Rick Beato interviews Wolf Van Halen

[311boogieman]

Wolfie's cool. Down-to-earth. None of his songs grabs me but that can't be an indictment on him.

Agreed. I can't name one song of his but I'm proud for him and I'm sure his dad would be too. All the best to Wolf.

@311boogieman will kill me but I might as well pop this onto the homepage.

To clarify, I like WVH and it appears others do too so no reason NOT to do that. Then we can have 3 Beato threads on there

 

[DrewJD82]

There’s a lot of appeal to doing everything yourself when you can play other instruments well enough. I have a slew of instrumental 4 track demo’s I did in the 90’s where I still like a fair bit of it. They’re written as something to be sung on but I just can’t sing in any way that I would want to hear as a listener.
Often you write a riff and know exactly what kind of beat, fills and accents you would like as you play the riff. Also you might have specific ways you like the bass to be played and its tone. It certainly never hurt Prince’s records. I think it’s just what he really likes to play either works or doesn’t work for a listener’s taste. I don’t think it’s compromising what Mammoth would be as band, whether other members came up with their own stuff or not. Ie. He’s still going to sing the way he does, even if arrangements go through a group process.

Yeah, it’ll take a special group of people for me to want to divvy up writing to everyone in a band again when I can already do it on my own, considerably faster than any band I’ve ever been in and provides me with the most enjoyment I’ve ever experienced as a musician. It’s the most freedom I have, in any capacity.

I don’t play other instruments as a chore just to get a song done, I love playing those instruments just as much, if not more than guitar. Asking me to relinquish that freedom/ability is like asking your average guitar player, “Hey, why don’t ya let someone else write and record your parts?”

 

[marvcus]

Clarification. Wolf is Mammoth WVH. The band would not exist if he “left.” Nobody is paying to see the unknown Mammoth hired guns without him.

He is “known” in a band of unknowns. So it’s really his solo band. In a band where everyone is equal, there is usually more interplay and collaboration on song direction —look at EVH and Dave or Sammy. Or at least with producers etc

With nobody checking you or pushing, the creative challenge is not there that could make a good song a great one. Nothing wrong with him sounding like 2001 rock, but it does come off as derivative. Of course, if that’s what he’s going for and not innovation or a fresh sound, then mission accomplished.

The guy is an amazing player.

 

[DrewJD82]

I dunno if ya guys have listened to an album all the way through or not, but not every song is a Foo Fighters/Altar Bridge variant, there’s some cool as sections in the tunes that show quite a bit more than the more generic stuff.

This is my favorite tune by him so far, sick fucking drum groove that Danny Carey would have come up with and then an obvious nod to Tool going into the bridge.



And writing songs, I’ve been doing it for 20 years and I still slap my influences all over them, but in the earlier days it was that much harder to avoid because you write what you want to hear and that generally ends up sounding like your influences a lot more than the stuff you write down the road. It’s also not at all offensive when people call out the influences, it’s more like “Fuck ya, thanks, man! I’m just stoked my music was mentioned in the same sentence as ____!” If I pull off something effectively enough that the influence is apparent, that’s not a bad thing in my book.

 

[DrewJD82]

Oh, and Wolf has Elvis producing his albums, he talks about Elvis pushing him/giving him suggestions in the Beato interview.

He just also happens to be Altar Bridge/Tremonti’s producer as well.

 

[mentoneman]

 

[Monkey Man]

To clarify, I like WVH and it appears others do too so no reason NOT to do that. Then we can have 3 Beato threads on there

Of course, my "joke" related to your observation that Rick's interviews are well-represented on the homepage.

Every time I consider adding another, I think of you.