Alex Van Halen told CNN about Eddie Van Halen’s songwriting in a new Anderson Cooper interview.
“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.”
“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. 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.”
