WGT Memories 2023: TRAITRS
“…completely disappear into the music, the performance and the atmosphere of the audience.”
How often have you been to the WGT so far? (As a visitor and as an artist)
Shawn Tucker: Only once in 2018 as an artist. Unfortunately, since we live in Canada and tour so often, we haven’t had the pleasure of attending WGT as visitors.
Sean-Patrick Nolan: We released “Butcher’s Coin” that day. Jean-Louis from Manic Depression Records parked a few blocks away, so we had to carry boxes of vinyl through the huge crowd in front of the Moritzbastei. He threw the money from the merch stand into a pizza box.
What did you think before the gig and how do you look back on it today?
ST: At a show, I’m usually in artist mode, which means there are a million things going on in my head around the performance. We felt great in the Kuppelhalle, the audience was perfect, the room was full and there was a glowing feeling of excitement in the air.
SPN: Yeah, Shawn said it perfectly. A film crew filmed several songs from the show, so we distracted ourselves with a dozen different things to deal with the anxiety. We felt like we had something to prove. My favorite shows are the ones where I can completely disappear into the music, the performance and the atmosphere of the audience. WGT 2023 was just that.
Which song did you particularly like to play?
ST: I always enjoy playing “The Lovely Wounded” and WGT was no different. The song demands so much emotion and mood from both the performer and the listener.
SPN: “The Way Through a Bird’s Love” has a long synth intro in the live version, and I always look forward to playing it as long as possible before we start the rest of the track. This song has a great emotional meaning for us. It reminds me of the difficult time we had writing and recording the song, when we experienced the isolation of the pandemic.
Were there any personal meetings that meant a lot to you?
SPN: I was at the “When We Were Young” party on Saturday night and met a lot of friends there that we have met over the years, it was unreal: The Foreign Resort, Then Comes Silence and friends from the “Campus Noir” festival in Ilmenau, DJ Evangel and so many more. It was like some kind of family reunion.
ST: We were able to squeeze in a lunch with Barrett from Bootblacks and met a lot of people at our show who have supported us from the beginning. It was also great to meet the team from Freakwave. Another personal highlight was finally meeting Ronnie from Clan of Xymox at the Volkspalast.
What will you remember from this year’s WGT for a long time?
ST: The Westin Hotel’s automatic pancake machine. It makes a pancake in one minute at the touch of a button.
SPN: After the show, Shawn and I shared a beer in the empty backstage area, completely exhausted, covered in sweat from head to toe, physically and mentally drained, but giggling and feeling euphoric after a great show. For those five minutes, my hyperactive brain was finally quiet.
WGT setlist:
“Oh, Ballerina” – “Mouth Poisons” – “Still from Her Sores” – “Magdalene” – “Prostitution” – “The Suffering of Spiders” – “Ghost and the Storm” – “The Lovely Wounded” – “Skinning” – “Thin Flesh” – “Youth Cults” – “The Way Through a Bird’s Love”
You can find more acts like Deine Lakaien, Front Line Assembly, Rosa†Crvx, Eisregen and V2A exclusively in the “WGT Special Issue”, which is enclosed to the current Orkus issue. You can order the July/August issue in the Orkus! Shop or in the Onlinekiosk.
