Wolfgang Van Halen will “absolutely not” play Van Halen songs live in new solo project unless they’re “really fucking different”
“I refuse to tread the same ground as my dad. I need to forge my own path.”
Image: Mat Hayward / Getty
Wolfgang Van Halen, who has just recently released his first solo single, has revealed that he has no plans to play Van Halen songs live when his solo project starts to tour, unless there’s the opportunity to transform the songs drastically.
Speaking to SiriusXM’s Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk, the musician was asked about playing Van Halen tracks during Mammoth WVH’s live shows, to which he responded: “Absolutely not. If I do, I’d want it to be, like, really fucking different. I wouldn’t wanna just sit there and play Ain’t Talkin’ ‘Bout Love. ‘d wanna do a cool acoustic cover of Little Guitars or some shit – something different. I refuse to tread the same ground as my dad. I need to forge my own path.”
He went on to say: “Van Halen fans, please don’t take that and run with it. I’m not gonna put out a Van Halen cover album or anything. If I do happen to, it would be under that context. It would be different.”
Wolfgang played every instrument on Mammoth WVH’s debut album, which is scheduled for release in spring 2021. Its first single, Distance, was released earlier this month – a tribute to Wolf’s father, written as he battled cancer.
Wolfgang also revealed the lineup that will be joining him when he starts to play shows with Mammoth WVH: Frank Sidoris, (guitarist for Slash and Myles Kennedy’s band The Conspirators), Garrett Whitlock (drummer for Tremonti), and bassist Ronnie Ficarro.
Speaking to Trunk Nation, he said of the lineup: “We’ve got Frank. My good brother Garrett Whitlock, who I played with in Tremonti; we were the rhythm section for a good long while. And God, he hits hard, and that’s really important to me. And an amazing guy too, which is even more important, ’cause they’re family – you’ve gotta live with them moving forward. And Ronnie Ficarro, a bass player; he played with Falling In Reverse and a band called I Am Ghost. He’s a tremendous player and a great guy too. So I’m really stoked about it. The second we started playing in 2018, we just immediately jelled. Even dad was, like, ‘“Fuck yeah! You guys got this.’”
Wolfgang’s recent comments aren’t the first time he’s reconciled forging his own path while acknowledging his musical roots: earlier this year, he told fans: “I’m not trying to be my father; I’m trying to be me.”
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