Andrew’s reflections on Van Halen

Before I saw the playlists for Project 5 Eddie Van Halen passed away and I found myself listening to 1984. It had been awhile. I’ve never been obsessed with Van Halen like other bands, however the thing about 1984 was that I was 13 years old and living in Moorhead Minnesota when it came out. I remember staying up as late as I could watching Night Tracks on WTBS, seeing Hot For Teacher and being traumatized (or something of the sort) by this alternate reality. Fast forward 37 years and now I have a 13 year old and I’m curious about how music is influencing her, especially in this time of COVID where she’s pretty isolated. This is my ambient tribute. Maybe some day I’ll release my own Selected Ambient Works Volume 2 of Van Halen covers. I used a program called “Reason” which is a combination of synthesizers, drum machines, samplers, mixers, effects, appreciators and anything else. It’s been awhile since I’ve used it so this was a great refresher.

-Andrew Charon