It might not be the best timing, but this thought suddenly came to me, and I felt like making this post.
As many of you know, I am a huge Van Halen fan.
As a guitar player, the single biggest influence on me has been Eddie Van Halen, and I have no intention of hiding that fact.
I am just one of the ten million EVH clones in the world.
That said, rather than copying his playing note for note, I try to learn from his creative spirit. I ask myself, “What kind of music would he make if he were here now?” and then I create music based on my own life experiences.
Needless to say, since Edward Van Halen passed away in 2020, my respect for him has only grown stronger.
Here are two songs:
Mammoth, “The End” (released in 2025)
Imari Tones, “17years” (released in 2015)
Our song was released ten years earlier, but there are no copyright issues here.
It simply shows the fact that if you use open string notes on the high E string for tapping, you can end up with phrases that sound very similar.
Any decent guitarist who has learned the basic techniques can easily understand this.
There is no problem here at all. But there is a beautiful coincidence.
At least, I like to think of it as a beautiful coincidence.
As I mentioned earlier, as a guitar player and as a songwriter, I have been deeply influenced by Edward Van Halen.
This is not the first time I have written a song that sounds similar to Van Halen.
There are only so many patterns in rock riffs, so this kind of thing happens often, and there is nothing particularly mysterious about it.
Strictly speaking, my song “17years” is not a hard rock song.
It is a cute indie rock song written to celebrate the blessings in the lives of Tak and Marie, based on the fact that the two of them had spent 17 years together.
The tapping phrase at the beginning expresses the way time flew by, and the sparkle of life we witnessed along the way.
I remember that the recording was quite imperfect, because I did not have much time to practice.
I think I could play it better now.
(As you may know, those “17 years” have now become “30 years.”
Among the many songs Tak has written for his wife Marie, “17years” can be called one of the most special.)
I am a fan of Mammoth, that is, Wolfgang Van Halen.
Some people out there dislike him, which is not entirely hard to understand.
Because, as a musician, Wolfgang has many things that others do not.
But I think it is a wonderful thing that he continues to make music.
It is sad that the great band Van Halen no longer exists.
But the fact that Edward Van Halen’s son is still making very good music today feels almost miraculous.
He could have chosen a much easier life.
Maybe the music Wolfgang makes is not as “special” as Van Halen once was.
Still, no one can deny that it is music of very high quality.
I enjoy his music, and I find the fact that he is rocking to be incredibly cool.
Edward Van Halen was like a father figure to me, someone whose influence was even greater than that of my own biological father.
Guitarists all over the world would probably say the same.
And to Wolfgang, he was the one and only irreplaceable true father in his life.
If there are moments when our sounds are guided by fate and come together in harmony, I think that is something truly joyful.
Continuing to rock may be the greatest tribute we can offer to him.