Weaver displays a canny business ethic which is often an elusive but highly important factor in bands with such unimpeachable underground credentials. “I’ve always thought that being a modern rock band, which is what Wolves In The Throne Room is on many levels, that a big part of it is knowing how to run the show,” he says. “Nathan and I are pretty out there, we’re pretty tripped out people I suppose but we’re also pretty organised and we know how to get things done. We don’t have a manager, we don’t have anyone helping us out or telling us what to do. We figure everything out on our own. I think that’s been a big part of why we’ve been able to succeed in what we set out to do, because we are able to deal with the business side of things. I’m able to write a cheque to the screen printer to get our t-shirts done or deal with the record label or whatever. It’s part of the game. You’ll find that every successful band has one member, maybe the Lars Ulrich or whatever, who is good at handling the business side of things because if you can’t handle the business side, the artistic side of things will never get a chance to flourish.”
Talk eventually turns to their upcoming Irish show, the first visit to these shores for the band. As it turns out, the elder Weaver has some prior knowledge of the land. “I spent some time there about maybe 12 or 13 years ago,” he says. “I kind of travelled all over, I was 18 or 19 and I was just travelling around. I spent about a month in Donegal in a town called Gleann Cholm Cille. It’s so beautiful up there and I have really good memories of staying up there. Actually, when I was a kid I tried to teach myself Irish. I’ve got a good bit of Irish heritage and my Irish grandmother was the one I identified with most. I’ve always been very interested in Celtic mythology and Irish language and history. I learned that poem that everyone learn, that poem “Raifteirí an File”. I can probably recite it to you, let me see if I can try!”
In an incredible display of erudition, he proceeds to recall the entirety of the classic poem from memory. A word here and there might have been slightly mispronounced but overall, it was tough to fault him. “Yeah, you know maybe I’ll brush up! I’ve got some friends at home who speak a good amount of Gaelic so maybe I’ll work on my pronunciation before we come over and I’ll do a rendition!”
While most touring bands will get a rise out of an Irish crowd by raising a pint of the black stuff, it will be very interesting to see what a full poem, which most of the audience will have but vague memories of, will do.
WITTR play Whelan’s with Wolvserpent tonight, 27th October.
