Leigh Gardiner Cue The Violins

Chuditch is the dark, brooding artistic project of cherished Western Australian songwriter Leigh Gardiner. Collaborating with many creative friends and heroes such as composer Rebecca Erin Smith and artist Nathan Martella, Leigh has facilitated a unique style of DIY music across the many acts he's involved with. After reaching the finals of the 2020 International Songwriting Competition with his debut single 'Grasping at the Water', Chuditch returns with the contrastingly upbeat and 80s inspired 'Cue The Violins', celebrating with an intimate live launch to follow.

Out via Distrokid, 'Cue The Violins' confronts the idea of suffering for your art. Andrew Atthowe's driving piano riff that is the backbone of 'Cue The Violins' was birthed from a jam session intended as a throwaway to annoy Leigh with it's happier upbeat feeling. Instead it provided inspiration. With a strong concept to work with, Leigh wrangled a group of his favourite Perth musicians together in a house to jam and they recorded the basic track of 'Cue The Violins' in a morning. Featuring a disco rhythm and driving bass line by Louis Best, complimented by guitarist Rohin Hawksley's dreamy hooks and Erin Gordon's skill on the mellotron, 'Cue The Violins' quickly became the danceable, cathartic number you hear today, and stands as a testament to Leigh Gardiner's eclectic musical prowess.

"I think this idea of suffering for your art is prominent in lots of art's history but for me particularly a lot of 90s grunge era bands. The idea that good lyrics come from enduring hardship and dealing with mental issues and emotion turmoil. There's a fear that if you're too happy you won't have anything to write about so you ruminate on small things that turn into big things in your head. The idea of collecting your sins to burn a creative fire. This can compound if you're the sort of person who doesn't talk freely about your feelings hence one of the final lines of the song and the title is 'cue the violins' (a mocking made usually for petty gripes) as the antagonist of the song prepares to divulge their feeling." – Leigh Gardiner, Chuditch

When not creating his own music Leigh Gardiner curates a blossoming concert series called Tender is the Night that pairs local original songwriters and composers to perform material with a string quartet. Chuditch will launch 'Cue The Violins' as part of the next Tender is the Night showcase, supporting psych pop songwriter Michael Savage on Sunday 13 June at the Guildford Town Hall. Tickets are on sale now in limited capacity so don't sleep on it.