During a recent conversation on Radio.com’s Live Check-In, Wolfgang Van Halen talked about the instruments he knows how to play and revealed his favorite instrument, which is not the guitar, and said that he learned how to play from his father, Eddie Van Halen.
As you know, Eddie Van Halen passed away on October 6, 2020, after battling cancer for more than five years. His death saddened everyone in the rock scene and was devastating for his friends and fans but even harder for his loving family. Wolf was highly affected by his dad’s passing as he lost his father, best friend, and bandmate, but has been quite vocal about his sorrow.
After the release of his song ‘Distance‘ as a tribute to his father, Wolf has been giving interviews in which he talks about his relationship with Eddie, his experience as a member of the legendary band Van Halen, and gives details about his future plans considering his career with Mammoth WVH.
In his recent interview with Radio.com Wolf talked about his go-to instrument, which is apparently not the guitar. When asked, Wolf said that drums were the first instrument he learned how to play and that they have since been his go-to instrument. However, he said that in the band, he will be playing the guitar.
The interviewer told Wolf that his uncle Alex Van Halen must have been really excited that his niece was passionate about his favorite instrument, and asked Wolf if he was a good drums teacher. To this, Wolf responded with a surprising answer and said that it was actually Eddie who taught him how to play. As you probably know, Eddie was a guitar master, a great piano player, and as it turns out, a great drummer too.
Here’s what the interviewer asked:
“What is your go-to instrument though? Is it bass, is it guitar, like what are you going to play in the band?
To which Wolfgang responded:
“In the band, I’ll play guitar but drums are definitely my go-to, for sure, it’s where I started.”
Then the interviewer said:
“Your uncle Alex must have been really thrilled, you had a pretty good drum teacher growing up, huh?”
Wolf replied by saying:
“Actually, my dad was the one who taught me, and then I took it from there. I would just listen to all kinds of music and try to play it.”
You can listen to the entire interview via Radio.Com below.