Jas Obrecht, former Editor of Guitar Player Magazine (1978-1998), spoke in depth on Final Resonance TV’s “Van Halen Stories Podcast” about his accidental meeting and first interview with Edward Van Halen in 1978 at The Day on The Green Festival Show. Edward himself referred to this interview as his “first interview.”
This fateful encounter captured a young Edward at the beginning of his groundbreaking career and would lead to a series of interviews with Jas. The longest of these interviews is the 5-hour 1980 interview, which delves into Edward’s thoughts and feelings about his gear, difficulties with fame, his family, and even the surprising discovery of Super 8 movies his father had taken of him during early piano competitions and before their journey to America.
After listening to the interview above, check out all of Jas Obrecht’s amazing audio interviews with Edward Van Halen on his Talking Guitar Podcast Channel. In the coming months, Jas will release even more interview audio with Edward from 1980 and beyond, culminating in Jas’s final interview with Edward in 1991.
– Jeff Goebel