Meet The Garden

The brainchild of twin brothers Fletcher and Wyatt Shears, The Garden is a band from Southern California with an always evolving sound that ranges from punk and grunge to jungle and DnB.  Living in Orange County their whole lives, Fletcher and Wyatt have been best friends since childhood, playing hockey, going thrifting, or making music together.  Born eight minutes apart, older brother Wyatt once said those were the only eight minutes they have ever spent apart.

Formed in 2011, The Garden consists only of the brothers, with Wyatt on bass and vocals with Fletcher playing drums and electronics.  Before forming The Garden, the Shears were in a few other small bands which achieved little to no success. Starting off playing the club circuit around Los Angeles, The Garden has released six full length albums with countless singles and EP’s scattered across their discography.  Recently they have gained increasing popularity, playing major festivals such as Coachella and Camp Flog Gnaw as a result.

Before rising to fame, Wyatt and Fletcher worked in stores at a local mall. However, in addition to their modest retail job they also modeled for the prestigious designer clothing brand Yves St Laurent (YSL).  Despite modeling for a brand of that caliber they kept their jobs at the mall, often working mere feet from posters of themselves.

In a 2017 interview with Groovy Tunes Magazine, the brothers were asked about how the name “The Garden” came to be.  “It kinda relates to growing in general and as a band” said Wyatt, and over their ten years of existence they’ve done just that.  Never sticking with one look or sound, The Garden is an ever evolving project that changes and flows with the influences and personal tastes of the twins.

In 2011 they coined the term “Vada Vada” to represent their music and other creations. “It’s essentially just being able to be free with your creative expressions and have your own world” said Wyatt.  The term has grown to represent not only their various musical projects but also the creative mindset or experience that they want to embody.

Their music is hard hitting and dirty with Wyatt’s thought out bass lines weaving between Fletcher’s tempestuous drumming.  Various guitar riffs and synths are scattered around some tracks, adding depth and variety to their vast catalog of music. Recently The Garden has collaborated with many genre-bending and unconventional artists such as Andy Morin, Mac Demarco and Ariel Pink.  As they’ve recorded and toured over the years, The Garden has evolved both musically and visually, but despite the fame they’ve maintained the same drive and charisma that has characterized their work since the beginning.  Their sound has not changed drastically, but over the years they’ve incorporated more electronic synths and sounds into their music.

One aspect of the Shears on stage personas have been their unique clothing styles and striking makeup looks that have captivated their devoted fanbase.  In 2016 The Garden adopted a look reminiscent of a medieval jester or a certain Gotham City super villain.  Sporting the costumes in many of their videos and shows, the theme of their most recent tour was that of jesters and goblins, just a few of the characters they created in their 2020 album “Kiss My Super Bowl Ring.”

“Jesters represent what we’re doing in a lot of ways” said Fletcher in a 2017 interview, “We feel like that kinda fits the role of what we do on stage a lot of the time.”  Wyatt supported the look saying “The classical medieval jesters just look really cool.”  With jokeresqe clown makeup becoming the unofficial symbol of The Garden, many fans arrive at the shows in similar fashion, mimicking the oddly captivating “punk meets classical art” look displayed by the brothers.

Off the stage The Garden continues to question stereotypes and break barriers with their untraditional fashion.  Often thrifting their clothes, the brothers never stick with one style, opting instead for stylistic fluidity throughout their wardrobe.  “I want to look put together in my own personal way” said Wyatt, “I guess that’s my expression… I try not to think about it too much, because when you think about it too much then you’ll probably just end up looking weird,”

In addition to their success as The Garden, Wyatt and Fletcher have solo careers as well, under the names of Enjoy and Puzzle. Unlike the music of The Garden, the music created by Enjoy and Puzzle is much more electronica inspired. These alter egos are another creative outlet for the brothers, one that is a unique to them and allows them to not have have to rely solely on their shared success.

Under the pseudonym Enjoy, Wyatt has jumped headfirst into a sea of swelling synths and hypnotizing beats, releasing seven albums since 2012.  Despite only making solo music since 2016, Fletcher Shears aka Puzzle has released four albums, taking a different approach than his brother.  Although sounding similar to Enjoy, Puzzle’s music is closer to that of The Garden, utilizing more drums and bass than his twin.

Throughout the pandemic The Garden remained musically prolific, keeping us supplied with plenty of music. In addition to Kiss My Super Bowl ring, The Garden released multiple singles.  As we enter 2022 Wyatt and Fletcher have just finished a sold out US tour and are touring across Europe in the spring.  As fans look forward to a new release sometime this year, they hope that The Garden always keeps evolving and continues their streak of incredible albums.