I'm the kind of guy who has your back. When you want to go off and solo for ten minutes, I keep that groove going. It's an important job.
— Michael Anthony
Jack Bruce really showed me that you could go anywhere with a bass part, and as long as you stayed in time, as long as you held down the groove, the door was wide open.
Being a bass player in these big-time rock bands is hard work.
There's nothing like sweating it up in a small club, with your fans right in your face.
Oh, I just love playing music.
Chickenfoot, my relationship with those guys is great.
I didn't have any money to buy a car, so when I got my license I did not have a car at first.
You ever notice how when you get a new tattoo, it's like a magnet? People are drawn to it, everybody wants to touch it?
I loved Van Halen; I loved everything we did.
Joe Satriani is a methodical, and structured, kind of guy - thank God for that.
I had a great time playing on '1984.' I felt like I was growing as a player and background singer.
I don't want any drama.
I want to go to my grave a happy guy.
I can sing, but I consider myself a bass player. I'm, you know, a musician first.
I'm always the guy that says never say never.
I don't hold any kind of grudges for anything, and you never know what will happen at anytime.
I'm trying to grow old gracefully. I've got to at least grow old.
Chickenfoot is phenomenal. I can't believe the music we're making.
It was never so much the heavy metal thunder that got me. I was into players who played with taste and did these walking bass parts. If you can play like that, it really opens up the music. You can't just pound away. After a while it's like, 'So what? What else you got?'
I've always been a natural singer on stage and in the studio - never had a vocal lesson in my life.
You can be a supergroup without having good songs.
My father played music, so I was always around music, even from the time I was born. My father actually was the one that originally got me into music.
We're having so much fun with the Chickenfoot stuff.
Black with flames, that's how I always envisioned a roadster. That was the classic hot rod. I used to draw pictures of roadsters with flames on them in school.
The casinos are always packed and a little more intimate... We have a lot of fun playing those and we plan to bring all the craziness that we do. And I gotta tell you, they pay really well.
People tend to forget you. I didn't want people to go, 'That is that guy that used to play in Van Halen. What's his name again?'
As far as people saying, 'Do you miss Van Halen?' or any of that kind of stuff, I've totally moved on.
God, what can I say about Chickenfoot that hasn't already been said?
The best part about Chickenfoot is that nobody needs the money. We've got nothing we need to prove to anybody. We wanted this to be a fun band and when we get in the studio it's just so loose, relaxed, and open.
I want to go out, play music and have a good time.
My wife likes to say I act like a kid, so maybe that's why I sing like one!
When we were in the studio working stuff out, and even when we were on stage, the music was a priority.
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.
A Tennessee Squire is an elite group of people.
I'm the ultimate rock 'n' roll sideman. But that doesn't mean a 'sideman' isn't vital.
So much of the time people focus on the awesome power of Led Zeppelin, the whole 'Hammer of the Gods' thing, but John Paul Jones, probably because he was a session player, he put a lot of thought into his playing. He didn't just lumber through.
Why would I have quit Van Halen? It never happened.
I played trumpet in school at an early age.
I've always loved playing Zeppelin - they were one of my favorite bands growing up.
I always had to have music in my cars.
I don't collect things for the sake of collecting. I don't really see the point.
I didn't want to be the bass player everyone forgot about.
I am in a great place with Chickenfoot.
Probably for drums, a guy I really enjoyed watching is Simon Phillips. I've seen him play with The Who and with Pete Townshend on his own - a really great drummer.
I want to keep my sanity.
Well, everybody used to joke that I saved the first dollar that I ever made in Van Halen. I probably did somewhere.
I'll sing backgrounds, but a lead singer, you know, you've got to have that mentality and personality. I'd rather be the bass guy.
For some reason, my voice doesn't age. I can still hit those high harmonies just like I did back in the day.
You can only go with the excesses to a certain point; it wasn't always the Jack Daniels bottle. We weren't just a bunch of sloppy musicians on stage drinking; we would critique every show.
I drink Jack Daniel's. I drink tequila. But you do it in moderation.
