Orkus-Interview-SO25

Interview Orkus Magazine 2025 / September/October
Translation: Lacrimosa.org (I bought the magazine myself), so please thank me. Thank you :)

2 Facts:

* Tilo Wolff founded Lacrimosa 25 years ago (Note from Michael: Orkus made a mistake here; it's actually 35 years).
* Lacrimosa is also very popular in Mexico and South America in general. During their South American tour in May/June, there were even television reports about them.

We talk to Tilo Wolff about her "Lament" world tour, covering topics such as language barriers, wet swimming trunks and supernatural audience reactions.

Tough on the outside, soft on the inside
Orkus: Even though you have performed in South America quite often with Lacrimosa, it is still amazing that you have so many fans there. How do you explain that?

Tilo Wolff: Yes, I don't really want to analyse it that much – if I had a manager, he would have done that long ago – but first and foremost, I'm just grateful for it! But to answer your question, I think it could ultimately be the sum of many factors. One of them is certainly that we were the first European gothic band to play in Mexico in 1998. People haven't forgotten that we took that risk back then. Yes, and then the combination of emotion and harshness is also rather rare, but it strikes a chord with the southern European feeling – a hard shell with a soft core. Latin Americans also like the German language, although that's a chicken-and-egg question: do people like the language because of Lacrimosa, or Lacrimosa because of the language? In any case, our lyrics are used to teach German in schools and universities.

Universal
Orkus: Wow! Could this also be proof that music can unite people across all countries and language barriers?

Tilo Wolff: Exactly! Music is a universal language! Even though many people today are interested in Lacrimosa's lyrics and learn German for that reason, the majority of our audience certainly doesn't understand what we sing about. But that's okay, because the music says it all!

tunnel vision
Orkus: You also provided some interesting insights, such as a tunnel used as a backstage passageway in São Paulo. How long did it take to walk through it and where did it actually lead to?

Tilo Wolff: Yes, the Bangers Festival in São Paulo is truly magnificent in every sense of the word! The festival grounds cover an entire neighbourhood and offer an incredible amount for the audience, but also for the bands. This tunnel led from our backstage area to the area where the bands who were willing to do so gave autograph sessions. That was also excellently organised!

Goths at the beach
Orkus: You repeatedly posted interesting cultural monuments, special architecture or simply the surroundings, but always from an interesting perspective. How much time did you have on this tour to get to know the surrounding area?

Tilo: Unfortunately, there wasn't much time. We basically had a concert in a different city every day, so we had to leave the hotel early in the morning and take the bus to the next metropolis. When we stopped somewhere, I took one of these photos here and there. But since there were so many concerts, we unfortunately had to forego completely free days, otherwise we would have been on the road for too long overall. The only days we weren't on stage in the evening were flight days, when the distances were too great for a bus transfer. This led to some funny situations, such as when we arrived at a coastal town and jumped into the Pacific Ocean, only to stand at the meet and greet with wet swimming trunks under our clothes and no time to shower.

Orkus: So, a real holiday feeling, but at the same time almost a bit surreal, "Goths on the beach". How do you feel about that?

Tilo: Jumping into the sea is a must! Or eating seafood, or drinking a cold beer at a beach bar – I love the beach just as much as I love the mountains or the forest. Everything in its own time, there is so much to discover and experience, and when we play at the seaside, I want to see and experience it all!

Supernatural
Orkus: What moments do you remember most fondly when you think back on this tour?

Tilo: Oh, there were some incredible moments – like when you drive into a city and see your name on five-metre-high advertising hoardings, or when you announce an extra concert and find out a few minutes later that it's already sold out again. But the greatest moment was when we announced the 2026 orchestra show at the final concert in Mexico City. The audience's reaction was supernatural! None of those present had ever experienced anything like it!

return
Orkus: How did this wonderful idea for an orchestra concert next August come about?

Tilo: I had wanted to perform on stage with an orchestra for a long time. Over the last year or two, we developed a concept, and when we were able to book the arena in Mexico City, we jumped at the chance. Fortunately, it was also available the following day, because the first concert sold out in just a few hours.

Problems?
Orkus: A concert had to be relocated for safety reasons and was postponed by one day. What exactly "happened"?

Tilo: The city (note from Michael: the city was San Luis Potosí) wanted to inaugurate a new park and had therefore offered our promoter this location for our concert. It would have been good publicity for this new area, but it was completely unsuitable for holding a concert. Together with my production manager, we decided to move the concert for safety reasons. For example, the area where the audience would have stood was an ornate rock garden criss-crossed by metre-wide water channels with wooden bridges without railings. It was very beautiful to look at and wonderful to stroll through in daylight, but in the dark people would have tripped over the stones, fallen into the ditches and off the bridges without railings, and panic would have done the rest.

Orkus: Yes, that could have been quite a shock! Not all concerts could start on time because the crowds were so large and so many people were still waiting outside when the original start time came around. How did you experience that?

Tilo: Yes, that was a problem. On the one hand, it's nice when there's such a rush, but on the other hand, it wasn't exactly a big surprise for the security staff. The locals could have been better prepared.

Cultural differences?
Orkus: What is it about South American audiences? How does their mentality differ from that of Western Europeans, or Germans in particular? Or are the differences not that great after all?

Tilo: Basically, Latin American audiences are simply much louder and wilder. Compared to us Western Europeans, people are simply freer in their thoughts and actions. There's no need to judge that – although judging and evaluating is something very German, by the way. Argentinians love their country, and when I hold up an Argentinian flag, the audience cheers. In Germany, this would trigger discussions and long debates. And I can already hear people saying, "Yes, but they also had a different past." And so, the debate begins...

homecoming
Orkus: Yes, it is difficult to preserve the spirit of the past in the sense of "not forgetting" on the one hand, and not to be tormented by it on the other. Let's talk about the upcoming concerts in Germany. Do you still need to rehearse for them, or are you already perfectly in tune?

Tilo: Sure, after such a long tour, we're well-rehearsed, but we don't play the same set list; there are actually a few regional differences. For example, Latin Americans relate less to songs like "Alles Lüge" (All Lies), but they like to hear "Copycat"; in Germany, it's more the other way around. And I'm happy to be back on tour in Germany.

(Interview: Claudia Zinn-Zinnenburg)