The son's going to rise

The king is dead long live the king That phrase can loosely apply to Wolfgang Van Halen whos ready to take over the mantle from his late father Eddie Van Halen one of the greatest guitarists the world has ever seen Van Halens started a project called Mammoth WVH and is readying his debut album slated for next year But before that hes released a single called Distance a poignant tribute to his dadEddie Van Halen sharing a light moment with WolfgangThe music has a heavy rock sound thats punctuated with drum rolls and jangling guitar riffs while the lyrics are a translation of what it means for a son to lose a person he dearly loved This is straightup oldschool rock n roll meaning that the apple hasnt fallen far from the tree Here Van Halen opens up about his band and shares fond memories of his father Edited excerpts from an interviewTell us a bit about the plans you have with Mammoth WVH as a projectWhen it comes to creating writing and performing the music in the studio it is all me While playing live I have a band ready to go I think it is just a matter of time for us to be touring and once we are all healthy and ready to go we will be out there Moving forward I plan for this to be viewed just like any other bandHow much would you say has your fathers music informed the sound of Mammoth WVHI am sure there are plenty of ways that it has without my knowledge but it was never an intentional thing I think it is just a part of me to a certain extentWhat feelings and emotions did you experience while writing and composing DistanceIt was tough and an emotional experience for sure because it is an emotional song You kind of have to go there and feel those emotions so you can write about themShare a few memories that you have of your fatherA really funny story happened last year when we went to see Tool an American rock band perform This kid came up to us and asked if we could take a picture We initially thought he was going to take a picture with dad but he just wanted a picture of himself with the stage behind him which my dad did It was funny because we thought that if he realised who he was asking to take the picture for him he might have wanted a different photo Another memory I love is the advice dad would give me that his father gave him which was if you ever make a mistake do it twice because then everyone will think you meant to do itCan you give us a sneak peek into your debut album that is expected next yearIf you enjoy Distance you can definitely expect sounds like that Overall there are going to be heavier songs too I would expect that if you like rock n roll you will probably enjoy the albumLog on to spotifycom