Wolfgang Van Halen talks Mammoth WVH, Guns N' Roses tour, Van Halen

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Wolfgang Van Halen talks Mammoth WVH, Guns N’ Roses tour, Van Halen
Updated: 7:36 p.m. | Published: 7:22 p.m.
By Matt Wake | mwake@al.com

This would be a hot new act if the singer/guitarist’s name was Joe Smith, Bill Jones or Chris Johnson.

His name isn’t Smith, Jones or Johnson though.

It’s Van Halen.

And Wolfgang Van Halen is more than living up to one of rock’s most respected surnames. In June, he released the year’s most impressive rock debuts thus far, the self-titled LP from his project Mammoth WVH, for which he recorded all the instruments and vocals, a la vintage Prince or early Paul McCartney.

The band Wolfgang put together to tour with him as Mammoth WVH – similar to what Dave Grohl did during the dawn of Foo Fighters – is touring stadiums as the opening act for hard-rock gods Guns N’ Roses. In between GN’R gigs, Wolfgang and co. are doing their own headlining shows, at music halls and large clubs.

The 14 songs on “Mammoth WVH” are anthemic and personal. The music goes from shimmering modern rock to blues-based riffs. Wolfgang’s vocals, full of melody and heart. The LP topped Billboard’s rock, hard rock and independent albums charts, and even scaled to number 12 on the Billboard 200 overall albums chart.

As the son of guitar genius Eddie Van Halen and Golden Globe-winning actor Valerie Bertinelli, Wolfgang was born with supernatural DNA. In his teens, he fulfilled the first part of his destiny. It was then on bass he joined Eddie and uncle/drummer Alex Van Halen’s iconic band Van Halen, known for Megatron-sized songs like “Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love” and “Panama.” The band was so musically talented they not only survived a high-profile lead-singer turnover they thrived.

Eddie Van Halen was a hero to millions and a father to one. In October 2020, Eddie died after a long battle with cancer. Wolfgang actually had the Mammoth album finished for a couple years, but he delayed releasing and working his debut so he could be with his father. If that isn’t soulful, I don’t know what is.

Earlier this year, Mammoth WVH ballad “Distance,” a stirring tribute Wolfgang made for his dad, topped the mainstream rock chart. The corresponding music video went viral and brought tears to the eyes of many of the people who picked up the guitar in the last 40 years. Even the name Mammoth WVH has deep roots. It’s a nod to the band name Eddie and Alex used early in their careers before changing it to Van Halen. Before Wolfgang launched his own band, he also played bass with Tremonti, a modern rock group led by Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti.

Now 30, Wolfgang fronts Mammoth WVH on vocals, guitar and occasionally keyboards. The band boasts Slash’s solo band guitarist Frank Sidoris, Tremonti drummer Garrett Whitlock, Falling in Reverse bassist Ronnie Ficarro and guitarist Jon Jourdan.

On a recent afternoon, Wolfgang checked in from his tour bus for a 15-minute phone interview. The defiant and excellent Mammoth track “Don’t Back Down” had just hit number-on on the rock singles chart, setting a great mood for our chat. Edited excerpts are below.

Q: Hey Wolfgang. Congrats on “Don’t’ Back Down” hitting number one, man.

A: Thank you! Pretty nice. [Laughs]

Q: How did you make “Don’t Back Down”? What were you writing about not backing down from? It’s a really good rock song with gnarly guitar riffs and the drums sound like ’70s glam-rock.

A: It actually came together pretty quickly, but late in the album recording process. And it was kind of like a throwback to a Black Sabbath sort of vibe. It just had a really good almost like sports anthem vibe. The thing you throw on when you just want to kick the crap out of the other team. I think that’s kind of the vibe I was going for.

Q: The music video for “Don’t Back Down” is great. There are six Wolfgangs in the studio playing the different instruments, behind the recording console, etc. Of course it’s a play on how you played all the instruments on the album. Who came up with the concept for the video? And how did shoot it so it all looks seamless and natural?

A: Yeah, I just always had this idea early on, that it’d be fun to do one where it was me in every position and the (record) producer and just have some fun with it. And it took two days and it’s just about, you know, having a stationary camera and just recording in the same position a handful of times. The guy who did it, Gordy (De St. Jeor), did such a wonderful job of putting it all together. I’m really happy with it.

Q: For recording the songs “Mammoth” and “Feel” you used your dad’s original Frankenstein guitar. A lot of rock fans know what that guitar sounds like and what it looks like. But I was wondering, how does that Frankenstein guitar actually feel, physically? Is it light? Heavy? Does it have certain dents or nicks on the neck or body you feel when you’re playing it?

A: You know, it’s kind of such a special moment that you’re kind of freaked out while you’re playing the whole time. So your brain isn’t really focused on it. You’re just kind of like, “I just don’t want to drop it.” You’re just so focused on making sure it’s safe, that your brain maybe doesn’t have as much time to focus on like the little details. [Laughs]

Q: Do you ever write music completely in your head, without having a guitar, bass or keyboard in your hands at the time?

A: If that does happen, I will like open my phone and hum something into it and then figure it out later on an instrument. I like to at least get it recorded with an instrument so I know how to play it kind of thing. That’s happened quite a few times.

Q: I love rock songs that just rock really hard. But I also love it when they’re so melodic you could turn it into a pop song or R&B song or a singer/songwriter type song and it would still work. The Mammoth WVH song “Resolve” is like that. How instinctual are your vocal melodies? Is that something you refine over time to get the end result on a track?

A: Some stuff like that can always change, I think. When it came to “Resolve,” that melody kind of came hand in hand with the riff. Usually, sometimes I’ll come up with a riff and then I’ll work a melody, but that one kind of seem to come together pretty quickly with the two together. Melody is always really important to me. I usually write melody before I write lyrics. Because rather than trying to shoehorn words, I always like to make the meter and the flow of words be comfortable with the melody.

Q: If a person is recording all the instruments on an album, logic might dictate to play the drums or rhythm guitar first. What did you usually lay down first, when you are tracking the Mammoth WVH album?

A: Drums. Usually I had like a demo that I made myself and then we imported it into Pro Tools, and then you slowly remove different things as you replace them with the actual thing that’s going to be there. Usually it started with drums, then bass and guitar, then vocals.

Q: What are some albums you’ve listed to the most that are like that, where it sounds like a band even though it’s one person playing everything?

A: The main one would definitely be the first Foo Fighters album. The early Paul McCartney albums too. But the first Foo Fighters album, that’s where I got inspiration for wanting to attempt this.

Q: How are the “Mammoth WVH” songs changing, now that you’re playing them live with a full band? And how are you changing as a singer?

A: I think everything kind of changes when you do it live because it kind of becomes its own thing, rather than trying to recreate everything from the album perfectly. It’s fun that it takes on a life of its own. And getting these awesome musicians I have in my band, everybody puts their own spin on it, where you take what was on the album, but it elevates it live.

Q: In addition to your band headlining its own shows, Mammoth WVH has been opening for Guns N’ Roses. What’s something you’ve noticed about Slash’s guitar playing from being around GN’R so much lately?

A: I love just watching him and how effortless he makes it seem, everything he does. It’s always fun to just watch somebody like that do their thing, because you never really get to see it much and so being able to see it every night it’s a treat, for sure.

Q: The song “Stone” is one of my favorites on the Mammoth album. Where did that song come from?

A: Yeah, that’s another one where it was a different vibe and fun to really dig in and explore, you know. It’s like a mix of Nine Inch Nails and Black Sabbath. I just wanted to try and make kind of an epic closer to the album. I mean, it’s the longest. I think it’s over six minutes. So it was fun to write in that sort of space, to make a really dynamic sort of song.

Q: Obviously, “Distance” has to be a difficult one for you to play, emotionally. How have those emotions changed, from the first time you played that song live at a Mammoth show, to how it felt at the last one?

A: They’re always there. It hasn’t changed, you just kind of have to sit next to it and play the song. But it’s certainly always there.

Q: When you switch from guitar to keyboards during a Mammoth show, how does that change how you front the band?

A: It’s juggling a lot of balls in the air because when I am playing the keyboard, I’m also playing the guitar on the same song. [Laughs] For “Stone” it’s a bit more relaxing because I have time, but for “Epiphany” when I play the keyboard I need to really make sure I hit the mute button on the guitar as fast as I can and get right into it, and then oh I’m also singing. It’s a whole thing. [Laughs]

Q: I got to see you play bass on the last couple Van Halen tours and loved those shows. On these Mammoth WVH shows we’re hearing all Mammoth songs in the setlist. But back in the day with Van Halen, which Van Halen songs did you enjoy playing bass on live the most?

A: I was so happy on the last tour in 2015 when we busted out a lot of B-sides that Van Halen never really played before. So things like opening with “Light Up The Sky” was a blast. Playing things like “Drop Dead Legs” and “Dirty Movies” and “In A Simple Rhyme,” “Women In Love.” Just doing all of that stuff. We played “Good Girl Gone Bad” too. That was really fun, playing all those songs.

Q: People know about you, they know this record, they know about your history in Van Halen. Is it just music for you 24/7? What else do you like to do?

A: I’m a big videogame nerd, for sure. [Laughs] The guitar player Frank and I we always play this game called “Apex Legends,” any day off we have that we can get a good (internet) connection.

Q: This first Mammoth WVH album has been well received, so people are going to be interested in what the next one might sound like. How much writing are you doing on the road? Do you do any writing on the bus or at soundcheck?

A: Yeah, I’ve been writing here and there (on the road), not too much. But I do have a big backlog of some ideas that I wasn’t able to visit, or maybe wrote sometime after the studio, that I’m really looking forward to messing around with.

I think I’ve got a good bank of like 20 or 30 ideas I’m really excited to work on in the studio. So as soon as I’m able to, I’m excited to get going and see what the second album could bring.

Q: Do you think the second album might be musically similar to the first? Heavier? Or more melodic?

A: I’m always into, you know, broadening the sound. I mean, if you listen to the first album, there’s a bunch of different vibes all over it, so I’m sure there might be some new vibes. But I think if you enjoy the band, you’ll certainly be happy.

Mammoth WVH headline Oct. 20 at Huntsville’s Mars Music Hall, address 700 Monroe St. at the Von Braun Center. All-female upstarts Plush open the 8 p.m. show. Tickets are $20 for general admission/floor and $75 reserved/mezzanine, via ticketmaster.com. You can order the debut Mammoth WVH album via mammothwvh.com.