We sat down with UK Nu Metal quartet, Borders prior to this year’s UK Tech-Fest to hear what’s new and what their expectations are of the rowdy party going down at Newark from the 30th of June!
HI GUYS, THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO JOIN US FOR A QUICK CHAT. DO YOU MIND INTRODUCING YOURSELVES TO OUR READERS AND GIVING AN ELEVATOR PITCH ABOUT HOW THE BAND HAS FORMED?
Hey! Thanks for having us [Borders]. I’m Tom and I play bass. Dan [drums], Gav [guitar], and I all met at Uni when studying audio production and just started messing about playing heavy music together. It then evolved into what is now Borders. Jordy [vocals] joined us a couple of years after while we were on the hunt for a vocalist.
HOW DID YOU GUYS GET INVOLVED IN MUSIC AND MADE THE DECISION TO PURSUE THE MACHINE THAT IS BORDERS?
We all have a massive passion for music and playing live. We all started playing instruments when we were younger so we could jam with our friends and play our favourite songs. Dan and Gav were in a band previous to this so they already gelled well musically. I had a couple of small projects before I moved up to the Uni where I met the other guys. I think we all decided to take the band further when we were jamming together and hearing Gav’s early songs and being like – “these are actually pretty good, should we make this a real thing”? I guess we did.
YOU GUYS ARE NOT A NEW FACE AT TECH-FEST. WHAT ARE YOUR RELATIONS WITH THE FESTIVAL AND HOW MANY APPEARANCES HAVE BORDERS MADE ON STAGE AT TECH-FEST?
Correct, this will be our third time at Tech-Fest now. We absolutely love it – there isn’t any festival quite like it (that we’ve yet experienced, at least!). It has such an amazing close-knit community that’s very welcoming. Everyone there is so into the music and on top of that, Simon [Garrod], the organiser does an amazing job of giving budding talent the chance to shine at the festival which is so important!
HOW ARE YOU GUYS FEELING TO BE BACK THIS YEAR? CRAZY TO THINK IT’S BEEN THREE YEARS SINCE THE LAST TECH-FEST. ANYTHING SPECIAL THAT THE CROWD CAN EXPECT FROM YOUR SHOW THIS YEAR?
Great to be back, it’s always such a good time there. Well we will for sure be playing our new single FADE TO BLACK, and maybe people could be on the lookout for one or two other new tracks in the wild … who knows, you’ll have to be there!
WHAT ARE YOUR BEST TIPS FOR FESTIVAL-GOERS TO SURVIVE A 4-DAY FESTIVAL?
Go in and embrace it, everyone is in the same boat. Meet as many new people as possible and have a good time! Oh – and stay hydrated out there!
WE SAW YOU GUYS ARE TEASING A NEW ALBUM THAT IS IN THE WORKS; WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM THIS RELEASE? ARE YOU GUYS FEELING ANY SENSE OF PRESSURE GOING INTO THE WRITING PROCESS OF A NEW ALBUM?
There is loads of pressure, you always want to top your last work. However, here I really think we have topped everything else we’ve done. It’s more experimental, we’ve taken some risks and had loads of fun doing it and I think the results are awesome.
IS THE WRITING PROCESS FOR THE NEW ALBUM ANY DIFFERENT THIS TIME AROUND SINCE THE RELEASE OF PURIFY?
Very different! We wrote most of it during lockdown so a lot of it was done through sharing ideas remotely and working with a new producer [Jonathan Dolese @ Konkrete Studios] who’s based in the United States. Jon is an absolute wizard and brings so much to the table! Overall, this new process probably led to us being more collaborative than ever, and being stuck inside really gave us time to hop online and work these songs out. But very different for us indeed!
HOW IS YOUR SCHEDULE LOOKING FOR THE REMAINDER OF 2022? ANY TOURS/SHOWS IN THE PIPELINE THAT YOU WANT TO PROMOTE HERE?
Obviously Tech-Fest! We are also on tour in July with Dropout Kings and we just dropped a new track called “FADE TO BLACK” so check it out and come say hi if you see us!