Wolfgang Van Halen has been very open about his desire to not simply replicate the style of his late father and beloved guitar hero, Eddie Van Halen. But while the songwriting on his forthcoming Mammoth WVH debut proves that Wolfgang is very much his own artist, he couldn’t resist digging out one of his dad’s old favorite guitars for a couple of key moments.

In a new interview with Total Guitar, Wolfgang details the making of the highly anticipated record, which offers up a few gear surprises.

When questioned whether he used any of his father’s equipment, Wolfgang responds, “Yeah, a handful of it. I played the original Frankenstein on the solo on 'Mammoth' and on 'Feel'. You feel the history. It’s kind of terrifying holding it, just because arguably it is the most famous guitar in musical history. It’s definitely quite the thing to hold it.”

However, as it turns out, Eddie didn’t have quite the same reverence for the iconic axe. “When we were pulling it out of its safe, Dad picked it up and he was just noodling with it for a second,” Wolfgang continues. “He’s like ‘Yeah, feels about the same’ and he tossed it onto the couch. Everyone just gasped when he did that. To Dad, it’s just a little piece of junk that he built himself, but to us it’s the most famous thing in the world.”

Read more at Total Guitar.

The self-titled debut album from Mammoth WVH will be available worldwide on June 11 via EX1 Records/Explorer1 Music Group. A pre-order for Mammoth WVH in various configurations - including exclusive colour vinyl as well as limited autographed copies via the band’s online store - can be found here.

Writing all of the songs and performing all of the instrumentation and vocals for the debut album, Wolfgang Van Halen set out to establish his own musical identity. From the rocking opening guitar riff on album opener “Mr. Ed” to the driving bass and drums on album closer “Stone”, Mammoth WVH showcases the various musical influences that have inspired Wolfgang. Songs like “Resolve”, “The Big Picture”, and “Think It Over” are all sonically different from each other but unique to what Mammoth WVH is.  

"Mr. Ed"
"Horribly Right"
"Epiphany"
"Don’t Back Down"
"Resolve"
"You’ll Be The One"
"Mammoth"
"Circles"
"The Big Picture"
"Think It Over"
"You’re To Blame"
"Feel"
"Stone"
"Distance" (Bonus Track)

"Mammoth" lyric video:

"Feel" lyric video:

"Think It Over" lyric video:

"Don't Back Down" video:

"You're To Blame" lyric video:

"Distance":

(Photo - Travis Shinn)