Wolfgang Van Halen has proposed a theory about the impact his father’s revolutionary electric guitar playing had on the ’80s music scene.
There will always be a surge of those who follow in the wake of trailblazing guitarists and attempt to follow in the footsteps of their heroes. To that end, Wolfgang recently discussed how Eddie’s game-changing shred acrobatics diluted the originality of other guitarists as countless players did their best Eruption impressions.
“In a way, Dad kind of ruined the musical landscape, because instead of everybody wanting to find out who they are, they wanted to be that,” he says in a new episode of the WTF with Marc Maron Podcast [via Exclaim].
Wolfgang goes on to observe that those ’80s guitarists who attempted to do their best Van Halen impressions missed the one thing that was most important about his father's playing, and that wasn’t his dazzling technicality.
“People focus on the guitar playing, but, overall, it was the fact that Dad is a great songwriter,” he adds. “And that’s what I shoot for, too. It’s not about flashy stuff.”
As for his own playing as a direct descendant of the late guitar game-changer, Wolfgang notes that “just sharing blood with my father is enough to upset people”, but he's been “able to carve out my own thing”.
For Wolfgang's own music, he was wary of adding to an over-saturated scene of Eddie-lite licks. Instead, he focused not on what came before him, but rather explored his musical personality to find his own sound; something he feels others should have done.
One of the main ways Wolfgang achieved this was by playing all the instruments on his Mammoth WVH records.
“I think people are sitting there waiting for me to outdo my dad in some way, but that's impossible. I'm not him. I'm doing my own thing and if anything I'm outdoing him in that way... I'm a better drummer than him and no one says that!”
Speaking earlier last month, Wolfgang said his father instilling his songwriting-first approach was one of the most important lessons he ever gave him.
“I approach guitar playing more as a producer and more as a drummer than a guitar player,” he said at the time. “Rhythm is always the first thing for me and melody is the second.
“A really core thing for me that my dad always instilled is that a solo should be melodically memorable… You can play a solo that's one note that can be way more impressive than a solo that's 2000 notes. It's not really the speed at which you play.”
While he champions Intervals maestro Aaron Marshall in his chat with Marc Maron for his “singer as a guitar player” approach, Wolfgang adds another noteworthy guitarist to that pile of OG shredders: Paul Gilbert.
“He’s one of the shredder guys from the ’80s. He was one of those guys that came a little bit after Dad that I think took it in an interesting direction,” Wolfgang notes.
In related news, Sammy Hagar hopes Wolfgang can still participate in the ongoing Best of All Worlds tour, with further dates in Europe and South America eyed.
