WRIF Virtual Rock Room with Wolfgang Van Halen
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00:00Thank you so much for watching Riff TV. Now this interview is obviously with video, but I don't
00:05interview everybody on Zoom. That's why I put it on my Talkin' Rock with Meltdown podcast. We talk
00:10to rock artists from all over the genre. So check out Talkin' Rock with Meltdown wherever you get
00:15your podcasts. And now to today's video interview. Wolfgang, good to see you, man. How are you?
00:22I'm doing really well, man. Thanks for having me. For sure. Before getting to the new record,
00:26I just got to say this Metallica thing is a mind blower. I saw the first time you took the stage.
00:32I think your mom was walking in Europe or something like that. What is it like to walk up on that stage
00:36for the first time? I mean, it's got to be a tough stage to work, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah. I think we've
00:43just now finally understood how to move around and even set up on that stage. It's a very unique stage.
00:51I've never done anything like it. So it's really crazy. Yeah. You think you'd crack the code. So by
00:59time you get here in Detroit on November 10th, it should be like completely wired in, right?
01:03Yeah. Oh, yeah. No, it's really great. I unfortunately am unable to move around the
01:10stage as much as I'd like to because I need to stick on my pedal board and my microphone. But
01:14luckily, my guitar player and my bass player can get a couple laps in.
01:20Now, I know that you're kind of like a hands-on guy, but isn't there, I mean, correct me if I'm
01:24wrong because I'm not in your situation, but isn't there bands out there, bigger bands, like maybe
01:28even the ones you're touring with that have their guitar techs work their pedals or no?
01:33Yeah, that is a thing. But I don't know. I like to be able to do my stuff.
01:39Yeah. You like to drive the ship. We'll get into more of that coming up here in a few minutes. But
01:44how's the experience been playing with Pantera and Metallica?
01:47Oh, it's been wonderful, man. Metallica has been so welcoming and wonderful to us on this tour and
01:56meeting up with the Pantera guys. It's just been all a crazy, crazy dream. It's been really wonderful.
02:04Yeah. What's easier, opening a Metallica show or playing live television?
02:09Uh, the Metallica show.
02:13What was it like playing the live TV thing in the morning?
02:16That was our first, we had done television, but it was during COVID. So it was like we recorded it
02:21and we sent it. This was the first time where it was like, uh, and I, I didn't sleep. I had not
02:26slept from the night before. Um, you know, you show up, uh, at five in the morning from getting in the
02:34lobby of your hotel at four in the morning. And, uh, it's, it's really, really crazy. Uh, I remember
02:40playing the first song, uh, which was sort of a ballad song called waiting. And while I was playing
02:46the first 30 seconds, it's just me and a clean guitar. And I'm like, wow, if I make any mistake
02:51right now, it will be the most obvious glaring thing because I'm just playing a clean guitar and say,
02:57it was, it was, uh, yeah, that was, uh, I don't think I've ever been so nervous for anything in
03:02my life. And if like going into it, I was like, yeah, you know, I, I, I know how to play. I've,
03:06I've played my songs. Like it's, it's easy. And then the second they're like, go play. It's,
03:13it's something just takes you over and it's just, wow. Very, very difficult.
03:17Yeah. I can imagine. And plus there's no crowd. There's no, like, there's probably not a lot of
03:21energy in that room. Yeah. There's just Al Roker standing there watching you.
03:28I don't want to get energy thing with Al, but yeah, that, that'd be a kind of weird. It's like
03:32probably like during COVID when some of these bands would play, like I know Metallica, they did
03:36that, that concert thing where they played to like empty rooms. They're not the only ones. So that's
03:39got to be a difficult task as, as, as it is just there too. Right. Yeah. Having a crowd is certainly
03:45an important thing, uh, to, to be able to work off of. So it's, it's a challenge.
03:51Uh, but knowing that it's live and it's like, you know, we, we don't get another go at it.
03:55If we mess up, it's, it's, it's a lot of pressure.
03:59Now you said he had a pretty crazy schedule on that night. Uh, but do you get to, do you
04:03actually sit, do you, do you get to watch the Metallica and Pantera guys play or you kind
04:07of scoot out? Yeah. Yeah, no, we're able to, uh, when we get the opportunity, I think, uh,
04:12between the traveling schedule and, and, uh, you know, today is our first day off on this
04:17tour and we've been, we've been, uh, traveling like crazy for the last two weeks.
04:21Um, but, uh, more often than not, after I play, I just go to sleep because I'm, I'm
04:28just exhausted. But, uh, luckily I have seen, uh, the shows, uh, a handful of times and
04:33it's, it's just so crazy to be able to be like, I'm going to watch Metallica show
04:37tonight. You know, it's, it's really, it's a crazy, crazy thing.
04:41Yeah. Metallica is just a machine. I saw them in a Pittsburgh last year, man, that show
04:46is it's hard to top that show. And then of course you got Pantera and you're a younger
04:51guy. Did you ever get a chance to see the original Pantera or no?
04:54No, no, I didn't. Unfortunately, there's a lot of people in your shoes who are looking
04:58at this, like, here's my chance. I mean, obviously diamond VP on here, uh, but those
05:03guys seem to be clicking on all cylinders as well.
05:04Yeah. I, I, I know there, there's a lot of, uh, you know, arguing over, uh, over that
05:12whole situation. And, uh, uh, I, I think regardless of how you feel about it, they
05:17sound amazing. And I think that at the end of the day, that's all that really
05:21matters. Um, I like their, their, the justice, the material is there and they are, they're
05:26killing it, man. It sounds so great.
05:28Yeah. And, uh, speaking of crazy schedules, you got a tour coming up here with Anita, Anita
05:32Strauss as well, uh, near the end of the year. And man, you are playing like almost
05:36every day. Do you like that? Or do you like to take time off or?
05:39Uh, maybe at a certain point I, I liked having time off, but I found that now having time
05:48off stresses me out. It makes my brain go crazy. Uh, when, when left alone for a certain
05:54amount of time, I, I, I go crazy. So I think, uh, we've really just been going nonstop since
06:00the first album came out, uh, 26 months ago. Um, so I'm, I'm, I'm happy to, to be, to be
06:06doing, uh, what we're doing and it feels good to be busy.
06:09Yeah, for sure. Yeah, absolutely. Um, yeah, 26 months ago. Cause yeah, the pandemic came
06:15like, you know, it's just kind of weird to talk to you now. Cause like your career literally
06:19started when the pandemic ended, didn't it?
06:21Yeah. Most part. I mean, your solo career. Yeah, no, it was, uh, a very crazy time to
06:28be, uh, to be building something for sure. Uh, a very, very unique situation.
06:37Now you just mentioned how, you know, you kind of like to like to steer the ship. I saw
06:41ghosts last night and you and Tobias are kind of in that same realm or you guys like to have
06:46total control. And of course, that's what you did again with, uh, with the second mammoth
06:50record is, was there any thoughts of you maybe working with the other guys in the album or
06:55it's just, just, just your baby and you're going to do it?
06:58No, I mean, uh, that's from the inception, this has been, uh, my sort of, uh, musical
07:04creative expression, you know, um, the guys were hired on to be a live band. So, uh, you
07:10know, what I, what I like to have them on at some point. Sure. I mean, uh, but for right
07:14now, I, I have such a great time, uh, being a part of, of every ounce of the
07:20process, uh, I don't know if I'm ready to give that up at all. Yeah.
07:23Hmm. I got you. Yeah. Uh, yeah. Cause so you can kind of see where Tobias would, you guys
07:28kind of, uh, you guys kind of both drive in the same lane.
07:31Yeah, no, it's, uh, it's fun. I, I, I have a really good time with it.
07:36Yeah. And then this record you said is heavier and a darker. So as did that come along organically
07:42or was it something you had planned going in?
07:44No, it just kind of happened. I think, uh, uh, my, my headspace was in a, in a different
07:49place comparatively, uh, from, from the first one. I think that just sort of, uh, reflected
07:55on the material. Um, I, I also think I was a bit more comfortable after having the first
08:00album come out. Um, I think I, uh, was a bit more confident and knew what I wanted to
08:06do, uh, rather than being freaked out about it being the very first thing that it just kind
08:11of, uh, happened the way it did.
08:13How much of the material on here to have you had laying around or was it all brand new?
08:17No, I mean, uh, as new as, as recent as, as 2020, I guess, um, you know, I, I, I written
08:22some songs then, and then again, some songs in, uh, uh, 2022, basically just a couple random
08:29creative spurts. And then it's like, Hey, we got enough. Let's go.
08:33And then this record only took you a couple months.
08:36Yeah, it, it had to, we only had, uh, it was basically two and a half months.
08:41Um, which was a lot different from the first album.
08:44Now I, I, I was just listening to you and a Jericho talk a couple weeks back and I love
08:47Jericho by the way. He's a good dude, but, uh, um, you guys were talking about, uh, you,
08:51you record all this stuff at 5150. I mean, there's, there's gotta be a certain magic in
08:56the air and there, I mean, there has to be, right?
08:58Yeah, I guess. I mean, to me, it's just, uh, it's always been home. So, uh, there's that,
09:03that comfort factor, um, knowing that, uh, I'm able to, to be there and, and, and to
09:09keep, uh, filling that place with music. So it's, it almost feels like a duty at a,
09:13at a certain point.
09:14Yeah. I guess that's kind of a crazy question because you're right. That is your home, but
09:18the rest of us, it's probably magical.
09:22Sure.
09:23What do you want people to gravitate towards on this, uh, on this new record? I mean,
09:26what kind of sticks out to you in your mind?
09:29Uh, I mean, the first album or the first song is definitely one of my favorites. I think it
09:34really, um, sort of shows what I'm going for, where, uh, where melody and sort of, uh, aggressive
09:42heaviness can, can live together without overriding, uh, each other. And I think that's kind of the
09:48theme of the, of the whole album really.
09:50And with the short time that you had to record this record, is it one of those things where,
09:54um, you know, it's, it's easy to finish it because some, with the first record, how long
09:58did you, I mean, you probably had all the time in the world to finish it and you, maybe you went back
10:02and you, you know. Yeah. I was working over three years, uh, on, on everything that we had done
10:06with that first album. So with this one, you only have a certain amount of time and it's like,
10:11yeah, it almost helps the process in a certain way. Yeah. I was going to say, cause some bands
10:15probably have a hard time, uh, putting it to bed. Yeah. Yeah, certainly. So, well, you're going to
10:21be coming through here. Like I said, on the 10th of, uh, November, the first Metallica show. And I do
10:26believe that's the, uh, the last week on a show is for the guys from Metallica. But, uh, before that you
10:30have a lot of things going on, don't you? Yeah. Spending a lot of plates. Yeah. You're getting
10:36married. Congratulations. That's awesome. Thank you very much. Yeah. I, I told, uh, who did I,
10:44Oh, I told this story to jelly roll. A kid rocks father told me, he says, always take your wife
10:48out to dinner each week, like go out to dinner, just you and her. And that's, and I've been married
10:52for 23 years. We go out twice and twice a week. She goes on Tuesday and I go on Thursday. So there you
10:57go. There's your tip from me. Perfect. Well, good luck to my friend. I appreciate, uh, the
11:04time mammoth, uh, too, is out right now. Of course, hoping for Metallica and you're on
11:08tour right now. I mean, you have a lot of things going on and a good luck trying to keep everything
11:11straight. Yeah, man, I'm doing it. Thank you so much for having me.