“I just think about the honesty of what I’m writing and whether that’s going to live on”. Joseph Lawrence of the duo, Joseph Lawrence & The Garden, is as sincere when talking as he is when recording.
The 23-year-old singer/songwriter from Ipswich, now based in London, found his musical mentor in London producer and instrumentalist, Gibbi Bettini, A.K.A The Garden.
While studying at music college, Joseph recalls Gibbi’s patience and guidance in the early days, when his own talents were “raw” and writing wasn’t so personal. Three years later after much hard work and mutual respect, Joseph and Gibbi make a seamless team.
Originally it was just Joseph Lawrence, and the band were called The Garden, but quite quickly it seemed at odds for Gibbi not to have a permanent place in the name, “He is the sound just as much as I am the sound. It wouldn’t be the same without me or him, so it felt right to give him the credit of half.” Gibbi is just as humble, “I think it represents us well, regardless of me or not, I think it represents the music, very natural and very earthy and honest.”
Joseph recalls his early musical days at home where his parents encouraged him to perform, “My mum and dad made me sing to everyone at family functions, I used to have quite a big voice as well. I used to always sing ‘End Of The Road’ by Boyz II Men.” Hearing Joseph’s deep and gravelly voice now at still a young age, one can only imagine how the 9-year old version must have resonated.
Listening to mostly older music from the 50s, 80s and 90s, but also inspired by contemporary greats such as Kendrick Lamar and James Blake, Joseph is impressed by only a handful of newer artists. Lianne La Havas and Moses Sumney fit the bill, as “They both have an honesty and a rawness which is lacking today.” It’s this regard for quality and truth-seeking that aligns Joseph and Gibbi on a deeper level.
There is an organic synchronicity that permeates the pair’s creative process, “We don’t really have to say anything to each other, we just go in and start something and it’s exactly what I was thinking.” As someone who keeps notes on his phone, Joseph uses word association to spark writing, where one word will inspire an entire song, “Why did I write that down? What was I thinking? How is it relevant to what I’m trying to say right now?”
Joseph elaborates on these inner principles, “At least you know everything will be of standard and hold a place in time,” showing his unwavering focus on recording the right thing, not the thing that will necessarily appeal to the masses.
In an almost Romantic fashion, he doesn’t believe in lyrical amendments and completes a track in one session, “I put myself in that emotion and I might not be here again, so let me just put in all of it.”
Having released their first single, ‘Eclipse’ in 2018 to much industry praise, the duo continued to drop singles consistently. This culminated in a deal with Universal Music, and growing momentum in early 2020, performing at critically important events, such as Annie Mac Presents and The Great Escape Festival First Fifty.
However, the pandemic cut this snowball effect short, changing the band’s direction and mindset, “It’s quite a rare thing to feel like it’s moving a lot, so for that to drop and kind of plateau, it was a hard thing as well as lockdown.”
This reset put the plan to release an EP earlier in the year on hold, as the pair dug in and adjusted to the new landscape, “I want to be inspired just by life in general when I’m writing. It put me in a very subdued state, so a lot of the music took an almost dark, more lethargic angle. But all for a reason I think.”
There has been a silver lining, as Joseph and Gibbi finally released their debut EP Goodbye, Hello in October. Initially releasing three tracks with two more following on 27th November, there is a decisive shift in tone and lyrical content.
Where their previous work took on a “grandiose” sound, a mix of soul and rock with big guitars and drums, this EP allows much more space. Gibbi describes the project as “intimate”, partially due to headspace, partially due to physical constraints of the pandemic.
Going through a break-up, Joseph found lockdown helpful to situate himself not only mentally, but physically, in a solitary space, “It was me trying to navigate through loneliness and trying to understand why things are how they are.” Gibbi elaborates from his instrumentalist perspective, “Ninety five percent of it is all acoustic instruments other than one song, which is electric guitar.”
The first track, ‘In The Missed’ sets the tone beautifully. A true introduction, it’s gentle and uncomplicated structure allows the listener to feel the pain Joseph is clearly singing through. As it progresses, so does our understanding of his anguish, “It’s very sweet in a lot of ways, and then when the strings come in, it’s almost like he’s been freed and he’s in a more open space, and the vocal sound changes.”
Another stand out track is ‘Don’t Tell Me You Love Me’, where Joseph’s heartbreak is laid open for the listener to engage and interpret however they see fit, as Gibbi explains, “We didn’t want it to feel like, ‘oh drums and bass are here now’.
It takes it out of the space that it’s in and it just becomes, ‘the end is where it gets big’.” Taking direct inspiration from The Beatles (which the EP title references) who in their time had to play bass and drums across the room, Joseph and Gibbi chose to imitate this effect, “It would have actually sounded bigger if it was just mixed normally and the drums and bass were there in a more conventional way, but the EP isn’t particularly conventional.”
Beyond this release, the duo have a full album ready to go, but are in no hurry to release it, “You have to trust the process sometimes. For example, we wanted to put a different album out three years ago. But now in hindsight, I’m happy that it’s not out.”
In line with the ‘whatever will be, will be’ philosophy, the boys are building a solid foundation for their future, “Success is probably having a core set of people who believe in your music, who are invested in you as an artist and are there just waiting.”
Contrasting this with some “new wave artists” whose music is more “of the moment,” the pair are happy to move at their own pace, or as Gibbi puts it, “As long as you’re progressing in your music and you’re always moving forward…That’s just honest because you’re just making what is of you.”
If Joseph and Gibbi continue to work symbiotically, then it’s just up to us to listen.
