The Garden talks about their latest record and how an incline is better than a decline

On Friday the 30^th of October we had a date with the second best looking twins on the planet. The first place obviously goes to Gary and Ryan Jarman from The Cribs. Due to a shattered phone screen Wyatt was excused for the first part of our interview. I guess some things are still more important than an interview with the hottest new blog in town. We still had a lovely talk with his twin Flechter about the up’s and down’s of being a new band and what influenced them on their latest album, ‘Haha’. 

Today is the third time you play in Brussels, your second time here at Madame Moustache. Did you already had the time to get to know the city a bit better?

Fletcher: Some cities we’ve played I know my way around. But this particular one not so much. I know this area and that’s about it. 

Do you have any favourite places to go back to when you’re touring?

Fletcher: Yeah totally! I like going to Denmark. I like going to Asia. For specific places I’d like to go back to Indonesia, that was fun last time. I like Texas. Texas is nice.

Did your home place Orange, California, influence your music in any way?

Fletcher: Not really. There were some bands from California which I like to listen to growing up. They might have served as a backbone for me and what I do now. But I don’t think they really directly influenced me on what I’m doing right now.

Would your music have been different if you grew up somewhere else?

Fletcher: Maybe? I really have no idea! 

Do you think stylistic elements, like album covers, are important to what you’re trying to convey with your music?

Fletcher: Visual art is important to some people. I’m always kind of lazy when it comes to the visual art part. We were more focused on what we’re actually doing than the album cover. We do like album and visual art but most of the time we just forget about it. We try to focus on it ever so often because it is definitely important. 

What do you think about your career in music at the moment?

Fletcher: It’s actually changing all the time. There’s always up’s and down’s. But as long as you keep going on a steady incline instead of a steady decline it’s always a bit better. We’re slowly inching up. So yeah, we’re doing good!

Are you proud of how far you’ve come with your music?

Fletcher: You learn to appreciate it a lot after a while. I guess if you start it doesn’t really matter if you’re good or bad. In my eyes when we first started nobody seemed to care about anything we were doing. When we started touring, still nobody cared. Then we started touring harder and things changed and people came to our shows. You get used to it in the beginning. Doing your thing and sleeping at terrible places. But when things do get better you really learn to appreciate it. I'm happy where we are now.

Congratulations on your last album ‘Haha’. How was the writing process?

Fletcher: It came kind of natural!

When did you write the songs and was it east to compose them?

Fletcher: The album went through a year before we got it how it’s now. Because we were touring we didn’t have much time to work on it. Every time we went home we just had a short period of time to record some songs. We had the songs made already but they were like crappy demo’s. So we did have to record them all again. We wanted a more refined sound than what we already had. It would have taken us only a few weeks if we weren’t touring though. The only song we recorded in the studio was ‘Egg’, all the other songs were made alone, at our home. 

You once said that every song has a meaning? But is there also a theme on the album?

Fletcher: It’s just a collection of different ideas. It’s about places we went and are still going. Mostly it’s things we believe in, things we’ve experienced and things that are important to us. 

For the second part Wyatt joins us in the dark smoking room at Madame Moustache. We tried to find an answer to the question that most scientists have been trying to find an answer on for decades: Are identical twins really that similar? We gave the Shears twins seven small dilemma’s and found out their different views on some of them.

Gorilla or Tractor

Morning person or Night person

Fastfood or Home made

Crowdsurfing or Moshing

Drum ‘n’ Bass or Drums and bass

Jebediah or Jessesiah

French fries or French kiss

How do you see eachother?      

Oscar Scheller talks about trying to make his unique sound and his biglove for rollercoasters

Saturday the 24th of October on a sunny day in the middle of Autumn I went on a trip with my camera, a couple of questions and my best mood. On my way to my favourite place in Brussels, Le Botanique. The perfect place to be to have a chat with melody-maker, mover and shaker, Oscar Scheller. The indie dreamboat who has been working for his place in the spotlights for a long time now. His dreamy lyrics and dancing tunes have finally brought him on a tour around Europe. We had a talk with him about his love for rollercoasters and his upcoming album.

It’s not your first time playing in Belgium but your first time here at the Botanique? Glad to be back after a couple of months?

Oscar: Yes for sure! We’ve only just arrived but the venue looks pretty great. An amazing location and such a beautiful garden. Very impressive!

As Gengahr’s supportact you’re going to see a lot more concert venues these weeks. Are you a bit excited to conquer Europe?
Oscar: Definitely! Ready and willing!

A couple of months ago you already played in Belgium, at Pukkelpop festival. Something you really looked forward to?
Oscar: My aunt lives in The Netherlands and when I was still a little boy my cousins always went to Pukkelpop. So I had heard about it already. When I found out I was playing it was sort of a strange dream coming true. I played at 11 in the morning on the mainstage, which was really early. Very exciting though, I’d love to go back again some time. But maybe play a little later in the day?

With some family living in The Netherlands I assume that you speak a little bit of Dutch?
Oscar: I know some basics like ‘Hey, hoe gaat het?’ and ‘Hoe gaat het op school?’. But mostly just rude things which I’m not going to say to you.

Loads of music blogs and magazines have compared  you to a very long list of big names like Morrissey, Beirut, Depeche Mode, Interpol, Ian Curtis, Damon Albarn, David Bowie and I could still go on…

Oscar: Woah, that’s a very long and impressive list indeed! And such incredible musicians, I’m honoured.

Is it important for you to be compared with such great artists or would you rather just be know for you with your own individual sound?
Oscar: People are going to be comparing you with others bands. That’s something you have to accept. And to be compared with such bands and artists isn’t the end of the world. I still think I’m different from them of course.

What can we expect on your upcoming debut album?
Oscar: It’s going to be varied. A little bit like my record collection, which is a lot of different genres. It still has to be about the songs. Style and production are the things that just come after that. It’s going to be poppy, punchy, vibey and a lot of other “y’s”. Hopefully also emotional so people can identify with everything I do.

On which day do we have to run to our local record store to pick up your very first album?

Oscar: Somewhere next year. 26th of February to be exact.

I also hear that you are a big fan of amusement parks, especially Walibi here in Belgium. Are you going to spend your day off tomorrow there, testing all the rollercoasters?

Oscar: I wish! Tomorrow we’re travelling to Amsterdam where we play on Monday. But yes, I’m definitely a big fan of rollercoasters. When I was still little I wrote down my experiences from all the different theme parks I went to. Then I would rate all their rollercoasters and give them stars out of five. Yeah, I was very into rollercoasters!

Later that nights Oscar gave the very best of himself in the tiny Rotonde. Happy pop songs with all a fair dose of feelings like Beautiful Words and Daffodil Days did great on stage. A solid live show that blew  for the people who came early off their socks. At some moments it even turned into a small dancing party. His first time in Brussels was a big hit if you ask me. Hopefully we see him back soon somewhere in little Belgium!