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- Interview with Joe of Ivy Gardens
Interview with Joe of Ivy Gardens
What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?
What got me into music were my parents originally. Always playing old rock music like ACDC and Led Zeppelin on any drive we went on. But, at a young age, my uncle showed me some of the 90's grunge and metal music and that's where I started to connect with music more and wanted to pick up the drums. That then led into forming the band you hear now. I found it important to be creative and work with people who connected to similar ideas.
If I wasn’t doing music, I would probably own a chip wagon. Or a hot dog stand. Mmmmmmm.
What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?
When I’m not playing music, I hangout with friends or I’m at work. This influences my creativity in indirect ways. Sometimes you hear a story that sparks an idea for a lyric, or even just the title to a song. Work can be frustrating sometimes so music is easily a great release for it too, which is why we play so fuckin loud.
How long has your band been around?
Ivy Gardens has been around since 2020, however, we have been playing as a band since high school. Only taking a break for college, and then coming back with a new name and sound.
Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?
We are from Beamsville, Ontario, Canada. Growing up and forming the band here felt more of a necessity since there was nothing to do. It’s such a small town that has very little to offer for entertainment, especially as kids, so you have to find something to waste time with.
All of us being from a small town, however, did make it easier to find each other and start a band, since there were only a handful of people our age that were interested in the style of music we play.
How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?
The name of the band comes from a street name in our hometown where we started jamming together as kids. This then continued until very recently. The name Ivy Gardens means a lot to myself and the other guys since it was pretty much the birthplace of our band and so much time was spent there writing music and learning how to be a band together.
Tell me about your most memorable shows.
A lot of our memorable shows to this point have been while on the road. We've done a couple tours, one of which was a tour of just Quebec, and the other was the east coast of Canada. During these runs, it can be very hectic with a lot of highs and lows, and when you show up to a venue and it turns out to be packed, it re-energizes your passion and makes you want to keep going.
I wouldn’t say there was a specific show that was more memorable than others, the whole experience is memorable. It's all part of the grind.
What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?
Our favorite venue to play at this point is between Warehouse in St. Catharines or the Bovine in Toronto. Two very different vibes, but we have had great shows at both. We can always get the place packed on a weekend, and it’s close to home for us. Makes things much easier when you can shower then get into your own bed.
If you could play any show with any lineup, who would be on the ticket?
Hmm tough one. A lot of my favorite bands currently don’t exist, unfortunately. KARP, Don Caballero, Rush. I guess EYEHATEGOD and Sleep would be cool to do shows with too.
What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?
My main piece of advice is to keep it DIY as long as you can. When I was young, I was fortunate to come across an interview with Steve Albini where he talked about the struggles of letting more people get involved in your project. How it can complicate things, and make things way more expensive when it doesn’t have to be. We as a band aren’t perfect, and are still learning what the next step is. But, we try and keep everything between us or our close friends that we trust.
Booking tours, recording music, writing music, artwork, music videos. These can all be done by yourself or with friends if you have a passion for it.
If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?
Find like minded bands to run shows with. Tour. DIY for everything. Have fun.
Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?
Currently my favorite song to play is our song Goon, which is on the upcoming album. It’s a heavy song and the drum part I wrote I really enjoy performing. It's also a challenge whenever we play it, so it keeps things interesting.
Our most requested song live currently is our recent single Boner. This song has been in the works for a long time, and we have been playing it live for over a year. Every show, it seemed like people wanted to know what song that was more than any of our others, so to finally have it out is really cool. Been getting a lot of great feedback from it.
What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?
Our creative process is nothing strict. Most times, one of the three of us have a riff idea, we show it to the rest of the band, and then we figure out the instrumental. This usually takes a month or two, and in that time of development, one of us will choose to write the lyrics and work on that between our jams. Every song you hear from us is a collaboration between all members.
What inspires our music writing is just whatever the current emotion is. Sometimes things in our personal live can be tense, and the best feeling to get out is making something really heavy and dark, other times things are good and you want to play some punk jams.
What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?
That’s not really up to us. We like the idea of people getting their own interpretations or their own emotions out of our music. We write based on what we are feeling. And after that, it's up to the listener to let themselves feel whatever comes to them.
Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?
All the time. Especially when writing, since it's all collaborative. It’s easy for us to keep pushing forward though, since we have been friends since childhood. We have a pretty good understanding of what pushes each other's buttons, and when something is worth fighting for.
We all have the same interests in mind, which is what music sounds best for the band to play, so we also trust each other’s opinions a lot.
What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?
Ah the future. We have our album Goon releasing on April 19th. Months and months of effort went into the whole process, so to finally have that come out will be great.
Following that we are touring from Ontario to the east coast of Canada. We have 19 shows booked in the month of May. After that, we will continue to work on music and play shows. Keep on truckin.
Music Video - Boner -
Ivy Gardens "Goon Tour":
April 20 - St. Catharines, ON - Warehouse
May 2 - Brantford, ON - Two Doors Down
May 3 - London, ON - Palasad Socialbowl
May 4 - Guelph, ON - Jimmy Jazz
May 5 - Barrie, ON - The Queens Nightclub
May 10 - Hamilton, ON - Doors Pub
May 11 - Toronto, ON - Bovine Sex Club
May 12 - Ajax, ON - Rotilicious
May 16 - Ottawa, ON - House of TARG
May 18 - Montreal, QC - l'Escogriffe Bar Spectacle
May 23 - Saint John, NB - Haven Music Hall & Cafe
May 24 - Moncton, NB - Xeroz Arcade/Bar
May 25 - Charlottetown, P.E.I. - Baba's Lounge
May 26 - Sydney, NS - St. Patrick's Church
May 27 - Halifax, NS - RadStorm
May 30 - Trois Rivieres, QC - Café-Bar Zénob
May 31 - Kingston, ON - The Mansion Kingston
June 1 - Kitchener, ON - The Golden Apple
June 2 - Niagara Falls, ON - Camp Cataract
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