Well, 78 years of age Alan got. Yo, I hope I get to 78. In my opinion, it’s tragic, but it’s not like he was torn away from us at 50 or something. What I told Liz that night was that he was appreciated in his lifetime. The world had caught up with him. Those guys had started in 1970, and all they did was get abused at their shows. But they held their ground. Alan was extremely uncompromising in his art. He painted. He did all kind of interesting video art. And then there was the music. But I don’t think people are completely aware that he had this whole other creative output that was non-music, which kept him really busy. And what makes it really fun for the naysayers was that it sold really well. It’s not like he made stuff and it just piled up. He would do these gallery exhibitions and people would come and buy the whole wall. And Liz is an extraordinary person who gave him the freedom to just art out. She really got it. She knew who she married. She told me just the other day he had all these paintings he just finished. They had bought new canvases for him, because he had this whole other thing planned. There’s a finished new album called It. I heard part of it. The guy was always starting the next thing while he was in the middle of other things. Even seeing him live at the Barbican in London last summer at age 77, his age never occurred to me.

Did you hear from Martin Rev after Alan passed?

I got an email from Martin, which is a miracle. He usually talks as much as the Sphinx. He wrote me on Sunday and said, “Hey, I hope you are OK. Your version of ‘Ghost Rider’ was tops.” I wrote back saying, “Hang in there.” It was nice to hear from him. Those two were brothers. They been through musical war together. It’s a friendship that goes for over 45 years. They’re both extraordinary guys.

The Suicide/Alan Vega Anthology Number One was the first music release on your 2.13.61 label. How did it come about?

I played it the other night. I’m sitting here with it right now. It’s all about Alan, that thing. The company that physically made it was run by one of the guys from the band Savage Republic. And sometime in the ’80s or ’90s, you started seeing CDs packaged in this fashion with the recycled paper and this cardboard with silkscreen. The Savage Republic albums were like that. I think R.E.M. did a single using this company. It was almost like origami how they designed it. I wanted to make this release something where you would have to stop what you were doing and deal with. It was something you had to read and had to look at and give a minute to unfold. I wanted to make it something you wouldn’t just toss out. It was an eyeful.