Wolfgang Gartner will return to Chicago on Oct. 26 for the Congress Theater’s Halloween “Freaky Deaky” show, along with the Bloody Beetroots and other artists. The Current spoke with Wolfgang about his tour, his love of Chicago house music and the waterfall in his home spa.
The Current: You’re now on your Love & War tour, in conjunction with the release of your “Love & War” EP. How is the tour going? What were some of the inspirations behind the EP?
Wolfgang Gartner: The tour is going amazing so far, actually way better than I thought it would. We’re at pretty much capacity at every city, even cities that I wouldn’t expect to do well, like Lincoln, Neb. It’s definitely exceeding my expectations. There isn’t a specific inspiration behind everything that I do. I just kind of sit down and go and start making music. Whatever comes out, comes out. It wasn’t one unified vision for the EP; it’s just me making music.
The Current: How would you say your sound and style have changed over the years?
Gartner: What I’m trying to do is keep my signature style and just evolve it and bring it into the future. What I’ve tried to do is not change, but change enough so that I’m not repeating myself over and over again. And the main way I’ve done that is just by improving my production skills and basically honing my craft a lot more. I’ve really fine-tuned my signature sound and made it a lot more obvious that this is my sound so people can identify it as my sound.
The Current: You’re playing a Halloween show. What will you be dressing up as this year?
Gartner: Isn’t it on the 26th?
The Current: It’s on the 26th, but it’s a Freaky Deaky show, and —
Gartner: Oooooh, it’s on the 26th. Shit! I left my costume at home. I have a costume, but I didn’t realize, I didn’t know this was a Halloween party. I have a really good costume for the 31st but I can’t tell anybody what it is. It’s a secret. It’s really good. Last year I dressed up at the same party in Chicago as Sergio the Sexy Sax Man — it was fucking epic. But no, that sucks. I didn’t realize it was a Halloween party. I mean, to be honest, five days before Halloween, to me, seems a little bit early to be dressing up anyway. So I’ll probably just go as me. It was hard to keep that wig on and a bunch of my costume started falling off. My suspenders fell off in the middle of my set. It was kind of a mess. So I’ll probably go as me.
The Current: Fans are thrilled to have you back in Chicago. Welcome back! What do you like or dislike about this city?
Gartner: I dislike going to Chicago any time in the winter because it is literally like the coldest place on earth. It gets inside your bones. I’ve never been anywhere as cold as Chicago in the wintertime. So I’m glad we’re not there in February. I like that it’s basically where all of my musical heroes came from. Growing up, my heroes were Derrick Carter, Mark Farina, Paul Johnson. It was like Chicago house. That was what I grew up on. So that city is like the foundation of my musical upbringing, which is a huge thing. So I love playing in Chicago.
The Current: Any pre- or post-show rituals?
Gartner: My post-show ritual on this tour has been getting all the pictures from my tour manager and just going through them and looking at what just happened and picking out my favorite shots. And that’s just something I do for me. Because I don’t get to see it from that angle because I’m playing. I don’t get to experience it as an on-looker. I’m the one who’s actually putting on the show. So I like to look at all the pictures and see what just happened. Because I don’t know what just happened. Before the show, I usually try to book hotels that have spas or saunas in them and go in the sauna, get a massage, get some kind of spa treatment. I have a crazy addiction to spas and saunas. Mainly because it’s needed on the road because you get so worn down and stressed out from flying and traveling so much. I need to get rejuvenated, you know? On the bus I find ways to do it. I have all these eye creams.
The Current: Do you pick these out yourself? Are you into that kind of thing? Do you like shopping for spa products?
Gartner: Yeah, I do. Actually I have a room in my house that I’m basically turning into a spa. It’s got a waterfall in it, it’s got two essential oil vaporizers with eucalyptus oil, it’s got surround sound speakers and I put on spa music and then I get cucumbers and put them on my eyes.The waterfall is amazing at home. It’s so relaxing to just lie there and listen to it and have, like, eucalyptus oil blowing. I want to get an infrared sauna put in there too. That’s my next step. On the bus I have all these eye creams and wet washcloths and stuff. So usually before a show, I’ll keep a couple of washcloths in the fridge and I’ll put them on my eyes for 15 minutes before the show and it makes me feel less tired and refreshed and shit. I totally sound like a hippie or something, but that’s my weird thing. It’s to counteract the effects of touring, which are really wearing on my body.
The Current: You have done some impressive collaborations. Who have been your favorite artists to work with and why? What is it like collaborating on a project? What are some of the challenges, as well as the benefits?
Gartner: I liked all of the collaborations I did. All of them were done remotely where one person would work on the track and then send it to the other person and then the other person would work on the track. I’ve only done two collaborations in person in the studio. To be honest, I like doing collaborations remotely better because I tend to work better alone. Two guys in front of a computer, in front of a mouse, is not really conducive. It’s not the same as a guitar player and a drum player. It’s kind of hard to have two people working at the same time. Collaborations tend to work best for me when you do them remotely.
The Current: Northwestern has a growing number of aspiring DJs. Any words of wisdom?
Gartner: If you want to have a successful career as a DJ, you have to have a successful career as a producer first. Because in the year 2012 there’s no such thing as a successful DJ without being a successful producer. It just doesn’t happen anymore. All the guys that came up as DJs, they came up in the ‘90s. But if you look at anybody who has risen up to the top ranks in the last five years, they did it through really high-selling, high-charting digital music. So basically in order to be a DJ today, you have to be a producer. It doesn’t matter how good a DJ you are. You aren’t going to get anywhere unless you put out really successful music. So you have to be both now. And I think that sucks, but that’s just the way it is.
