Ultimate Classic Rock
It was 14 years between Van Halen‘s last two albums (or even longer if you don’t want to count the Gary Cherone debacle), but it seems like we won’t have to wait nearly as long for new music from them again. In a new interview, David Lee Roth says that they could have something ready by the middle of 2015.
“I was up at Edward [Van Halen]‘s house, maybe three days ago – just before I came here to the city – and we’re starting to put music together,” he told Jim Florentine Ozzy’s Boneyard on SiriusXM embedded above). ” Not to give away exactly what the package will be, it’s gonna be about 18 months, I think.”
For Roth, the long timeframe has more to do with planning out all the logisitics involved with mounting an album and tour with the attention to detail that Van Halen are so well known for. “We start way, way, way in advance,” he continued. “‘Cause we are eminently art-centric, which is a really fancy way of saying we really do generate all the artwork, the graphics, etc. We don’t hire out and have somebody design a bunch of album covers for us and then choose…. we start from scratch ourselves. Same thing with the merchandise – if you buy a t-shirt, that was designed, literally, in my living room. On and on… stage design, lighting rig, putting the show together – it takes about a year and a half, 18 months, because any idea that you have is 85 phone calls.”
But Diamond Dave, you’re thinking, what about the songs? “Oh, yeah, we’re writing,” he said. “I write lyrics routinely. It’s a perishable skill. And the band plays together routinely, at least three times a week. They’re up at Ed’s place, routinely.”
It was 14 years between Van Halen‘s last two albums (or even longer if you don’t want to count the Gary Cherone debacle), but it seems like we won’t have to wait nearly as long for new music from them again. In a new interview, David Lee Roth says that they could have something ready by the middle of 2015.
“I was up at Edward [Van Halen]‘s house, maybe three days ago – just before I came here to the city – and we’re starting to put music together,” he told Jim Florentine Ozzy’s Boneyard on SiriusXM embedded above). ” Not to give away exactly what the package will be, it’s gonna be about 18 months, I think.”
For Roth, the long timeframe has more to do with planning out all the logisitics involved with mounting an album and tour with the attention to detail that Van Halen are so well known for. “We start way, way, way in advance,” he continued. “‘Cause we are eminently art-centric, which is a really fancy way of saying we really do generate all the artwork, the graphics, etc. We don’t hire out and have somebody design a bunch of album covers for us and then choose…. we start from scratch ourselves. Same thing with the merchandise – if you buy a t-shirt, that was designed, literally, in my living room. On and on… stage design, lighting rig, putting the show together – it takes about a year and a half, 18 months, because any idea that you have is 85 phone calls.”
But Diamond Dave, you’re thinking, what about the songs? “Oh, yeah, we’re writing,” he said. “I write lyrics routinely. It’s a perishable skill. And the band plays together routinely, at least three times a week. They’re up at Ed’s place, routinely.”
