Harry Mangham chatted to Lime Garden ahead of their upcoming headline tour, which kicks off at The Bodega next Monday...
The Brighton four-piece, Lime Garden, have hit the ground running. Their song Clockwork made sure of that, having already hit one million streams on Spotify. Now, they’re heading out on their first headline tour, and it all begins at The Bodega, right here in Nottingham. I was lucky enough to catch up with members Tippi (bassist) and Annabel (drummer) on how they are preparing for the tour, supporting IDLES and finding out Hayley Williams is their biggest fan.
Since you’re an upcoming band there isn’t a ridiculous amount of information on you on the internet. How long had you guys been playing before you had the opportunity to release your first single?
Tippi: Basically, I only joined the band when the girls came down to Brighton. Before then, they had already been a band for two years, starting when they were in college but once I was in the mix, it took us about a year to get a single out to the world.
Was it fairly intense for you guys during that year, was everything happening quite quickly?
Tippi: Definitely, we had friends who would help us out and we managed to find gigs. We were just in our first year of uni, having lived in Brighton for less than a year before the single came out. There was a lot going on, but we managed to do a pretty good job considering it was just us.
You obviously have a record deal now, congrats! Was it a conscious decision to go with an independent record label?
Tippi: To be honest we didn’t have a massive amount of interest from record labels, but we knew Sam and Josh from So Young and when they approached us, it just seemed natural, and they give us so much creative freedom.
It just felt so different to everything else we’ve done
Your track Clockwork has blown up, and now has a million streams. That must feel great, right?
Annabel: Yeah, it keeps popping up on all my friends' Spotify accounts and being suggested to them. It's honestly like what, I don't know what to do with this information.
Tippi: It just felt so different to everything else we’ve done, it felt like a risk releasing it, I could never imagine it would get a million streams.
It brought the attention of some pretty massive bands. You supported IDLES at Brixton, that must have been a surreal experience?
Annabel: Oh, it was mad, it’s definitely the biggest gig we’ve ever played.
Tippi: Easily.
Annabel: And they were absolutely lovely, they got us flowers!
Have you ever had a bad experience as a support band?
Annabel: We’ve never been treated awfully but there have been a few not-so-great occasions. Like, once we did a gig and we got given one bottle of water to share between the four of us.
It’s just weird more than anything knowing that the audience has paid actual money to see just us
Now you’re the headline act, beginning at The Bodega, Nottingham, next Monday. How are you feeling about it?
Annabel: It’s just weird more than anything knowing that the audience has paid actual money to see just us, specifically us!
Tippi: Yeah, and it feels like we only organised it not that long ago and now it’s here, I can imagine when we’re backstage I will probably be bricking it.
What’s your pre-gig ritual, if you have one?
Annabel: We’ll usually have a couple beers, but apart from that just a lot of farting goes on, out of nerves.
Understandable. Moving on to the new track, Bitter. What’s the writing process on a gritty track like that?
Annabel: That was all Chloe (lead singer). She wanted a Charli XCX synth sound which she managed to find and kind of based the song around that. The lyrics were written quite quickly.
Hayley Williams loves us
What is your biggest achievement as a band so far?
Annabel: I think mine is that Hayley Williams loves us. She plays us on her radio show and apparently listens to us in her kitchen! We were hoping for a supporting slot.
Tippi: Yeah, that’s pretty huge, like she’s just listening to us in her car. Bloc Party got her supporting slot, and we can’t really compete, but I really thought we would get that.
You can always hope for the future. Finally, though, can we expect an album anytime soon?
Annabel: I’m not sure how much we can say but there is stuff in the works.
Tippi: There may be an album by the end of the next year.
Annabel: No, earlier!
Lime Garden will be performing at The Bodega on 7th November 2022.
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