If Michael Anthony ever writes a book, he’s got plenty of tales of debauchery on the road with Van Halen to tell.
“I’ll tell ya right now, boy, I could have a couple of chapters on just the trashing [of hotels] and all that stuff that we used to do when we first came out,” Anthony said during a recent appearance on Trunk Nation. “My forte was fire extinguishers. Just kinda shooting them off where I shouldn’t be. I’ve cleared a couple of hotels out in my time! [laughs]. Had to pay the police off.”
Below are the topics Anthony discusses in the interview, which took place May 16th on Sirius/XM. The entire interview has been released through Trunk’s podcast, which you can listen to below.
- What’s on the setlist for the upcoming Best Of All Worlds tour with Sammy Hagar and the Van Halen songs Michael is pushing for
- Are there any Michael Anthony solo projects planned?
- Reuniting with Wolfgang Van Halen
- Michael’s thoughts on Alex Van Halen’s upcoming book Brothers
- Will Michael ever write his own book?
- Stories from the road and the studio with Van Halen
- What Michael thought of Van Halen’s A Different Kind Of Truth album
- How close did it come to Sammy Hagar joining Van Halen in 1978?
- His current relationship with David Lee Roth
- Michael’s favorite bassists
- Michael almost played trumpet on a Van Halen track
- Van Halen’s backyard party stories
- Michael’s favorite tour with Dave, favorite tour with Sammy
- The Van Halen with Gary Cherone days and the album that could have followed Van Halen III
- Is there a Michael Anthony solo album possible?
- Will Alex join Michael and Sammy during the upcoming Best Of All Worlds tour?
- Who came up with the “no brown M&Ms” rider stipulation and how serious was the band about it?
- The story behind the horn sounds at the start of “Runnin’ With The Devil”
- The story behind Van Halen’s “Sunday Afternoon In The Park”
- Michael’s favorite Dave-era album, favorite Sammy-era album
- Van Halen’s “Girl Gone Bad” and Edward Van Halen’s approach to songwriting