“My Dad called me a ‘rhythm bassist’, but all he taught me was a power chord and an AC/DC drum beat”: Wolfgang Van Halen on calling the shots in rock’s royal family
Pursue a career in music with a surname like Mingus, Pastorius, or Jamerson, and you can bet at some point you’ll be subject to unfair scrutiny of your ability and motivation. If Wolfgang Van Halen – son of the man many regard as the best guitarist of all time – is letting that pressure get to him, he’s a master of disguise.
“People always think that dad taught me how to play everything,” Wolfgang told Bass Player. “He called me a ‘rhythm bassist’, but all he did was teach me a power chord and an AC/DC-style drum beat. From there, I just played along.”
On Van Halen’s twelfth and final studio album, 2012’s A Different Kind of Truth, Wolfgang Van Halen blazed a bold new trail for the role of bass guitar in the band, stepping up to match his dad note-for-note in tunes like China Town and Honeybabysweetiedoll, and settling into more supportive roles on such songs as Tattoo and You and Your Blues.
“Every time I would go into the back room of the studio, I’d see walls of tapes with music that nobody’s really heard. I thought, people need to hear this, because dad wrote this music in the same headspace as songs like Dance The Night Away and Runnin’ With The Devil. I wanted to take some ideas out and rework them. I feel it brought him back to that time when he wrote those older songs. That’s why I think that record sounds so ‘old’ – in a good way.”
Following the 2006 dismissal of bassist Michael Anthony, the band had re-formed with frontman David Lee Roth, with Ed, Wolf, and uncle Alex Van Halen rounding out the lineup. Our interview from the Bass Player archives took place in April 2012 on a tour stop in Chicago.
How did you come to play bass?
“I started on drums when I was 10 years old, and then went to guitar when I was 12. I picked up the bass guitar when I was 14 or 15. One day, dad and Al were jamming up at the studio, and they asked if I wanted to play with them. A couple weeks went by, and it started to feel like something serious – more than just fun. We called Dave, and the rest just happened.”
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Why were you drawn to bass?
“It was the only open position in the band, I guess! And the other spaces were filled by the best guitarist and the best drummer in the business. But the reason I like bass so much is that it’s really important to the song, but you’re not out in the spotlight. Everybody is focused on the singer and the guitarist.”
Who were the bass players that first got you excited?
“Les Claypool was probably the biggest bass inspiration for me. But back then, it was a lot of AC/DC, Muse, and Tool. Justin Chancellor is one of my favorite bassists. Tool then got me interested in more complicated time signatures, and challenging myself to listen to new music.”
Did you go the route of learning music theory?
“All my friends were in music classes, telling me I needed to learn theory, but I felt like I didn’t have the time; we were already rehearsing pretty much every single day. After high school, I’d go up to the studio and play for three hours.”
How did you go about learning the classic Van Halen material?
“I’d sit and listen. At home I have a small setup with my computer and a Line 6 bass amp. I’d learn the basic changes and then add my own flair.”
Do you try to match what Michael Anthony played?
“Not really. I don’t try to rewrite it, but I’ll play different runs.”
Of the classics, what are your favorites to play.
“I like the older, deeper cuts. Some of my favorites are Girl Gone Bad and Out of Love Again. Of the new songs, I really like China Town and The Trouble with Never. She’s the Woman also has a lot of open space where I can mess around.”
How did the material for A Different Kind of Truth come about?
“I think it was August 2009 and we did the first demo of She’s the Woman. When we did that, we realized this was really cool. From there, we wrote seven new songs, and reworked seven or so old demos. Reflecting on the simplicity of the older songs put us in a headspace to incorporate that into the newer songs.”
There’s a wide variety of tones on the record, from punchy to downright nasty. In terms of ideas and execution, how did that come together?
“It’s just what I think sounds best. I feel the dirt actually adds a certain clarity. I’ve always played through an EVH 5150 III guitar head for dirty sounds, but this time around we dug through some old Ampeg SVT heads. Then we found this awesome Fender Super Bassman. It’s got the perfect amount of bottom end.”
It also sounds as if you’re playing a lot of double stops and guitar-like techniques.
“I do that a lot. A lot of people think that I’m not even playing – that it’s my dad using an octave pedal on guitar. But it’s me. Take the beginning of China Town, for example. I was messing around in the studio one day, and I put a capo on the 9th fret of my bass, so the open G is an E. I played the tapping intro with him, and it just sounded really cool.”
You utilize a lot of slides and jumps. Where does that come from?
“That stems from my own boredom, I guess. Dad says I overplay sometimes, but it’s just because I get bored. To make things more interesting, I’ll just play a riff an octave higher. The slides just come naturally – I don’t pay attention to it.”
Do you always play with a pick?
“The only song I play fingerstyle is Tattoo. because I can get a better groove that way. But I’m a pick guy. Because I started on guitar, it just feels more natural. On shuffles, like Hot For Teacher, I definitely prefer a pick.”
What kind of feedback do you get from your dad?
“He just lets me explore and fail on my own. He doesn’t really have much control over me! Trial and error – that’s how you learn.”
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