Metal Sludge — In the week since the sudden and shocking passing of Eddie Van Halen – a ton of content has been shared on social media from the classic era to more recent interviews and performances.

An interview with Eddie as a guest at The Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History is a great candid piece with the legendary guitarist from early 2015.

Van Halen talks about everything from his youth, growing up with music, how he built guitars and more.

But there is one especially eerie quote from the guitarist near the end of the interview.

A young fan in the audience asks Van Halen (at the 51 minute mark): “As the years go by how do you still keep your creative spark?”

Van Halen replies: “Umm, by continuing to play. Really. Ahh, and you know having Wolfgang in the band and ahh… you know it’s something that, if you’re a musician you just play until the day you die. It’s not like, I can’t wait to turn 65 and retire.”

Van Halen continues: “It’s not an ordinary job. You know. It can be work, sometimes… what’s the saying? You play music, you don’t work it. But at times it can be hard work to be able to play it.”

To see the full article at The Takeaway with Sarah Rothbard visit HERE

To watch and hear the full 1 hour interview, please listen below.