Quotes About Passion

When Van Halen started out, there was no path to fame. We just played what we liked. Even today it always comes down to the simplicity of rock and roll.

When I was a kid, I was obsessed with heavy metal, Van Halen, Motley Crue. The older I got, my tastes widened. I always felt an attraction to the attitudes of punk; also punk filmmakers, like Richard Kern.

I got into rock music at thirteen, listening to Van Halen, learned how to play the electric guitar.

As for the first guitar I actually bought, I believe it was a Cherry Red Kramer! I think I bought it because Eddie Van Halen played Kramer, and I remember it had a Rockinger tremolo on it.

I was such a big Kiss and Van Halen fan, Yngwie Malmsteen, Racer X... all that stuff. I loved everybody.

I'm still obsessed with Kiss. I'm still obsessed with Van Halen. I guess we don't change that much from being kids. Either we don't change that much, or we just have really good taste.

I was a huge 'Pyromania' fan. You would never expect it, but I was in love with Iron Maiden; I was such a huge fan. I went to a lot of rock stuff like Van Halen, too.

When I was 13, I was just figuring out how to play 'Eruption,' poorly, by Eddie Van Halen.

Alex Van Halen... I loved his playing because he had so much energy; he made those songs exciting, along with everything else that went with him.

I loved Van Halen; I loved everything we did.

I think all my albums have concentrated on songs, I've never taken the typical Van Halen route to try and become a guitar hero.

I never go to Vancouver without stopping by Thomas Haas' shop for the best chocolate in North America. A former chef patissier at Daniel, he returned to his hometown and created a top quality brand by sticking to his passion.

It's what I do my entire life when I'm not doing music. If I'm in a hotel room in Sweden, or on a plane to Vancouver, I'm watching football. I'll try to talk about other stuff, too, but football is a lifestyle.

As a player, I do love playing Edmonton and Vancouver, those guys, with the intensity.

Most actors don't grow up with sweet, vanilla parents.

The world isn't all happy, shiny people, and great art doesn't come from vanilla. Great art comes from people with a point of view and are very passionate.

I have a lot of critics, and that's fine. I think it's better to be polarizing than to be vanilla. I also think people can't question the passion and sincerity that I bring because I truly am the luckiest guy in the world.

If I see somebody dancing really well, it can make me want to dance. Or it could be the music. But perhaps the thing I miss the most is that when you're dancing, everyday concerns vanish. It's a unique world.

What career? A man's got a body of film of about four movies in about 10 years or something. I do it because I think I can do a good job of something and I'll enjoy it, do it, and sort of vanish. I don't want to be an actor for hire.

I'm a big Penn & Teller fan. But I myself was never very good; I was a teenage magician who performed at kids' parties. I can still perform a vanish, credibly, and I still, in special circumstances, will make a balloon animal.

Show business people aren't vapid.

I'm really boring. I think about cooking all the time. I have a little book, so when I go out or see something, I jot it down and try to include it in a recipe or do a variation of it. I even have a notepad by my bed, which is usually saying we're running out of mango chutney.

I never really planned a career. I've tried to avoid it. I've tried to do this stuff I felt for, the stuff I like. So, I've just been meeting these fantastic directors who've offered me a variation of different parts and different films.

I think with me and the type of music that I'm trying to make, it's always going be soulful because I grew up listening to different types and variations of soulful melodies and jazz, but experimenting with different types of stylistic souls.