Quick-fire Questions: 10 minutes with Lime Garden
It was in Brighton on a Thursday night, or really early Friday morning, when I first discovered Lime Garden. Playing to The Great Escape festival’s late-night stragglers who had ventured to the end of the pier for a glimpse of the band, baby Guinness and adult-size pints were flowing before the last orders bell rang and the four-piece took to the stage to play us out.
Instantly, any thought of going home seemed to go out of the window as their off-the-cuff indie revived us all. Soon, feet were moving like it was early doors again. It seems that magic isn’t isolated to one incident as the band have worked their way around the European live circuit and worked their way up to being a real one to watch.
Creating what they describe as “wonk pop”, their tracks infuse all the best bits of pop, indie, disco and surf rock. On top of their unique instrumentation, they’re layering on lyricism that tackles relatable feelings of hating work, obsessing over your crush, subtly losing your mind and being sick of nepotism baby and “whatever the fuck it is they do”.
The band isn’t new by any means. Forming in 2017, the four friends have been gigs since to hone their craft. Since 2020, they’ve delivered a steady stream of tracks that only improve. Finally, they’ve announced their debut album, One More Thing, due for release in February. While we have their new track ‘I Want To Be You’ to tide us over until the new year, we caught up with the band’s singer, Chloe, to fire some quick questions their way.
Quick-fire Questions with Lime Garden:
1. What song would you want played at your funeral?
“‘Highway To Hell’ – AC/DC”.
2. If you were all getting married to each other, what song would you want as your first dance song?
“‘Your Love Is King’ – Sade”.
3. Have you ever had a totally disastrous gig?
“Of course, we have had plenty. But one of note is when we were about 17 and played a gig in a pub in Camden to about two people, with one of them being my dad. Safe to say, I hadn’t proved my point of choosing music as a career path being worth it”.
4. What gig from the last year stands out as your favourite?
“Playing Glastonbury was a real dream come true for us, a real pinch me moment”.
5. What is the best venue in the world?
“Paradiso in Amsterdam. As we walked into the building, I started welling up because of how incredible the building is. [It was] one of my favourite gigs of all time was at that venue. It just feels epic!”
6. If you could Mandela Effect the whole world and take credit for one song, what song would you like to have written?
“‘There She Goes’ – The La’s”.
7. What is your favourite thing about Brighton and the music scene there?
“Brighton has a slower pace, everyone is doing amazingly creative things all in their own time. The music scene is so welcoming, and bands support each other like nowhere else”.
8. Where can you get the best food in the city?
“Pom-Poko – but it does concern me how quickly the food is at the table”.
9. What’s on your rider? And what would be on your rider if you could have any ridiculous request?
Current rider:
- Beer/wine.
- Tequila.
- Vine leaves – even tho only Chloe likes them.
- Sandwich making ingredients. We use this as an umbrella term to allow venues to go wild with their interpretation, or not.
- Sweets.
Dream rider:
- A masseuse.
- Some dogs to hold.
- Bag of swag.
10. Your new song is called ‘I Want To Be You’ – who would you like to be if you could be anyone?
“A member of The Strokes, probably Julian Casablancas”.
11. What is your current favourite song by another artist?
“‘Domoto’ – Geese”.
12. What song do you hate?
“Robbie Williams’ ‘Rudebox’ has to be one of the worst songs ever”.
13. Where did the band name come from?
“We get asked this all the time, and I honestly cannot remember. Somewhere deep within our angsty 17-year-old minds, it felt right.
14. If you weren’t musicians, what would you be doing instead?
“Being losers, probably”.
15. Are The Beatles overrated?
“This subject splits the band down the middle. But I think YES! Right place, right time… and George Martin! The most overrated band on the planet, plus every boyfriend I’ve had has loved Paul McCartney more than me”.
