Interview: Gardenia raises absolute hell

Like so many people in this country, Gardenia grows numb and indifferent as each day passes. Troubling news cycles feed our desire to be freed from this country’s implosion. With their song “Lana Del Rey,” the duo – Ryan Zakin (vocals/bass) and Tamir Malik (drums) – observe last summer’s egregiously awful presidential debate and attempt to make sense of it all. “[It was] two old lunatics onstage, both older than my grandparents. One just survived an assassination attempt and was ironically weaponizing it, and the other was refusing to let go of the power he had,” the band tells B-Sides & Badlands. “It was embarrassing to watch, and it made me think about how people used to really root for this country to win. There’s no real motivation to do that anymore, and I wanted to capture that feeling.”

The jangly coarseness of “Lana Del Rey” firmly grips an array of emotions, from rage to sorrow. In referencing the pop siren, Gardenia wanted to tap into “the beauty of a time once forgotten. Whether it was her one music video depicting herself as one of the Kennedys to her whole Norman Rockwell album (dedicated to a true Americana artist), her use of what people once found beautiful about this place, it’s all so intentional, and it deserves every ounce of praise.”

Zakin and Malik leave their hearts throbbing on the floor, bleeding out as they push forward and unleash unholy havoc on the eardrums. “Just give me one reason to stay,” the duo sings. In clouds of cosmic dust, they peel back the layers of this country and expose rotten nerve endings and tattered membrane underneath. In doing so, they come to a greater understanding of their place in the world.

Below, the duo talks about America, holding onto truth, and their forthcoming EP.

When you think of America, what comes to mind?

I used to think it was a promise, now I think it’s just a warning.

Do you have a favorite Lana song or album?

It’s hard to pick. Ultraviolence as an album is probably my favorite. One of the producers of that record heard our song! Kind of weird to think about.

Did writing this song provide any catharsis for you – getting your feelings out onto a record?

Oh yeah, it’s even more cathartic to sing it with others live. One of the first times we played it live, I screamed out the line, “You love where you come from, baby, I could leave without missing a thing”, and people started cheering. That’s when I knew we were onto something.”

With the constantly depressing news cycle, how do you hold onto the things you love? Or are those things soured now?

Joy and my dollar are the only two useful weapons I have against the crazy of the world. So being happy with (and spending intentionally on) the things and people I care for are the greatest middle fingers I can give to the system.

Do you think music (and art, in general) will become increasingly important in these trying times?

If it doesn’t become more important, it’s because the powers that be have found a new way to silence it. It’s my hope, though, that people will take it to the streets and help their communities however they can, and making art is certainly a helpful way to do that.

How does this song fit into the project?

It’s the opener for the EP because it’s the strongest, I think, in terms of instrumentation. I wanted to open the project with a blast, and this felt like the most ideal way to do that.

How does the new project differ from your previous work?

We are a lot more intentional with our songs than before! We used to just make stuff because we thought it sounded good or we enjoyed playing it. For these new songs, we wanted to really push ourselves to make songs that had a lot more layers than just a big wall of sound.

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