaking on Anderson Cooperson’s All There Is podcast, the drummer says [via Ultimate Guitar]: “We all used to bring pieces of music into the basement. And I remember when Ed brought in Runnin’ With the Devil, that chord structure and that whole deal.”
“The moment I heard that, I said, ‘Okay, Ed, you’re writing all the songs from now on because we can’t compete with that.’ [Laughs] And this had nothing to do with speed. It had nothing to do with articulation. Had nothing to do with anything other [than] it was just absolutely brilliant to my ear. It was amazing.”
While the members didn’t have it easy during Van Halen’s early days, for Alex, the joy of making music together was enough to get them through those tough times.
“Being in the basement with the leaking pipes and there was no heat down there, and it didn’t smell great, we didn’t care,” he says. “Load up a couple more, let’s play! But you have a common goal, and you have something because you’re hungry.”
“I still have the piano that we came over here with. It’s in the hallway and cigarette burns from when Jump was written. They’re still on there. Those kind of little things bring back the memories, and it brings back the smells, the feeling, the touch.”
Elsewhere in the chat, Alex — whose new memoir Brothers is now out — also talks about how the younger Van Halen’s passing had caught him off guard.
“None of us really thought he was gonna die. He’d always bounced back,” says Alex [via Blabbermouth]. “He could do more and more drugs than anybody and still wake up the next day and perform. I don’t think anybody really thought he was gonna die. So when he passed, it was really a shock.”
The post “Okay, Ed, you’re writing all the songs from now on” the moment Eddie Van Halen first showed his songwriting genius appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.