Spinner.ca spoke with VAN HALEN guitar legend Eddie Van Halen recently about a number of topics. A few excerpts from the chat follow:

Spinner.ca: Talk about your recording/writing technique now.

Van Halen: "It takes me a good hour to loosen up my fingers and I always just leave the DAT tape rolling or something, or a cassette, anything, and after two and a half, three hours, you kind of get into a zone that I'm kind of relearning because I'm not drinking anymore. When I used to drink, it would get me there quicker. It's kind of the zone where you're not thinking, where you're just open to anything and I just believe that when you play long enough you're able to execute with your fingers, whatever God gives you, and God's not gonna give you nothing if you don't practice or play. So after a couple, three hours, God says, 'OK, he's ready. I'll throw him a bone.' And God's got a sense of humor, too -- sometimes he gives me shit, 'cause not everything I do I like.

Spinner.ca: I think every writer hits upon moments where you know you've reached something special. What are a couple of those moments for you?

Van Halen: "It's like 'Jump': It was our only No. 1 single, and believe it or not I built my studio to put that song on our record 'cause everyone hated it, same with the song 'Right Now.' Alex and I tracked the whole thing, certain people didn't want to be a part of it, then it wins a Grammy and a MTV Award for Video of the Year, and all of a sudden it's like, 'Hey, yeah, great!' But it was like pulling teeth to get the person to sing the damn song. And there are certain things that I fight for because I do write all the music so I think I have a little bit of say in how things should go. I'm not a tyrant, as a lot of people think. I just expect other people, if you're in this band, to work as hard as I do."

Spinner.ca: On this last tour, there are moments when you're playing at the end and the crowd is just chanting "Eddie!"

Van Halen: "It brought tears to my eyes. It makes me feel kind of weird, but obviously the Man Upstairs gave me something and it touches people, and I'm just so blessed. And now I got my son in the band and it makes it even more ... Alex, Wolfie and I, it's a family thing. And by the end of the tour, Wolfie was just incredible. For a 16-year-old to get up there and play in front of these people, he pulled it off very, very good."

Spinner.ca: Has your approach changed as you've gotten older?

Van Halen: "I don't feel a day older when it comes to my approach to music or what gets me off than when I was a teenager. I've always been into different kinds of stuff and when I play I like to play loud. I like my arm hairs to move and I like my body to vibrate 'cause I like the feel of it; I'm still a teenager at heart. My favorite record by AC/DC is Powerage. And 'Down Payment Blues' off that record is my favorite song by them. They never play it live. We did a co-headlining tour with them back in '83 or '84 and we had a gas. I kept asking, 'Angus, you plan on paying 'Down Payment Blues'?' And 'Riff Raff,' all that stuff is great on that record. To me, it's not to take anything away from Brian, 'cause when I saw him he actually sang better live than he does on record, he does a great job, but Powerage and Highway To Hell are probably my two favorite records by them - Powerage even more so than Highway to Hell. There's something about that record."

Spinner.ca: Having gone through everything you've undergone with the illness and the rehab, do you have a different appreciation for we're you're at in life and music?

Van Halen: "Yeah, I thank God on my knees that I'm alive and obviously to be sober and to be working with my son. I'm so damn blessed it's beyond words. And sometimes the reason I get emotional when people chant my name is because it's like it's really not me, I'm not a rock star, I'm just a musician. I make music for a living, I wouldn't know how to act like a rock star. What is a rock star anyway? I think people pick up on the vibe that I'm not bulls---ting, that what I play comes from the heart. Of course, sometimes I have off nights, but when I'm on people do feel the message that I was given, and I think that they feel that and that it's not just some prefabricated moneymaking thing. I would be doing this still in the clubs if we never made it, 'cause that's just what I do."

Read the entire interview here.