Wolfgang Van Halen has proposed a theory about the impact his father’s revolutionary playing had on the ’80s music scene. There will always be a surge of those who follow in the wake of trailblazing guitarists and attempt to follow in the footsteps of their heroes. To that end, Wolfgang recently discussed how diluted the originality of other guitarists as countless players did their best impressions.
“In a way, Dad kind of ruined the musical landscape, because instead of everybody wanting to find out who they are, they wanted to be that,” he says in a new episode of the , [via ]. Wolfgang goes on to observe that those ’80s guitarists who attempted to do their best Van Halen impressions missed the one thing that was most important about his father's playing, and that wasn’t his dazzling technicality. “People focus on the guitar playing, but, overall, it was the fact that Dad is a great songwriter,” he adds.
“And that’s what I shoot for, too. It’s not about flashy stuff.” As for his own playing as a direct descendant of the late guitar game-changer, Wolfgang notes that “just sharing blood with my father is enough to upset people”, but he's been “able to carve out my own thing”.
For Wolfgang's own music, he was wary of adding to an over-saturated scene of Eddie-lite licks. Instead, he focused not on what came before him, but rather explored his musical personality to find his own sound; something he feels others should have done. One of the main w.