More about: Lime Garden

In a time when post-punk boy bands are dominating everywhere they can, Lime Garden are a breath of fresh air in the lungs of the Brighton and London music scene. With the ability to seamlessly switch from bubblegum flavoured pop to dark synth complete with Matrix-style leather jackets and green lights, Lime Garden are exploring what makes them, them. The band consists of; Chloe Howard (lead vocals, synth, guitar), Leila Deeley (lead guitar), Tippi Morgan (bass) and Annabel Whittle (drums). 

I sat down in the rain outside the Prince Albert in Brighton with the band, and with pints in hand and pork scratching in bellies, Lime Garden reflect on how it was to sell out their first post-lockdown gig six months ahead of the date. Annabel starts: “The last show we played before lockdown was at the Rossi Bar which is a 50 cap basement”. Leila laughs: “We squeezed a hundred in but it was weird”. "...So from going from that to selling this out has been really nice” Annabel finishes. Lime Garden will play Brighton's Prince Albert on 21 October so ask your mates if anyones got a spare, get a ticket and be there!

When talking about their identity and forming as a band in Brighton, Chloe notes: "I wouldn’t even say we’re a Brighton band. And if we moved to London we wouldn’t be a London band.” Annabel continues: “None of us are from here. We’ve lived here for three years. Brighton obviously does inspire us but I would never be like ‘Seagulls till I die’ kind of thing. I love staying in Brighton but I think wherever we go we’ll adapt.” 

Lime Garden have followed in the footsteps of bands like Sports Team and Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard in creating a fan Whatsapp group, which speaks to the fact that even at this early stage, the band are extremely connected with their fans. “We have so many random strands of our fanbase so it’s funny to see them interact. I know we'd like the band to be more than just ‘a band’. With social media as well, that communication is really important and we thought it would be a fun, new way to do it" Chloe notes.

The band have had a little name switcheroo after signing with So Young: formally named Lime, the band plan to start a war to win that original moniker back. Leila begins: “It was hard at first: the names we were coming up with - things like fig!”

“There were three of four days where we were just sat in a room trying to come up with names: Lime Branch, Lime Shampoo, Lime Guy” Annabel reveals. Chloe laughs and says: “We were just shouting at each other by the end”.

“The funny thing is is when we first came up with the name, we knew there was another Lime. We never thought it would matter and the fact that it did is quite funny. The overall plan is to get bigger than the original Lime and sue them to get the name back. Take back what’s ours.”

Having grown exponentially in the last two years under various lockdown conditions and having released their first two singles, Lime Garden were this year signed to So Young Records, beginning their new era with 'Sick and Tired'. With the disconnect of lockdowns and no gigs, the band don’t have much of a gauge of how big their fanbase has actually widened. “I think the Prince Albert show [selling out] was the first thing that made us think ‘oh shit’. It was the first thing that showed us physically that things have actually got bigger.”

“We’ve never had this much of a response to a song before, like radio, press and people in general” Annabel says of 'Sick and Tired', A-Side to today's new single 'Pulp'. “It went down like a pork scratching!” Annabel says.

On 'Pulp', the band say, things are "different to anything we’ve done before.” The new cut does in fact have a different vibe to their previous releases: a bumping tune that could soundtrack drunkenly fumbling through a packed club under hypnotising fluorescent lights. And indeed, the single does have its own striking video: "It’s like the Matrix!” they say.

Visuals are important to Lime Garden; the band have a strong desire to be more than just four girls on stage playing instruments. Leila says: “We have big plans for visuals at our live shows. We want to be more than just a band.” The video for ‘Pulp’ will be out very soon, and will show a different side of the band's visual identity. Annabel continues “We wanted to do a Matrix-themed launch party thing! But I don’t know how possible that’ll be”

Well, get your leather jacket out of the back of your wardrobe and learn how to slick back your hair because it’s looking like a Lime Garden/ Matrix club night is looking more possible than ever!

More about: Lime Garden