In a new interview with Sylvia Alvarado of the Las Vegas radio station KOMP 92.3, Wolfgang Van Halen — son of legendary VAN HALEN guitarist Eddie Van Halen — spoke about his decision to drop the “WVH” initials from his MAMMOTH WVH band name prior to the release of the group’s latest 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): ”It’s what I’ve always wanted it to be. It’s just we didn’t have the trademark. And so now that we do, we can finally be what I’ve always wanted to be… I mean, I always say [just] ‘MAMMOTH‘ [in reference to the band] at [our] shows anyway. Now it’s just official.”
Wolfgang previously 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.”
Wolfgang also talked about what fans can expect from MAMMOTH‘s upcoming third album, which is due later in the year. He said: ”I don’t wanna overrepresent what I’ve been working on by putting… I just thought ‘The End’ was a really cool, exciting thing. But I think what I recognized during this past recording for what may or may not be coming soon, was I was uncomfortable, and I thought that was a cool thing because I was starting to tread ground that I don’t think I would normally just be doing the same old thing. I was enjoying the uncomfortability of going, like, ‘Is this what I would do? Or is this something new or something more mature?'”
He added: “I think there’s definitely the core MAMMOTH vibes that you’ve come to expect because that’s the tough thing when I record an album now. I have people who are going, ‘I want MAMMOTH,’ and I can’t just bring you guys something different. So I think you guys will be happy with what [you hear on the upcoming album].”
“The End” was released in May. The track, which was crafted by Van Halen and longtime collaborator Michael “Elvis” Baskette, is available via all digital service providers.
To coincide with the single release, Wolfgang and MAMMOTH released a music video for “The End”. Wolfgang teamed up with legendary director Robert Rodriguez to do a modern-day interpretation of Rodriguez‘s 1996 hit film “From Dusk Till Dawn”. The video tells the story of a rock band that is booked to play a show at a dive bar and given an ominous warning from the club owner portrayed by Danny Trejo. MAMMOTH decides they know better, and things quickly turn dire for the band before a surprising revelation during the final moments tie the complete video lore from the band together. Friends of MAMMOTH, including Slash, Myles Kennedy and Wolfgang‘s mother Valerie Bertinelli, all show up throughout the short film. Horror effects icon Greg Nicotero offered his talents to the video to create zombies, werewolves, and vampires that bring a deadly end to the attendees of the show.
MAMMOTH recently announced a fall 2025 headline run across the USA. “The End” tour kicks off on October 31 for five weeks. Longtime friend Myles Kennedy will be the special guest.
MAMMOTH‘s second album, “Mammoth II”, was released in August 2023 via BMG. The 10-track record was recorded at the legendary 5150 studio and was produced by Wolfgang‘s friend and collaborator Michael “Elvis” Baskette.
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.
Since the release of MAMMOTH‘s debut album in 2021, the band has headlined shows in North America, played arena gigs with ALTER BRIDGE and stadium concerts with both GUNS N’ ROSES and METALLICA.
