Garden Party poised to record second single ‘In The Middle’

Manchester-based band Garden Party is poised to record its second single ‘In The Middle’ in September, according to its guitarist, Kieran Poynter.

Garden Party comprises Liam Horrocks (vocals) from Wigan, Kieran Poynter ( guitar) from Darlington, Sam Timson (drums) from Leicester and Dieter Hohnmann (bass) from Barry. They performed at Manchester’s iconic Gorilla club in March just before lockdown and ‘Tomorrow’ has featured on BBC Introducing.

‘Liam wrote ‘In The Middle’ and did a demo version in lockdown,’ Poynter said. ‘We all recorded our parts – we’re all at music uni in Manchester, so we knew a bit about recording – and then the producer Matthew Fisher mixed it for us.’

Earlier this month, Garden Party released its debut single ‘Tomorrow’, a song that came together almost by chance, according to Poynter: ‘I started writing it in June last year. I met our singer Liam the next month because we were both off to uni in Manchester. We were coming back on the train from a Sam Fender concert and by the time we got off the train, Liam had written most of the lyrics.’

The band met up for the first time recently since it performed at Gorilla, Poynter said. ‘I came home from uni at Easter and haven’t been back since,’ he said. ‘We’re supposed to go back on 31 August, though.’

Next up is an EP. ‘We’d like to release one within a year, although with everything that’s going on, it could get pushed back,’ he said.

Poynter cites a variety of musical influences for the group, including the DMA’s, Stone Roses and Sam Fender. ‘If I could collaborate with anyone, I’d like to collaborate with Richard Ashcroft,’ he said. ‘We’ve often been compared to The Verve but that’s mainly because Liam is also from Wigan!’