Van Halen and Tremonti bass player Wolfgang Van Halen grew up as the son of one of the greatest living guitarists in rock history and learned how to play power chords at his old man's knee. But Wolfgang also told us that there came a time when he discovered his own musical influences: "The first band that I actually really dug a lot was Blink-182, because I think Travis Barker is an awesome drummer and I loved how the two singers harmonized -- it really got me into, like, harmonizing and drums and stuff. But the big change that got me into like heavier music was probably Tool. I liked the weird time signatures and just how heavy it got -- like, Danny Carey is a huge drum influence of mine, and so is Justin Chancellor on the bass."

• Wolfgang learned how to play guitar and drums before switching to bass a year before Van Halen's reunion tour with singer David Lee Roth.
• With Van Halen inactive at the moment, Wolfgang has been touring with Tremonti, the solo band of Creed and Alter Bridge guitarist Mark Tremonti.
• This marks the first time Wolfgang has played with anyone outside of his father, his uncle Alex and Roth. Tremonti has said that he hopes Wolfgang will play bass on his next solo disc and continue touring with him.
• Apart from an Australian festival in April and a trio of Japanese shows in June, Van Halen has nothing on its schedule for 2013. Last summer, the band backed out of 31 North American dates, citing exhaustion, and then Eddie Van Halen was sidelined for four-to-six months after undergoing surgery for the inflammatory intestinal affliction diverticulitis.

WHAT DO YOU THINK??

• Are you surprised to hear what some of Wolfgang's influences are?
• If your father was one of the greatest guitarists in rock, would you feel a lot of pressure to live up to that?
• Do you think Wolfgang will carve out his own place in rock music no matter what happens with Van Halen in the future?

CHECK IT OUT: Watch fan-filmed footage of Van Halen performing "Everybody Wants Some!" last June in Anaheim, California:

Wolfgang Van Halen On His Main Musical Influences

Read more at Blabbermouth, Ultimate Classic Rock and Noisecreep