Gardland

The playful techno antics of Australian newcomers Gardland are yet another taste of RVNG’s ever-flowing stream of wonderful weirdo electronics. The two gentlemen from Down Under are known for locking themselves up for ten days at a time, resulting in their experimentalist take on contemporary dance music. In anticipation of their show in Amsterdam, we called Mark and Alex to talk about ‘pretty good’ TV series, laughable music and cowboy hats

 

Interview by Sander van Dalsum

 

‘We once made a particular sound that kind of shocked us and was hilariously good. Sometimes we stumble across sounds that literally make you laugh because it makes you think, How did this even happen?’

 

 

First of all, are you guys into Curb Your Enthusiasm at all?

Mark: Yes! I can’t stop quoting it sometimes. This show is ‘pretty, pretty, pretty… pretty good’. My favourite part is probably when Leon tells Larry to step inside this guy’s asshole, spray paint on the inside and leave some garbage and so forth.

Alex: I would go for the whole conversation about the wide vaginas.

 

Who of the two of you has the most disturbing sense of humour?

Mark: Let’s just say you.

Alex: Let’s just say me? What have I done that is disturbing?

 

So… you guys are living in Berlin for the time being?

Alex: Yeah, we’re sitting on the street; it’s the only place where we can pick up internet right now.

Mark: We’re stealing internet off a café across the street, and hope they don’t see us.

 

Do German people have a different sense of humour, you think?

Alex: People look very stern. They only laugh when we try to speak German.

Mark: Yeah, we haven’t really had a laugh with anybody yet. It’s all been quite serious and not funny. It’s probably because we haven’t made any friends yet. So no funny times outside the two of us.

 

Yeah, but techno is pretty serious music. Your songs are quite playful though, how come?

Mark: People don’t play eight hours of pitch-black techno in Sydney, so we’re influenced by other elements.

Alex: We never intended to make music purely for the clubs. We made songs before that would only freak people out on the dance floor.

 

 

How was life before dance floors were introduced?

Alex: We both used to play drums in rock bands. Then we slowly started to get into electronic music the last couple of years and formed Gardland.

Mark: I guess we both got sick of playing drums – sitting in the back and just keeping time. We found the electronic scene to be way more fun and vibrant.

 

You’ve been known to lock yourselves up for ten straight days to get some music done. How do you keep things fun and motivated while being locked up?

Alex: Ha, we both didn’t have jobs at the time. For one, because we were in university, and two, because I guess we didn’t want to have jobs. It was fun doing it so quickly and to see how things progress within such a limited amount of time.

Mark: It didn’t seem laborious or claustrophobic being in the same boring small room. Smashing stuff out so many hours at a time was quite fruitful.

 

Outside of making music, what do you think is the most fun thing to do in your leisure time?

Alex: Dance to other people making music. Interacting with other people. Reading other people’s books, watching their movies

Mark: Nature’s good. And looking at buildings, I guess.

 

What’s the most joyful thing you remember from making music together?

Mark: We once made a particular sound that kind of shocked us and was hilariously good. Sometimes we stumble across sounds that literally make you laugh because it makes you think, How did this even happen?

Alex: We had a string of shows where one of us would get really inappropriate. We would get really drunk or something else. Mark once wore a cowboy hat for eight hours and he just couldn’t leave the stage.

 

Wait, what? You guys play live sets that are eight hours long?

Alex: No, no! After our own show, Mark couldn’t leave the stage. He was just dancing and waving to the crowd. The hat wouldn’t come off. There were a lot of people amused by that.

 

What kind of a cowboy hat was it? Like a glittery one that Elton John might have worn?

Mark: No, it was way more jazzy, with a short little rim.

 

 

Gardland perform at our Subbacultcha!-curated Side Program for Listen To This: Lee Ranaldo and Bang on a Can All-Stars at Muziekgebouw aan ‘t IJ on 8 November alongside Bismuth and Michiel Klein. The entire program is free for Subbacultcha! members.