Joining host Jason Bailey today for an Audacy Check In is Mammoth WVH’s Wolfgang Van Halen to discuss the band's new single, "Another Celebration at the End of the World," album number two on the way this summer, and much more.

Currently in the midst of winding down their tour with Alter Bridge, frontman Wolfgang Van Halen is excited to share Mammoth WVH’s new single "Another Celebration at the End of the World" today, ahead of the band's official Mammoth II album drop slated for August 4.

"This was the polar opposite of the recording process from the first album," Wolfgang admits. "That happened over the course of three years, this happened in two months."

Again on this record, Wolfgang performs all of the instrumentation himself. "It's what Mammoth is; people try to turn it into a negative, like a control thing, but this is my outlet," he explains. "Mammoth is my artistic outlet and it's a fun challenge I really enjoy. Plus it's the only opportunity I really have to play everything anymore. I don't get to play drums anymore; I love playing drums. So, it's a really fun process." Attempting to explain what Mammoth WVH is to someone who hasn't heard of him, Wolfgang simply says, "it's this dude who makes great Rock music that makes you feel things."

Keeping his late father, Eddie Van Halen's legacy alive is something that Wolfgang holds close to his heart as well. "He's the reason why I do what I do; I wouldn't exist if it wasn't for him, so that's certainly very important," he tells us. "I think just doing what I do is enough of a reference and tribute. Just me existing and continuing to be my own person in my own musical space, I don't think people realize that me just doing that is enough of a tribute and respect towards the life that he gave me, and the interests that he instilled in me. "I don't have to play 'Panama' in order to respect him, you know what I mean?"

There was, of course, a full line of guitars that were named after Wolf and now he has been given a chance to pay respects in the same way with his own EVH Signature Series. "It only felt right to sneak as many references to him," he says. "Like instead of an 'F hole,' it's an 'E hole,' for 'Ed.'"

Looking ahead to future releases, don't expect Van Halen or any other covers to appear, although ideas like that could be something that lands on his YouTube page at some point when time allows. "On an official album, probably not," he says. "I think I have too much of a desire to prove myself and kind of just figure out my creative process without trying to take from somebody else."

"I know dad," Wolfgang continues, "he never wanted to play any of those covers, unless you fully transform it into your own thing, which I think they did with 'You Really Got Me' and stuff like that. But overall, I'd rather have covers just be like a fun thing instead of a 'record' thing. I mean, live on the last tour, or a couple of tours ago, we played 'Them Bones' by Alice In Chains and that was just a really fun time. Would I record that? Nah, it's just fun."

With a current tour winding down and upcoming Metallica opening dates on the horizon, performing live Wolfgang admits, is consistently a source of unease for him. "Really, I just don't want to mess up; I want to be proud of what I'm doing," he says, "and if I mess up I wouldn't be proud of it... I don't know if I'll ever be 100 percent confident in anything, but the best thing you can do is just do your best and hold onto that feeling when you have it."

"I get nervous all the time," Wolfgang shares. "I'm nervous when I have no reason to get nervous. I have really bad anxiety. But when it comes to playing shows, I've found that now that I've been doing it so much it starts to ease up. Usually, the first few shows of a tour is when it's the worst, and then you sort of get into a groove. But yeah, when we open for Metallica, I'm gonna be freaking out for sure. That's a problem for a future Wolfie, this one has to worry about the stuff going on right now."

Don't miss our full Audacy Check In with Wolfgang Van Halen above, and stay tuned for even more conversations with your favorite artists on Audacy.com/Live.

Words by Joe Cingrana Interview by Jason Bailey