“I’ll have Frankenstein and my wife, and we’re good”: Wolfgang Van Halen admits he kept his father’s most iconic guitar in the back of his car for three weeks in case they had to evacuate during the LA wildfires
Earlier this year, Los Angeles experienced one of the most destructive wildfire seasons in recent memory. Entire neighborhoods were threatened, parts of Sunset Boulevard were left in ruins, and musicians like Joe Bonamassa scrambled to protect prized collections of rare instruments.
For Wolfgang Van Halen, the danger hit just as close to home – so much so that he spent three weeks with his late father’s iconic Frankenstein guitar in the backseat, ready to grab at a moment’s notice if evacuation orders came down.
READ MORE: “You have to love creating music to do this – everything else is the bad part”: Wolfgang Van Halen on being a musician in 2025
Speaking with Premier Guitar, Wolfgang shares how the natural disaster coincided with the making of The End, Mammoth’s third album set for release later this month. The looming threat of fire wasn’t just a source of anxiety, but a daily reminder of what could be lost – the irreplaceable gear housed at Eddie Van Halen’s famed 5150 studio.
To make sure nothing was left to chance, Wolfgang says Frankenstein never left his side, stashed safely in his car during the height of the fires.
“I thought, I’ll have Frankenstein and my wife, and we’re good,” he recalls. “And then we had a U-Haul filled with whatever else we felt was worth saving, which was very tough. Luckily, it didn’t come to that, but it was a traumatising time we’re still working through.”
That tension, understandably, seeped into The End.
“That’s where most of the anxious, doomsday energy in the lyrics comes from,” says Wolfgang. “I couldn’t focus on my things.”
Even so, the album marks a step forward for Wolfgang as a guitarist stepping further into his own identity.: “In comparison to how I was on the first album, which was very reserved, guitar-wise, I’m starting to worry less about what people think and what people say,” he explains. “[The End] has a rawer vibe, and I was happy to keep the rough edges for people to feel like they’re in the studio with me.”
“There are a lot of expectations around me — so many preconceived ideas that it feels impossible for anyone to have a neutral opinion,” Wolfang continues. “From the beginning, I’ve tried to stand out as my own person, without all of the bullshit that comes with the name and the controversies and everything that’s come before me. It’s just nice to be able to be judged for the music itself, rather than what people think or say about me.”
Arriving on 24 October, The End is now available for pre-order. Check out the latest single below.
The post “I’ll have Frankenstein and my wife, and we’re good”: Wolfgang Van Halen admits he kept his father’s most iconic guitar in the back of his car for three weeks in case they had to evacuate during the LA wildfires appeared first on Guitar.com | All Things Guitar.
Source: www.guitar-bass.net
