Wintersleep
Wasteland, Simmering, 2010
We weren’t aware until the day of the show, that not only The Maccabees were supporting Editors on their Vienna show, but also the Canadians of Wintersleep. Thus setting up the session happens rather spontaneously, with first talks after Wintersleep finished their set. The five guys from Halifax like the idea and opt for the morning after. So we pick them up at their hotel and head to some industrial wasteland, that perfectly fits the sad, grey November morning. Wintersleep’s tourbus is just parked nearby, so despite the low temperatures they use a lot of their gear and almost build up a full drum set for their semi-acoustic renditions of „Miasmal Smoke & The Yellow Bellied Freaks“ and „Astronaut“. Bass player Mike is the lucky one who can keep wearing his gloves while playing, whereas the others have to blow out warm air through their fingers to stay warm. However, the session is as quickly done as it was set up, and soon Wintersleep are back in their heated van, waving good-bye and ready-to-go to their next tour stop.
- Photography
- Simon Brugner
- Artist
- Wintersleep
Wasteland, Simmering
“Gstettn” is the colloquial Austrian term for an uncultivated land. Untilled city areas such as the Stadtwildnis Gaudenzdofer Gürtel that are open to the public serve the luxuriance of undefined space. Some of the good, vast and green open spaces might be used as an alternative to parks, but the nature of the wasteland is a temporary one. It is open space that nobody knows what to do with, but might as well be designated to a building lot. However, this wasteland in Vienna’s 11th district Simmering is even less inspiring to be used in a park-like way. It is property land that serves mainly as a parking lot (and as a backdoor for people walking their dog. An urban wasteland without dog poo has not yet been found.)