Gardens was gracious enough to invite me to one of their band practices to do this interview. As I walked out of my car, I noticed a part of Detroit I haven't really seen before. I've been in Mexican town and by the border of Detroit & Canada before but this was something else. We sat on their porch as the interview was being done and you could see the bridge in all of it's greatness. It was truly a great sight to see.
I asked Gardens when they first started playing music together. They answered, "Our first show was at the Mt. Clemens Art Center in 2007."
Gardens has been playing music for three years. I was pretty shocked by this. I knew they had been around for awhile but this was longer than I'd expected. I thought they were a pretty new band in my mind. Which they are, I just found out about them later on. I asked them if they're sound has changed much since their first show compared to now and if it did what were the major differences in that original sound. Gardens told me they started out playing more of a rougher cut version of what they play now. The songs weren't crafted as much. Gardens also said for a very long time they wanted a fourth member of the band but couldn't find one until recently and that's where Matt comes into play. He is the key that Gardens wanted in their music. I think they're right. A fourth member opened them up to put keyboards into the music. The extra guitar adds layering in their music. I could go on, the possibilities are endless.
The 7"inch I'm reviewing was titled, "Upside/downside-Gardens" It was released on April 20, 2010. I asked the band what label it came out on and they answered, " Just for the hell of it Records out of Portland, Oregon." Gardens has a friend from little claw that runs this DIY label out there. I thought that was pretty cool. Little Claw is a band originally from Detroit but now is central to Portland. I asked them where the 7"inch was recorded and they replied, "It was recorded on an 8track in an apartment." I then followed that question asking them to describe the recording process. Without giving away too many secrets they told me they do live tracks for the instruments and then add in whatever else the song needs. I asked what they're basic recording setup was and Gardens really said that they record differently. They do studio recordings but then they like to do lo-fidelity recordings too. Gardens feels good about the music they play at this point and they told me they really haven't been badly received by the average listener. Gardens has only released some demos on compact disc, a tape, and two 7"inches to this point. I wanted to know why they haven't released an LP yet. Gardens let me know pretty quickly what Detroit had in store for them. I was excited. Gardens said, " A full length LP has already been recorded. The first mastering wasn't great so we're trying to have it remastered. It should be released late Summer on Castleface Records."
I was curious to know what venue Gardens liked to play to play most. I used to go to shows/concerts etc what have you quite a bit before I was working. I think I have a pretty good grasp on what Detroit has to offer with bars, pubs, Venues, Clubs, Art Museums. Any venue a band could play in Detroit. There's tons of them but Gardens was very confident on their answer and I found it very interesting. "The PJ Lager House. PJ takes care of you. The food is good the sound is good and its not in a bad area but not in a great area, Do you know what I mean?" I agreed with them. Every show i've been to at the lager house hasn't been bad in a stand point of the venue's aspect. In the winter it's never cold in there, Theres a good amount of seating and standing room. For free shows there the band still gets paid which is pretty cool. (From what I heard) I followed that question quickly and asked them what favorite, cities, venues, and states they like to play outside of Michigan. They answered, " Union Pool, NY, NYC in Brooklyn. Death By Audio in NY,NYC Brooklyn. Fort Wayne Indiana." I asked if Gardens has done much touring in their past. They told me they had done some touring. "Short tours mostly. Midwest tours. We played Portland, OR for the Scion Garage Fest. We would've toured more but money is an issue. Our Van got stolen on one of the tours then last year we decided to do the no job thing and that didn't really work out too well so now we have jobs and hopefully we can do a tour to support the upcoming LP." I then asked them to describe the craziest show they played. They answered, " Crazy how? We've played to like 600 people or like venue completely over compacity crazy. We've had kids moshing and crowd surfing before while we were playing." I told them I wanted to know about the craziest thing that happened during a set or after a set. " One time a couch caught on fire. It was our first time playing in Chicago. We we're playing with Magic Shop at the Empty Bottle in Chicago and all the bands were done playing. There was this girl sitting on a couch and she got up and all this smoke came out. Then some guy pulls a couch cushion or pillow off the couch and a huge ember comes out. Then the same guy grabs the fire extinguisher really quick and blows it out. Then the whole venue filled up with foam." Gardens also told me that St. Patricks Day is pretty crazy at Slows BAR BQ and they love to play house parties.
That concludes my interview with Gardens. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Things to look forward to with Gardens!
-Full Length LP (out late summer on Castleface)
-7"inch split with Tyvek.
My Review of Gardens 7"inch-Upside/downside will be up in the near future.
June 24, 2010
5:00 - 8:00 pm
Inside/Out
An artistic exploration of the relationship between space & self, environment & personality in the Belle Isle Conservatory.
The opening will include work from almost 30 artists-amateurs, students, professionals-mostly from Detroit but some for Chicago, IL and Portland, OR.
The artwork will include paintings, photography sculpture, songs, papercraft and performance art.
Music by Gardens with Citizen Twain, tapes on tape, MILOU.
$5 donation benefits the Belle Isle Conservatory.
