WOLFGANG VAN HALEN PREVIEWS HIS NEXT ALBUM AND MAKES A STRONG CASE FOR HIS OWN SELECTION FOR GUITARIST OF THE YEAR
Words by ALISON RICHTER
FOLLOWING A REMARKABLE run with the release of his debut solo album, Mammoth WVH, Wolfgang Van Halen is back in the studio with producer Michael “Elvis” Baskette. Their plan is to finish the new Mammoth album in January and mix it in February, wrapping up in time for Van Halen and his band to begin a U.S. tour with Alter Bridge in March. “We have some fun things planned throughout the year that are still in their infancy,” he says. “It’s looking like we’re not slowing down. The machine is waking up again.”
Van Halen and Baskette were in the early stages of tracking when he learned he was one of GW’s Guitarists of the Year. During a quick break from recording sessions, he connected with the magazine to discuss this and more.
Congratulations on being chosen as one of the Guitarists of the Year. Is “unexpected” an accurate word to describe your reaction when you heard the news?
Are you kidding me? What an honor, seriously! Thank you. I’m not a guitarist of the year. I’m just a dude. What an insane honor.
Was it a little bit of a Field of Dreams moment? Beautiful yet bittersweet?
Absolutely. I know Dad would be super-stoked. I don’t know how many times Dad was on the cover, maybe more than anyone else. I wouldn’t be surprised if that were actually true. So it’s a trip to be recognized by that same magazine — as myself.
Who is your choice as Guitarist of the Year? Is this a given, or no?
It’s a funny thing. When people ask me who my number ones are in any respective thing, I don’t even think about Dad or Al [Alex Van Halen] in guitar or drums because it’s such a given. They’re beyond rating numbers of who’s my favorite, because they’re a part of me. They would be the easy answer, and I think that would be doing a disservice to the many amazing people who are out there now writing incredible music.
I’d like to point out one of my favorite guitar players currently. His name is Aaron Marshall and he has a band called Intervals. Their most recent album is called Circadian, and came out in 2020. He is one of my favorite guitar players. On top of that, he’s a wonderful man, a very kind dude. I feel like I have become a better guitar player because I’ve tried to learn all the songs on that album. He has such a wonderful melodic sensibility that is so different from people in his genre of the heavier, progressive,
