Ep: 002 Viral Sensation VANAMA and creator, Ryan Richardson

Jump back, it’s Episode 002 of the Mighty VH Podcast. Tommy London and Tor keep the moving parts clean and see what makes viral sensation VANAMA run. From the paint job to what’s really powering this thing under the hood, the guys take a ride straight into one of the most creative and unexpected VH inspired creations to hit the internet in a long time.

The episode also touches on the new Walgreens commercial featuring Van Halen’s “Right Now,” proving that “right now” the music of Van Halen still finds new ways to roar through pop culture decades later.

Here’s the link to see what we’re talking about:

https://youtu.be/tkUfoPM-Gec

Packed with laughs, stories, hot takes, and pure VH fan energy, Episode 002 keeps the engine running from start to finish.

Like, subscribe, comment below and tell us your thoughts on VANAMA and the Walgreens “Right Now” commercial.

Follow us on Instagram: @mighty_vh_podcast
Email: themightyvhpodcast@gmail.com

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:13

Welcome once again to the Mighty Van Halen podcast. I am your host, Tommy London, along with my good friend Tor, talking all that we love about the Mighty VH, and that's why you're here because you feel the same way. And uh we've got a great episode today, right? I mean, we have it's gonna be awesome. Our first guest.

SPEAKER_03 0:31

Our first guest of the new podcast. But before we get into that, there's something I've got to get off my chest. There's something we got to you and I have to talk about. Oh, I know. Uh, we I texted you like in the middle of the night the other night because I saw this Walgreens commercial, and as it started, I was like, and it would and it sort of looked like one of those like big pharma, like you know, new drug type commercial music, you know, and it just had that vibe to it. But it was a Walgreens commercial. I had it on the background, I wasn't even paying attention to it, and I'm hearing the music in it, and I'm like, yeah, well, that sounds a little like Right Now by Van Halen from on uh for unlawful carnal knowledge, and I'm like, Yeah, uh but maybe maybe not, you know, whatever. It's it sounded a little jazzy to you. It also sounded like the arrangement was a little jazzy, and then by the end of the commercial, you've got like this chorus of singers, jazzy singers singing right now, and I was my jaw was on the floor. I had to text you right away. So uh, have you had a chance to watch it?

SPEAKER_02 1:35

Well, when you said well, I didn't see the commercial on TV, you sent it to me. Yeah, yeah, and I was like, Why'd you sending me a Walgreens commercial? Is there like a special or something on Mike and Ike's? I don't know. So so I check it out. I'm like, wait, did I just hear what I heard? And and yeah, listen, uh, I'm all about uh our favorite artist making a dollar using their original song, using them on it like they did for the Pepsi commercial, and that was controversial when that happened, right?

SPEAKER_03 2:01

When that happened, yeah, sure. That was back in the day when when uh rockers like it was kind of not cool to license like the who the who I think were the first ones to license to like Cadillac for a commercial, and it was like won't get fooled again. What is happening here?

SPEAKER_01 2:15

Right.

SPEAKER_03 2:16

Um, but and this was a few years after that, but yeah, it still wasn't like a thing.

SPEAKER_02 2:21

This musak version of right now, um, not a fan. Um obviously a fan of the band, that's why we're here, right? But not a fan, and I don't know how that goes about. Does the band approve that in some way, shape?

SPEAKER_03 2:34

The band absolutely approves it. The authors of the music uh have to approve that, or the owners of the music have to approve that. Yeah, and what I don't get about it is I think that there's a higher cost if you want the original music.

SPEAKER_01 2:49

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 2:50

If you are going to re-record it, it probably costs less, but the band also has to approve it. Like, you can't just put out anything, like get approval, and then go do whatever you want with the music. Like the band then has to hear it and be like, Okay, we're good. How much is that check?

SPEAKER_02 3:06

Okay, so how much rum was Sandy Hagar drinking when he approved this number? I don't know. We we need to get him on the show to discuss this among many things. We'll get there.

SPEAKER_03 3:17

It was it was it was a little startling to say the least. Um, we'll put the link to that commercial in the description below on YouTube.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

Um and please reach out to us. Uh, we have an email, the mighty vanhalen podcast at gmail. Uh with that, whatever's on your mind, and especially with with this. I would love to hear uh your take on it. Hey, one side note about right now that you may not be aware of that this has always bothered me and freaked me out. Okay, when the song was released, it was a huge hit for Van Halen. The video was all over MTV, plastered all over MTV, and it's a genius video, by the way. It really is. Yeah, yeah. One of their best. The song uh was also featured in the Pepsi commercial, as we mentioned. I believe it was Pepsi Free, which was like a new product they had. Crystal, you're right, you're right. Crystal Pepsi or Pepsi, clear Pepsi, that's it was. Um, and then they also won uh video of the year on MTV. Okay, now add all of that together, nonstop on the radio, plastered on MTV, a commercial, national commercial, okay, and then winning the award on MTV, which probably got them even more plays. All right, the press, the song itself only hit number 55 on the Billboard charts, pop charts on the top 40. It was number 55. To me, does not make sense. We need a recount. There's no way, there's no way with all the publicity behind that song that it only hit number 55. There are songs that don't get that publicity and go to number one. Right.

SPEAKER_03 4:50

Well, you know, I I think that uh Van Halen at the time and music at the time was just so broad and scattered. I I don't know that you had uh rock bands at number one. I think things were kind of switching over to like more of a pop uh sort of sensibility for number ones. Like you I mean, I guess now that I'm saying it out loud though, like I mean, how high did Smells Like Teen Spirit go? Because that's around the same time. It's 91. It's 91. So it's it's Michael Jackson, black and white, and it's Nirvana, smells like Teen Spirit is blowing things up, and it was a really weird time. But also, you know, uh in terms of Van Halen as a a cultural sort of like a band, like where did they fit? Were they adult contemporary by that time, or were they just strictly rock? Was classic rock established yet? I think it was we were in flux at that moment, and radio just didn't know what to do.

SPEAKER_02 5:46

You're right. But that being said, even if it wasn't number one, uh we should have never had a number one song with Sammy. How could it be 55? Not even number. I know Sammy can't drive 55, but neither should that song be at 55. It should have been at least number four. I mean, honestly, with all that publicity, I would say I would I would guess top 20, at least number 20.

SPEAKER_03 6:05

Yeah, and you know, you have to give it to them for lyrical content, and that video especially gave it some weight in terms of like some poetic sort of yeah vibe. It was it was less than you know, it I shouldn't say less than it was more than just another rock song. It had a little message to it, and it was cool, and the video was great, and it was Van Halen. Like it's it totally should have it's an interesting point.

SPEAKER_02 6:27

Another side note, Eddie Van Halen wrote that music on the piano before he wrote Jump.

SPEAKER_03 6:34

I I just recently heard that.

SPEAKER_02 6:36

Yeah, the crazy wonder if David Lee Roth was ever presented the song and said I'm not vibing it, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 6:44

Right, curious Dave said this song will never be number one.

SPEAKER_02 6:47

I'm not doing if you're not putting in a Coca-Cola commercial, I'm out. Right, no way.

SPEAKER_03 6:54

All right, so listen, let's get to our show today. Um, we've got a very special guest, our first guest on the Mighty VH podcast. Um he comes all the way from Instagram, uh, and I'm sure that you guys have seen one or two or more of his videos. Uh perhaps you've heard the term Venoma. Uh, this is Rockin' Ryan Richardson, the owner and uh and I guess the inventor of Vanima.

SPEAKER_02 7:22

Thanks for being here. We're excited to have you. We've Tor and I have been fans of your Instagram for quite some time.

SPEAKER_00 7:28

So this is that we've been kicking it, I think, since 2020 with the van. So it's been a hot minute, but we're cranking out the VH every day.

SPEAKER_03 7:38

So that was gonna be our first question. When did this start in 2020? So, in the middle of uh COVID, you had nothing better to do.

SPEAKER_00 7:44

I well, we had this as like an estate hauler, like we were moving stuff around, like find cool vintage couches, put them in the back. It was green. We called it big green. I'm like, okay, man, all then we heard the news, man. We're like Eddie Pass. I was like, holy shit! My dad used to make tribute guitars, so he'd made like all these fun ones back in the day. We lost them all in the 2017 Santa Rosa fire, so we had nothing. So after Eddie Pass, I went to Ace Hardware, got sandpaper. I started sanding down the green. I was starting to get less and less, and I'm like, I bought about 15 cans of uh white Ristolium paint. I painted it all white.

SPEAKER_03 8:20

I went spray paint, like spray paint?

SPEAKER_00 8:22

Literal spray paint. It's old school rock and roll, right here, man. You know what I mean? So I got like 15 cans of spray paint. I'm like, blah blah blah, hitting it. I think it was up until midday, and I'm like, hey dad, you know how we had those guitars back in the day? I got a big ass canvas for you to work on, so we got tons of tape, cardboard, all this extra stuff to do it. So Eddie did it first, I think, with black, but we started with a white base, so it was a way to get my dad not to make it a white van, too. I'm like, Dad, I'm not gonna have a white van. We need something cool. Come on. So then we hit I got my mom involved and my brother involved. We all hit it then with red paint, and then the last was black. We got huge things to mark it off, hit it with black paint, had a heat gun following it. So very old school rock. Not the right way to do it, not like I'm having a short.

SPEAKER_03 9:10

But dude, that was exactly how Eddie did his guitar. He did it the wrong way, too. You know, just bicycle paint, just just you know, rustoleum.

SPEAKER_00 9:17

Rustole get it on. I think he used swin paint back in the day. Yeah, they had that whole it'd be an arm and a leg to get it, but man, it would shine. So after that, we there was a car show the next night, and I was like, man, wouldn't it be cool to bring it out? And I think at that day it was the 20s October 7th of 2020. So a day after I was working on it, got it going, still had trailer tires on it. It looked pretty like you're it's a work van, right? I think it used to be an old ATT van back in the day because it had a pretty moderate size good motor in it. So that next day we got it all done. I think we got everything painted done at 2 a.m. We went out to get donuts. There was no seats in the back, there's just two in the front. I'm rolling around in the back of the van, like it's done. Let's just get it on the road. And then we got it that next day. The car show we parked in the lot, and I brought out my other car too to drive. I wanted this to stay in the lot as like a tribute to Eddie. So on October 8th, we had it at this show. Everyone's like, Who's fan is this? Man, is this from the 80s or something? I'm like, no, I just made it last night, pretty much.

SPEAKER_03 10:21

Wow, man, that's incredible. So let's dial back a little bit. Like, what's your relationship with Van Halen? Have you always been a fan? Your dad always been a fan. Where does that start?

SPEAKER_00 10:30

It was my dad was like a mega fan. Always we'd go in his truck, he'd pick me up. I mean, we we'd go out to 7-Eleven, get Slim Jims, or you know, cherry slush, and it would be Van Halen, Rat, Doc, and but it was always Van Halen. Every time it would be at least one record on, and it was from Diver Down to Sammy to everything. It was like, oh man, okay. So at a young age, I got this huge respect for Eddie Van Halen. Like, this dude's a god, holy oh my gosh. There's like, oh my gosh, and then if went from just loving Van Halen, and then I'm a music photographer, so I I photographed all the Torium. I photographed their show 2015, I think, at Shoreline. It was the one with David, he was on that run.

SPEAKER_03 11:12

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:13

And so I just had this huge respect and huge love for Van Halen. Then my mom was more in the Hagar era. She got in with they saw him, they got one of Eddie's shirts back in the day, and I was like, Oh, whoa, I'd wear that as a kid. I'd put on had the Eddie name pads. I was like, I'm wearing Eddie's shirt, man. Oh, this is sick. So I had huge respect, huge love for Van Halen. And when he passed, I just thought of like all the younger generation, the ones that you're like, you're never gonna see Eddie live. So the second best thing I think when you see a rolling memorial to him, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 11:44

Yeah, you know, it's interesting. Um, I you know, in my younger years, in my my late teens, I made a tribute guitar as well, and I'm not a guitar builder at all, but there's something about this band that just makes you wanna, you know, like you don't know what you're doing, but I'm just gonna grab this guitar body and I'm gonna tape it up and I'm gonna spray it and I'm gonna make a mess and you know, fuck some shit up, you know. But gotta have it, gotta. I have to see this, I have to hold it, I have to do it. You know, so it's so interesting now. So many years later, now we have Instagram, social media, and all that stuff, and you see, like, yeah, everybody does that. Anybody who can possibly put a guitar together, even remotely, is doing a tribute to you know, if they're Van Halen fans, they're doing a tribute to Eddie in one one shape or another, one form or another.

SPEAKER_02 12:28

Oh, yeah. I uh I gotta ask, man, what was the first Van Halen song you played in the van?

SPEAKER_00 12:33

Man, I'm a big 1984 fan myself, but I love Van Halen too. Man, if I had to say one of the first would probably be like I like dirty movies, center swing too. Uh great. I love them. You know, the heavier the better were for me. I love the heavy stuff, but then we put some Spanish fly on there too, you know. Some some of the chillers, ice cream man. I'm like ice cream van, man. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_02 12:57

Well, hey, do you have a cassette deck in there or is it a CD player?

SPEAKER_00 13:01

I have a I it used to have a really, really bad CD player. So I rebuilt the whole sound. So put new speakers in it, put a CD deck in it, and it's it cranks out pretty good. Someone gave me a subwoofer. I'm like, you know what? That's not very Van Halen. I'll just put more smaller speakers everywhere. I got a cassette deck, I have uh 78 Camaro, like the stranger things. I rebuilding the cassette deck, but I have all the 80s hair metal, rat doll, everything. I'm looking for some more Van Halen. I think I have almost everyone and a few vinyl. If I could put a vinyl franquis, you know, better not hit any, don't hit any bumps.

SPEAKER_02 13:36

Yeah, that could be a problem. Exactly. Have you ever been? I'm sure people beep at you on the road, honk their horns when they see you. Um, have you ever been pulled over by like a police officer? Not for speeding per se, but because they just want to, you know, meet the person behind the van.

SPEAKER_00 13:51

So I was gonna go where it ties into another story, but I was gonna go photograph a show. It was the goo goo dolls. They were playing at this place in like Palo Alto. I'm on a camp, it's like a campus. So I'm there, I'm driving, and then I see the red, red, white, and blue behind. I'm like, oh man, I wasn't even going 55, man. Come on. And he pulls over, he's like, Hey, you know where you're going by chance? You're in a you know, this is a school, like uh college campus. I'm like, Yeah, we're going to that venue. There's Google Dolls playing or something tonight, right? And he's like, Yeah, you know, I just wanted to stop you to look at your van, man. I've been a huge Halen fan for years. I'm like, dude, here's some guitar picks, here's some stickers. You know, please. I don't, I'm a good, I didn't drive crazy. Those burnout marks aren't me, man. Not me. Yeah, I've been pulled over, and I've had people pull over when I'm driving by the mall or I'm driving down that the big strip. I'll get pub but please pull over. I just need a photo. I just need a photo. I'm like, dude, come on. I'm I welcome it, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 14:48

Right, because I mean your your whole thing, you like there's no ulterior motive here. You're just a fan, and this is what you drive, and you know, whatever. Like, it's not a corporate sort of sponsorship nonsense thing, it's just for the love of it, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:01

Oh, it's for the love I've built, I've learned how to work on cars just through this one and my Camaro and my Barracuda. Literally, I got this, it was fair shape when I got it. I just learned how to rebuild carburetors last month. So before it was like put a new voltage regulator, everything, all car stuff, got it going and learned how to do it. I'm like, whoa, this actually has some power in it now, you know. But it's all all just for the love of it. I've put money into doing all of the radiator heating system in the last two months. It was done for a few months, just dead in my shop. And I've had all these people, hey Brand, when's grandma coming out? When's it coming out? I'm like, okay, let me get all the parts, let me learn how to do this again. And so I got it running about a month ago. Went out to the first like car show locally. They're like, it's back. I'm like, yes, it's back. It's back.

SPEAKER_03 15:49

Right. I saw that. I saw that on your your Instagram that you were back. So so yeah, it's an old van. It's a it's a 69.

SPEAKER_00 15:55

69 e100 with a 302 v8. So it's older than me.

SPEAKER_03 16:00

He's older than me. Wow. So um, so you you had you know, every once in a while it breaks down, you have a little trouble, you gotta give it give it some love and get it back on the road.

SPEAKER_00 16:09

I broke down at the riot house in Hollywood once. There, their valet was having we all. I was like, uh, can I work on my van in here? Like, just want to go for the Lamborghinis, the Ferraris. I'm like, oh, we'll hold the doors back. Don't worry, don't worry. And I got it fixed. Got I when I I went down to LA one time. I plan on doing it again soon. Went out to the Sunset Strip with the Eddie Memorial, went by the whiskey, went by the big palm tree row by Rodeo. It was it's crazy. People were like, Oh my god, it's rolling Van Halen, you know.

SPEAKER_03 16:41

Yeah, you know, I remember um back in like '92 or so, there was a um, there was a custom painted uh pickup truck that Eddie owned that I remember was in like a truck magazine. It happened to catch my eye, you know, in a newsstand back in the day. And you know, I wasn't I wasn't buying those kind of magazines, but uh, but you see those red and white stripes out of the corner of your eye down the down the line, and you're like, oh, what's that?

SPEAKER_01 17:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:08

And so uh I remember that being a thing. And they and I remember Eddie had retrofit a Corvette engine into it. So like he had this giant pickup truck with a Corvette engine in it, and I think it was a giveaway, I think it was like there was a contest behind it or something.

SPEAKER_00 17:21

I remember hearing that.

SPEAKER_03 17:22

I was like, Yeah, I'll have to I'll have to dig up some some photos and and insert them here. But um yeah, super cool. So um tell us a little bit more about the paint job. So um you use spray paint. How is it doing in the weather? Like, have you had to do touch-ups? Have you does it melt a little bit? Like, what's that like?

SPEAKER_00 17:40

So it's just like a like a natural guitar, it has patina, it's getting that patina vibe, that Eddie vibe, right?

SPEAKER_03 17:46

That beat up vibe.

SPEAKER_00 17:47

Cigarette stains, you know. I'm like, hey, let's more the merrier. So I painted up for a little bit, and I had a lot of people on Instagram like, dude, you need more black lines on it. I'm like, uh, I guess I do. So I like a year in, I went on the other side and put some more big black stripes on it. It almost I was like on the line of like, I don't want it to look too much like the A team, so I don't want to put the big ass one down the side. I'm like, you know what? No, I'll just put a few more on. So we did it, made everyone happy. It's about the fan, it's a community. So we wanted to make them happy, us happy. Did that. So I have put a clear on it after that. Not too much clear, but just enough so it's not gonna be killed in the weather, you know.

SPEAKER_03 18:26

Right. But again, your clear is is old school, man.

SPEAKER_00 18:33

If I go too fast, I wanted this to make the the point of this one, I wanted to make it look like it rolled out in 1984. Like you're listening, you're like, this is an 80s. I didn't want to put too much modern stuff in, so it's all original parts. I got these rims off a 68 Cougar down in like Santa Cruz.

SPEAKER_02 18:50

What's her name? Oh, yeah, yeah. Too good, too good.

SPEAKER_00 18:55

Right, she said she knew David Lee Roth, man. I'm like, oh my goodness, probably, yeah. And it's been fun. I mean, the coolest thing is I got my family in on this to make it and do it. And then two years ago, this was my first date car with my girlfriend. I went to go do a photo shoot, and we're like, let's do an 80s shoot, man. This is gonna be hella fun. And I'm like, we haven't stopped talking since that day. Like, oh man, this is a match made in rock and roll heaven, man. And and I've taken it to some shows. Like, I there's two memorable people I'll mention. It was Tommy Gervin. He used to play for Eddie Money. So we went out. My mom's an old friend of his. We went out, it was at that goo goo doll show, brought the van out there. So he opened up in his old, he was before in Eddie Money, he was in a band called Smile, and they shared the bill with Van Halen back in the Sunset Strip era at like Starwood or Whiskey. And he's like, Can I go for a ride in it, man? I'm like, dude, let's go cruise up. We went cruising, we bought stuff at like the corner store, we went cruising around, sharing stories. I had him sign, but I have buddies sign a little like part of it, like the cup holder on the white stripe. Have all my friends and buddies put their name on it when they go for a cruise. And he was telling me stories like, oh man, Ed was he was the coolest dude back in the day. You just you could see that stardom in their eyes at that early because it was 77, 78. He's like, you could see that they wanted it, they were craving this rock and roll legacy they were making. I'm like, dang, man, to have been there would have been badass, you know. So he shared some epic stories for sure. And number two, what I have to say, my buddy Nick Perry. He played, he opened up with Silvertide for Van Halen. I think what was it, like 2004 or something around that era.

SPEAKER_03 20:39

Yep.

SPEAKER_00 20:39

And he was out here in Menlo Park. We were doing a shoot for him, like an album cover shoot, and he was like, Oh man, what are you gonna bring out today? I'm like, You want me to bring out Vanama? He's like, dude, please. I'm like, oh okay. So I brought it out. We took photos, he told me some stories about him and Eddie, too. And I was like, Wow, I mean, to hear these stories, that's like the number one thing about having this van. You have a cool car, right? You're like, dude, nice engine, it's badass, it must be fun. When you have this, it's like that's a cool car, but dude, let me tell you how Van Halen changed my life. I'm like, my ears are open. I want to hear that. I want all the stories, you know.

SPEAKER_02 21:16

Yeah, that's why we created this podcast because we're we feel the same way. Hey, has any of the members of Van Halen uh ever liked uh picture or video or or commented or reached out in any way, shape, or had buddies there?

SPEAKER_00 21:31

You know how it's like uh Michael Anthony has like a few hot rods. They're like, dude, I showed him this, I gave him some passes and some stickers or your van. I'm like, cool, man. Tell them to like it up or let's do something, let's get them in here with the freaking bass, man. I was gonna take it to David Lee Roth's show when he was playing in like Saratoga, but that's when the van was down. I'm like, oh my gosh, the timing on it was horrible.

SPEAKER_03 21:53

Yeah, dude. If you brought that to a Roth show, you know, and he's coming around again this year, man. You you Be, I don't know, you'd be stuck with a line of people waiting to take photos there.

SPEAKER_00 22:04

I would be so for it. I need to do bring it to that, bring it to Mammoth, maybe even. Yeah, you know, that'd be hella cool. I know a lot of people support him, you know. And Wolfie.

SPEAKER_03 22:12

I support him, and I'm like, dude, it'd be telling me let's see that shirt. Oh, yeah. I've got the mammoth on today.

SPEAKER_00 22:20

Yeah, dude, they're hella. He can play. He has the pops.

SPEAKER_03 22:23

Oh, yeah, man.

SPEAKER_02 22:24

So hey, are you gonna maybe do another van or car or even a motorcycle black with the yellow stripes?

SPEAKER_00 22:30

I've I so what I did on the van here, every door is a different guitar of his. So the first pull-out doors are the Frankenstrat, second sideway doors are the Bumblebee, and the first and the last doors in the back, they are the black and white guitars.

SPEAKER_03 22:45

So when you open it up on the inside, we're kind of seeing it there.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

Yeah, yeah. So right here, and I'll show I'll put some videos in there for you guys, but I have the bumblebee in the middle. So that one you open it up and bumblebee pull out, and we have like wolf. I kind of wanted to make a nod to Wolfie. I put like wolf fur kind of ground in there, so it's not shag, but it's wolf, so it's kind of that little nod to the next generation of Halen. I put a bench seat in there. I got this bench seat from a church van. I was I pulled up in Vantama, and they're like, is this where you're putting it in? I'm like, Yeah, like, oh dude, rock on. I'm like, oh, thank goodness. Here's 20 bucks. I'm like, oh, okay, cool. Not a hundred. We like Van Halen. I'm like, all right, well, I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_03 23:30

So let me let me ask you this. Is the uh I I can't recall if you've had any photos of this, but uh, what's the is the license plate? Van is it customized?

SPEAKER_00 23:38

Is it Venomot one? So Vanima, I literally was thinking about making a fleet of these. I wanted to have the Bumblebee, the other guitars, have a fun one. It's like then I realized how big the van was. I'm like, you know what? These are big pieces of machinery. Well, I I've been thinking of doing more, of course.

SPEAKER_02 23:58

Well, I have two questions I've been wondering since I knew we were gonna have this uh this interview with you. And thanks again for stopping by. And well, two questions. When it's a hot day and you're driving, can you barely see the road from the heat coming off of it? And and have you ever reached between your legs and needs to seat back? Inquiring minds would like to know.

SPEAKER_00 24:17

Yeah, every time he's back and goes back like an inch. That's it.

SPEAKER_03 24:23

That's what she said.

SPEAKER_00 24:26

You gotta keep the moving parts clean, man.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

Yeah, there you go. I think it's awesome. I think we could go back and forth on that all.

SPEAKER_00 24:35

Oh, yeah, we're van hauling it, man.

SPEAKER_01 24:36

You know, yeah, there we go.

SPEAKER_00 24:38

The amount amount of comments I get of all the puns, there's I'm like, all right, okay. Sometimes there's a new one. I'm like, okay, you cooked. I like that one. You want to see some real good shit, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 24:49

And listen, man, you know, people can badmouth social media and what it's done to society, but man, as far as I'm concerned, it brings people together. Oh, yeah. You know, like I I live in New York, Tommy lives in Hollywood, and uh, if we didn't have like some sort of electronic way to converse or see your van, we wouldn't even know it existed, right? I mean, maybe Tommy would run into you in in an SF or or you know, wherever you're rolling, but um, I certainly wouldn't, and maybe it'd be word of mouth or something like that, like in the old days. But uh it's a beautiful thing that we can all kind of experience each other's uh love for this band and uh you know this this insane project of yours that is just I mean, I remember the first time I saw it, I just thought it was genius, and I couldn't believe I hadn't seen this before or 10 others. You know, there's so many, like I said, there's so many people doing tribute guitars, but uh tribute vans like that's a whole other level, man. So our hats are off to you, man, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 25:48

I appreciate that. You know what I was always curious about if anyone would like to follow you, by the way. The handle is Van Halen Van5150.

SPEAKER_00 25:55

You know what?

SPEAKER_02 25:56

I highly recommend you follow it. Was Van Halen Van taken?

SPEAKER_00 26:00

It was, I think it was Van Halen for the Instagram. Yeah, it was I was like, okay, and it was like a post with nothing on it, private. Always it's always that, even my other one for my personals, the rock and rhymes. I'm like, bro, I want to beat rock and run. I'm like, you know what? I'll take it. I'll add the the I'll add the 5150, fine.

SPEAKER_02 26:19

Yeah, yeah. So I had the I had the same thing happen to me. I I would look for Tommy London on Instagram. Yeah, some guy has the name, he hasn't posted in like 15 years. I write him, he obviously doesn't check the DM either, probably in 15 years, and I couldn't get the name, so I had to run with something else, official Tommy London. But nonetheless, like that's just annoying.

SPEAKER_00 26:38

But uh well, listen, man, it's been great having you on.

SPEAKER_03 26:44

Why don't you uh give our listeners and our viewers um what your handles are again, just so that we can make sure everyone knows how to how to follow you and track you down.

SPEAKER_00 26:52

Cool, of course. If you want to follow the van on Instagram, it's Van Halen Van5150. My personal the Rockin' Ryan. If you see us in San Francisco, the Bay Area, hopefully coming down to Hollywood again. We gotta go back to the, you know, we gotta go to Pasadena too. I've not taken it there yet. So if you see us, come say what's up. I have guitar picks, I have stickers sometimes. We have some shirts up for sale, helps pay for gas because it's a V8 and it's thirsty. It was it doesn't run on whiskey, man. It runs on premium dark room.

SPEAKER_02 27:21

I thought it ran with the devil. Hey, listen, um, uh when uh when when Tor comes to the West Coast, we would love to reach out to you and do one of our shows from your van and we'll travel around. Would you be down for something like that?

SPEAKER_00 27:36

I am so down I'd be badass.

SPEAKER_03 27:38

Yeah, for sure, man. Gotta do it. Has to all right, my man. Well, listen, everybody. This has been the mighty VH podcast, episode number two with Rockin' Ryan Richardson and Vanima. It's been a pleasure and an honor speaking to you, man. Keep on rolling, and uh, and we'll talk again soon. Tommy, tell them where where they can uh email us.

SPEAKER_02 28:00

Email us at the mighty vanhalen podcast at gmail.com. Look forward to hearing from you. Thanks again for being here, brother. So great.

SPEAKER_00 28:09

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 28:09

And everybody, happy trails.

SPEAKER_02 28:12

Happy trails.