Episode #100 of Sound Matters (tribute to Eddie Van Halen) features Tom Leu's intimate conversations with Mark Kendall from Great White and Steve Brown from Trixter and Tokyo Motor Fist sharing their exclusive and rare, first-hand, personal accounts and experiences with Eddie Van Halen going all the way back to the early 1970's.

Mark Kendall talks about seeing Van Halen for the first time in 1974, performing in backyards and junkyards in Southern California and how he inspired Mark's work ethic:

"The first time I ever saw them was in a backyard in Elmonte, CA. It was three blocks from my house. My friend told me about this guitar player. We went down to see them at this junkyard. It was called Tony's Junkyard. We paid $1 dollar to get in. Eddie was playing a Les Paul, and right away I could tell he was obviously special. He didn't play like anybody else. In 1974/1975, there were so many bands around, there was so much competition. But, when I heard this guy, Eddie, it really inspired me. And we started to follow these guys around. You know they played almost every night. Eddie played outside of the box. I was a Van Halen groupie if you wanna call it that. I followed them around. I appreciated their work ethic. I didn't try to emulate what he did, it was more of the work ethic. How great he was. It made me wanna get better. It made me wanna practice more. The world is in just total mourning over this including me. These guys were like local heroes to us. They were better than everybody else. They played more than everybody else. And they worked harder than everybody else. I was personally thrilled when they got their opportunity and made good on it, and we got to share this guy with the world, and they all agreed that he was something special."

Steve Brown talks about how he and Eddie were family and in close communication for nearly 30 years, as well as personal recollections hanging with Eddie at his Malibu home with ex-wife Valerie Bertinelli... and on how well he knew Eddie Van Halen, and what he was really like:

"He [Ed] was the best. And just to clarify, I was friends with him. It's much different than a lot these guys you see who maybe met him once or twice. I had almost a 30 year relationship with him. The coolest thing I could always say is that he said: 'Steve, you're family.' He would call my house all the time when he was on tour. All I can tell you is this about my relationship with him: he loved my wife, he loved my friends. He treated everybody like a normal person because that's all Ed was, and that's all he ever wanted to be."

Listen to the full interview / podcast here.

(Photo - Mark Gromen)