Wolfgang Van Halen And Marc LaBelle On Mammoth WVH, Dirty Honey And ‘Young Guns’ Tour

For many artists, the onset of pandemic resulted in nearly two years of missed live performances.

For Mammoth WVH frontman Wolfgang Van Halen, it was even longer, with the songwriter/multi-instrumentalist hard at work on his self-titled debut album since the conclusion of the final Van Halen tour in October of 2015.

About five years in the making, the Grammy nominated album, released in June of 2021, led to a slot as opening act on a Guns N’ Roses summer tour which put him right back in the type of large venues he had previously performed in during that final VH outing.

Following a 2019 EP release which saw them become the first group in the history of Billboard’s Mainstream Rock Songs chart to land a #1 single as an unsigned act, LA rockers Dirty Honey took a creative leap forward in 2021 with the release of their debut full length album, launching a summer tour in amphitheatres as opening act for The Black Crowes.

As two of the more exciting young acts in rock, the natural pairing of Mammoth WVH and Dirty Honey is one that drives the current “Young Guns,” tour, a co-headlining run which makes its away across America through April and into May.

During a “Young Guns” stop in Chicago earlier this month, both groups celebrated Van Halen’s 31st birthday on stage.

“I gotta know if Chicago is ready to show Wolfgang a good time on his birthday!” shouted LaBelle during a Dirty Honey set which saw the singer scale the amps flanking the House of Blues stage, mic in hand. “And I really gotta know if Chicago is ready to get dirty tonight!” he continued during a performance which channeled everyone from Prince to Led Zeppelin.

“Thank you very much, you guys” said Van Halen later, acknowledging the crowd’s “happy birthday” chant. “This is officially the first birthday Mammoth show I guess – I’ve never done a show before on my birthday. This is special,” he continued, switching between guitar and keyboards during a terrific headlining set.

I spoke with Wolfgang Van Halen and Marc LaBelle about teaming up for “The Young Guns” tour, Mammoth WVH’s Grammy nomination and keeping an eye on the business side. A transcript of our video call, lightly edited for length and clarity, follows below.

Had you guys met prior to the announcement of this tour? How did this whole thing come together?

WOLFGANG VAN HALEN: Yeah, we played a show in what was it South Carolina? And it just kind of seemed like a match made in heaven. We’re two fresh rock bands. It just kind of made sense.

MARC LABELLE: Yep. Wolf, congrats on the Grammy nom’ by the way…

WOLFGANG: Thank you. Absolutely crazy.

That’s coming up. How surreal an experience has that been?

WOLFGANG: Oh man. It’s insane. To even be nominated is already just… I’m done. That’s insane. I don’t even know what to say. It’s kind of an out of body experience.

Well, the obvious question after the last few years: what’s it been like for you guys being able to finally step back on stage and perform in front of actual people this year?

MARC: For us, it was a long time coming. We had done some miscellaneous sort of video, content pieces that were… unorthodox let’s say. A live show in front of nobody at The Viper Room. We did a couple of what we called “Suitcase Sessions” – like [playing] on top of a mountain or at various cool outdoor locations that we could find. So we were all itching to get back in front of fans. Our first show was in Phoenix. And when we got back, I think everybody just felt like they were back home – where they belong again. It was a welcome return for sure.

WOLFGANG: I agree. Definitely. It was an insanely long time coming considering the last time I had even done any shows was with Van Halen. The last show was in October of 2015. So not only was there that emotional weight to it but also the fact that it was an album I had been working on for five years. Just that in and of itself would have been enough to be this crazy relief to finally get out there and play. But there were just so many variables that just sort of added up into a crazy experience to finally be able to play live.

Opening those shows for Guns N’ Roses put you back in the type of venues you had been performing in with Van Halen. How gratifying was it to do that with your own band?

WOLFGANG: Well, I knew I was opening for a band so I wasn’t sitting there going, “I did this! I’m here. This is all me.” I made sure any time I took a picture or posted that I was like, “Great show with Guns N’ Roses.” I’m very aware of how lucky I am to be in this position. But, yeah, it was almost comforting in a way considering that most of the shows I’ve done with VH were in bigger places. So while it may have been scary at first, it was easy to kind of get into the comfort zone pretty quickly.

You’ve both opened for GNR. Dirty Honey has hit the road with the Black Crowes and The Who. What have you been able to take away from moments like that that you’re able to apply as you continue establishing a musical identity of your own?

MARC: For us, it was really just about authenticity and being true to yourself and being true to the music. When I look at people like Slash or Chris or Rich Robinson, or even someone like Myles Kennedy, they’re all doing something that they’re truly passionate about. And they’re doing it for the right reasons. And if you are doing this occupation and doing it for the right reasons and not just trying to get famous… There’s a ton of ulterior motives. But that’s the only way you’re going to last and stand the test of time: if you’re really doing it with passion. And that’s the only way you can sustain this lifestyle. Because it can get crazy – as Wolf knows I’m sure.

WOLFGANG: Yeah. To me, you have to be unabashedly and authentically yourself. You really learn how to hone into that and lean into that. And I think that’s the most important thing. Because if you’re just trying to be like everyone else, there’s no point.

You mentioned, Wolfgang, that the songs that made up the first album were kind of percolating for a while – five years. All of the experiences that you’ve had, good and bad, in the last year and a half or so, how has that kind of informed your songwriting process as you move forward?

WOLFGANG: Oh, it’s heavily influenced my songwriting process. I’m a very emotional dude. I’m a very sensitive guy. So it’s like a really therapeutic thing for me to kind of be able to get those emotions out through my songwriting. I think the funny thing is that a lot of my music ends up sounding kind of happy – when the root of them kind of come from a dark and maybe sad place. I don’t know. I guess that’s just my mind making lemonade out of lemons.

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The pandemic was obviously a rough period for so many people. And then you had the added thing, Wolfgang, where you also had to navigate the grieving process. Was music something you guys turned to during the pandemic as a cathartic thing or was it something you needed to get away from?

WOLFGANG: It depends. Sometimes, yeah – certainly listening. But, in terms of creating – and I don’t know how it was for you, Marc – but I think early on in the pandemic it was like, “I’ve got all this free time! I could make all of these demos…” And I think I made three or four demos and then it just stopped. And my creative drive… I’m actually still working to get that creative drive back. It just kind of stopped dead for me. So, I’ll let you know if I figure out where it went. (Laughing)

MARC: Yeah, please do. But, no, for us too. I think it ebbs and flows. We were gearing up to make a record, right? Right as the pandemic started in mid-March, we were gearing up to fly to Australia and go make our follow up. And then obviously everything shut down. And there was just a lot of confusion. It’s tough to be creative and motivated when you don’t know what the future holds at all. As time went on, I think I kind of leaned into nature a bit to find inspiration. I went on motorcycle trips and hiking trips and got reconnected with the outside world. And then once we sort of got some direction – like a timeline as to when we were gonna go back and make a record and get back on tour – I think you get motivated to start doing all of those other musical things again. We ultimately made a record. But I guess I had to lean into the music during that time a bit.

Marc, in the past we’ve spoken about your role early on in terms of merch, choosing t-shirts and all of that stuff. More recently, it was your hands on approach behind the scenes working on the videos. You had to be so mindful of that business side early on but maybe now you’re getting to a point where you don’t. Is it still a concern?

MARC: I just have always felt like in terms of merch, you always want to offer people good value. Two or three days ago, we were trying to find a beanie or something to take on the road with us. We happened to be at a cafe in Minnesota. I was looking at this cafe beanie that they were selling and was like, “Oh, this is nice.” I sent a note to our merch guy and said, “I want to get this for the tour.” My approach to it isn’t very in depth. But if I see something I like, hopefully people will like it too and, if it’s a good value, I’ll certainly pass it on. But I’m definitely not shipping merch from my apartment anymore. Those days are gladly over! Thank god. It was a disaster, man. This time two years ago, literally, my apartment was full of merch and full of post office shipping boxes. It was full. And it was awful. (Laughing)

Wolfgang, how does that work for you? From an early age you’ve been exposed to ideas like branding just by virtue of your last name. Do you keep an eye on the business side or do you prefer to let someone else handle that?

WOLFGANG: I’m confident with the team I’ve built around the band to kind of guide in the things that I may not be as knowledgeable in. I’m super confident in the people that I have. But I do think it’s important to kind of have your feet in every aspect. It’s important to kind of educate yourself on the stuff that you may not be as familiar with.

Marc, we’ve spoken previously about the band’s approach to the record labels. And every time I see one of these stories where an artist sells their catalog, I can’t help but think of Dirty Honey. Because you guys own your masters. Theoretically, maintaining that could be something that pays dividends down the line. But it’s not something that a lot of younger musicians are mindful of. Just how important is it to you guys to maintain something like that?

MARC: It’s important I think. It’s a nice little feather in your cap. Because a lot of people don’t do it that way. I think it’s probably going to be the way of the future a little bit more. That’s just the way the business is. If you want to make any money on your music, you kind of have to own your masters. You have to own your publishing – but owning your masters is by far the biggest part of it in this new streaming world. And it just sort of happened that way for us. We didn’t think out this master plan to own our masters. It just happened that way. And we got lucky that it did. But certainly if you want to take your band international, I think having some sort of licensing deal or a record deal in some international markets is important. We’ll see how it goes.

How important is it after the last few years to be on the road together bringing live music to people?

WOLFGANG: I’m really excited. It’s gonna be a really good time. It’s fun to get out there and prove that rock still has some legitimacy to it in this day and age.