Interview: Borer
I have always loved long riff worshipping songs because let's be honest, it's sick when you hear a sweet riff and it just goes on and on!
Coming straight out of New Zealand with some truly unhinged doom laden sludge metal, Borer have just released their debut album Bag Seeker and it sees the band decimate all within their path with some seriously nasty riffs and grooves throughout. To celebrate the release of Bag Seeker, Gavin Brown caught up with Borer vocalist Tom Brand and guitarist Boden Powell, who told us all about the album and the fun can crazy world of Borer.
E&D: Your brilliant new album Bag Seeker is out now. As it is your debut album, you must be excited to be getting it out?
Tom: Yes we’re very excited to finally have it out we’ve worked away on it for what feels like years!
Boden: Hell yea dawggums!! Been jamming guitar for a couple years pretty stoked to have my riffs out there.
E&D: What has the reaction to the album been like so far?
Tom: Pretty good so far had a few people say they dig it so that’s always nice to hear people enjoy your music you’re putting out.
E&D: Did you include the instrumental ‘06.32’ in the middle of the album to break up the monolithic greatness of your songs?
Tom: Yes we did indeed it’s kind of like our version of ‘Doobinterlude’ on Down’s A Bustle in your Hedgerow.
E&D: What does the ‘06.32’ stand for in that track?
Tom: ‘06.32’ stands for 6.32am as that’s what time the message from two of our mates who were well cooked sent it to Bo and myself.
Boden: Just two bloody cooked units wishing we were there hanging out basking in the sinful sun talking utter shit with a serious case of the put ons. I myself have a plethora of little messages from all sorts of cookers that I could have a whole album of 6:32’s.
E&D: The massive ‘Lord Of The Hanged’ concludes the album in fine style. Did you always want to end the album with such a vast track?
Tom: Of course! Bo and I have always loved long riff worshipping songs because let’s be honest, it’s sick when you hear a sweet riff and it just goes on and on!
Boden: I suppose it just ended up that way aye. I can’t even write a riff shorter than 2 minutes. I just gotta have it slower, shittier and longer. I’ve been jamming seriously for like 4 maybe 5 years I think so it’s all I know now. (Fuck theory dawg, that shit’s for nerds)
E&D: What have been the biggest influences on Bag Seeker?
Tom: For me vocally, Johnny Marrow is my biggest inspiration. Hearing Iron Monkey back when I was 16, it changed my whole outlook. I didn’t know you could get away with rocking riffs and nasty vocals. I’d also had a pretty rough year so I vented it into the lyrics. There’s heaps of doom bands in New Zealand but most of them have clean vocals so we wanted to do something different in our local scene
Boden: Riffs, beers, the boys.
E&D: Is this new album a step up from your Priest Thrower debut EP?
Tom: Yeah it really is, I think once we got Tim Hunt on board it really set us up because that guy can really make a guitar sing so it just gave our sound a little bit of icing on the top.
E&D: Did you feel any pressure following that up with Bag Seeker?
Tom: Nah not really, just maybe pressuring ourselves to do better. You’re always your biggest critic.
E&D: Can you tell us about the brilliantly understated video you made for the title track of Bag Seeker? The Ozzy sample at the start is fantastic!
Tom: I can tell you that it was bloody cold haha. Tim had an idea about just doing a stationary shot differently to most metal videos that are usually filmed in a warehouse haha. Bo and I always take the piss with that idea as it’s so overdone. As for the sample; Ozzy’s the man! How could we not pay homage to the legend.
Boden: We were tossing up a few ideas and with a budget of half a fuck all we ended up chucking Tom in the drink and we smashed a couple brews behind him. Tim directed it and pulled it off pretty well considering we were up to fuck all
E&D: You have described your own music as Spliff smoking, Beer smashing, Mongrel stacking sludge and doom/sludge played way too loud. As these are perfect examples of how your music sounds, will you be getting these put on Borer T-shirts?
Tom: We actually did put it on the back of a tshirt when we did Priest Thrower. We did worry about it as we put out a red long sleeve with it on it and in New Zealand we have a gang called the Mongrel Mob and guess what colour they wear… red haha! Luckily we haven’t had any prospects knocking on our door yet.
E&D: You have songs titled ‘Bag Seeker’ and ‘Ket Witch’. What are your drugs of choice?
Tom: All of them haha. We had the intention of been a sludge band minus the heroin and I think we’ve achieved that. A few us are stoners but we all love the various forms of nose beers.
Boden: Yea lil bit of this tiny bit of that… it’s all great fun till you get the fucking dooms Sunday arvo hahaha…
E&D: What have been some of your best experiences with drink and drugs?
Tom: Some of my best memories are sitting around with the boys smashing beers, shout out to the fellowsniff lads. We did have a band experience when we played in Wellington and a couple of the boys had too many edibles and I had to carry one of them back to our motel. Funny thing is we had a set the next night …
Boden: It was me. I was carried haha thinking I was a big dawgman. Those edibles slapped my hams, winked at me and left me weak in the streets.
E&D: Are you looking forward to your album release shows in Dunedin and Christchurch when Bag Seeker comes out?
Tom: Absolutely it’ll be our first time playing in Dunedin so that’ll be interesting. As for our hometown nothing beats playing to your local scene.
E&D: Will you be playing Bag Seeker in full?
Boden: Yeah, we’ll jam the whole thing aye, it’ll be sick as fuck.
E&D: What are your live plans for the rest of the year after those shows?
Tom: Well hopefully we will get up to the North Island and play a couple of shows. We’ve got a few gigs lined up ones including a couple of international supports we can’t talk about yet.
Boden: I really wanna suss a guerilla gig with a few bands. Grab a generator and post up in a forest or the beach somewhere
E&D: What have been some of the most memorable live shows you’ve played so far?
Tom: Definitely playing a two day fest in Wellington run by our good mate Jacob Sisson. We were supposed to play on the Friday but some washed up nu metal vocalist bands ended up taking the date so the whole fest was shifted and we ended up playing on the Sunday but we all ended getting flights and accommodation on the Friday so basically we just had an absolute bender all weekend then played our set and nailed it surprisingly haha
Boden: Playing the Symbiotic metal festival in Wellington was sick as fuck. We played Sunday so in true Bo style, I went completely overboard the Saturday night and spent all day in bed Sunday only getting out and half dressed an hour before playing. Smashed a few beers and riffed up a storm to a decent crowd.
E&D: How is life on Landmine Records and how did you end up signing to the label?
Tom: Brilliant. Nick and I use to be in a band together called Yarnspinner. Nick’s another unsung hero in our scene and he’s always helping out bands so naturally we wanted to work with him.
Boden: To be fair I was just chilled with Bag Seeker, just chuck it out and move on but Nick hyped it up and told me he wanted to help through Landmine which was fucking awesome as I really never thought I would do anything like this.
E&D: How did Borer start as a band and who are your biggest musical influences?
Tom: We started as just an idea between Bo and I we’ve been mates nearly 20 years and we always said we’d start a band together and that day finally happened haha I came home one day and Bo had eaten some of my weed lolly cake and was just sitting in the lounge playing a riff over and over again and that riff became the end riff to ‘Lord of the Hanged’. Our musical inspirations are Electric Wizard, Iron Monkey, Weedeater, Conan, Bongripper, Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean, Thou, etc. The list goes on but if it’s low and slow we’re all about it.
Boden: Dopethrone is by far the filthiest fucking band you can fuck with. Vincent riffs are the shit. Jus from Electric Wizard is an absolute go to. Weedeater has never been turned off. I’m a slut for Type O Negative but I wouldn’t consider them an influence haha and while I’m at it I’ll fuck with sad cowboy tunes.
E&D: What is the extreme music like in both Christchurch and New Zealand and what bands would you recommend to check out?
Tom: The Christchurch metal scene is insanely good. Big death metal scene. You got Organectomy, Blindfolded and Led to the Woods, Plague of the Fallen, Utilise the Remains just to name a few. NZ metal scene is pretty good all and all. Bands I’d say check out are the ones I’ve named but for more of the doom scene I’d say Old Haven, Enfire , From Moose Mountain, Witchcult, Infinity Ritual, Beastwars, Caldera, Brackenwood Coven, Dolebludger and how could I forget my grindlords In Glassblower.
E&D: What are your favourite ever sludge and doom albums?
Tom: Our Problem – Iron Monkey, Gateways – Bongzilla, A Bad Place – Moloch, Transcanadian Anger – Dopethrone, From All Purity – Indian.
Boden: Our Problem – Iron Monkey, Come My Fanatics – Electric Wizard, Hochelaga/Transcanadian Anger – Dopethrone.
E&D: What are your favourite riffs of all time?
Tom: I humbly decline to answer. Far too many to pick from I do think ‘Mammoth’ by Pelican is one of the heaviest riffs ever created.
Boden: The first 4 Sabbath albums.
