Matt Wardlaw from POPDOSE spoke with Extreme’s Pat Badger recently from his home in Massachusetts to talk about Pat’s new album, which he is currently in the process of recording. Pat shared a couple cool little Van Halen stories, which we have here:
PopDose: It’s exciting as a fan to know that exists and that there’s a full professionally shot show from that tour. I think at the time that the III Sides To Every Story album came out, a lot of people felt like you guys were taking a big leap forward artistically.
Pat Badger: Oh yeah. I kind of use the analogy too to some of the other band members and my manager that I grew up listening to Van Halen — still to this day they are one of my favorite bands of all time. You know, I remember the Fair Warning tour when those live clips of “Unchained” and “So This Is Love” were released. If those had never come out and suddenly they released those today, I’d be like “oh my God, where can I buy that whole concert? I want the Blu-ray of the entire show.” I was at the show in 1981 — not the Oakland show, but I went to see that tour. Even though we’re not Van Halen, we do have fans out there that would look at this the same way and go “oh my God, I was at that tour or concert — how can I buy that and where can I get that entire concert? I can’t believe it exists.” I mean, if Van Halen released that entire show on DVD, I’d get online and order it tomorrow! [Laughs]
PopDose: Knowing what a big Van Halen fan you are, that had to be a trip touring with David Lee Roth in 1991.
Pat Badger: Oh yeah, we had a lot of fun doing the Dave tour. He treated us well and I was a huge early Van Halen fan, so that was definitely an amazing experience. And then of course later when Gary joined Van Halen, I get to spend about a week up at Eddie’s house and I hung out at 5150 while they were making that [Van Halen III] record. So that was a pretty amazing experience for me, personally.
PopDose: That’s probably about as good as it gets for you as a Van Halen fan.
Pat Badger: Oh yeah. I have one picture that I’m holding the Frankenstrat in 5150 and leaning on his Plexiglas Marshall that he used on all the early shit. So I’m holding the guitar and leaning on the amps that recorded “Eruption.” It doesn’t get much better than that really for a Van Halen fan.
PopDose: Did you get a chance to pick his brain at all on songs or anything like that from a musician’s standpoint?
Pat Badger: Not a lot. He was more excited about the new record. He didn’t want to talk about his old shit. Although there were times that he would blow my mind. Like, I’m hanging out in Gary’s guest house and he walks in and grabs an acoustic guitar that’s sitting there and literally sits on the coffee table next to me where I’m sitting on the couch and he starts playing “Spanish Fly.” I’m thinking to myself, “If you ever told me when I was in high school, that I’d be sitting here having a personal moment with Eddie Van Halen while he’s talking to me playing ‘Spanish Fly,’ I’d say you’re on acid and you’re crazy.” [Laughs] Experiences like that made me go “How does this all happen? How does Gary end up in my favorite band?
Check out Pat’s entire interview on PopDose: Extreme’s Pat Badger Takes Us Inside The Studio With His New Project “Badger”
Related: VHND’s Gary Cherone & Extreme articles
