All the way from… actually, Lincoln today, we have Borders who bring us some peace and quiet on this lovely Sunday. Yeah, right – they’re noisy and they know it!
Simple things first – where are you guys from?
We are from Lincoln, UK!
How did you meet?
Gav and Dan met through music college, where they played in a band together. I met those guys when I moved to Lincoln to study audio at University, where we messed around with a few musical projects before forming Borders. JJ we met through an audition process we had to find us a new frontman!
How long have you been playing as a band?
Three years with our current line-up.
Before you get sick of being asked… where does the band name come from?
It represents a lot of things we are passionate about and the problems we see in today’s society. Even though we are more connected than ever, the borders and division between people seems to be growing.
What are your influences?
We all love quite a wide range of music so our influences vary! Overall we find middle ground on the metal we love, we are all huge fans of metalcore and a lot of the new tech/prog metal movement. Gav is a huge pop fan too, which I think can really come across in some of our tunes and JJ loves his UK grime which you can hear shining through a lot in our new record.
Describe your music. What makes you unique?
We bring a variety of ideas from other genres and bring it into our own unique package. We like to use prog metal riffs, JJ’s grime verses and throw in a catchy pop-inspired chorus, but it’s all tied up with our sound so when you hear one of our tracks, you know it’s Borders.
Do you have any particular lyrical themes?
JJ is passionate about his lyrical content and often it hits quite close to home. Our Diagnosed EP dealt with corruption in the healthcare industry, particularly pharmaceuticals and also JJ’s mother’s own battle with cancer. Our debut album coming out in May documents a timeline of human corruption. Our single “731” is about the wartime atrocities of Japanese experimental camps, other tracks deal with contemporary political corruption and the potential future we might find ourselves in if we continue the way we are. Overall we like to speak about the things that we perceive as wrong around us, and hopefully inspire others to think more about the world they live in.
What’s your live show like? How many shows have you played?
We like to think of ourselves as energetic! We don’t stop from the moment the first note hits ’til we get off stage. Putting on a good show is something that’s very important to us, people pay money to come and see us and it’s our duty to give them the best show possible. JJ is an awesome frontman, he likes to get the crowd engaged, getting people to jump, splitting the room, that sort of thing.
What’s the wildest thing you’ve seen or done at a live show?
We had a really crazy show a while ago. There was no stage, we were on the same level as the crowd. As soon as we start, the place lights up, there’s a circle pit inches from us, people kept flying over our monitors by our feet! A crowd surfer brought part of the roof down after he grabbed onto it, the owners weren’t too happy. Really mental show, but great fun!
What kit do you use / guitars do you play / etc?
Gav uses an LTD AW-7 guitar, which I believe he is very dear to. He plays that through a Kemper. I use a Dingwall Combustion bass, which I love, and that goes through a Darkglass B7K. Dan uses a TAMA Superstar Hyperdrive kit and Zildjian/Sabian cymbals, although his most prized piece of kit is his extra soft drum stool. JJ uses whatever microphone is thrown at him!
What, if anything, are you plugging/promoting at the moment?
Out first album Purify, comes out this year on the 10th May. We are very excited! You can check out our singles that are released in the meantime, and our accompanying music videos on the Long Branch Records Youtube channel.
What are your plans for 2019?
Currently we have our album release UK tour in May, 3rd-12th. We are still writing music as always and we will be touring the album towards the end of the year through the UK and Europe.
