Wolfgang Van Halen says he writes songs directed at the “amalgamation of people that have done me wrong”

Wolfgang Van Halen has offered a peek behind the curtains at his songwriting process which he describes as “almost therapy to a certain extent”.

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The musician reveals his process in a recent interview with BraveWords, where he speaks about Mammoth II, the new Mammoth WVH album written entirely by Wolfgang himself.

Discussing his approach to lyrics writing, in particular, Van Halen says “It’s certainly more social than anything.”

“It all comes from personal experience and sort of reflection or almost therapy to a certain extent, just kind of getting things out that I couldn’t otherwise,” he explains. “I think most of the time when I write, it’s kind of at this amalgamation of people that have done me wrong, sort of this entity of people just joined into one that I kind of write at.”

“But yeah, I think in this one, it was way more introspective and darker. It’s much more of an inward album, as opposed to the first one.”

Asked if the album is a study of fame in the internet age, Van Halen – who’s more than familiar with the concept of online trolls – replies “Yeah, you can certainly assume that for a bunch, I think. And I think people are maybe a bit too quick to do that when it comes to my stuff?”

“Because I think there’s only maybe two direct… one really direct song on this album that you could connect to that, which would be I’m Alright. I think I’m Alright is probably the only really direct response to any personal views of people trying to tell me what they think I should be doing; it’s sort of a response to that.”

“I think the song Better Than You is more of a commentary on just where we are as a whole. But when it comes to a personal thing, I’m Alright is certainly that one, I guess.”