Photo: Getty Images North America
Michael Anthony hasn't ruled out the idea of writing a memoir one day, but he doesn't want to stir up more controversy about Van Halen.
The former VH bassist says most of the publishers who have approached him about an autobiography seem less interested in his story and more keen to dig up dirt on the band.
Anthony tells Paltrocast with Darren Paltrowitz that he has a unique point-of-view to offer from his three decades in Van Halen. And he probably will write a book someday, but he's not going to dwell on Van Halen's darkest days.
"Obviously, somebody wants to get another perspective from one of the original Van Halen guys on all the dirt from the band, and I don't know if I'm ready to come out with something like that," Anthony said. "Obviously, it wouldn't be the dirt like some people would wanna hear it, because I'm not that kind of person.
"A lot of stuff that went on back then is what is understood, between the band, it's the secret brotherhood of 'what's on the road stays on the road'-type stuff.' But I think possibly at some point I'll probably do something; I'm just not really ready to do it quite yet."
He conceded that he's probably more apt to make a cookbook surrounding his love of hot sauce than a memoir, but he'd like to do both when his life slows down a bit.
Anthony has always been reluctant to speak ill of Van Halen, even after the band cut ties with him for good around 2006.
But he also learned the perils of a tell-all by watching what his longtime ally, Sammy Hagar, went through after publishing his searing tell-all in 2011.
Within a few years of the book being released, Hagar regretted many of the revelations he made, particularly his depiction of Eddie Van Halen.
In an interview last year, Hagar admitted that he was "angry" when he wrote Red: My Uncensored Life in Rock, and he should be been "more conservative" regarding his Van Halen years.
The Red Rocker says he's turned down requests to record an audiobook version of the book because he wants to change what he wrote originally.