GARDEN Skateboards – Dying To Lie In Sevilla – Issue 46 Article

There I was, 15 years old (give or take 20 years), going on my first music tour (give or take 20) with one of my favourite bands Garden (this is true), on an assignment for Rolling Stone Magazine. I was paired with Reece Leung, who despite us never meeting before had actually been a close friend and colleague for the last 16 years. The band had organised a trip in Sevilla through top location scout and film maker George Toland. George had discovered some of the most prolific untapped gig locations in the UK through a company called Serious Adult. After exhausting these locations George essentially had no option but to take his documentation talents abroad, and Sevilla was the spot.

Garden’s musical talents are not necessarily well known worldwide, which I found to be a relief; they’d surrogate fame with passion and detail. Whilst I’ve seen many bigger brands, I mean bands turn me down to cover their work due to lack of budget (despite excessive evidence of them spending more in 10 minutes on some starters for a meal than I ever have in a month), Garden were incredibly hospitable.

The van actually couldn’t fit everyone in, and to prove how hospitable this elite musical crew are they’d make sure that two people at all times were too injured to come on the mission, making room for Reece and me. Nuno was the first to jump on the metaphorical bomb, with a gnarly heel bruise from jamming too hard on one of the first days. After seeing me struggle to navigate technology or a bike then Lou, one of the politest men I’ve ever met, intentionally rolled his ankle on some percussion just to make room in the van for me. I knew that I shouldn’t take this kindness for granted so proceeded to spout quotes such as “True Skateboarding chooses you”, “It’s an industry of cool!” and “It’s a long way to the middle” out of context as often as possible just to show I was taking the article seriously.

At this point it’s probably relevant to mention each band member. Kieron Forbes has been the creator and driving force since the beginning and, despite members changing over the years, I feel the current band works well. This is certainly not taking away from previous bandmates who certainly contributed so much to Garden before going off to pursue solo careers, but a complement to the current incarnation of the band. George Horler stepped in to co-manage the rockstars due to an injury picked whilst performing in other bands Holy Loaf and Buffet Lunch. What can we say, he’s a talented man and was integral to logistics, morale boosting and actually put a big fucking slog in finding gig and filming locations through extensive Google Maps research. Some of them truly were next level, thank you Georgio! The people making the melodies with style and panache were Mani Haddon, Ellis Gardiner, Billy Wells, Nuno Silva, Lou Phillips and Michael Tarry. I know, oozing with steeze non?

I’ve read a fair few music tour articles in fine publications such as Document, Sidewalk, Slap and many more current bangers and I knew that to make a good write up you have to cause some commotion and get some hair-raising stories. With this in mind, I tried hassling some of the local residents whilst the band was jamming. To my dismay the locals were incredibly polite, would move vehicles for the van to park and asked inquisitive questions. At one point we were drinking cans and smoking hash outside a church whilst Bill recounted motorbike stories.

Surely this was enough to cause a confrontation. The church door opened and I shouted “It’s Rock n’ Roll, not Rock n’ Rules,” hoping to stir a retaliation and maybe get punched in the face. To my dismay they invited us into the exquisite building and complimented our clothes.

Time was running out to cause some drama. Sure the gigs were going well and the whole band was bonding more by the minute. At one point when we went to the Cathedral for some spiritual inspiration I took the van keys out of George’s pocket and intentionally left them by the van, praying that they would cause the vehicle to get nicked. It didn’t work and, despite George being a little confused, the keys were exactly where I left them by the front tyre. Gutted.

Another example of the band gelling together in proletariat solidarity, we watched an underground documentary called “Thrashin’” with some fella called Josh Brolin. I hope he makes it some day. Whilst watching this video Mani Haddon and I fucked our stomachs at one of the few food joints open late. Despite no-one being there, the food took ages and there was very little solid in the meal due to excessive garlic sauce. With our stomachs off the next day, the band all decided to visit said eatery in solidarity to also waste time and feel incredibly nauseous. Friendship takes many forms and sometimes it’s fucking yourself over. The only remedy was to watch a small docuseries about a phone shop set in Sutton. It was really educational and we all learnt a lot, but were we ever going to piss anyone off and chuck something off a roof? All in all everything was organic, authentic and heartwarming. A pinnacle example is when Kieron said to George “I don’t know how many years we’ve been driving around in the rain looking at spots together, but I’m glad I’ve been doing it with you.”

Needless to say, there wasn’t a dry eye in the immediate vicinity. One local even fell to their knees and applauded this sentiment. At one point I thought I heard Mani Haddon refer to me being a journalist as “the enemy… but it would be cool to get the cover.” He reminded me of Jason Lee in that film where he’s the lead singer of that band. Must be a coincidence.

I rang up Rolling Stone and informed them that I had finished the assignment Ben Fong-Torres had given me. “Are you taking the piss?” they asked, and abruptly hung up. Fortunately at that moment I turned to see Reece Leung shooting a photo of Jono Coote tailblocking a piss-ridden transition in Carlisle. When I told Reece that we’d both been shafted in terms of our article, he reminded me that all 3 of us actually ran our own magazine and to maybe lay off the cans. On top of that he said that the band was going to get the cover.

Needless to say I put some dog shit through what I presumed was The Rolling Stone offices and against my parole officer’s recommendations brought 4 Galahads from Aldi to celebrate. In conclusion, thank you so much to Kieron, George and all of Garden. Incredibly stylish, incredibly authentic and all of their output will have 17 more references than first acknowledged. True purveyors of the craft and what keeps us stoked on skateboarding, lots of love to you all. See you back in the real world.

GARDEN SKATEBOARDS – “HANDS ACROSS THE WALL”