EX35 - Wolfgang Van Halen - Mammoth - Being his own musician and two songs - Distance and Don't Back Down

The Add To My Playlist Podcast

EPISODE 35 - External Version

Wolfgang Van Halen - Mammoth - Being his own musician and two songs - Distance and Don't Back Down

Distance

Named in tribute to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Wolfgang Van Halen is the only child of the late musician Eddie Van Halen. Wolfgang first joined his father's band Van Halen as their bassist in 2007, and started work on his debut solo album about a dozen years later. He released "Distance" on November 16, 2020 as his first single under his Mammoth WVH moniker after losing his dad to throat and lung cancer.

Wolfgang explained: "'Distance' is a song that I wrote between 2013 and 2015. My father had struggled with his health a lot throughout the years, and it was a song that came out during one of the darker times, where it was my brain playing a scenario of what it would be like if I didn't have him in my life, and being able to focus on the idea that while we may not be together at some point, we're never really that far apart."
"Mammoth" has significance in Van Halen lore: That was the name of the band before David Lee Roth joined.

All proceeds from the sale of the single are going to one of Eddie Van Halen's favorite charities, The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation, which donates musical instruments to schools.

Wolfgang inherited many of his father's musical talents. He plays every instrument on the track, including a virtuoso guitar solo, and provides vocals.

Don't Back Down

"Don't Back Down" features a dramatic mid-song instrumental section reminiscent of Queens Of The Stone Age. Wolfgang is a big fan of the Josh Homme-fronted band. He pointed out to UCR that another of the Mammoth WVH tracks, "The Big Picture," was called "Queens" as a demo title. "If you thought you heard Queens on this one, it's definitely on that one, too," he said.

Wolfgang wrote the song, sang on it, and played all the instruments himself. The video has a little fun with this one-man-band concept, showing identical Wolfgang Characters at every instrument as they record the song in 5150 Studios, which was set up by his dad, Eddie. At the beginning of the clip, drummer Wolf annoys his bandmates by showing up late. They get it together and record a take, then we see two more Wolfgangs in the control room who declare it "terrible." Producer was one role Wolf didn't do himself: Michael "Elvis" Baskette handled it.

YouTube Links:

Wolfgang Van Halen - Mammoth WVH: Distance (Official Music Video)

Mammoth WVH: Don't Back Down (Official Video)

Wolfgang Van Halen, Justin Hawkins, Dave Grohl, Josh Freese "Panama" Taylor Hawkins Tribute, 9.27.22

___

The Add To My Playlist Website

Have a podcast and need a great website? Try Podpage!

podcast presented by True Media Solutions