Chance Encounter Landed Shanks Van Halen Producing Gig

In a new interview with Guitar World, Shanks explained how he landed the gig with Van Halen. "I was working in my room, Studio C, and David Lee Roth was across the hall working on solo stuff," says John. "He stays in the studio. He's always in there doing something. It's like a boxer � he's always training. He's always writing and trying stuff and experimenting. He's always creating. It's just staying ready. So he comes in the studio and he's working on a project. I don't know what it was specifically. I introduced myself one day and we chatted a bit and became social. He's very bright and communicative, and we would talk about his dogs, photography, songs, and the current state of pop music."