In a recent chat with Guitar World, Wolfgang Van Halen talked about haters and the pressure of being the son of a famous guitarist.
A few parts of the conversations below.
You’ve mentioned it being intimidating having Eddie Van Halen as a dad when it came to learning the guitar. How conscious were you of that?
“Growing up, not at all. Looking back on it now, obviously [it is intimidating]. People are always going to hold me to something that’s completely out of my control.
“I see Van Halen fans say, ‘The kid’s 30 now, and at his age, his dad was up to ‘Fair Warning’!’ I think it’s really unfair to hold me at the same level as my dad.”
You’re not hiding from the Van Halen connection.
“I’m just not milking off the legacy. I’m sure that’s up for debate for some people that hate me, but I’m being myself.
“I’m not sitting there doing covers of ‘Panama’ and going, ‘If you want Van Halen, come to me!’ If you want Van Halen, go over there.”
How do you deal with the haters?
“It’s an up and down thing. Sometimes it’s too much, and sometimes you’re ready to take it on the chin and tell them to f*ck off.
“You kind of go through ups and downs because it’s always a constant thing.
“Sometimes you just need to take a little break and ignore it for a while, but every now and then and some a*shole lobs you a really big softball that you could just f**kin’ knock out of the park, and it’s really fun.”