WOLFGANG VAN HALEN Wants To ‘Widen The Breadth’ Of His Musical Output On Second MAMMOTH WVH Album

In a new interview with Guitar World, Wolfgang Van Halen, the ex-bassist of the band VAN HALEN and son of the late guitarist Eddie Van Halen, spoke about the progress of the recording sessions for the second MAMMOTH WVH album. The effort will be the follow-up to “Mammoth WVH”, which arrived in June 2021, some five years after the now-31-year-old musician began piecing together ideas for his solo career.

Asked what his goals are for the new MAMMOTH WVH LP, Wolfgang said: “It sucks to know that Dad isn’t going to be popping in every now and then like he did the first time. So it’s going to be different, but the goal overall is the same, which is to make music I would like to hear and that I enjoy. That’s how I follow my writing process.

Earlier this month, Wolfgang told Ireland’s Overdrive that he has “already recorded the bulk of the next [MAMMOTH WVH] album. The plan was to just focus, and try to do the best that I can do,” he said. “After all, that’s what made the first album work, so I’m looking to try to capture that ethos again for the follow-up. Basically, I just write music that follows my heart, and my tastes, and ultimately, music that makes me happy.”

In February, Wolfgang told SiriusXM‘s “Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk” that he had already gathered plenty of material for MAMMOTH WVH‘s sophomore effort. “I’m very ready to get back in the studio,” he said. “We have some leftover tracks from the first album that I’d like to take another look at — maybe add stuff or maybe redo entirely — and then a bunch of new ideas to get into.”

MAMMOTH WVH‘s debut album was released via Explorer1 Music Group/EX1 Records.

MAMMOTH WVH‘s first single, “Distance”, reached No. 1 on the MediaBase and BDS Active Rock Radio charts. A tribute to Wolfgang‘s father, the song was not originally intended to be on MAMMOTH WVH‘s debut album, but due to the overwhelming response to its accompanying video, which has been viewed over six million times on YouTube, it was added as a bonus track. All of Wolfgang‘s proceeds from “Distance” are being donated to Mr. Holland’s Opus.

“Distance” is an open letter to Wolfgang‘s father, declaring “no matter what the distance is, I will be with you.” The video for the song is created from a collection of family home movies through the years and offers an inside look in to one of music’s most notable personalities. Chronicling the family through the years, the video ends with a touching voicemail left from Eddie to his son.

In November 2020, Wolfgang confirmed that he asked his father for permission to use the MAMMOTH WVH band name for his solo project. MAMMOTH WVH is a nod to family history — Eddie and Alex Van Halen‘s band was called MAMMOTH when singer David Lee Roth first joined it in 1974.

MAMMOTH WVH‘s touring lineup features Wolfgang on guitar and lead vocals, Frank Sidoris (SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS) on guitar, Jon Jourdan on guitar and vocals, Garrett Whitlock (TREMONTI) on drums, and Ronnie Ficarro on bass.

On November 11, MAMMOTH WVH released a digital deluxe edition of the debut album via EX1 Records. The new digital deluxe features the bonus track from the Japanese version of the album, “Talk & Walk”, as well as two previously unreleased tracks, “As Long As You’re Not You” and “Goodbye”.

Source:  www.blabbermouth.net