Introducing The Garden, SU’s newest underground music venue
We talk to the founders about what it took to open this up, and where they want to take it.
A snap of Bri performing at The Garden’s inaugural show
Photo courtesy of The Garden founders
By Kyle Henderson
The Syracuse music scene just got a little bit bigger with the introduction of its newest, most Earth-friendly venue yet: Meet The Garden.
I caught up with two of the founders, SU juniors Ken and Lauren, on September 18, the day of their first show. They were in the midst of making the final preparations on the venue, as they were expecting a large crowd. While they were both tired, they expressed their excitement at finally being able to begin hosting shows.
“We’ve been doing shit since 11 in the morning,” said Ken. “This has been three or four weeks of preparation and construction, and it’s nice to see it all come to form.”
The inspiration for the name and theme of The Garden all came last spring to Ken, who recalled watching a TikTok where someone installed a grass wall into their room, which made him think that it would be a great backdrop for a stage. He then thought about starting a venue of his own in his basement.
“Then, when I got to Syracuse and realized my basement was too small, I called my two friends and asked them if they wanted to join me in this venture,” he said.
With loosened pandemic restrictions this semester, live shows have begun making their return both in Syracuse and across the country. SU alone has a plethora of student artists, and after Covid took away the opportunity to perform from so many, Lauren is excited “to be able to be in a position where we can offer that to people that we care about.”
“I really hope it becomes something that people can see the logo and recognize, ‘Oh, that’s The Garden, they’re cool, I know I’ll have a fun time there,’” Lauren said. “I just want it to grow into something bigger than us, bigger than the artists, something that everyone feels like they are connected to and a part of.”
Ken and Lauren both want to make The Garden a permanent staple of the SU music scene, hoping to create a community surrounding the venue that will last even after they leave Syracuse.
“The Garden isn’t really just a house. It is a venue, but it’s very much an idea, so it can go in any basement,” said Ken. “As long as there’s people willing to promote artists on campus and to have artists be artists and creative performers, The Garden will always be a thing.”
Their first show was a night of firsts not just for the founders, but also for one of their headlining acts, SU junior and aspiring artist Tessa Pulgar, whose gig at The Garden was her first performance at a house venue. She really enjoyed the experience, not only having fun and loving the energy of the crowd, but appreciating the hard work of the founders.
“They [the founders] were super accommodating,” Pulgar said. “They knew that Brandon, who was accompanying me, had to bring his piano. Lauren brought it down, they set up all the lights, a grass wall, everything….It was just really nice and organized and they communicated everything really well.”
As for the future, the founders have no plans of slowing down any time soon. You can catch their next show on October 8, where Anish Ghosh and Kiara Akari will be performing. Additionally, they hope to expand beyond just doing live shows, with events such as open mic nights and listening parties. Lauren wants The Garden to be “providing different types of experiences in the house show setting.”
“This isn’t really something that people threw together,” Ken said. “We took a lot of time with it, so it means a lot when people say ‘Oh, we’re excited for The Garden, we can’t wait to be there.’ Hopefully this turns into something that’s consistent.”
“I’m just excited that people are excited, and like Ken said, I hope it keeps going,” Lauren added. “We’re gonna keep going, so hopefully people keep showing up.”
For more on The Garden’s inaugural show, check out www.20wattsmagazine/diy-coverage/bri-captivates-at-the-gardens-inaugural-show