MICHAEL ANTHONY: EDDIE VAN HALEN 'Always Has To Have The Last Word'

Hector Saldaña of San Antonio Express-News recently conducted an interview with former VAN HALEN and current CHICKENFOOT bassist Michael Anthony. A few excerpts from the chat follow below.

On touring with CHICKENFOOT:

"It's been a fun party on the road and off the road. We're having a great time and it's because this thing all grew out of friendship. It just makes it that much more enjoyable."

"(Playing) in-between Chad [Smith, drums] and Joe [Satriani, bass], my jaw's on the ground every day, and of course, Sammy. He's gonna be 62 and the guy can still wail."

On whether he's really doing all those tequila and Jack Daniel's shots onstage:

"Oh, yeah. This isn't Vince Neil here. There's guys that say, 'Oh, that's iced tea.' I'm actually a 'Tennessee Squire' and own a chunk of land in Jack Daniel's (country). A Tennessee Squire is an elite group of people. They catch me putting iced tea in my Jack Daniel's bottle, that's it."

On Hagar (a tequila man) and Anthony getting into drinking contests onstage:

"Which was pretty whacked out for my liver, man. I drink Jack Daniel's. I drink tequila. But you do it in moderation. I'm trying to grow old gracefully. I've got to at least grow old."

On last year's VAN HALEN reunion tour, which saw Wolfgang Van Halen playing bass:

"I caught a little of it on YouTube and word of mouth. I found out they were doing that reunion like everybody else did. Eddie (Van Halen) would go, 'Oh, he's playing with Sammy now.' My phone's always here. I jammed with Sammy because I wasn't asked to do the reunion."

On how it got to that point:

"Why does a marriage get to a point? How come Jon and Kate plus eight? How come they're all (expletive)? After a while, it's a big corporate business.

"It's weird because it almost takes something like CHICKENFOOT to make me realize why I was playing music in the first place. And that's to have fun."

On whether there has ever been a sit-down with Eddie Van Halen:

"Unfortunately, with someone like him, you can't because he always has to have the last word."

On the fact that only he and Hagar showed up when VAN HALEN was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

"That was weird. You can't put your crap aside even for one evening? At this point in my career and my life, I want to have fun. I'm not 20 years old anymore. If I was still in my 20s, I'd say, 'Bring the fight on.' But I want to hang out with people that are positive and upbeat. Sammy? You don't get much more positive than this guy."

Read the entire interview from San Antonio Express-News.