Ahead of the release of their new album Renegades, L.A. Guns drummer Steve Riley was recently interviewed on the Australian Rock Show podcast. Listen below.

Reflecting on the recent passing of Eddie Van Halen, Riley recalled the time he, Eddie and Mickie Jones from Angel went and saw Quiet Riot perform with guitarist Randy Rhoads.

"When I came out here (Los Angeles) in 1977, I came out here to join a band called Empire, and it was with Mickie Jones - the bass player from Angel. I had grown up with the guys (Angel) on the east coast, me and Frank Dimino - the singer, we grew up in Boston together. We've known each other since we were very very young and so when I was playing in (my former outfit) Roadmaster we were in Indianapolis, that's where I was living.

"Mickie Jones had just gotten released from Angel and he called me up and said 'Do you want to come out here (Los Angeles)' and so I did immediately because I knew this is where I had to end up.

"Angel and Van Halen were really close, Van Halen kind of looked up to Angel because Angel was signed to Casablanca (Records) and Van Halen was still looking for a record deal. They were playing clubs. So Mickie was really close with Eddie Van Halen and when I came out here, it's the weirdest thing because all of these things flooded back to me when Eddie passed away.

"Eddie and me and Mickie Jones hung out a bunch of times and Eddie actually came by my apartment with Mickie. Eddie was driving an old brown van that Van Halen used to haul their equipment around town in. The three of us went to The Starwood - me, Mickie Jones from Angel and Eddie Van Halen. We went to The Starwood, we smoked a bunch of doobs and had a bunch of drinks and we watched Quiet Riot with Randy Rhoads. Can you imagine that? Cos both those guys went on to be legends.

"I actually asked Eddie, because I saw Randy just burning on stage, he was just off the chart he was so good, and I asked Eddie 'what do you think of this guy ?' and he was like 'he's okay'.

"Eddie invited us to go see him play the first (Van Halen) album over at the Whisky and they (Van Halen) just blew the roof off. He also invited me to go out to see (Van Halen) at Pasadena, at the Civic Auditorium and that's one of their legendary shows before they released the album, so I really had this whole little thing going with Eddie before he became huge."

(Photo - Jennifer Bartram-Schmitt)