29 February 2024
As he begins another year of touring with his band, Mammoth WVH, Wolfgang Van Halen says “he didn’t expect to be where we are this soon in our career. I didn’t see it coming. I feel very lucky to be where we are.”
That seems … odd?
The 32-year-old son of the late Eddie Van Halen and actress Valerie Bertinelli is as sincere as his viewpoint is surprising.
He did, after all, start his performing career playing to sold-out arenas as Van Halen’s bassist from 2007 to 2020, and alongside that was part of Creed/Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti’s solo band. He was a known commodity by the time Mammoth WVH released its debut album in 2021, hitting No. 1 on three Billboard charts and launching a pair of No. 1 Mainstream Rock hits in “Distance” and “Don’t Back Down.”
Last year’s “Mammoth II,” meanwhile, also debuted atop the Hard Rock Albums charts, and the band found itself playing to stadiums opening for Metallica. And Van Halen himself was part of the award-nominated “I’m Not Ken” the “Barbie: The Movie” soundtrack.
Wolfgang Van Halen performs at Ford Field in November 2023. (Photo courtesy of Mike Ferdinande)
It’s a lot of good stuff, and it seems that with his experience and his lineage, Van Halen would not be surprised.
“Well, it’s a bit different when it’s your thing from its inception,” Van Halen explains via Zoom from his home in Los Angeles, where he also helps to run his father’s EVH Gear company. “It’s this baby you’ve cradled yourself from the very beginning. It’s such a close thing to my heart because I’ve poured everything into it. So to be able to see people appreciate that, it feels nice … and better than I expected it to be at this point.”
While he does have a touring band, Mammoth WVH is 100% Van Halen in the studio, playing all the instruments and doing all the singing with only producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette and recording engineers alongside. It’s a testament to Van Halen’s DNA and drive, of course. He started out playing drums, then moved on to other instruments, and at this point, he’s comfortable as a one-man band, at least when recording.
“From its inception, it’s been my artistic expression or whatever,” says Van Halen, who married longtime girlfriend Andraia Allsop in October. “And at the end of the day, it’s just plain fun. I have a good time playing everything. Could I see bringing the live guys in at some point? Sure, but I just have such a good time doing it (alone). I’m not ready to give that up.”
And, he adds, being the master of his own musical domain means he can follow his muse in any direction.
“I view it in a way as expanding the scope of Mammoth rather than creating something else,” Van Halen explains. “Mammoth II, I think, skewed in a different direction where there were some heavier things and stuff that wouldn’t have fit in the first album. There are certainly ideas that feel more left field that I’ve come up with lately that are like, ‘Y’know, this would be another cool notch in the belt, another direction Mammoth can go to.’
“So I’m just focused on Mammoth being, I guess, a one-stop shop for any type of vibe I want.”
The “Barbie” involvement, of course, was an unforeseen fork on the creative path. Van Halen was invited on the Ryan Gosling-sung “I’m Not Ken” by Mark Ronson after meeting at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert in September 2022 — where Van Halen played a selection of Van Halen band songs. He played guitar on the track, which was a Top 5 hit on Billboard’s Hot Rock Songs and Alternative charts and was nominated for Golden Globe and Academy Awards.
“I’m just honestly happy to be part of it, to have the opportunity to play a super small part in it,” Van Halen says. “I spent two days in the studio and we just kind of played around with ideas, and it was a really good time. I knew (the movie) was good just from being involved in it and seeing what I was able to see, but to see how much it, specifically the song I played on, blow up as much as it did was pretty crazy.”
The only dark cloud in all this silver lining is haters, who have let their opinions be known since Van Halen controversially replaced original bassist Michael Anthony 17 years ago in Van Halen. Some — who obviously don’t listen to the music — slam Van Halen for coasting on his father’s enormous coattails and fill social media with potshots. And Van Halen is more aggressive than most at slapping back at the most egregious comments.
More recently he faced the ire of former Van Halen frontman David Lee Roth, who in a lengthy video diatribe referred to Van Halen as “this f***in’ kid” and a “schlemiel kid” and accused him of kicking some of Roth’s guests out of the backstage area during shows. “I’m honored he thinks about me as much as he does, I guess,” Van Halen says with a smirk, adding, “I would sure love to not have to be part of some sort of Van Halen drama at all, so I think I’m just gonna continue to sit in my no-comment zone … ’cause at the end of the day, it’s just not worth it.”
However, he continues: “It’s one thing when there some dude on Twitter being a (jerk), saying a lie about me. But when there’s other people trying to lie about me and make me look bad, it’s just like you can believe whatever you want, I guess. The people who hate me are gonna continue to hate me and I’m just gonna be over here doing my thing.”
As far as Van Halen is concerned, he’s more than proved that his “thing” is nothing less than valid.
“It’s tough and a bit stressful to have so many expectations on you and people having so many opinions on what I should be doing or whatever,” he says. “But I’m confident that just my existence is an honoring of my dad’s legacy, and the fact I am chasing my own musician dreams and doing my own thing in music. … He was very proud and I think he’d be proud to see where everything is now.”
Mammoth WVH and Nita Strauss perform Wednesday, Feb. 28 at Saint Andrew’s Hall, 431 E. Congress St., Detroit. Doors at 7 p.m. 313-961-8961 or saintandrewsdetroit.com.
While he does have a touring band, Mammoth WVH is 100% Wolfgang Van Halen in the studio, playing all the instruments and doing all the singing with only producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette and recording engineers alongside. (Photo courtesy of Bryan Beasley)