Green Gardens - Hello Tomorrow

Though hailing from different regions of the country, Green Gardens forged Leeds as their adopted hometown; the city is the core of the four musicians, inside and outside the band, whether playing in other Leeds bands or working at the Brudenell Social Club. Their sound fuses folky, Bert Jansch guitar dynamism, shapeshifting art-rock, and “feudalist indie”; fondness for the past mixed with a forward-facing outlook.

In a not-so-green (beer) garden and Leeds pub, I chatted to Jacob Cracknell (vocals, bass), Chris Aitchison (vocals, guitar), Jacob Beaman (guitar), and Bob Henderson (drums) about the band’s origins and their new music – including their recently announced debut album.

What was the last great album you heard?

GG: Our album! Green Gardens!

Bob: The new Billy Woods album. There’s some really creative beats and wordplay on there.

GG: We went to see Cloud Nothings, so I’ve been listening to a lot of them.

Can you elaborate on the self-described ‘feudal’ aspect of your style?

Chris: We just don’t like writing about cars, phones, the internet; we like it to not be tethered to any one part of history. It’s a bit more escapist – we like it if something could either be from the 1300s or from yesterday.

Jacob C: We all love Richard Dawson; his new album, that’s very feudal.

You met whilst studying music at Leeds Conservatoire: what were your initial impressions of each other?

Jacob C: It’s hard because we all met studying music but I don’t think the music has been influenced by that. It was more of a meeting place.

Chris: We were all on different pathways as well: I remember first meeting Bob and he was studying jazz and we were studying classical, and me and Jacob Cracknell were on the same course. It was a really exciting mix of different influences.

Jacob B: You guys definitely expanded my palette: what I listen to, what I think about; Jacob made an unending Spotify playlist of all the Trojan Records.

Bob: Some would say it was love at first sight. How ingrained in the Leeds music scene, and beyond, are you?

Jacob B: We’ve been playing with Carpet recently.

Chris: Me and Jacob play in Far Caspian, and I play in Sunflower Thieves.

Jacob C: I play with Nile Summerton and Honeyguide too.

How did ‘Things I Didn’t Do’ come about?

Chris: It reflects grieving, from personal experience. It’s very busy lyrically; an expression of panic, fear; immediately after you’ve lost someone; also tying in those feudal influences.

Jacob C: With the saxophone, from Tomn Kettleton, we wanted something reedy and to really hear someone’s lungs.

Chris: It feeds into the strain, and enters this other realm, away from a heavy guitar track. The lyrics reflect guilt: you’ve lost someone, feel bad about the things you should have done that you didn’t do when they were around, and now you’re never gonna get the chance to do it again. Then it’s resolved elsewhere in the album, and that’s just a very normal way to feel. You should focus on the things that you did do; experiences you had with that person.

Green Gardens release their debut album, This Is Not Your Fault, on August 18th.