Introducing: Lady Garden

Crashing onto the scene straight out of Cardiff, Lady Garden is a riot of energy, chaos, and pure punk rebellion. Inspired by the likes of Bikini Kill, The Distillers, and Amyl and the Sniffers, they deliver snarling riffs, anthemic hooks, and lyrics meant to be screamed. Their debut single Funny dropped in February 2025, setting the tone with raw, unfiltered power-backed by a packed-out, sweat-drenched release show at The Vulcan Lounge.

With a growing list of achievements—including opening for Cumgirl8, radio play on BBC Radio Wales, and an upcoming slot at Immersed Festival-Lady Garden isn’t just here to play. They’re here to be heard.

Your debut single, "Funny," just dropped-what’s the story behind the track, and what message do you want listeners to take from it?

‘Funny’ plays on the idea that men think they’re the shit. Isobel originally wrote this song about the end of a relationship and the process of moving on, eventually finding someone new. But at its core, this track is about not letting a man break your heart. Don’t waste your tears on a boy, and never let him walk all over you. She wants  listeners to connect with the lyrics and realize that, in the end, they’re always the funniest one in the room, no guy could ever top that. 

You’ve been compared to punk icons like Bikini Kill and The Distillers-how do you balance paying homage to those influences while creating something fresh and uniquely Lady Garden?

We’re hugely inspired by bands like Bikini Kill and The Distillers as pioneers of female punk and the riot grrrl movement. Their influence runs deep in our sound and the energy we bring to every performance. Isobel drew from Bikini Kill’s unapologetic style while writing “Drop Dead Gorgeous” which comes through in the song’s fearless attitude and bold lyrics. What makes Lady Garden stand out is how we blend those punk roots with our own experiences as young female musicians. We channel the challenges we’ve faced into our music, staying true to ourselves, speaking out about what matters and holding onto that raw, defiant sound that’s shaped who we are today.

Your live shows are known for their high energy and chaos. What’s been the wildest moment on stage so far?

When it comes to things going wrong at shows, we’ve definitely had our fair share of mishaps. Xanthe has dropped her drumsticks mid-song and had to keep going one-handed, her cymbals have fallen over, and she even fell off her drum stool once—somehow bending the leg of the stool and ending up with a massive bruise on her bum. Guitars have slipped off their straps, Sali’s lost her picks mid-set and had to keep playing without them, and at one gig, Isobel’s guitar completely broke so we had to make a mad dash back to Amelie’s house to grab another one. But despite the chaos, our gigs are absolutely mental in the best way. At our debut single launch for ‘Funny’ at the Vulcan Lounge, people were singing our lyrics back to us, which was insane. The song had been out for less than 24 hours yet the crowd already knew every word. You can even see in some of the videos Amelie and Isobel looking at each other in shock, grinning, because we couldn’t believe everyone was singing along.

From playing Clwb Ifor Bach to landing a slot at Immersed Festival, your momentum is building fast. What’s next for Lady Garden in 2025?

Lady Garden is only going up from here. We have more tracks to be released later this year and we have plans of a very special headline gig in September, we can’t give too much anyway yet. We’ve worked really hard in order to get where we are and we’re not going to stop. We are beyond proud of ourselves and can’t wait to see what the future holds for us. 

Punk has always been about rebellion and making noise-what are the biggest themes or messages driving your music right now?

Our themes and inspiration for songs vary. We’d say one of the biggest themes in our music is female empowerment; it is vitally important to us that our music speaks out on ever prominent issues such as gender inequality and harnesses the rage that we, as women, are expected to suppress. While some of our songs explore themes of mental health/ illness and abuse, others touch on topics of inequality and the feeling of loneliness and guilt. Most of our music is based on our lives, while we’re working on politically driven tracks a lot of our material is driven by the fact our listeners can connect to it. As an artist we want people to listen to our lyrics and align with them and feel something.