In a new interview with Elwood of the 95 WIIL Rock radio station, Wolfgang Van Halen — son of legendary VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen — once again spoke about his decision to drop the “WVH” initials from his MAMMOTH WVH band name prior to the release of the group’s recent single, “The End”. MAMMOTH, as Wolfgang‘s band is now known, is a nod to family history — Eddie Van Halen and Alex Van Halen‘s band was called MAMMOTH when singer David Lee Roth first joined it in 1974. Wolfgang said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): “Yeah, from the beginning it was more of just kind of a copyright thing. I just wanted it to be a direct [nod to the pre-VAN HALEN band MAMMOTH] — that’s what I asked my dad. I was, like, ‘Hey, is that cool if I call the thing MAMMOTH?’ And he was, like, ‘Dude, awesome. Yeah.’ But our legal representation was, like, ‘Hey, maybe don’t do that. At least not yet. Have it be this. And if it takes off enough for you guys to be the only active person using that name, then…’ It’s kind like how GHOST started. They were GHOST B.C. for a little bit. And now everybody knows it’s, like, they’re GHOST. So I guess we’ve reached the point where people go, like, we’re MAMMOTH. So that’s kind of cool.”
Wolfgang continued: “I think listening to us comes with a lot of preconceptions. I think you either go, like, ‘Oh, this is the Van Halen kid’s thing,’ or, ‘This is the dude that’s playing everything.’ But I really relish the moment where somebody has no idea who we are and then hears it and goes, ‘That’s pretty cool. MAMMOTH. What is that?’ I think we’ll be able to achieve that a little bit more without the fricking ‘WVH’ there at the end.”
Wolfgang firsit discussed the MAMMOTH WVH name change during a May 11 question-and-answer session at WDHA‘s “Mammoth For Ya’ Mama!” event at Debonair Music Hall in Teaneck, New Jersey. He said at the time: “[MAMMOTH is] what we wanted [to call the band] the whole time. It was supposed to be a direct reference to my Dad’s, the first band where he was the singer, ’cause I’m playing guitar and I’m singing.”
Addressing the fact that he asked his father for permission to use the MAMMOTH band name for his solo project, Wolfgang, who became VAN HALEN‘s bassist in 2006 at the age of 15, continued: “I was nervous. I have early demos for the song ‘Mammoth’. It was called ‘Mammoth I’, ’cause it was the first idea I ever wrote that was, like, ‘It’s gonna be for my band MAMMOTH.’ I think it was in, like, 2013 that I wrote the idea. And I didn’t ask Dad until, like, 2016. I think we were on that last [VAN HALEN] tour. And I was like, ‘Hey, Pop, is that cool if I call my band MAMMOTH?’ And he was, like, ‘Fuck, yeah.’ And I don’t know why I was so nervous to ask him, because, God, he was the most supportive person other than my mom in my life.”
Circling back to why his band is now called just MAMMOTH, Wolfgang said: “Man, is it a fucking tight rope to walk, with the shadow I’m under and the expectations. And it’s, like, I wanna be able to have the opportunity to reference my lineage, but not copy it and just put a flag in it and sit there and play ‘Panama’ for everybody every night. I wanna be able to be my own person.”
MAMMOTH will release its third album, “The End”, on October 24 via BMG. The 10-track effort clocks in at 39 minutes and showcases the evolution of Wolfgang and his songwriting since he launched his solo career in 2020. Recorded at the legendary 5150 studio, the album was produced by friend and collaborator Michael “Elvis” Baskette.
“The End” is available for pre-order in multiple configurations, including limited-edition vinyl colors, signed insert version and retailer exclusives.
MAMMOTH released the first single from “The End”, the LP’s title track, in May. To coincide with the album announcement earlier this month, MAMMOTH released the track “The Spell” for fans to check out. Now available via all digital service providers, the performance music video showing Wolfgang playing all the instruments and directed by visual collaborator Gordy De St. Jeor.
MAMMOTH has become known for being road warriors, constantly taking to the road to play their music for the masses whenever they can. 2025 will continues that trend as the band will be heading out with longtime friends in CREED on the “Return Of The Summer Of ’99 Tour” this summer. MAMMOTH hit the road July 9 in Lexington, Kentucky through August 30 where the tour wraps in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
To celebrate “The End” being in stores this October, MAMMOTH will head out on a fall headline run. “The End” tour kicks off on October 31 and runs for five weeks before it wraps up on December 7. Longtime friend Myles Kennedy will be the special guest on the run.
MAMMOTH‘s touring lineup features Wolfgang on guitar and lead vocals, Frank Sidoris (SLASH FEATURING MYLES KENNEDY AND THE CONSPIRATORS) on guitar, Jon Jourdan on guitar and vocals, Garrett Whitlock (TREMONTI) on drums, and Ronnie Ficarro on bass.
Photo by Travis Shinn
