WUK
Wuk is short for Werkstätten- und Kulturhaus (Workshop and Culture House) – is not only a venue for concerts. The brick building with its charmingly sleazy cobbled courtyard hosts 130 groups and initiatives, which produce all kinds of non-mainstream-art. The cultural center is subsidised by the City of Vienna, but the groups work autonomously and self-governed. Apart from the concert hall, studios and workshops there is also a café with a nice outdoor area in the WUK courtyard and a self-help bicycle repair shop. The 19th century building was originally used as a factory for train engines. In 1884, the Technologisches Gewerbemuseum (Technologic Trade Museum) moved into today’s WUK and turned it into a place of science, education and exhibitions with the purpose to keep the Austrian-Hungarian monarchy up-to-date in questions of technological development. The monarchy was more than half a century gone when there were still engineers trained in Währinger Straße 59. In 1981, the building was handed over to an association of alternative Viennese artist, teachers, students and other activists.
wuk.at
Recent Session(s) at this location
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The Hidden Cameras
Finally, a street parade with The Hidden Cameras! We have been longing for this quite a while and first tried to make it happen at 2008’s edition of the Donaufestival. There was actually a parade taking place then and some cameras did capture it, but unfortunately not ours. All the more happy we were when The Hidden Cameras singer and mastermind Joel Gibb confirmed that we’d be getting the chance to do a session around their Vienna...more ...
July 4th, 2010 - (0 Comments) -
Nada Surf
With bass player Daniel taking a nap and drummer Ira nowhere to find, it was singer Matthew’s turn to represent Nada Surf during this early afternoon shoot in April. „I know it doesn’t seem early, but it is early for me“, he says smilingly while rubbing his eyes. After a few lines of „Weightless“, Matthew is warmed up and ready to start into a beautiful cover version of The Go-Betweens’ „Love Goes On“. From his improvised sea...more ...
June 27th, 2010 - (2 Comments) -
Holy Fuck
Using live instruments and some adapted special gear (35mm film synchronizer, toy keyboards…), the Canadian band Holy Fuck gets as close to an electronic-sounding set as possible without the use of laptops or programmed backing tracks. Thus the refined sound-layering appears still very organic, abrasive and improvised. To experience the complexity of sound arrangements of Holy Fuck’s ad lib performance in their van became mind-blowing for us. ...more ...
July 12th, 2009 - (3 Comments) -
Trail Of Dead
Conrad Keely shuffles around in the yard, sips at his coffee and squints against the humble spring sun. It’s noon and he is about to wake up while his bandmates Jason Reece and Kevin Allen adjust their sunglasses. A shooting should have already taken place the last time And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead toured Vienna, a year ago. Yet the art-rock band, launched in Austin, Texas, had set to sleep when we passed by the venue that late af...more ...
June 15th, 2009 - (2 Comments) -
Turner Cody
Turner Cody looks like a ramblin’ man who we caught relaxing for a few hours, sitting on a leather couch with his wife at the venue in late afternoon. His three-piece suit fits, the dark green hat conceals his red hair and one of his father’s striped ties is firmly knot around his neck – it is hard to imagine him wearing something else. The 1980-born songwriter moved to New York at the age of 18 and played his first songs in the legendar...more ...
October 27th, 2008 - (2 Comments) -
Portugal The Man
The more songs they played, the more people were around – clapping, screaming, partying. It seemed like Portugal. The Man just wouldn’t stop performing on this Thursday evening at the WUK. Even numerous interviews they had to give and an enthusiastically acclaimed show seemed not to cause the slightest lack of energy as the Alaska-native and now Portland-based band started into the supposedly secret rendition of their vocally impressive ...more ...
October 4th, 2008 - (1 Comments) -
Neva Dinova
On your way home on a calm Monday evening you pass by a back road so inanimated that you can hear your own gaits and your own breath, when suddenly some sweet sound gets you prick-eared. Is there someone playing guitar? Where does this lyrical singing come from? You glance through the window of a self-help-bicycle-repair-shop where Jake Bellows seems to do some unusal rehearsal. Surrounded by bikes of all sizes and styles Jake starts the song ...more ...
September 15th, 2008 - (3 Comments) -
Shout Out Louds
The five members of Shout Out Louds met at the Academy of Arts in Stockholm, Sweden. Initially they wanted to call their band “Luca Brasi”, which is the name of a character in the Italian novel “The Godfather”. But there was already another band out there with this name. However, the name change didn’t affect their ambitions and Shout Out Louds have since then become one of the most popular Scandinavian bands after just two full-length-records...more ...
March 11th, 2008 - (4 Comments)
