Solo offshoot switches ukes for synths
Who they?
Branching out from her ukulele-led band Owl & Mouse and going it alone, Common Or Garden is the solo project of Brisbane-born, London-based Hannah Winter. Ditching the acoustic sound for electronics, she self-describes Common Or Garden as “scrappy synthpop” and a more experimental outlet than her previous band.
Why Common Or Garden?
Her debut EP ‘Trust Everyone’ was borne out of self-imposed limitations, and definite restraint can be heard between Winter’s soft, echoey vocals. There’s also a significant story behind each of the three tracks. The propulsive percussion-led opener ‘Bought’ was written on a bus ride home after Winter had a particularly confronting conversation with a friend. The more sombre ‘Opportunity’ was inspired by the last message from the Mars Rover of the same name – “my battery is low and it’s getting dark”. Finally, the buoyant electronics of ‘Constellations’ deals with trying to help a friend with their mental health, but feeling like everything you say is making it worse.
Tell us more…
‘Trust Everyone’ aims to be hopeful, and is based around the idea of trusting that everyone is doing their best. “I think the things that link the songs are that they’re about women I know who were struggling in one way or another,” explains Winter, “and trying to figure out ways to communicate with them, to understand them, or be there for them. So I guess the theme is reaching out”. Using an iPad as her predominant instrument of choice, Winter also recruited omnipresent Darren Hayman to record vocals and old bandmate Emma Winston (who you may know among these pages as electropopper Deerful) to help with mixing. This is a bright start to this solo venture – one we’re looking forward to seeing more of.
‘Trust Everyone’ is out via Fika
