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Shedding Expectation With WOLFGANG VAN HALEN From MAMMOTH WVH · HEAVY Music Interviews

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  My name is Wolf Van Allen. My band is called Mammoth WVH. We
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  have a new album called Mammoth two coming out on August fourth. Very excited
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  about it. I think it's sort of the sequel to our first album,
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  but you know, just everything kind of turned to eleven and uh, you
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  know, it's really aggressive, but you know, musically and melodically dense album,
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  and I'm just really excited for people to hear it. Beautiful, Wolf,
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  thank thanks for joining us this one. It's a pleasure to speak with
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  you. Yeah, thanks for having me. Why, as you mentioned,
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  Mammoth W the Aedge do release your new album, Mammoth two on August at
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  fourth. So how you feeling about it, mate? I'm feeling really good.
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  I you know, we just announced our first sort of headline tour in
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  the States at the end of the year, and you know, I've been
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  in Europe a couple of times. I'm just looking forward to the opportunity to
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  finally get out to Australia at some point, maybe next year. So you
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  touch on us a little bit in the intro I might, but can you
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  tell us been more about the album from a musical point of view and what
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  you've gone forward it. Yeah, I think, you know, I came
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  into the whole recording process with a bit more confidence compared to the first one,
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  because I think I was trying to figure out what the project was.
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  But with this, I think it had already been established and been touring for
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  the last couple of years. I think I was more certain on what it
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  was, and it had more of a fun time trying to figure out how
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  I could sort of, you know, test it and and and evolve it
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  and grow it. And I think you can really hear that on the album
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  and to date, you release the singles another celebration at the end of the
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  world like a pastime and take it bown. Now, all three songs different
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  musically, mate, but overall, would you say they're a good sonic representation
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  of what to expect? Yeah. I think it was important to kind of
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  show the variety that the album has while also kind of being under the same
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  umbrella. You know. The next single that we're going to be releasing is
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  another sort of different taste, but but simultaneously just kind of lives comfortably with
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  all the other songs. It's it's it's a fun kind of wide breadth of
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  tastes and the press release is that you set out to challenge yourself to expand
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  the sound beyond what people had already come to know you for, Like,
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  can you elaborate on that little bit? Yeah? I think you know.
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  On this album it's it's a bit heavier and I think explores, you know,
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  a more aggressive style of music while simultaneously maintaining that that melody from the
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  first album. And then uh, in terms of song construction as well,
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  I think there are certain songs that sort of challenged what was on the last
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  album, being a lot longer and almost progressive in how they were put together.
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  There are certain songs that are almost seven minutes on this album, which
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  is a way different compared to the first fun and speaking about it heavy sort
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  of things, but it also says that you reference heavy and material like Sugar
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  and Chul like I have difficult was it to bring those influences Indian music?
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  I wasn't too difficult, honestly, because I just I love them so much.
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  There's a song that's uh in seven to four that's that's very tool esque
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  or as too lesque as I've ever written. And then you know, there's
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  a like a pastime was inspired by by poly rhythms. And there's a moment
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  on the very first song on the album that is very kind of a double
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  kick passage that's reminiscent of sort of sugar e type music, but within my
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  own lens. So it's it's pretty fine. I thought the subject right,
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  there's a lot of people to listen to these podcasts and our actual musicians themselves.
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  Now, the term polyrhythms comes up with bed, like, what's the
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  best way to explain that in music? That's what actually I was trying to
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  do with like a past time. I was trying to teach my fiance what
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  a polyrhythm was, and I think the best example is that, you know,
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  the guitar is sort of this repeating rhythm that's counting with you know,
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  the timing of the song, and then when the drums come in, the
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  kick is accentuating this other rhythm on top of it. And I think that's
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  that was the best I could do in terms of trying to explain what what
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  you know a polyrhythm meaning multiple rhythms, It's kind of two rhythms on top
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  of each other. I've been doing this for twenty five years, mate,
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  that's the closest anyone's ever come to making me understand it. So well done,
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  and once again, you're write and performed all of the songs and music
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  yourself on this album. What are some of the advantages and disadvantages are doing
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  that? Yeah? No, I uh, it's it's all me in the
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  studio. It's just a really fun thing to do. So what are some
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  of the advantages and disadvantages of doing that? Day? Bro? You know,
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  I think some people would say that I don't have a band in there
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  to kind of bounce ideas off of, but I actually do in My producer,
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  Elvis Basquet, is sort of the other half and me kind of getting
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  that same sort of band vibe with him. So really, I guess the
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  only disadvantage is that when I'm working on drums, I can't be thinking about
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  the bass and guitar or you know, when I'm dragging like because like normally
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  it's like when drums are happening, you know, the singer can be writing
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  lyrics and stuff, but I can't be doing you know, four things at
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  the same time. I just got to do them in order. But it's
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  still very fun and rewarding. Is that something you think you'll you'll continue to
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  do for the rest of your career, or do you think you'll explore the
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  other option of writing with abandoned studio. I have no idea, I think
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  for writing now, at least since its inception, Mammoth has been a you
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  know very much my musical outlet and creative outlets. So currently it only makes
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  sense in the way that we've been doing it. But down the line,
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  absolutely I could see I could see it expanding beyond that. But for right
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  now, I'm comfortable with where it's at and I'm very proud of of of
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  the output. And the album was recorded at the Acclaim fifty one fifty studio,
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  mate, Say, explain it. How recorded a place like that influence
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  as a final product. Uh, It's just where I feel at home.
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  It feels like my duty to be making music there because nobody else will,
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  you know, it's it's it's it's my place to do it. So it's
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  just brings me sort of a a piece that I think nowhere else could if
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  I were recording anywhere else. It's the only place I want to record.
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  So we've sort of touched on this a bit made But how does the Mama
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  Too. Giffer Me debut self tided album. Musically, I think the big
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  thing in comparison, you know, because the first one I was really trying
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  to figure out what it was. I think coming into this second album,
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  I was just a lot more confident and I was able to kind of pull
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  from more things that inspired me and excited me. And I think that's how
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  you can Also, I think the live element after touring the last two years
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  really influenced it as well, and I think that's why in comparison to the
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  first album, the second one is a lot heavier and more aggressive, you
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  know. I think I can hear that with a very first single, Another
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  Celebration. It's a lot more up tempo, even thrashy at times in the
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  Bridge, and I think overall the album was definitely a bit heavier because of
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  that, and the role of lead singer too made like it's only new to
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  you. I hope I got this right. But he only started that on
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  the debut album, so that you settled into the role a bit more,
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  now, would you say? Certainly? I think just the more you do
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  it, the more you comfortable, you get tough for me in the beginning
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  because I'm very I'm an introverted person. It's not very my my habits to
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  be an extroverted sort of hey look at me, front of the band sort
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  of thing. But having forced my hand by making the album and having to
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  sing kind of being in that position and getting more comfortable with it over time,
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  Yeah, I'm having a good time with it. I think I pretty
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  much know the answer this one already, but I'm gonna ask you, like,
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  out of all the things that you do on the album musically, which
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  one is your favorite. I think drums are my favorite. I started on
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  drums when I was nine, and I feel like I rarely get the opportunity
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  to play drums anymore. So having the option to record drums, I think
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  is one of the reasons why I still love playing everything, because drums are
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  just so fun for me. And as you said earlier too, you're starting
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  on a global tour to promote the album later on this year. So what
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  can fans expect from those shows given that we just announced our very first sort
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  of headline run of shows. I think now that we have two albums,
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  I think we'll we'll finally be able to have a long, full set of
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  all of our material rather than doing you know, the occasional cover or or
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  something like that. So I'm really excited to start playing a lot of the
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  new music. I think people are going to enjoy it because the songs that
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  we've played so far from the new album have been getting really good responses live,
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  so I'm really excited for people to hear the rest of it well.
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  And it's dry. It's definitely any plans for next year some side yawe absolutely,
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  man, I've been just dying to get out out there in Australia,
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  so I think it's worth finally trying to figure out how they get out there
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  so we can go do the whole Pan Pacific run and everything may be really
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  fun right. Also on the subject to be a lot of man might introduced
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  us to other players in the band. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Garrett
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  Whitlock is on drums, I have Franks at us and John Jordan on guitars,
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  as well as myself and singing, and Ronnie for Carl on the bass
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  um. They're just a wonderful group of dudes and we have such a great
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  time. We're just a touring family, if you will. And how much
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  liberty your guests have they got, like you've written and done all these songs
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  yourself on the album. So when it comes to paying them live, do
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  you you let him throw their around a little spring from the magic kind of
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  what do you life them done? Sort of A well, yeah, no,
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  of course, I mean, as as long as they're playing the song
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  like, that's okay. But it's important for them to you know, inject
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  themselves into it and be able to you know, because the live the live
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  thing is it's a different thing compared to the album I think it should be.
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  And yeah, they're they're doing perfectly. So of course you played his
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  bass player with Van Harland and your dad from two thousand and six to twenty
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  twenty. So what lessons from that period of your life that you learn musically
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  did you take into your own project? Ma'am? It's WVH. Yeah.
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  I think over the years and every every sort of operation that I've I've witnessed
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  from, you know, from being in Van Halen to even touring now with
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  with a bunch of bands, it's just I feel like you just easily learned
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  what not to do and what to do and and and and little things that
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  that you kind of take from each experience and kind of form your own thing.
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  You know. I think it's important with Mammoth that you know, we've
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  formed this kind of important core of people, uh that sort of keep everything
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  clean from the out as as it heads to more people. And uh,
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  basically it's just what I've learned from from from my time in Van Halen is
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  that it doesn't have to be so complicated and that you know, you can
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  just get along and uh and make good music and tour and have fun doing
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  it. There doesn't need to be any any any crap in the way that
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  gets that gets in the way of that very good at all. That's all
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  God for you all. Thank thanks very much for your try to mate.
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  Your new album Match is out on August and fourth, and what I've heard
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  from and it's a cracker. You are right, mate, There's a lot
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  of different things going on there musically, which is it's a big step up,
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  mate. So congratulations, Thank you so much. Man. Making sure
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  you get some sleep. You're love to see you try. Losing every part
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  of me spreading to your smile, drown strong now you display cold and lonely
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  right in your own way. Bring me up like yours. Bring me up.
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  To the townside, Let me down to night. Save what's your feeling
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  inside? What's you for us? Let me down to night? The mother
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  just wanted to miss I've noticed for a while, the mother just wanting to
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  miss time like it STI solved, slowly, tell me what you want?
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  My song so much to run it fo me like a fast Time to side,
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  letting me down to night? Say what you came on inside? What's
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  doing for us? Time? Let me down to say you cha to flee
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  me like a person for me, Ton to side to what's you feel?
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  What's your work? Time