Wolfgang Van Halen on growing up with rock legend father and paving his own musical path
A sense of wonder still fills Wolfgang Van Halen each time he steps on stage to wield a guitar and sing into a microphone.
"There's nothing like the energy of just being in a concert hall when it's happening," the 33-year-old musician said. "It's the best."
Van Halen expects the same rush of adrenaline when he brings his rock band Mammoth WVH to the 1,820-seat MGM Northfield Park Center Stage on July 24 in Summit County. A day later, he'll return to a stadium spectacle as an opening act for the Foo Fighters at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
Tickets are available for both shows at ticketmaster.com.
"I prefer anywhere where people want to hear live music," Van Halen said when speaking from a tour stop in Birmingham, England earlier this month. "The size of the room doesn't really matter. Some of my favorite shows I've ever played have been a sweaty, dark club of 300 people, but then I've played ... the Taylor Hawkins (tribute) show that had something like 80,000 people in (Wembley Stadium in London). I've done it all, and I feel like as long as people are there to listen to music and have a great time experiencing live music, that's all that really matters.
"I personally know, as a very anti-social person, the amount of effort it takes to get out of the house and go see something," he said as laughter faded. "You really got to want to see it, so for people to do that, it's an honor to allow us to take some of their time."
Such gratitude sounds more akin to a newbie musician rather than the son of the late guitar icon Eddie Van Halen, who sold more than 80 million records as a founding member of the influential hard rock band Van Halen.
Surrounded by rock music since birth, Wolfgang was Van Halen's touring bass player as a teenager. He also released "A Different Kind of Truth" with the band in 2012, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame group's final studio album.
Being a Van Halen musical offspring has subjected the artist to criticism and sniping from detractors on social media. Sometimes it's the lingering resentment harbored by a contingent of fans for replacing original Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony. Sometimes it's because he's unapologetically carved his own path musically, refusing to create Van Halen 2.0. And sometimes it's simply because his father's shadow looms so large.
Buoyed by the support of his mother, actress and author Valerie Bertinelli, the younger Van Halen has withstood it all, emerging as a Grammy-nominated and charting musician who is praised by legends in the business.
Born to shred Nuno Bettencourt of Extreme reviving rock with new music, Ohio tour stop
Wolfgang Van Halen plays all of the instruments while handling vocals on two albums that blend hard, indie, pop and alterative rock ? "Mammoth" and "Mammoth II."
During a nearly 20-minute phone interview, he spoke thoughtfully in a reserved, almost gentle tone about plans for a third album; what it's like to tour with legendary bands; why he opened up and shared his story in a new documentary; and his excitement over "A Different Kind of Truth" returning to music streaming services.
Wolfgang is already working on new music
After releasing the first Mammoth WVH album in 2021 and the follow-up last August, Van Halen is already back at work.
"I've been in the studio a little already, and we've been touring like crazy this year, so I've been kind of compiling ideas and coming up with stuff that I want to attack once I get in the studio again.
"The plan is definitely to get the third (Mammoth WVH) album done this year … or at least by the beginning of next year, so we can release it sometime next year, but yeah, we're still going. We've been going for a while now (releasing music and touring)," he said with laughter. "So it's important to kind of go away and give people a little rest from us because we've been going non-stop for three years at this point."
What will the new Mammoth WVH album sound like?
"I think I'm really looking forward to seeing what that new branch is gonna be for this next album because … in order for me to really want to keep doing this, it's like I want to keep adding new flavors and new freshness to that," Wolfgang Van Halen said. "So I've been messing around with some piano ideas. I'm not sure if that will make it yet or if I'm good enough to pull that off, but I just want to start adding some new vibes and just kind of see what happens."
Is an all-star style album in Wolfgang's future?
Asked if he would ever consider releasing an album featuring guest musicians such as Slash, Dave Grohl, Myles Kennedy and others, he said, "I think right now I'm focused so much on sort of building Mammoth and seeing where I can take that. I still have the desire to sort of pour everything into Mammoth, but I certainly could see that happening down the line. That would be a really fun endeavor, surely."
Guitar hero John 5 talks M?tley Crüe, Marilyn Manson, Eddie Van Halen before NE Ohio show
What rock band would Wolfgang love to tour with?
Mammoth WVH has opened for Guns N' Roses and Metallica and will be touring with Creed later this year. So what's left?
"With the insane amount of people we've opened for, Foo Fighters was certainly one of the dream 'holy crap' moments. And the fact that is happening is ridiculous," Wolfgang said. "I think one more band maybe I'd think of would probably be AC/DC. They've been a special band for me, and especially for me and my father. We listened to them all the time. AC/DC, I guess, would be that ... crazy dream, like holy crap. That'd be insane."
'Behind the Music' with Wolfgang Van Halen
Paramount+ recently released a "Behind the Music" episode on the streaming platform exploring Wolfgang Van Halen's life and relationship with his father, who died in 2020 following a long battle with cancer.
"I think I got it all out in that," the son said. "It was very therapeutic but very difficult at the same time. It was a nice opportunity to be able to explain my story for myself, because I think a lot of people have sort of decided what they think about me, and what my story is without my input and without truth mattering to begin with, so it was nice to be able to have my own personal opportunity to kind of tell my story."
Van Halen's 'A Different Kind of Truth' returns to streaming
Van Halen's album "A Different Kind of Truth" made big news in 2012.
Debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard charts, it was the band's first studio album since 1998, and the first to feature original vocalist David Lee Roth in nearly three decades.
Touring and making music with his son helped rescue Eddie Van Halen from the depths of alcohol addiction and substance abuse, Wolfgang said in the "Behind the Music" documentary.
Garnering largely favorable reviews among critics and fans, "A Different Kind of Truth" had been absent from music streaming services until last month.
Asked if the album could be released on vinyl, and perhaps in an expanded edition, Wolfgang Van Halen said: "That would be fun, (but) with what we recorded for that album, that was everything, so there wouldn't be anything extra to throw on it, really, but certainly, I'm very happy to have it on streaming again, so people can listen to it.
"It's a very important part of the history of the band, so it's nice that it's back up there certainly. I'm very happy about that."
Mammoth WVH coming to Northeast Ohio
Where: MGM Northfield Park Center Stage in Summit County
When: July 24 at 7:30 p.m.
Who Mammoth WVH, a rock band featuring Wolfgang Van Halen, the son of late guitar legend Eddie Van Halen. BRKN LOVE is opening
Tickets: Available at ticketmaster.com. Starting at $32.50 before fees. VIP access available.
Reach Ed at [email protected]
On X (formerly Twitter) @ebalintREP and Instagram at ed_balint
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Wolfgang Van Halen on new music, AC/DC and 'A Different Kind of Truth'
