Former VAN HALEN Bassist Loves To Get Facials

Bryan Reesman of the Attention Deficit Delirium recently conducted an interview with CHICKENFOOT/ex-VAN HALEN bassist Michael Anthony. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Attention Deficit Delirium: You [and Sammy Hagar] have a very loyal friendship. You guys stick together. Obviously there was the VAN HALEN reunion in 2004 with Sammy, but when the reunion with Roth happened in 2006 you stayed with him.

Michael Anthony: It wasn't that I chose to stay with him, it's just that the brothers [Eddie and Alex Van Halen], mainly Eddie, were so bent that I'd buddied up with him again after he left the band that they felt that they would just like to exclude me from everything that they did. I would've gone back and done a reunion with those guys.

Attention Deficit Delirium: Isn't it sad to see how ego dictates a lot of decisions that are made in this business?

Michael Anthony: Yeah, and this is one of the reasons why Sammy and I get along so great. Sam has made a ton of money off of tequila, and I haven't done too bad myself. And it all molds together with CHICKENFOOT — at this point in my life and my career I want to have fun. I don't want to be sitting there bitching and moaning and playing the games 'till I go to the grave. Unfortunately, the Van Halen brothers still want to play those games. I want to hang around people that are very positive, and I want to have fun doing what I'm doing. If making the big dollars isn't involved with it, I don't care anymore. I want to have fun, and that's basically what the whole CHICKENFOOT thing is, for us to have fun, and not go out there and demand the big money. Our CD is doing really well and our tour did really well, so we'll demand a little bit more money now, but we wanted to earn the fans' respect like that. Most of these people who put together a supergroup, it's a big ego stroke — they put the CD out, play the stadiums and make a big thing out of it. We did it because we're all friends, and we love playing the music.

Attention Deficit Delirium: And you guys have a deluxe edition of the album out now, too.

Michael Anthony: It's got a DVD. We thought it would be something cool to do anyway, to document the whole thing. We started filming and videotaping from the moment the four of us got together in the studio, which is kind of cool because VAN HALEN really didn't do a lot of that kind of stuff. We got a lot of stuff later on, but it's kind of cool to have this, and a lot of the stuff that's on that DVD and that we plan on putting out is behind-the-scenes from when we first got together, screwing around in the studio and stuff like that.

Attention Deficit Delirium: A few years ago Joe Perry told me that young bands should document everything, because it seems like a lot of the older bands didn't think about that. You guys were just enjoying the ride and not really thinking about what would happen in 10 years when you were famous. Are there any things that you wish that you had on film or on tape?

Michael Anthony: Probably the way that VAN HALEN first started out, it's probably good that we didn't because there was a lot of drinking and partying, and probably a lot of stuff that, besides myself, I probably wouldn't enjoy having my kids watch. [laughs] Doing it with CHICKENFOOT, it made me realize that it would've been cool to do it with VAN HALEN. In hindsight it's something you wish you would've done, but back then we didn't think about those things. We were living in the moment, and it was balls to the wall back then.

Attention Deficit Delirium: You look like you've aged well. It seems like a lot of people I know in the music industry or who go out to shows regularly — rather than being sedentary and watching a lot of TV — are aging well. I think that going out helps keep you young.

Michael Anthony: Probably because when you're working your same job day in and day out, you know what to expect and what's going to happen. You've got your paycheck and just fall into that thing. In my business, you could be making money one day, and the next day you could be serving up burgers at McDonald's. So if you want to be able to stay on top of your game, you've got to keep with it. I hate to exercise. I've got a bike at my house. My best exercise is going on stage and playing, but I stay active. I don't just sit around on my butt all day and do nothing.

Attention Deficit Delirium: After all of these years, what do you think your fans would be surprised to learn about you?

Michael Anthony: I love my facials. My wife turned me on [to this] — and she tried to do this for years and years, and I said I would never do it — but I go in and get facials.

Attention Deficit Delirium: Really?

Michael Anthony: Oh yeah. I always said to my wife, "That's for sissies. Girls get facials." The first time I tried it I said, "Oh man, what the hell have I been missing all these years." Let me tell you, I go in there for about an hour and a half, and the girl does my facial and also massages my neck and my arms. They'll put this mask thing on you and leave for a while, and it never fails that when she comes back in I'm full on snoring. It's the most relaxing thing. You ought to try one if you get a chance. I kid you not.

Read the entire interview from Attention Deficit Delirium.