It would seem that no one, not even celebrities are immune to the acid words of keyboard warriors. That also includes sons of famous rock and roll acts. In more recent days, Wolf, son of Eddie Van Halen, spoke up about his interactions with internet trolls and how they are responding to his “success”.

According to Ultimate Guitar, Wolfgang Van Halen discussed the struggles of being the son of a famous guitarist, Eddie Van Halen, while making a career as a professional musician. He explains how he deals with all the “dickheads” on the internet who lash out at him for no other reason than pure hatred.

Eddie Van Halen cast a vast shadow and his son, Wolf undeniably has to deal with a lot of pressure. When his guitar hero father passed away, however, Wolf was on the way to releasing his solo debut as Mammoth WVH and swore to never “ride on his dad’s coattails” – i.e. attract attention by playing Van Halen classics.

Wolfgang has had plenty of chances to prove his worth and he has. More recently while he played at the Foo Fighters’ two Taylor Hawkins tribute concerts. Sadly, the internet trolls continue to be something the young musician has to deal with on a daily basis. Speaking to Guitar World in a new interview, he explained how he does it:

“I won’t lie. I don’t think my emotional and mental wellbeing have been any lower. It’s a thing that is incredibly tough to fight. In the absence of Dad, and everything that has happened, it’s very difficult.

“The lucky thing is I have a wonderful support system surrounding me. I have my mother, my uncle Patrick, my fiancée Andraia, so many wonderful people I can lean toward, because I certainly don’t have the emotional strength. There’s many times when I don’t have the strength to do anything, and more than not, that seems to be the case.

“But you’ve got to find the things that give you life. For me, that’s music and being able to wake up every day and think about how I’m going to create this second album. It’s stressful, but it’s also very exciting, and it’s what I put all my thinking into.

“When it comes to dickheads on the internet, that’ s always there. Everyone deals with it. Sure, it hurts a lot when it’s directed toward you, but you’ve got to realize the place it’s coming from. I like to pick my battles. I like to find the right time to chirp and say something funny, but sometimes you do feel that need to be like, ‘Fuck off.’ And you can do that every now and then. But all in all, it says so much more about them than it does about you that they go out of their way. You can point them out, too, because you’ll see their profile and you can almost always predict what’s going to be filling their timeline.

“When it comes to people who feel the same way I do, dealing with depression and anxiety, you never really are alone. Unfortunately, it’s like we’re all alone together, because so many of us feel this way.

“I work through a lot of it through music, and I have a lot to work through this time around. I’m cautiously optimistic and also dreading it at the same time, because I have to go to a lot of places emotionally and mentally to get to the other side of this album and have a finished, complete thing. But I think it will be good for me because that’s the same thing that happened with the first album. It was a very therapeutic, cathartic experience.”