Satriani on 'Issues' in Van Halen Camp: 'I'm Just Here to Celebrate Eddie's Legacy'

[James in New York]

Joe Satriani on 'Issues' in Van Halen Camp: 'I'm Just Here to Celebrate Eddie's Legacy'

"The bittersweet part of this whole thing was that I was never in Van Halen...

And there's some issues they have in that camp, and I've got nothing to do with it."


In case anyone ever doubted it, the ongoing "Best of All Worlds" tour, launched by Sammy Hagar to celebrate the legacy of his solo career and the legacy of Van Halen, Joe Satriani has proven to be the ideal pick for doing Eddie Van Halen's prodigious guitars justice.


Another proof for that is that he was also contacted and vetted by Alex Van Halen, when the older Van Halen twin strove to launch a similar project which had nothing to do with Sammy Hagar nor Michael Anthony a few years back, and which sadly never came to pass.

And yet, Satriani never had anything to do with the legendary Los Angeles band, and even abstained from learning any of Eddie's parts throughout his career so as not to subconsciously copy him, as he previously explained.


As such, Satch said during a recent interview on Sirius XM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk" that he had nothing to do with the "issues" plaguing a part of the Van Halen camp, and that, much like the fans, he's only here for celebrating Eddie's legacy.

Asked whether he's spoken to Alex Van Halen or David Lee Roth since the "Best of All Worlds" tour began, Satriani said (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar):

"I haven't spoken to Dave in quite a while...

I've spoken to Alex a few times, but not recently; not since the tour really got up and running.

We've just been sort of inundated with doing the shows, doing all the press that comes with it...

I don't know. I mean, the bittersweet part of this whole thing was that I wasn't ever in the band Van Halen."

"I was never a part of the family. I was never friends with anyone other than Mike and Sam.

And there's some issues that they have, in that camp, and I've got nothing to do with it, and I really don't want to get involved in it, whatever it might be.

I'm here, just like the fans. I just want to celebrate this music. I want to do it right. I'm going to give it 100% every night I walk on stage, and all the rest of that stuff's got nothing to do with me.

I'm here to celebrate and respect Eddie's legacy as best I can do."


"Eddie kept expanding on his parts all the time"

Michael Anthony proved pivotal in Satriani's goals to get Eddie's playing just right. Looking back on how he'd often quiz the bassist about the nuances of the late icon's playing Satch said:

"Michael's been really fantastic in being the sounding board when I have these questions.

I hit him up all the time, like, 'How did Eddie do this? How did he handle this part, that part?'

He's got real anecdotal evidence, great stories about how every time Eddie would play a certain song, it would be kind of different. And you just have to follow him, because he was a fountain of creativity.

He just kept changing, expanding on parts all the time."

"When you hear all these stories, you realize how unique each iteration of Van Halen was, and it started with Eddie.

So, yeah, I definitely hit Mike up a lot and, and he always has great advice."



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[leroy]

So what's Joe doing talking to Alex? as he doesn't know him (his words).

[CaboChris]

Why is Joe even bringing up VH's "issues?" Should I read between the lines that someone or some entity doesn't approve of this tour?

What issues could there possibly be anymore?

[Number 47]

Why is Joe even bringing up VH's "issues?" Should I read between the lines that someone or some entity doesn't approve of this tour?

What issues could there possibly be anymore?

3 words... Eddie Trunk interview.

[Little Dreamer]

What?!?!? VH had issues?!?!!?!?

Breaking news, alert the press!

[Raldo]

Glad Joe is enjoying being on that tour. I'm glad too!!

[Jamie M]

Joe is great, no ego at all. He respected the fuck out of Ed and he is doing an amazing job on this tour.

[jimmy812]

Why is Joe even bringing up VH's "issues?" Should I read between the lines that someone or some entity doesn't approve of this tour?

What issues could there possibly be anymore?

He just said they've got issues. A very true statement. We all know they have issues that continue to this day, apparently.

I'm not reading any deeper than that. Who gives a shit if anyone disapproves of this tour. I had a great time at the show I saw and I still highly recommend VH fans going to see it.

[Rikk]

I take any interview that calls Alex the "older Van Halen twin" with a grain of salt.

From everything I've heard, Alex & Dave still don't really have any issues (they were good friends again in the 2010s).

But obviously Dave & Wolfgang do (not that I really consider Wolfgang a fully official member of the band Van Halen).

And, it seems pretty obvious that Alex (and Alex's family) are not particularly close to Wolfgang (and his mommy & uncle).

[rchop84]

I take any interview that calls Alex the "older Van Halen twin" with a grain of salt.

Ha, I read that 3 times to confirm the writer didn't think they were actually twins.