< Previous What: bus shuttle from Berlin & Hamburg and/or to and from the hotel For: international guests & non–campers Wacken partner since: 1999 Lodging: campsite or hotel Soundtrack: guests bring their own music What: bus tour from Benelux For: relaxed travels and community Wacken partner since: 2023 Lodging: World Metal Camp Soundtrack: guests bring their own music, communal playlists partners’ rides. Not only does this provide a busload of fun even before the gates to the Holy Ground open, but it also has less of a negative impact on the environment – especially when compared to individual travel – and offers Metalheads what is oftentimes their last chance at W:O:A tix: All travel partners are allocated an exclusive num- ber of festival tickets that can be booked alongside the travel op- tions. “Right now, we still have a number of tickets available for our customers. If you decide to travel with us, you pay the reg- ular ticket fees and get to camp at World Metal Camp,” Robert says. Fans that have grown out of their camping phase and would rather wake up in a hotel room can book via Gabriele Karstädt and Mile- na Milicevic at Mondial events&travel. They offer a ho- tel package including a shuttle service as well as optional tick- ets: “Some guests really appreci- ate a hot shower and a soft blan- ket or simply a full breakfast the next day,” Milena knows. The travel agency from Berlin has been working with W:O:A since 1999. Their international clien- tele has needed help with every- thing from applying for visas to figuring out their arrival. About 80 percent of Mon- dial’s guests have turned into regulars, a true community with people hailing from Chile, Argentina, Australia and other parts of the world. “It’s astound- ing,” Milena describes the group dynamic. “Whenever someone can’t come, we get a personal Mondial’s Gaby Karstädt & Milena Milicevic find the Wacken community “astounding” Festival Travel has more than 15 years of experience with bringing guests to their favorite festival What: group tour from Japan For: travelers from the Far East Wacken partner since: 2017 Lodging: World Metal Camp Soundtrack: guests bring their own music message – even if it’s because of a pregnancy. Our clients are in it for the long haul.” Kyoko Matsubara knows a thing or two about long haul – flights, that is. The 45–year–old from Japan has been traveling to Wacken for two decades. Since 2017, she’s been organizing group tours to W:O:A for fellow fans from the other side of the planet. Nor- mally, her company Y–O–U of- fers tours of the Balkan region, but as a true metalhead, Kyoko wants to help her compatriots get to the festival ground as well. “Due to the language barrier and the long trip, things can get hard along the way,” she explains – and adds with a laugh: “Some of my clients have never been camping, so I’m going with them to help.” The Japanese group then sets up shop at World Metal Camp, where they will undoubtedly meet other delegations from all over the world. Some of them will have ar- rived via Thijs Jacobs and his employer Festival Trav- el, Wacken’s official partner for Benelux countries. “Last year was our first time on the Holy Ground. What a start,” he recalls the weather conditions. Thankfully, the Dutch compa- ny specializes in festival trav- el and was perfectly equipped to get everyone to the festival safely. Just one of the reasons Wacken fans can kick back and have a good time in their buses: “Of course, people listen to mu- sic and party,” Thijs promises but laughingly adds a caveat: “Circle pits, however, are re- served for the Holy Ground.” The Japanese delegation marking their territory at World Metal Camp. Konnichiwa! Kyoko Matsubara is a metalhead herself Fans from all over the world meet every year at the World Metal Camp Credits: Jürg Beyerle, Rockfahrzentrale, Mondial Events & Travel, Y–O–U Japan, Festival Travel, W:O:AI used to hate music! During her childhood and teenage years, Tina Guo had to practice playing cello up to eight hours a day. What her parents thought was best, made the young girl despise everything about music – until she found her liberation in heavy metal. Today she is one of the most successful solo cellists in the world. She’s done it all – at least almost. This year Tina Guo will play her first very own show at the Wacken Open Air Tina Guo has the ability to make her electric cello sound like an electric guitarBy Andrea Leim eading through what Tina Guo has achieved at the age of 38, one can jus- tifiably react with wide–eyed astonish- ment. The Chinese–born American is undoubtedly one of the superstars of the cello, as well as hav- ing mastered several oth- er instruments. From film scores for huge Hollywood blockbusters to collabora- tions with greats like the Foo Fighters, Joe Bonamassa and of course Hans Zimmer to a Grammy nomination – she has achieved all of that. A ca- reer that is built on hard work and a very strict upbringing, as Tina Guo openly reveals to The Bullhead. It’s a story of a very delayed love for music, a story which probably no one would have expected who has ever heard her play. Tina, you started playing the piano when you were three years old, then switched to the violin and finally to cello. Did your parents ever show you anything else but classical music? Tina Guo: No. They were very conservative. Metal would have been their greatest nightmare. I grew up in a very conservative household and was forced to practice a lot. But truthfully, I probably wouldn’t have become a musician if I wasn’t forced to. Both of my parents are musicians. They came to America with 40 dollars. It was the classic struggling immigrant story. I think they just felt desperate, and the only thing they knew they could pass to me as a skill was music. So they really forced it upon me, and I had to practice eight hours a day, every day, in a traditional classical upbringing. I really was miserable. I hated it. I didn’t want to play. Was that a reason you got into more rebellious music like metal? Was that your liberation? Tina Guo: Yeah, absolutely. I wasn’t allowed to listen to any music except for classical and opera, even R’n’B was really bad. When I was 13 years old in middle school, I was always attracted to people who were different and weird. This goth kid in my school wore black lipstick and had this awesome long hair. He had all sorts of weird piercings – at 13! I just thought he was so cool. Then, one day at lunch, he asked me, if I had ever heard of Marilyn Manson? I said: “No. Who is she?” And then he lent me a CD that completely changed my universe and understanding of music. Did you keep it a secret at home? Tina Guo: I had an old boom box in my room, and I put it in there. I turned the volume all the way down to one because if my parents had heard it, I would have died. I was listening to it, and it blew my mind. I thought “Oh, my God! What is this?” Growing up in San Diego, metal or heavier industrial music is not so much in the mainstream, so I didn’t hear much of it randomly. That was my first experience of hearing heavier The composer Hans Zimmer is Guo’s mentor and close friend Tina Guo on stage with Sabaton at the Wacken Open Air 2019music, and I don’t know what it was, but I just felt something internally, viscerally, emotionally. I felt attached to it. After that, I heard Guns N’ Roses’ “Appetite For Destruction”, I heard Slash’s guitar solos, and it made made all the hairs on my body stand up – I wished I played the guitar! So you made your cello sound like a guitar… Tina Guo: When I was 18, I left home for my studies at the University of Southern California and was finally out in the world. When I went to college, I had my first laptop, and I could search on YouTube, which had just started. I remember watching guitar players’ videos: Yngwie, Steve Vai and other incredible shredders. I started to experiment with playing different styles on the acoustic cello but also got an electric cello – and that’s when I started to like playing. It was something creative, new, with no limits or rules.So, my love for music was a very delayed love. Today, I’m grateful for the military boot camp of music I was put through because I wouldn’t be able to do many things as easily as it is because I’ve had so much practice. When your parents saw your first project with heavier music, how was their reaction? Tina Guo: After my very first music video for my song “Queen Bee” came out, it was my first step into self–expression, they did not speak to me for over a year. It was not good! It was artistically extreme, I will admit, and they were so horrified.I had brought shame upon the family! For them it was lewd and disgusting!But for me, it was art, it was exploring the furthest edges of myself, a self I didn’t know before because I was not allowed to, both in my culture and also in the culture of traditional classical music. But thankfully, now, they are fully supportive and love what I do. But it was a struggle to get here. When did you have the idea of combining cello with metal? Tina Guo: Well, I was trying to figure out how to do this, I heard Apocalyptica, and they’re amazing!I still fan girl out on the fact that I’m friends with Eicca now!I loved the path they blazed, and I wanted my electric cello to sound like an electric guitar, with my own tone and style. It was a lot of years of experimenting, a very long process. How would you describe your sound now? Tina Guo: My sound now is probably best described as cinematic metal. That has to do with the fact that I’ve heavily gotten involved in the soundtrack world, which is very much influenced by my friend and mentor, Hans Zimmer. Hans has been a huge part of my development, as a person and musically. He saw the “Queen Bee” video, the one that made my parents extremely angry, and reached out because he liked it so much. 2019 was the first time you visited Wacken and played with Sabaton and Beyond The Black. Were you nervous to perform in front of 85,000 metalheads? Tina Guo: I think I was less nervous and more excited because for me, out of all the things that I had done previous to that – and of course, I’m very grateful for everything – playing metal was my original dream. I always wanted to have a metal band and don’t even want to mention my five failed metal projects… Musically, metal is really what I always felt the most excited by. And I just remember the feeling of being on stage at Wacken, even though I was just playing a few songs as a guest. But that was my dream. It doesn’t get any bigger than Wacken. It was amazing. But it does get bigger: This year you have your own show at the W:O:A. What are your plans? Today, Tina Guo travels the world as a successful cellist Credits: W:O:A, Tina GuoTina Guo: At first, I didn’t know what songs to play. Should I play video game music or cinematic music? Should I play some of my heavier, weirder metal experimental stuff? Should I play tribal music that I recently started experimenting with? But my team and I decided to do a little bit of everything. Will you be accompanied by other musicians? Tina Guo: There will be seven people on stage, including myself. I have my core band, which I have always played with for the last decade. It’s John Huldt on guitar, Kfir Melamed on bass and Frank Klepacki on drums. Frank is also an incredible composer known for his video game scores! They’re wonderful, all from the US. Then I have some new members, they’re from the tribal Asian side. My friend Nan is the frontman of the very awesome Chinese metal band Voodoo Kungfu. He’s one of the vocalists, and I’m actually also singing. This is a first as I’ve never sang before! But I sing in a tribal style. If it sounds bad, I just tell everyone that it’s not bad, it’s tribal! (laughs) Also with us will be an incredible Mongolian throat singer, Zul. Then we have a Japanese percussionist, Taku Hirano, who’s equally incredible and tours with all kinds of big artists like Stevie Nicks, Stevie Wonder and Dr.Dre. He’s playing big taiko drums and other awesome noisemaking madness! I think it’ll just be a great adventure. It’ll be super fun to do this. You have collaborated with artists from the metal genre. Will some of them join you as guests on stage? Tina Guo: I asked Saltatio Mortis, if they would come join us for “Skyrim” because that’s one of my covers, and they have done it, too. And we worked together for their new album “Finsterwacht” and the song “Carry Me” which was so much fun. Other than that, I can’t tell you too much – yet… You work very closely with Hans Zimmer and tour with him around the world. Did you tell him about you Wacken show? Tina Guo: Yes, of course! When I brought it up to him, he immediately said. “I want to come!” Let’s see how things go this summer with all of the different projects and film scores we’re working on! I don’t want to make any promises, but of course it would be great if he could join me onstage. The Chinese born American started with playing the classical celloNext >