There are many catchy moments on The End, the third full-length from Mammoth – the musical project from swansong-era Van Halen bassist Wolfgang Van Halen.
But out of all the songs on the album, it’s the chorus of I Really Wanna that really seems to squirrel its way through the ear canals and imprint itself inside the deepest corners of our minds.
And there’s a palpable ‘did he just say that?’ moment that’s guaranteed to follow every first listen, with Wolfgang crooning repeatedly during its chorus sections: “I really want to fuck with you.”
It’s every bit as memorable as it is tongue-in-cheek.
“I remember writing those words down as a loose idea,” Wolfgang tells Music Radar with a grin on his face. “And then I spoke to my producer ‘Elvis’ [Michael Baskette], asking if I really could get away with writing a chorus that went, ‘I really want to fuck with you.’”
As it turned out, the man behind the desk thought it worked perfectly.
“I guess I was wondering if what I was singing might sound a bit weird, but in the end we both felt it was cool,” Wolfgang smiles. “It matched the tone and silly vibe of the song.”
I Really Wanna is also notable for being heavily downtuned, with its lower range adding to the overall impact of main riff. It’s a trick Wolfgang picked up from Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti, whose solo band he played in from 2012 to 2016.
“The song is in standard tuning but with the low E dropped all the way down to A,” Wolfgang explains. “Mark from Alter Bridge has done stuff like that in the past, tuning that one lowest string down to B.”
For this track, however, Wolfgang felt it would realise its full potential by going another step down. “I decided to take it a little lower to A because it would sound better,” he says.
The Alter Bridge connection might not surprise too many people, but few might have guessed that I Really Wanna was loosely inspired by a Peter Gabriel hit from 1986.
“We called it Sledgehammer in the studio to begin with,” Wolfgang recalls, “because we felt it was like a sludge version of the Peter Gabriel song Sledgehammer.”
The two songs might sound a million miles apart in how they are delivered, but they certainly do share a an element of funky swing.
And while hard rock has always been linked back to the blues, there’s a lot to be said for funk’s role in the evolution of heavier sounds. It’s something Wolfgang’s father Edward knew well…
“Some riffs just have that big swing to them,” Wolfgang says. “I Really Wanna is one of them, but you can definitely hear that in tracks like I’m The One from the first Van Halen album. It’s very much the kind of idea that mixes heaviness with funkiness.”
I Really Wanna is also notable for being one of the rare moments you’ll hear Wolfgang stepping on a wah pedal to help shape the notes he’s playing.
“Yeah, I think you’re right,” he nods. “It’s only been I’m Alright from the last record that was a wah-centric lead. There are some guitarists out there who seem to rely on it for every solo.”
He continues: “For me, it’s more about picking the right moment. I Really Wanna had that sleazy, groovy and funky vibe so it suited the track really well. I used my limited edition EVH Cry Baby with the Frankenstein colours.”
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