Next up in our Last Set series, where we’re talking to a wide range of artists about their final gig before government-ordered lockdowns and travel bans went into effect in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is GHEIST.
We caught up with the Berlin-based Watergate residents — who just dropped their new single “Run” via their Radau label — and spoke with them about their last gig and what they’ve been up to during lockdown.
When and where was your last DJ gig?
Gheist: Our last show was on the 23rd of February at Watergate in Berlin. We were playing the Waterfloor together with our friend David Kochs.
How did it go?
We had a lovely evening as we also celebrated our birthdays together with a lot of our friends. Playing at Watergate is always a special occasion for us. We appreciate the support we’ve been getting throughout the last years a lot.
What was your mindset going into it? Where had you played previously? Did any tracks, in particular, go over especially well during that gig?
Before that show, we had been touring India and Costa Rica and just had a little break for the holidays. So we still had all these great images and moments in our heads and we couldn’t wait to start playing again. On top of that, we just had a booking update on our festival season 2020 and all the upcoming club shows and we were very excited about everything to come. So, basically, we were ready to go!
What is your best memory from that gig?
To be honest, it’s tough to point out because the last time we played Watergate Club Berlin we still thought we have the whole summer with all those clubs and festivals in front of us so we enjoyed the night with everyone as always. It’s hard to say now what memory was the best; the whole night was great! Everyone was in a good mood and we enjoyed every minute of it. P.S: one thing we do remember is that we had a really nice afterparty with the Watergate crew!
Everyone can’t wait for clubs and festivals to begin again. What do you miss most about DJing? How are you keeping your skills sharp?
We all are missing the whole environment of being in a club or a proper festival a lot. It’s great to be with all the people out there and dance, laugh, talk and simply have an easy enjoyable time. Being on a stage also means gaining a lot of energy from the audience you share these moments with. To create these moments and make all of this possible is something very unique and valuable, but there is always something you can gain out of any situation even if it’s not that obvious. For now, we have to focus on ourselves and be creative so we can share all of it at another time or in a different way.
A lot of DJs have been doing live streams and working on tracks. What have you been working on during the lockdown? How can fans support you right now?
We did two streams during the lockdown: one of them with Arte United We Stream, the other one was with Beatport for their ReConnect online festival. We enjoyed both of them very much as they have been our first opportunity to show ourselves to our audience and hopefully bring them some joy and happiness in these strange times.
But we also started to do little acoustic sessions to create different versions of songs that were already released in the club context. This also led us to the idea of releasing an EP/short album in the near future of songs that are not only made to dance to. We made a lot of music over the last months and we are also very happy to release our track “Run” on our very own imprint Radau on the 28th of August. So check this one out and there will be a lot more very soon.
Any last words on your last gig?
Will be back very soon! Stay healthy and safe.