Oscar Wilde once said “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” Well, as it turns out, Eddie Van Halen didn’t see it that way.
Despite widely being considered one of the most iconic rock guitarists of all time – influencing countless fans and guitar players with his unmistakable style – Eddie was not fond of imitators, according to his brother Alex Van Halen.
In a new interview with Ariel Levy, Alex recalled how many guitarists in the ‘80s used Eddie as inspiration for their own guitar playing – with them swiping tricks like the two-hand tapping method and decorating their guitars to look like the classic EVH “Frankenstrat.”
“Ed used to go crazy about people imitating him,” Alex admitted. “And imitation is the first step in being inspired, because what you really want to do is inspire them to go from… the first is the imitation, and after that you got to take it further. But to imitate, yeah, that’s wonderful, but that’s not really the purpose of why you’re doing it.”
He continued: “Everything is built on something from before. And if you can go a step further, do that. You’re never going to find out how far you can go until you take that step. And that was part of this, the thing, ‘the jump.’ Take the leap, do it, screw everything else, just jump.”
“But that was the general feeling of all of us, and that’s what made the band stick together,” Alex added. “And there’s something new around every corner. If you look at it with an analytical or an emotional angle, there’s something in there. I can’t put my finger on it because if you could, we’d bottle it, right?”
