Gary Cherone on Hurtsmile, Extreme, and Van Halen’s “Vaults Of Music”

February 21, 2011 63 Comments

Gary Cherone recently talked to Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles about his new band Hurtsmile (which has a record out and available at iTunes, Amazon, Best Buy, etc), Extreme’s future, and Van Halen’s “vaults of music” and what he thought of their last two tours with Sammy and Dave.

The Van Halen segment is below. For the full interview, check out Bravewords.com.

Cherone [in response to the question of if he ever thought of writing a book] : I’m sure everybody has a story to tell, but I’m not ready. My managers asked me to write my Van Halen story (my three years in the band), but I told them that that stuff is going to be taken to the grave.”

Bravewords.com: Speaking of Van Halen. The one thing I begrudge the record company is the unreleased live album. You recorded a show in Pittsburgh in 1998. The release was announced on the one-sheets and before it was due out. It was scuttled. I really wish they’d release it. It drives me crazy knowing that it’s locked away in a vault somewhere.

Cherone: “I’m surprised that it’s not out given the different technologies today.”

Bravewords.com: You can find it out there on the ‘Net if you look, but I want the official properly mastered version. Not some bootleg.

Cherone: “You want it official. You want it remixed, tweaked and EQ-ed. You know it’s funny I completely forgot about that gig. It was a good gig…”

Bravewords.com: And it should have been released.

Cherone: “Let me get on that for you (laughs).”

Bravewords.com: Are you surprised that Van Halen hasn’t released any new music since you left the band?

Cherone: “I’m not surprised. When I was there, there were vaults of music. Eddie is not lying when he says he has a garage full of music. The rumor is that they’re in the studio right now and Eddie is in good shape. Nuno actually bumped into him recently and told me that he sounded great. There will be new music. They did the reunion with Sammy in 2004 and Eddie wasn’t in the greatest shape. They did the 2007 reunion with Roth, which I thought was great. I thought Roth was great and from that they are moving to this. I’m as big a Van Halen fan as anyone else and I’d love to hear new material from them and knowing Eddie – he doesn’t want to live off his catalogue. The fans want to see them tour, but Eddie is an artist and he needs to put out new material. So, I’m looking forward to it.”

Filed Under: Gary Cherone, Van Halen

mean street

so the mythical vaults filled with tapes of eddies guitar riffs does exist! This album will be epic, anyone who doubts it is probably a styx fan.

…cherone is a class act
Scott

VAN HALEN !!!! Nice to hear Gary talk about Eddie since that`s the only reason we would want to hear from him. VAN HALEN IN THE STUDIO !!!
patt5150

I always liked Gary, he always seemed like a really decent guy to me. He just didn’t fit the Van Halen mold, however I did dig VHIII (despite to poor sales). There’s some really cool songs on that record and Ed’s guitar playing is incredible! Long live Van Halen!!!
ba

Cheron is a class act. “What happened in VH stays in VH”, how many people could you trust like that? I too liked a lot of VH3. Hope he does well with his new group/record.
Jayvh

Patt5150- I feel exactly the same about VHIII,
Underrated album IMHO!

All I want is a UK tour on the back of a new album.
http://madmikelive.com Mad Mike

VHIII was a disaster but it certainly wasn’t Gary’s fault. Being the new guy joining one of the biggest acts of all time, he was forced to green light all the music Ed wrote for it, as bad as it was. You can certainly see why Ed was fighting with Sam and Dave over the material all those years, Sam and Dave helped keep Ed in check with the stuff fans wanted to hear rather then what Ed wanted to play. They need to bring Mike back before they go any further with this.
Listen2VanHalen

VHIII is a record I am constantly taking flak from my friends for liking. At least I know there are others out there who dig it too! Completely underrated album. Should have been made with Dave, but it’s very good for what it is.
Ted

I always thought Van Halen III was a great album, it’s not the sharpest knife in box but it’s good. Fun to hear Garys thoughts. Love to hear some new music with Van Halen soon, can’t wait
Coyoteface

This proves to me that – even if the VH would have talked bad about Cherone – refusing to complain about matters or people is way more mature and classy than retaliating or mudslinging. I think that most people agree with me.
Guy

Fire In The Hole was a good song, other than that I did not like the album. I have not listened to it in years, but I remember thinking the vocals were horrible. Nothing against Cherone, but it was just a poor fit. They should have stuck with Dave back then. They did the greatest hits thing where he recorded two songs with them. Me Wise Magic was a great song. Better than anything on VH3
Jake

In my opinion, if they had used the lyrics from Pornograffitti(which I actually am listening to right now… Nuno is a beast on guitar) and mixed it with the music from VH3, that would have been awesome. I agree with those that say Gary is cool and talented, but just didn’t quite fit in with Van Halen. Also great to hear another confirmation about new music and a little bit about how Eddie has so much music locked up.
Van Halen IV

I too agree with some of you guys… VHIII wasn’t the best album, i liked like 4 songs max, still it was quite an interesting album…
Sir Terrence Tuppins

Gary is a nice guy and a class act. One has to be strong and resilient, walking into a situation like that; performing songs from both the Dave & Sammy era along with new material from an album that wasn’t well received. Eddie and the rest of Van Halen were on fire (no pun intended) on the VH 3 tour. The YouTube clips are proof.

Ed is a true artist. My opinion is that, he has so much diverse material he’s written that may never see the light of day. It might be best for them to find different vocalists for each musical style. Kinda like this:

A vocalist for the snappy, groove oriented hard rock: Dave. A vocalist for more prog-rock material: ? A vocalist for the experimental material: ? A vocalist for their yet-to-be-categorized new musical genre: ?

My Van Halen new music fantasies: To see them release an instrumental, groove-oriented rock EP (ala “Intruder) that is remixed by the Dust Brothers. Or an improv, experimental jazz duo album of just Ed & Al going off. Or a full on groove/funk album produced by James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem.
Chris

I have the bootleg from Pittsburgh that’s mentioned! It’s absolutely the greatest soundboard recording. Fantastic sound.
DiamondDean

Gary respect!
wooten

Can’t wait for the new one! I’m another VH III lover. Great album.
getchabite

class act
http://none 12beerstogo

You can say what you want about Gary,but to go on stage as the singer for VH when everybody at the time was pushing for a Roth reunion, takes more balls than anybody on here has.Eddie played fantastic on that tour.All the fans were begging to hear all the old songs,VH delivered,and just like on here,fans still cried.Look at how Gary handled his dismissal from VH and then compare it to Spammy’s.If you think Hagar is still not tore up over not being in Van Halen your gullible.Gary acted like a grown up and moved on.He didn’t need to report his earnings to the VHND website or make movies about himself paying off folks to say nice things about him.
51504VH

lol…the only way we hear any information about Van Halen is from ex members of the band.

I swear it’s brilliant of the Van Halen camp to say nothing…it has everyone guessing and anticipating the album much more than if they were keeping us informed.

Diamond Dave and King Ed are still unpredictable…27 years later…I love it.

One summer day is the Van Halen way…on a hot summer day in 2011 we’re just gonna hear a new song from Van Halen being played on the radio and it’s gonna kick us in the face just like it always did…I cant wait!!!
Cool Beans

That is a class interview, Cherone does not need to run Eddie down in interviews and stays positive about his time in the band and the bands future, I think Sammy could take a lesson from Gary.
WickedNickle

So, everyone says there will be a new VH album soon. Everyone… except VH. That’s the problem.
sammyvanroth

yeah cool beans, it goes both ways. ed could take some lessons from gary when it comes to sam, mike and roth(in the past).
Lupercal

Even if VH are quiet, everything is pointing in the right direction. Eddie shows up at NAMM with people raving about his gear and his “hush hush” studio set up. Then we get Eddie’s guitar put in the Smithsonian (with a lot of press coverage). Mike says he’s excited to hear that VH is recording – an ex’s blessing. 3 classic vinyls are reissued with talks of the rest of the catalogue following suit. John Shanks confirms he’s working with the band. Then we get news that people are seeing Eddie around and that he’s got a lot on his plate in the studio.

Now, in the last 13 years, this is probably the most amount of stuff we’ve had pointing towards a new VH album. Tours don’t necessarily mean an album – but the fact Eddie’s been out and all different corners of the rock world have been sort of honing in on the Van Halen buzz gives off the right impression. Now is the right time to be optimistic.
gubgub109

About half of VHIII was ok. Cool to know that Eddie actually does have a mountain of music. The album’s probably taking so long because they’re sorting threw all the riffs to pick the best ones =)
Nat

I’m in the camp that actually kind of likes VHIII as well. And Gary only continues to show class whenever the topic comes up. He’d have every right to be bitter about the whole thing, but instead he seems to appreciate it for what it was, and continues to be a fan along with the rest of us.

It’s too bad the rest of the band couldn’t handle themselves the same way.
http://vhnd Jimmy

I agree 12beers to go, I agree totally. Right on. Also, fans will always cry. There is true VH fans, then there is the VH fans that love to hate them. Those fans of whatever are always hear but still knock VH. Drives me nuts, they know who I am for sure. They will comment when they read this.

The VH3 tour was awesome. I love VH, good luck to them and their new album.

Jimmy
http://www.vhnd.com Pat G.

Good stuff is going to come from the VH camp. Gary says their working, and Nuno confirmed it by seeing Ed and complimenting how great he looks. Right on!!!! A live Cd of the III era would be awesome. Gary did an awesome job on both Sammy and Dave’s songs along with the III album, which I have been guilty of bashing. I might need to revisit it and give it another listen. Good luck, VH!!! Get that new cd finished and out to the fans.
J5150C

It’ll come; chill everybody. It’s in the works and if it weren’t, Dave would have been the first to spill the beans!

As a far as Gary/VH III is concerned, I bought III when it came out and to this day, I still listen to it because despite what everybody else thinks, I personally feel it’s a great musical endeavor that Eddie gambled on, but did not sit well with the masses.

But what the hell, let’s see any of us even try to write music lik that. I guess it apeals more to musicians than your average VH fan. As a drummer/guitarist/pianist, I find VH III musically challenging, to say the least.

If you listen closely, the band… well Eddie… stayed away from the usual and predictable hard driving riffs and beats that made VH famous. Ed simply capitalized on his musical geniuse and wrote some really different and interesting music. He and Al played with different time signatures, rhythms, off beat accents, and lots of melody, amongst many other musical details.

Just compare any other band’s first release with their last one. You’ll definitely see a change; musical growth, if you will. And if anybody ever wondered what an EVH solo album would have sounded like, well there you have it: VH III. He is a musician after all, not a rock star.

If the new material is reminiscent to early VH, you can bet your asses that Ed is doing it for the fans and not for himself. We have to admitt that we constantly grow and mature in every sense of the word. I’m sure he has evoked the inner most part of his soul and is probably expanding his musical horizons. That’s why the 2007/08 vids on Utube show and Eddie that’s simply going through the motions.

OUT!!
CBiddy

Not to split hairs but wasn’t the Hershey PA show the concert that was recorded for potential release? I was at that show and there were microphones at the soundboard to record audience noise.
Towers McQuestion

No one can deny Cherone’s talent or ability, but not just anyone can be the lead singer in Van Halen. If Cherone says Ed’s garage of music exists, then it exists. Mike is a class act, but not the classiest of VH’s members. He comes in second to Gary, the most honest, trustworthy and stand up guys in the band’s storied history. If Cherone says it, you can take it to the bank. He may not have fit the Van Halen style, but he’s an A-level talent you can probably trust with your life.
Tim

Hate 2 even think about this but, when Eddie passes on I for one hope I am around when Wolfie opens his old mans vault 2 the world.
freddiegirl

51504VH….Yeeessssss! I can’t wait either; a new VH album for the summer! Agree with J5150C that if it went to hell in a handbasket Dave would be talkin’!
Tater Salad

Nice interview! I really gotta go out and get VH3!! Glad to hear from another source that VH is in the studio. I can’t wait for their album when it comes out! If I ever win the lotto, I’d walk up to 5150 and give Ed my winnings to check out that vault! Lol one of these days I’m gonna be checking the VH website and it won’t say happy new year! Whoever said that VH is gonna release their single over summer, i’m hoping it’s early so I can rock out ALL SUMMER LONG!! Can’t wait!
hornfixer

I liked VHIII as well. Great music and something different from VH. I have the complete VH Live (video)concert in 1998 from Australia w/ Gary. MTV had it on. Great Concert. Can’t wait for a new album and tour !!
jmc

Gary is totally a class act. VH3 was not mixed terribly well and it certainly wasn’t the best sounding album. VH3 the concert was actually quite good. When I saw them the band sounded tight, the new songs were much better in the live mix, and the Dave-era songs were great. I always felt that most of the people who trash VH3 didn’t see them live.
Adrian

I love how we all read a solid complimentary interview from Gary and all the sudden all the usual assholes who cut Cherone down are like “o yeahh, gotta love Gary, III is so underrated..” I’ve always thought he was a solid guy and III was an interesting record.
Jay Krieger

J5150C–That about sums it up!! Yep. Everyone have a great week!
D L R

Gary may have not been the best fit for Ed, but he’s a class act who writes great lyrics.
http://www.merchnow.com blindbubbacheeks

I found a download of the 1998 Pittsburgh show online just now and I am listening to it as I type this. Stellar!
http://mikebeechler.com Michael B

I can’t believe I read the same arguments again and again on here. Gary’s a great singer, Extreme was/is a pretty good band. For me, something didn’t jive on VHIII. There’s some good songs, but I find it difficult to listen too, and haven’t in years. I was never wild about VH having a 3rd singer, seemed a little silly to me, but that’s no slight on Cherone. Not his fault, and how can you turn that down?
Keith

People who dis on Gary and VH3 obviously aren’t VH fans and have never seen one of the VH3 shows. Gary is the exact blend of Dave and Sam. Check it out and get back to me .
Strung Out

Van Halen III is out of print. How ironic, considering it was probably held closest to Eddie’s heart out of all the albums. What a shame. And @Adrian, I totally saw that as well!
jim

Uh Oh. Seems like Gary Cherone has been recently crowned a “class act”. When did that happen? Seems like the requirement in the entertainment scene to being a class act is to have been in Van Halen.
=VH=OZ MAN

In giving my 2 cents worth on the VHIII album. The music, songs, EVH’s guitar playing & sound, plus Gary’s vocal performance on most songs was great. The major let down for me was the production & Alex’s drum sound on that album. It was the worst I’ve heard!!!!! He might as well have played his drum cases or gotten out some ice cream containers & buckets instead. It was horrible!!! Every time I put on that album I have to adjust the bass EG to give it some thump o r BALLS!!!I’m all for experimental but to put out a drum sound like that is all wrong & definitely not the Big Al cannon drums sound that we all love. Even his trade mark snare sounded wrong!! Shame really.
Van Halen at that stage was really going places on the back of the great song on the best of album Me Wise Magic. That song entered a new & exciting chapter in the ever evolving songwriting genius of EVH & Van Halen’s risky but exciting experimental era it was entering in. People shouldn’t put down Gary Charone’s brief stint in Van Halen. I loved the fact that he brought back the Dave era VH songs in concert that Sammy refused to do. At least Gary hasn’t gone off like Sammy & bagged Eddie & the band. For Sammy to continually do that is just plainly wrong & speaks volumes of the jealousy Sammy has on his behalf or should I say ‘the other half’.
JACK N SAM

I tried hard to enjoy VHIII – I listened to it many times, but I couldn’t get to like it. It’s not Gary – it’s just the song writing was different and I just didn’t like it. It seemed like Ed wanted to just go in a new direction (complete left hand turn?) which is fine, but it just didn’t work for me. I’ve watched the videos of the tour on youtube and they look good – I just didn’t like the album. I think I actually threw it away.
Roth_Leaps_83

OK yeah I agree that Cherone is “classy”…..probably first time that’s been said in here LOL.

While I’m at it — Mike Anthony is also very “classy”…….you heard it here first, people!

Gary Cherone doesn’t deserve most of the blame for the dismal failure of “VH III” — that falls on Eddie’s shoulders. Cherone was just a yes-man hired to be the lead singer for the mighty Van Halen, and he’d be stupid to turn down a dream gig like that. Since he was basically Eddie’s lap dog, I can imagine there wasnt much friction in the studio like there was during the Roth years or even the Sammy years. VH history has shown that friction with the lead guitarist produces great music.

I do remember getting a sick feeling watching the MTV broadcast of the opening date of the 1998 tour from Melbourne, Australia. Cherone came out wearing a black leisure suit and doing some fairy moves onstage — just doesnt fit when you’re singing “Unchained”. It was rather sad to watch.

Eddie was too wrapped up in his own little world in 1996 to fully realize how big an impact that now infamous MTV Award show appearance with Dave made on people. Just seeing the original VH lineup onstage got people so fucking stoked you could feel the electricity sparking in the air. I remember not being able to sleep that night — just thinking about a possible Van Roth reunion tour and album! How could Edward not realize the potential it would have on the music industry at that time? The late 90′s music scene was just as dismal as it is today — people getting fed up with hip hop, boy bands, bubblegum pop stars like Britney Spears and Aguilera. Van Halen could have saved the day!

So Cherone confirms that Eddie has a “vault” full of unrelease material — SO WHAT? We all know Ed noodles a lot while the tape recorder is running. If Steven Spielberg said he has thousands of hours of home movies from his youth, do we really wanna see all of it or just the best stuff? From what I can tell, Ed has released what he considers his best work and I’m happy with it. I do wish he would release some more of the film footage of the Roth years — that stuff really does need to see the light of day because it’s so spectacular from the tasty morsels already known to the world (ie, ’81 Oakland and ’79 Fresno).

I believe there is a mistake in the Cherone interview — it was the 1998 Hershey show that was recorded on the soundboard, not Pittsburgh. I remember listening to the live streaming broadcast of that show by Westwood One and it sounded great — even on my paltry 36K dialup connection!

One final thought — what is it that Cherone is “taking to the grave” regarding his brief tenure in Van Halen? He sort of alluded to it in a radio interview a few months ago that there was some weird shit happening right after he joined VH that he didnt want to discuss on-air. My gut feeling is that Eddie was still doing cocaine at the time but telling the world he was clean and sober. Anyone have thoughts on this? I cant think of what else it could be that Cherone is so secretive about it.
51504VH

@Keith…why does someone have to like (EVERYTHING) that EVH makes to be a “VH” fan????….that doesn’t even make sense!

I am in to so many bands and all of them have albums that I don’t like or listen to…I guess I’m just not a true fan…lol.
wooten

I love the Australia concert. Have watched in many times. Just me, though.
http://www.twistedcritic.wordpress.com Chris

Shit, I had no idea there was a scrapped live album from ’98. Too bad that’ll never properly see the light of day. And I always thought VH III was a decent album, but a poor VH album. OZ MAN is right – the weak, dry production is probably its biggest offense. I guess that’s what you get when you hire a producer who had virtually no prior experience working with rock bands. Especially coming off of Balance, which is probably the richest-sounding of all the albums.
DiamondDean

VAN HALEN 3 aka THE EDWARD VAN HALEN ALBUM

PROS
the guitar work , brilliant!!!!
the diversity in songs and their arrangements
Dirty water dog n One i want classic IMO.

Cons
the production!!!!!! (still not as bad as ou812 though)it sounded flat , no warm feeling , no brown sound
Garys voice??? stained grating , quite unlistenable at some stage . Is it the production on it???? his singing? does anyone have any explanation?
Songs were way to long
HOW MANY SAY I , possible the worse song ever put to record , a toss up between it an appolitical blues .

Im a true VAN HALEN fan n i can honestly say i havent liked everything they have put out ,if u think everything they put out is great , yr dilusional .

I was at the SYDNEY show they did for mtv , Gary just didnt have that star quality , his voice was grating in that concert , not pleasent on the ears at all but he put on a great performance thats for sure