Borderline on their debut EP ‘Perfect Movie Scene’
Your new favourite project by your new favourite band has landed - fresh indie-pop hits with hints of funk & disco, and plenty of feel-good anthems for you to rock out to! Off the back of their South Island tour, Borderline chat to us about their latest project.
Hey guys, thanks so much for taking the time to chat to us! First of all, we'd love to know about your musical journey from when you first started making music together?
Thanks for having us! Two of us (Matt and Jackson) live around the corner from each other and went to the same primary school, so we’ve been jamming since we were about 7 years old. The magic started happening when we got Ben in the band a couple years back and luckily we met Max this year at music school. It’s been a really fun journey to this point and awesome to have landed where we are now with the four of us.
Congrats on your debut EP 'Perfect Movie Scene' - we're so obsessed with your indie-pop sound! How did you land on the name of the EP?
Thanks! The first lyric in ‘Going Home (Bitter)’ is ‘Perfect Movie Scene’ and that just stuck as the title. It's the last track on the EP and sums the whole project up nicely.
What were your artistic influences going into this project?
We’ve taken inspiration from heaps of different artists and genres for the EP, especially since the EP has some pretty diverse tunes. There was a lot of disco influence for our song ‘This Is Not Love’, and we were listening to lots of Cory Wong/Daft Punk while making it. We love The 1975 and we also listen to some heavier bands like Alice In Chains that help inspire the feel of songs like ‘Jealous’.
Amazing! And 'This is Not Love' such a fun tune with an infectious groove! Can you tell us about the concept of this song?
Thanks! The lyrics stem from the realisation that relationships can be complex and conflicted emotional experiences, often presenting situations that may not be as they initially seem. And sonically the track reflects the fun we had as a band in the creative process of writing it.
‘Jealous’ is another incredible catchy track full of energy, and a slick guitar solo! What was the writing process of this song like?
‘Jealous’ is one of those songs we wrote together as a band, just jamming in our studio. We came up with the main riff and the rest of the song came pretty naturally from there. It’s always fun writing with just our core instruments, no software, no effects, just us. It feels very genuine and natural.
What were your main highlights working on this EP?
The collection of songs takes you on our journey as songwriters, musicians and as individuals. The first song we recorded was 'Spinning' and that was our first time in a studio as a band. It was pretty cool to have that come out as our first single and land us in the charts. We loved spending time in the studio and were really lucky to record in great studios like Parachute and Roundhead and to work with awesome people like our producer Christian Tjandrawinata and with industry legends like Nic Manders and Vivek Gabriel.
Who are some of your favourite NZ artists right now and are there any songs in particular that you especially love?
So many, recently we’ve been jamming lots of Molly Payton, Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Marlins Dreaming. Some of Matt and Jackson’s favourite new releases have been the ‘Sunstruck’ EP by Flaxxies’ and the ‘Find A Way’ EP by Balu Brigada.
What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learnt in your career so far?
We are always learning but one of the big ones is that we are lucky to be able to play music to people and have them come to our shows. We want to make sure that people enjoy themselves when they come out and we try to think about what we enjoy when we go to shows ourselves and what we would want if we were buying a ticket. Building a connection with the audience is an awesome feeling.
Lastly, we end every interview with this question - if you could say one thing to every person in the world, what would it be?
Keep supporting live music! We love seeing you on the road :)
Thanks so much Borderline! Make sure to keep up with them on Instagram, Facebook, Spotify or Apple Music.
