Vocalist Basti Artadi (born Sebastian Artadi) and drummer Wolf Gemora (born Leslie Gemora) began their musical careers with other local bands, while guitarist Manuel Legarda returned to the Philippines from living abroad in Spain. Gemora was inspired to form a band upon frequenting shows of another notable Filipino group, Razorback. He invited Legarda to join him and eventually the two found Basti Artadi singing with his former band, Sin City. Upon Legarda's invitation, Artadi joined the duo. In the first few months of inception, the group went through a number of bass players. They eventually met Mon Legaspi (who was recommended by Rizal Underground bassist, Angelo Villegas) who became their permanent bassist. They first dubbed themselves the "Wolfpack".[2] They later adopted the name for the band, "Wolfgang", upon the suggestion of David Aguirre, one of the guitarists of Razorback.[3]
As much as music in the Philippines was and is greatly influenced by western artists, Wolfgang took their cue from Metallica, Soundgarden, Santana, Pearl Jam, The Doors, Black Sabbath, Free, and their heroes Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Jimi Hendrix, Ozzy Osbourne, Pink Floyd and Aerosmith, among others. They began to play live gigs at the former Atrium and the defunct Kalye in Makati City. Their first big break came playing on Channel 29's RJ Junior Jam.