Two for the Road is a series in which two artists touring together chat about playing shows, life backstage, and more. The latest installment of the series features Wolfgang Van Halen and Nita Strauss.
Wolfgang Van Halen’s Mammoth WVH are embarking on a headlining North American fall tour, featuring direct support from Nita Strauss. With the outing set to kick off, the pair hopped on Zoom to chat with each other for Consequence‘s Two for the Road series.
Both Wolfgang and Nita are touring in support of recently released new albums, with Mammoth’s latest, Mammoth II, dropping in August, and Nita’s The Call of the Void arriving a month earlier in July. The tour kicks off November 4th in Milwaukee, and runs through a December 9th gig in Los Angeles, with tickets available here.
The conversation started out with Nita reminding Wolfgang that they both played the Shaky Knees festival in 2021, where Nita performed as part of Alice Cooper’s band and Wolfgang played with Mammoth WVH. From there, Nita marveled at Wolfgang’s ability to play all the instruments on Mammoth’s studio albums.
“I don’t know if you really understood the mystique that was happening with what you were doing at that time, because the vibe was like, ‘He’s playing all the instruments himself,'” Nita told Wolfgang. “It was inspiring to the rest of us in that you can take total control of your art.”
Wolfgang responded, “It was sort of a fun challenge. I was inspired by Dave Grohl, and how he did the first Foo Fighters [album], and that was always a dream.”
Later in the chat, the two discussed the lessons learned from playing with legendary acts — Nita as a current member of Alice Cooper’s touring band, and Wolfgang as a onetime member of Van Halen.
“The way that [Cooper] has always treated the band and crew is the way that I try to treat my team,” said Nita. “If Alice is at the Four Seasons, the crew is at the Four Seasons. If the crew is at the DoubleTree, Alice is at the DoubleTree. It’s one for all and all for one.”
Wolfgang then said he learned a bit of what not to do from witnessing the “friction” in Van Halen. “We have a rule with Mammoth, especially with how much we’ve been opening for these amazing [bands]. It’s [actually] two rules: It’s be on time, and don’t be a dick.”
Get Tickets to Mammoth WVH's Tour with Nita Strauss Here
Watch the full Two for the Road discussion between Wolfgang Van Halen and Nita Strauss in the video above, and listen to Nita’s recent appearance on Consequence‘s Beyond the Boys Club podcast below.
Trouble viewing the video in the player above? Watch on YouTube.
