Wolfgang Van Halen
The 20 Most Interesting New Artists of 2020
With most indie venues closed due to the pandemic and many record stores altering their business methods, it was a challenging year for music discovery. Luckily, we live in the Internet age, where a glowing album review, trending social media post or intriguing Bandcamp tag can instantly connect fans to their next favorite band. As the music world remained stuck in quarantine limbo, upcoming songwriters had more time than usual to record, hype, network and livestream — and it’s safe to say we all needed the distraction. To cap off the year’s depressing madness with a glimmer of optimism, we gathered this list of our 20 Most Interesting New Artists of 2020 — from indie-pop to Afrobeat. Where there are fresh sounds, there’s hope. Anjimile The trendy comparison for Anjimile is Sufjan Stevens,...
Wolfgang Van Halen on Having a Hit Song, Lessons From His Father and a Prank From Van Halen’s Final Show
For the better part of the decade, when he wasn’t battling aging trolls about his lineage online, Wolfgang Van Halen was carefully crafting his own material outside the band that bore his famous last name. Going deeper into the family business, he decided to use the moniker Mammoth WVH — combining his own initials with a nod to the pre-Van Halen band of his uncle and late father, Eddie Van Halen. This week, Mammoth WVH issued his first song, “Distance,” along with its tearjerking video — featuring home footage of Wolfgang and his father enjoying candid moments, concluding with an intimate voicemail message from the guitar virtuoso. A funny thing happened following the release: The trolls went away, and the song shot to No. 1 on the iTunes music charts, staying there for a...
Wolfgang Van Halen Honors Dad Eddie Van Halen With ‘Distance,’ Debut Solo Song and Video
In a video filled with poignant home movie clips, Wolfgang Van Halen honors his dad with a song called “Distance.” It’s a tribute written while Eddie Van Halen was battling cancer, “imagining what my life would be without him and how terribly I’d miss him,” as Wolfgang explained in a statement. Eddie Van Halen died Oct. 6 after a long battle with cancer, and tributes to the beloved guitar hero were immediate, effusive and ongoing. It’s the first solo song from Wolfgang, who has played bass with Van Halen since 2007. It features the impassioned chorus, “No matter what the distance is, I will be with you.” Wolfgang plays all instruments and sings lead on the track, released under the band name Mammoth WVH. (“Mammoth” is a reference to one...
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