Forgotten Garden are an Indie Rock band (duo+guests) with dark/gothic post-punk tendencies. Occasionally they also wander from the path of post-punk righteousness into more acoustic territory. The haunting vocals are provided by Inês whilst Danny plays most of the instruments. Both live in the north of Scotland although Inês originally comes from Portugal. They started working together in 2019.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Forgotten Garden about the latest music, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
Danny is from the north of Scotland whilst Inês comes from Portugal. Our music is sad, haunting, soft indie rock which tends towards being post punk/dark wave. We also do more acoustic material which is also sad and haunting!
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
Music is a passion project for me. The artists that influenced me to follow a dark wave kind of path are bands like Joy Division, The Cure, The Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen etc. My prime motivation is that I love writing songs and seeing them turned into completed recordings. However, I do feel that unless at least a few people appreciate the songs then it’s kind of an empty experience. So finding that people actually like the songs and are getting something from them is also a prime motivator.
How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
This single,“Jessica”, is somewhat softer than our previous offering (The Broken Pieces EP). This is because we thought that this song needed a gentler approach. For instance, I played semi-acoustic guitar on “Jessica” and played a soft bass line. The synths were also quite mellow. So we were trying to achieve a softer feel to the song because that was what we felt suited it best. In fact, this song works very well as a pure acoustic version.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age? How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
The biggest challenge is rising above the noise. There is so much new music appearing everyday that it’s difficult to actually get people to listen to your stuff. Even if you have a track that is generally well liked it’s still a huge challenge to bring it to the attention of listeners. The Net, social media, Spotify Playlists etc. help but it often requires injections of money to get things really moving. Where technology has been a big help for us is in recording/putting together music. In these Covid days collaborations would have been very problematic without the Net.
What was the last song you listened to?
The Magician’s Birthday by Uriah Heep!
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
I prefer to listen to CD’s (one of the few!). I mostly listen to music in the kitchen where there happens to be a CD player. I like the idea of having the music contained on a physical object with proper artwork etc. and also actually buying something that rewards the artist properly (unlike streaming!).Vinyl to me is too cumbersome, too prone to scratches etc. although, of course, the fidelity is fantastic.
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Easy really! Bandcamp – because if I am going digital then I prefer to actually buy something that rewards the artist properly.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
On our website at https://forgotten-garden.com/home
Anything else before we sign off?
Thanks for publishing this! 🙂
