yourgardenday is the words and music of wondering minstrel Robin Coward.
A legend is told that young Robin could pick out a tune before he could speak. His parents had named him well, and spotting his musical leanings sent him to classical piano lessons at the age of five.
By the age of ten, he had been drawn away into the seedy world of rock’n’roll. And so followed many years of musical training; forming band after band, trying his hand at orchestras, choirs, jazz, tap and musicals, all the time sharpening his skills. An increasingly single minded fellow, Robin realised that happiness was not to be found playing other peoples music.
A move to Brighton gave him the surroundings needed to create yourgardenday. Robin set about producing an EP at home. ‘Little Boy There’ comprised two acoustic numbers and two electronica experiments. The title track was included on ‘The Latest’ music magazine CD and described by Jonny Reggae of Catskills Records as ‘a truly mature piece of work that had me completely hooked’.
The recently released second EP ‘Journeys In My House’ is a fuller affair recorded with Dajon Everett from Gomez. ‘I love sound and enjoyed landscaping those tracks for the first CD, but above all, I love songs. So I wanted to record something more band orientated where the tunes shone through. A natural, woody sound, like the listeners were sat next to me on the piano stool.’
Bandless, Robin performed everything on the CD except for the drums and additional bass which Dajon supplied. Finding it hard to do this in front of an audience, he set about developing yourgardenday for live exposure. The merry men joining him are Guy Dollery on drums, George Williams on guitar and Craig Beedham on bass. The boys have been peddling their wares regularly along the south coast; a highlight was headlining the Avalon Café stage at Glastonbury last year. The band had the crowd dancing in a river of mud and hope to do the same this year, but without so much mud.
yourgardenday is about life’s little quirks - an optimistic outpouring from a head more full of questions than answers. Melodies and rhythms collide in a world where any chord goes, creating something akin to a sing-along at a classical concert in the surroundings of a dirty saloon bar. Supping up influences from the likes of Annie Lennox, Freddie Mercury, David Bowie. Rufus Wainwright, Elliott Smith, Radiohead and the Muppets makes for a volatile cocktail.
2 of the 4 tracks off the EP are loaded into the player, the solo track 'little boy there', and also a home demo of 'the feel', a track recorded with guy, mike, ian and adrian.
buy 'Journeys In My House' via paypal by clicking on the secure link below - the cd also has a link to download the 'Little Boy There' ep
Other nights run by Robin:
EVERY TUESDAY, 9pm
Open Mic @ The Black Horse
Church Street (opposite Corn Exchange), BRIGHTON
EVERY WEDNESDAY , 9pm
Open Mic @ The Brighton Tavern
99-100, GLOUCESTER ROAD, BRIGHTON, BN1 4AP
