Fans have been submitting their questions for legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen, and he picked an interesting one for the next installment of Ask Eddie.
This one comes from Jason Goodsell of Canada, who wants to know about Van Halen’s experiences writing music for television or movies.
Jason: Hi Eddie, from time to time you have written music for movies and television. I was wondering if you really like doing theme music, or is it restrictive to stick to the topic of the TV show or movie?
Van Halen: Hi Jason. Writing music for movies or television can be fun. You actually have a lot of freedom to do whatever you want. The main objective (obviously) is to write something that fits the vibe or mood of the scene or movie. When I did The Wild Life, Cameron Crowe, who wrote the movie, was very helpful in picking or giving guidance as to what he wanted. For the movie Twister, Jan de Bont was the director, and he was also very helpful in explaining what he was looking for musically.
Sometimes, unfortunately, when you give them the music, you are no longer in control of how it is manipulated pertaining the sound levels etc., so it doesn’t always end up the way you heard it in your head.
Submit your questions for Eddie Van Halen here.