“People who say rock is dead just wanna listen to Kiss”: Why Wolfgang Van Halen believes guitar music is still thriving
Is guitar music dead? It’s a question which lingers on some people’s minds – generally those outside the still-thriving guitar world, or, as Wolfgang Van Halen says, those whose musical repertoires consist of rock bands past their heyday.
Reflecting on recent comments made by Lzzy Hale – in which she said Wolfgang and his band Mammoth were going to be the ones to “save rock and roll” – the multi-instrumentalist tells Ultimate Guitar says Hale’s comments were “a very sweet gesture”, but that he doesn’t think rock needs saving at all.
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“Lzzy is wonderful,” he says. “I love her very much. She’s awesome and a badass in her own right. But I don’t think rock needs saving.
“I think there’s plenty of awesome rock that’s happening right now. I think because it might not be in the forefront – and pop is always sort of at the top – but I don’t know. I don’t think rock needs saving.
“Rock isn’t dead. Rock is very much alive. I think anybody who says that is maybe just looking in the wrong place, or isn’t open enough to listening to new stuff. At the end of the day the people say rock is dead just wanna listen to Kiss, and that’s about it.”
Wolfgang is certainly right that what you might call ‘legacy bands’ often dominate the conversation surrounding modern-day rock and roll, especially among those not deeply connected to the genre. Ask a music fan who only occasionally dabbles in rock music who their favourite bands are, and you’ll often be met with the likes of ‘Kiss, AC/DC or Guns N’ Roses,’ for example.
It could also be argued that there’s a human tendency to become set in our ways as we age, often resorting back to the stuff we know we like.
Most people who would consider themselves rock fans first and foremost would probably agree with Wolfgang that the genre is very much alive, so with the younger rock scene which is very much still verdant, is it perhaps down to a marketing problem in recruiting outsiders into the genre?
Despite his ancestry as the son of Eddie Van Halen, Wolfgang has managed to carve out a musical niche all his own. His band Mammoth are gearing up to release their third album The End later this week, following positive reception received for his previous two albums Mammoth (2021) and Mammoth II (2023).
Speaking to Guitar.com in a recent interview, Wolfgang recalled the time he realised that his dad was actually a pretty big deal.
“There was a benefit I played in fourth grade where I played drums and my dad played guitar. I remember, we went out to the car afterwards and some guy came up and asked him to sign something,” he remembered.
“He left, then he put on a different shirt and came back. I think – in moments like that, seeing that sort of desperation – I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, my dad’s probably a big deal, huh?’”
Mammoth’s The End is out Friday 24 October via BMG.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
