Mammoth WVH frontman and former Van Halen bassist Wolfgang Van Halen gave an interview to Classic Rock in which he claimed he never really tried to emulate Maynard James Keenan during his music career.
During his career in Van Halen, Wolfgang Van Halen was playing bass by his father, Eddie Van Halen’s side. After Eddie’s tragic death, Van Halen disbanded, and Wolfgang decided to follow his own career path. Therefore, he focused on his own band Mammoth WVH.
In Mammoth WVH, Wolfgang Van Halen handles the vocal duties, lead and rhythm guitars, bass, drums, and piano or keyboards. Besides, the musician worked on the band’s self-titled debut album all by himself, recording the entire material to challenge himself as a solo musician.
So, in Mammoth WVH, things are quite different for Wolfgang as he is responsible for everything in the band. Comparing his career in Van Halen and Mammoth WVH, the musician admitted that he now draws the most attention on the stage when performing with Mammoth WVH.
In an interview with Classic Rock, the host Polly Grass told Wolfgang that he once said he worked on singing the lead vocals the most and asked the musician which vocalists he looks up to. As a response, Wolfgang said he is an Alice In Chains and Tool fan and praised Maynard James Keenan’s voice. However, he stressed that he never tried to emulate another singer.
Classic Rock‘s Polly Glass asked Wolfgang Van Halen the following:
“You’ve said that singing lead was the thing you had to work on the most. Which vocalists do you look up to?”
To which Wolfgang responded:
“Growing up, I was always a big fan of the grunge-era singers, Layne Staley from Alice In Chains being one of my favorites. And I’ve always been a huge Tool fan.
I love how Maynard can have a heavy voice but also the cleanest voice possible. But I’ve never really tried to emulate another singer. I’ve been singing my whole life.”
Mammoth WVH and Dirty Honey were planning to embark on the Young Guns Tour, which would kick off on January 21, 2022, and conclude on March 5, 2022. However, due to safety concerns, they had to reschedule the tour’s launch for February 20.
