Wyatt and Fletcher Shears aka The Garden are the California double trouble twins shredding the rules and taking over town like stylish cartoon villains straight out of a Batman movie. Their sound is rapid-fire slacker rock (literally most of their songs are under a minute long) but with a bizarro Halloween twist; think Randal Graves from Clerks if he started a band. They were shot by Hedi Slimane for Saint Laurent (looking like the ying and yang 90s teen vampires of your dreams) and even created they own genre “VadaVada” to describe their sonic/visual universe. We premiere their new track, I Want That Nose I Saw On TV, and speak to the twins about life in the LA fast lane.
Is one of you the good twin and one of you the bad?
Wyatt: There are mistakes here and there, hopefully we’re both out for the same cause.
Fletcher: It’s a matter of being more responsible at times and more irresponsible at others.
What is VadaVada?
W: Our version of a genre. It’s a form of expression, a centrepiece for what we’re doing.
Are there other bands that you think are VadaVada classified?
W: I think that’s to be determined.
F: We call ourselves VadaVada because there’s no fucking rules, you don’t have to call yourself rock, you don’t have to call yourself punk, but people still do because it’s like ‘the rules’. Call yourself whatever you want. We feel like we want to call ourselves VadaVada.
How did the Saint Laurent modeling come about?
W: We were playing a show and basically got looked at, then recruited if you will. It started happening to people all around us a year later. All of a sudden everyone got pulled into it basically.
Do you resent the fact that some people will have found out about you because you have nice faces?
W: There are people who like us for our faces and then people who like us for the actual music and the energy we put into it.
F: It’s all a form of support; of course it makes me feel better when somebody’s into my music rather than just my face, but why would you get angry about someone liking your face?
Why did you decide to keep the band as just bass and drums?
W: I really like guitars, but we wanted to keep it minimal and only have to deal with each other, not because we didn’t like anyone else, it was just right and we went with it. We have a little tiny platform of what we do, we put a bunch of stuff around it like electronics and who knows what else is to come.
F: It’s more like an experiment actually, more of a project than a band.
W: We played an all electronic show in London and didn’t even play bass and drums. There’s a lot of creative freedom for us.
How’s your album coming along?
F: We have half of it recorded and mastered, we’re going back into the studio when we get home from tour and record the rest of it. It’s going to be different. I’m excited.
W: Plus we both have albums out for our solo projects, Puzzle and Enjoy.
You have an odd sense of style. Where does it come from?
W: Mostly Salvation Army stores.
F: You take some inspiration and make it into your own. Cartoons inspire me, I like to try and make myself look like a cartoon character in real life.
Are your parents total kooks?
W: They used to be.
Your dad was in some punk bands right?
W: He still is. He used to be in that scene back in the day and my Mom dabbled in it too. They’re pretty normal now but in a good way, super cool. They used to be kooky for sure.
When did you last cry?
F: A week ago because I realized a lot of things about myself.
W: [Laughing] I almost did today because I was barfing in a roadside bathroom, I feel ill.
Have you ever shoplifted anything?
F: I have a bad conscious with that, I feel guilty before I even do it. I stole a bat earring from a thrift store once.
W: I have that earring now. I really like it. I don’t think I’ve ever stolen anything maybe a fork or a spork or something.
Have you ever been in trouble with the cops?
F: We’ve had police come to shows.
W: One time we were filming a VadaVada episode if you’ve ever seen one if those online, our friend Rexx was driving with a really scary baby doll mask on. We were driving near an elementary school and some lady called the cops on us. They somehow found Rexx’s house and met us there. He was 6’7 and one of the biggest cops I’ve ever seen in my life, he was actually really cool, he realized we’re relatively sensible young men and left us to it.
The Garden are touring with Warpaint from March 15th – 26th.
Credits
Text Russell Dean Stone