Former Porcupine Tree frontman Steven Wilson has revealed he was “unaffected” by Eddie Van Halen’s death in October 2020.
In an interview with Face Culture (via Blabbermouth), Wilson was asked whether the passing of the legendary guitarist affected him at all.
He responded: “Honestly, it didn’t, because I was never a fan. I know he’s an extraordinary musician, and it’s always sad when an extraordinary artist dies, [but] I was never a fan of the so-called shredder mentality. And I think in many ways, he was the father of that whole kind of movement.
“I never understood that ‘playing as fast as you can’ thing… and I know that wasn’t all he did — I know he was a more flexible musician than that — but I think that the legacy that he has, Eddie Van Halen, is in creating the shredder phenomenon, which is something so vile to me. That kind of idea that you play music almost like you’re playing an Olympic sport is kind of anathema to my kind of ideas on creativity and music.”
In response to Wilson’s comments, Van Halen‘s son Wolfgang Van Halen took to Twitter to explain they “[bummed him] out hard.”
“What hurts is that he seems to only view Pop as a “shredder” when in my opinion he was anything but. Sure, he COULD shred, but Pop had melody and finesse like NO other “shredder” that swam in his wake ever had (in my opinion) and on top of that he was an incredible songwriter,” Wolfgang said.
“I guess I’m just venting (which is always a bad idea for social media lol… I can see the clickbait headlines now…) It’s absolutely ok that he’s not a fan. Not everyone is going to be a fan of everything. It just sucks that he “blames” Pop for shredding being a thing(?),” he continued.
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“To make things CRYSTAL CLEAR, I’d like to add that this in NO way changes how I feel about Steven Wilson, or his music. I guess it’s just a bummer that a stellar musician I hold in such high regard doesn’t see what I see when it comes to my father and his playing. End of rant,” he concluded.
Check out Steven Wilson discussing Eddie Van Halen’s death:
