Wolfgang Van Halen thinks it would be “unfair” to call him a “nepo baby”
When you’re the son of Eddie Van Halen, you’ve got a lot to live up to. Wolfgang Van Halen has certainly risen to the challenge; while he has admitted that living under the ‘shadow’ of his father feels like walking ‘a tightrope’, his solo project Mammoth has asserted him as a musical force in his own right.
In a new interview with Metal Hammer, though, Wolfgang notes how “unfair” it is to be considered by some to be a Van Halen “nepo baby”, as that attitude implies he hasn’t grafted to fine-tune his craft. “I’m one to talk, but I think the term ‘nepo baby’ is a bit unfair,” he explains. “I think it takes the individuality of the person away.”
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He points to actor Jack Quaid, who has stars in the darkly satirical superhero TV series The Boys. While Quaid is the son of actors Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan, Wolfgang notes that he is often referred to as “one of the ‘good ones’” when discussion of ‘nepo babies’ arises. “Who decides that?” Wolfgang asks.
Of course, Wolfgang is aware that nepotism has allowed certain acts to rise up through the industry without ‘merit’. However, he believes that labelling absolutely anyone with prior connections to the industry as a ‘nepo baby’ discredits the individual’s talent.
“I’m not going to name names, but in some cases, it does apply: the idea of people getting a leg up when they have no artistic merit or talent,” he admits. “All I’m trying to do is be myself and have my own artistic integrity and my own voice. I hope that people can see that.”
While Wolfgang’s days of performing with Van Halen certainly gave him a ‘leg up’, it’s not been the easiest of rides. Touring with his father at 16 lead to an influx of outside opinions, whether than be from Van Halen fans or his own peers. “When it comes to high school, I was almost a loser,” the rocker says. “I had a tutor when I took off for the first Van Halen tour in 11th grade, and when I came back for senior year, it was almost a dig.”
“People would be like [mockingly], ‘Oh, look! It’s the bass player for Van Halen!’” he recalls.
Since his Van Halen days, Wolfgang has made a point of carving out his own artistic identity. “I’m certainly trying to forge my own legacy,” he explains. “That’s my goal every day.”
He reveals that his ultimate goal is to live up to his father’s legacy, in his own right. “I’d be like, ‘You know what? We made it’ if we’re able to sell out a show at the Hollywood Bowl, because that was the last place I ever played with my dad,” he says. “If Mammoth are ever able to sell out a show at the Hollywood Bowl, I could die the next day and be like, ‘Job well done!’”
And he’s making sure it’s all earned through his own skill – that’s why he very rarely plays Van Halen songs anymore. To date, he’s performed Van Halen songs twice without his father, with the last time being in 2022 for the Foo Fighters’ Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert. Even then, he only agreed because wanted to honour Hawkins’ legacy.
He tells Metal Hammer that he would never have “been able to live if down” if he publicly messed up any of his father’s songs. “Many people who hate me say, ‘You’ll never be good enough and you have to play Van Halen to be relevant,’” he says. “If the one time I played Van Halen on my own, I ruined it and messed up… In my mind, it would have ruined my life. I took it very seriously.”
In an interview with Drumeo back in June, he also emphasised his aversion to playing Van Halen music since his father’s death. “I’m really just not interested in playing it any more without Dad.,” he said. “And I know [Alex Van Halen] feels the exact same way…. it’s really a tough thing for me.”
Mammoth’s third studio album, The End, dropped just last week.
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
