Wolfgang Van Halen is featured in a new in-depth interview with Rolling Stone discussing his band, Mammoth WVH. He also talked about the rumoured planned tribute tour for his father, guitar legend Eddie Van Halen. Following is an excerpt from the interview.
Rolling Stone: There was apparently some kind of Van Halen tribute attempted that involved your uncle (Alex Van Halen) and Joe Satriani. What can you say about that?
Wolfgang: "What I can say is that there was an attempt at doing something. But, you know, I don’t like to speak negatively about people, but there are some people that make it very difficult to do anything when it comes to Van Halen. After being in Van Halen for a long time, I really have strived to have an environment where there is no walking on eggshells and there is no personality that you have to deal with. It’s just guys having fun making music and just having a good time. But, you know, from my time in Van Halen, there was always some stuff that gets in the way from just making music and having a good time. And, I think, that’s what happened."
Rolling Stone: Let’s see, how can we decode that?
Wolfgang: "I would love to just sit here and say everything and say the truth. There are plenty of interviews my dad did, where he straight up just said everything. And people hated him for it and thought he was lying. So I could just say shit, but people have already decided how they feel about things, facts or not. So I can say the facts. But that may not align with how certain people feel. I know how Van Halen fans get. They are very motivated by which specific people they like in the band. And it’s just not worth it. Just, we made an attempt, and some people can be hard to work with, and made it not happen."
Rolling Stone: When you say “we,” what would your involvement have been in this?
Wolfgang: "When it comes to Van Halen, and decision-making overall and what Van Halen does, it’s Al, and then I’m there and supportive. You know, I basically help make the decisions that dad would be there to make, because I’m in there in his stead."
Rolling Stone: So basically, you gave your blessing to this attempt that didn’t work out.
Wolfgang: "It didn’t even get to that point. It was in such an early stage that it never even got off the ground."
Rolling Stone: Too bad.
Wolfgang: "Yeah, no, I would really like to do something for Pop."
Read the complete interview here.
Guesting on the Walking The Floor podcast hosted by Chris Shiflett earlier this year, Wolfgang Van Halen discussed his forthcoming signature semi-hollow guitar and how it pays tribute to his father. Check out the full interview below.
Wolfgang: "There are so many people who are like, 'Why don't you develop your own guitar?' It's like, 'I've been doing that this whole time.' We're developing a guitar I'm very excited about. I'm calling it the SA-126: Dad's birthday is January 26. He named a song, '316', after my birthday. SA (means) semi-acoustic; that's been the code name, and the more I've sat with it, the more I really like it. It has one f-hole, but we've modified it so it's an E-hole, for dad. I'm really stoked about it, and I think people are going to dig it when they see it."
