Brett Norton Interview

[seenbad]

Here it is...AGAIN [img]graemlins/irked.gif[/img] in case you dont want to go to the self promoting "pimp link".

I'll never cease to be amazed by the information that comes out in these interviews. I mean, who would have suspected that Brad was a closet Barry Manilow fan? Or that Ralph Saenz goes shoe shopping with his wife? Well, if you thought those were interesting, just wait........now we get to go deep DEEP inside the mind of vhlinks.com webmaster, Brett Norton. Let's see what horribly embarrassing secrets HE reveals

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~~Have you ever been interviewed before?

Yep I have actually. When Gary left VH, some chick from Launch.com asked me some questions for an article she was writing. It did appear on the site, that was cool to me at the time to see my name in a VH article. That's it as far as Van Halen or the site goes. I have been interviewed a couple times for bowling over the years. Yeah, I said bowling, don't laugh. I held a PBA regional card in 1994.

~~Where are you from originally?

Born and raised in the suburbs of Los Angeles, the San Fernando Valley to be exact. You know, the place that was the basis for that "Valley Girl" movie, among others. "Fast Times At Ridgemont High" also comes to mind. The place that is famous for stuff like "Gag me with a spoon," "totally awesome," and for being the basis of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'" song and video.

~~What was your childhood like? Any siblings?

Actually I am an only child. After my parents had me, they broke the mold and decided not to have anymore. Typical childhood, go to school, ride the school bus, come home, play with friends, nothing out of the ordinary. My parents were not strict disciplinarians, but expected me to get good grades and go to college, and really that was about the extent of their expecations. They've always been there to support all my dumb decisions over the years, and there have been many.

~~What were you like in high school?

I don't know, I probably suffered from "nice guy" and shyness syndrome, so I wasn't a real hit with the chicks, but I had a lot of friends. I knew the stoners and the smarties, I was sort of in the middle of that because of the music I liked and because I did get good grades. My friends and I were pretty destructive, race cars down one way streets with our lights off, break mailboxes, steal those street cones, stupid stuff like that. Things my parents never knew about thankfully. Just run-of-the-mill bored teenager wanna-be angst. I certainly wasn't an angry teen, I waited until I was an adult to figure that out.

~~Do you play any musical instruments? Sing?

Took piano lessons when I was eight. Tried the drums for a couple years when I was 13. Started the guitar when I was 15 and stuck with that. My friend (guy who runs BeatleLinks.net) played some bass and guitar, showed me some notes and open chords, been playing ever since. Nobody wants to hear me sing, dogs run for cover. Although being forced to sing backups has made me a bit better, but I still suck.

~~What was the first concert you ever saw?

Van Halen in 1984, I was 13. Had to beg my parents to let me go with my 20-year old cousin who agreed to take me.

~~What was the VH song that got you hooked?

Hmmmm......that's a toughie. First song I remember hearing was "Runnin' With The Devil" on the summer camp bus when I was 7 in 1978. The memory of that smelly, stuffy bus always comes to mind when I hear that song. But I was too young then to get into rock like that. I would say when I heard "Unchained" in 4th grade that I became a fan. First real rock band I discovered on my own.

~~'Me Wise Magic' - What's your honest opinion of this tune?

Great tune, even if the vocals were a little rough. Eddie's playing is all over the place, and all odd time signatures. It just works.

~~Do you think if they came up with 10 more like that, that it would go over?

Oh for sure. I loved the direction they went with some stuff on "Balance," then "Humans Being," and "MWM." The songs were getting darker, but yet still had the VH sound and were melodic. Great combination of both, and I think they lost that direction on "VH3" for sure.

~~I hear your band opened for the Atomic Punks in '96. What was that like?

Man that was a long time ago, hard to recall. The Punks were not even close to as big then as they are now, but the place was crowded. It was a small bar in the Valley called Mancini's that is now a Salsa bar. The Punks set their stage up beforehand, and the bands before them were not allowed to move their stuff at all. Basically they took over whole stage and forced us to squeeze in where we could. But it was cool, closest I'll ever get to opening up for VH, or at least that music. Met Ralph and Bart, both very cool dudes.

~~How many times have you seen VH live?

Once with DLR, 11 times with Sam, and once with Gary.

~~How many times have you seen Dave or Sammy solo?

0 actually.

~~If this Sam & Dave Tour happens, do you plan on going?

Hmmm...depends, neither of them have yet to play anywhere near LA unfortunately. They'd have to play close for me to go, but yeah I probably would.

~~Have you ever met any of them in person?

Well my friend and I did get to go backstage at '95 "Balance" show at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, CA, and we took a picture with the guys, which was obviously cool. Certainly just shaking Eddie's hand was special, although
all I said to him was "Love your music." Felt that being a schmuck in front of a couple 50 people would be unwise, so I kept my comments short and as annoyingless as possible. One of my aunt's other nephews is a partner in VH's accountant firm, that's how I got the passes.

Another story is when I actually ran into Ed about 2 years ago while driving down the street. I've told the story ad nauseum on the forums, so I won't reiterate it again here. If you want to see it, check out my post here:
www.vhforums.com/cgi-bin/vhlforum/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=2&t=006761#000020

And finally, early last year I saw Mike at Disneyland. Spoke to him for maybe 2 minutes or so, nothing big. He was cordial and friendly. He was with his whole family, and I didn't want to bother him with fan nonsense, so I didn't say much to him. But cool nonetheless.

~~Have you met any other famous musicians?

Actually I met Slash and Gilby Clarke from Guns 'N Roses when they were huge still in 1992. Funny enough they used to hang out in the bar of the bowling alley I bowled league at because they used to have hard rock bands in there some nights. Well he came in and I somehow got the nerve to walk up to him. He was totally wasted, but very cool and friendly. Coincidentally I had one of my Les Pauls in the car, and he signed it for me and noodled around on it for a few minutes. I sold the guitar later that year to get an EVH Music Man.

~~Not too many people would disagree that most, if not all, of the best music in the past 30-40 years was written by people who were strung out on some type of substance: alcohol, cocaine, herion, acid, etc....What are your thoughts on this subject? Do you think musicians SHOULD use drugs as a writing tool?

Hmmm...maybe that's my problem, I need to get on the heroin kick to write great songs. You know, you do whatever works for you at the time. Who am I to pass judgement on people who drink or use drugs. Eventually it's going to either end or decrease your life expentancy, but it's up to the individual to figure that out. Hell if I knew a bottle of JD a day would allow me play like EVH, I might consider it.

~~Do you think marijuana should be legalized?

Absolutely. But that won't happen. The US government makes too much money off of illegal drug trafficking.

~~What motivated you to get into the VH Internet/Web scene?

Oh probably boredom more than anything else. I tried a VH site at the fairwarning.com domain in late 1996, but I got bored with it pretty quick. I actually had a UBB on there that nobody ever went to. I got the bug a few years later to try again with a VH site, and I had learned a heck of a lot more about HTML coding and Perl scripting so I decided to give it another shot, and of course this time it stuck. As it took off, I obviously was more dedicated to keeping it up. I've always run the thing all by myself, except when Top Timmy came along and redesigned the logo a few years ago, I've sort of adopted him as my right hand man. And of course all the moderators work their asses off on the board, which I truly appreciate. There's not enough time in the day for me to monitor that place by myself, no way I could.

~~When did you first open your current site?

September 2, 1999

~~Did you ever expect it to become as popular as it has?

Not at all, but I did do a lot of self-promotion with it in the beginning, and I think that helped pay off to some degree. Why still people are interested in this band after all we've been through as fans the least 5 or 6 years is really a testament to what Van Halen means to us as fans.

~~What does the future hold in store for your site? Do you see it going any further than it already has?

You know, I've been in "maintain" mode for over a year now. I just keep it running, looking good and functional. Unless VH does something as a band, I can't see it growing much more, no. As for me spending days and days doing new stuff like I used to, I can't see myself doing that unless VH gives me a
reason to.

~~What's the real story behind the alleged controversy between you and Brad with regards to your contribution for the creation of the Dome and associated tales?

Well truthfully I didn't have all that much do with the creation of it per se, but I think our success with it fueled his desire to have one on the official site. Now Brad did ask me some coding questions, did give me access to the PD to help troubleshoot well before it opened, and asked other general advice, but that's about the extent of it. I mean there's no real controversy, he certainly didn't need my approval to open up a VH board and I didn't actually sit and alter code for him or something. Brad and I have never really exchanged all that much chatter really, I very rarely have reason to ask him anything so I don't email him often. But our relationship is OK I guess, although I will never agree with how he has handled some situations, but I am very aware of the precarious position he is in.

~~Would you mind helping me set up my UBB.......ooops, never mind

More trouble than its worth sometimes Chelle, believe me. Just ask Brad or even Sarge!

~~Do YOU like Barry Manilow?

Happily no. I'm pretty myopic, I like hard rock, I'm not that open to other stuff, I don't know why. I just like what I like. People say as you get older you tend to like quieter, more adult contemporary music. But that's bull, I still blast Van Halen out of my windows like a 16-year old, I don't care that it looks dumb for a 31-year old dude to do that, I probably just will never grow up that way or with my musical tastes, if that's what "growing up" means.

~~What would bring peace and harmony to the VH board community?

In all honesty, nothing. People will always associate themselves with a certain group, and become territorial. That's what all of us VH fans have done with these boards and that's why we like to scream at each other. If Van Halen would speak to the fans, that would help immensly! Hint...hint.

~~What do you think of some of the other VH related websites?

I think some of us have way too much time on our hands. Seriously though, some people have put a lot of work in on their sites and that amazes me, because this band ain't done a thing in four years.

~~What does your wife think of your Van Halen obsession? Does she ever just slap you upside the head and tell you to get the hell off the computer?

Yep, and she just came in and did! But she knew what she was getting into when she met me. She has grown into a VH fan. She tolerates all of it and actually enjoys the Dave era, not much of a Sammy fan though, and thinks Gary got a raw deal.

~~Who are your top 5 favorite Linkers? (mods don't count)
~~5 Least favorite (mods DO count)

See I can be political too....that's too hard to answer. I really don't have any favorites, there is way too many people, and way too many that have made contributions to the site to name just five. But Glenn is my least favorite person, and he will be banned soon if I hear anymore Gary Cherone look-alike comments from him.

~~What has been your favorite VH related rumor so far?

Definitely the rumor that Jeff Harshman started a few years ago about David Hasselhoff fronting VH, and the German media that picked up on the story, because he is so popular there.

~~Based on all the information you have, and just your gut feeling, what do you honestly see as the future of Van Halen?

I have always been on the opinion Eddie is sicker than he is saying publically, and I stand by that. I see them doing maybe one more record and tour to coincide with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame thing, as I am sure they will get in first ballot. Other than that, I think we've probably heard the last we will from Van Halen as we know it, sadly. But I HOPE I am
wrong!

~~In spite of that, what do you HOPE will happen anyways?

Good call. I hope they can get their act together, that Ed is indeed doing great, and that he has a renewed interest to make music again. Get Dave back first, if he can cut it vocally, or get Sammy back if he can still do it, and just do SOMETHING. Tour, make records, make us fans happy.
That's my hope.

~~Ok, last question: If you were to write your autobiography, what would the title be?

My real question is, who would buy it? Only have so many members in my family ya know. I think "The Fence Straddler" would be a good title, I always seem to be in the middle when it comes to issues, can't identify with either side whole-heartedly. Definitely when it comes to dealing with VH, that is the case.

[seenbad]

I cant believe he agreed to this. [img]graemlins/wtf.gif[/img] He shall never live this one down from me. Mwwuuuaaa ha ha ha ha ha. [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[Cabo Kid]

Cool interview, Chelle! [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

By the way OLO, you need to read this interview. Your plan to have Glenn banned is coming to fruition! [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[Atomic Punk DLR]

Cool thing. [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[Fabulous Shadow aka VHL]

Ahhhh after all the hair compliments, I was sure you'd mention me in your top 5 favs...LOL

[Glenn]

PBA bowling?????? AND he looks like Gary Cherone!!!

Shit, the fact that Brett doesn't like me appears to be his most redeeming quality!

[Glenn]

Originally posted by Cabo Kid:
By the way OLO, you need to read this interview. Your plan to have Glenn banned is coming to fruition! [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

:bh:

[Mario VH]

You kick ass Brett!!! Much better than that Starks interview.

[OLO]

Originally posted by Cabo Kid:


By the way OLO, you need to read this interview. Your plan to have Glenn banned is coming to fruition! [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

The plan is comming together nicely. [img]graemlins/devil.gif[/img]

[CHRIS]

Thanks for doing the interview Brett.

I found it very enjoyable and interesting to read.

All the best

Chris

[ED-A-HOLIC]

Brett RULES!!!! [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[Wolfman]

Originally posted by Chelle:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by seenbad:
Here it is...AGAIN [img]graemlins/irked.gif[/img] in case you dont want to go to the self promoting "pimp link".

seenbad, you're so cute when you're angry. LOL </font>[/QUOTE]OWWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOoooooo!!!!! [img]graemlins/thumb.gif[/img]

[Mean_Street]

chelle! can you interview me please? i think that would be cool [img]smile.gif[/img]