Crank Wave x Charlie XCX: An Interview with Lime Garden
Written and Edited by Eve Moat
Interview Questions by Eve Moat
Photography by Eve Moat
Ever wondered what an upcoming band would say in an interview? Ever wondered what a unique genre like wonk pop is? Wonder no more! Lime Garden are here to tell all…
Answers by Annabel Whittle (drums)
Eve: Welcome back to The Gryphon’s coverage of Tramlines Festival 2024! Firstly, English Teacher told me to tell you they say hello!
Annabel: Omg hey!!
Firstly, as Music Editor for The Gryphon, I was able to acquire a ticket for one of our writers for your Brudenell Social Club show. After doing so, I began listening to your music and wished I had kept the ticket for myself! How was that show? What did I miss out on? Can you recall some interesting snippets from that event?
Ohh, we love The Brudenell! That was a great show – Leeds crowds are always so fun to play to. I remember someone made us bracelets and necklaces and gave them to us after the show which was so sweet. We 🩷 Leeds
That’s so cute! As an all female indie rock band, how do you feel you are breaking down barriers for other women in music? How important is it for young girls to have role models that they relate to, like yourselves?
We often say that our goal is to be recognized as a band first, not just a “female band”. There’s a tendency to expect female bands to fit into a specific niche or to feel pressured to adopt a particular image, whereas male bands can rock up on stage in jeans and a t-shirt and no one asks any questions. The expectation to have a particular image can sometimes be super stressful. I think as a group we are just trying to show that you don’t need to have to do that to be a girl in a band. Inspiring younger girls to pick up instruments and be the inspirations we never really had when we were younger is amazing, and definitely a big driving force for us.
It is so nice to hear that you don’t want to be put into a box per say and want to provide role models for younger female generations. Moving more towards your specific sound as a band, you have previously described your music as “wonk pop”, can you explain what this means?
If crank wave had a child with charlie xcx.
What a great mashup! In terms of your roots, you guys are originally from Guildford and Brighton. How does performing in places like Sheffield and Leeds compare to your nearest city London and smaller places like Guildford? Is the response or the audience different? Or do all your listeners have a shared similarity?
Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester are always a good crowd, and we always have a good time playing there. I think London will always be special as we often play our biggest shows there, and last time we even had people travel from Europe to see us there! There’s often a bit of crowd surfing and rowdiness in all of those cities, which we love.
Awesome! Ok, a few quick fire questions now. Who would your dream collaboration be with?
I think each member of the band might answer this differently, but I think collectively, collaborating with someone like Caroline Polachek would be a dream. She’s a huge inspiration for us. We saw her play once and she dedicated the song to the moon. Iconic.
Finally, what’s next for Lime Garden? What’s the dream?
The dream is obviously Wembley arena. But what’s next immediately… Going to tour America for the first time, a very special London show at the end of the year and new music…
Thank you to Lime Garden for taking the time to speak to The Gryphon. We hope that Wembley call up comes quicker than we can ever imagine!
