B O R I S

Boris US Tour starts April 23rd - June Shows announced in Tokyo and Australia

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 11:33:00 -0700

Boris ’ massive US Tour begins on April 23rd and will include a special series of residency shows. Just announced in June they will perform two nights in Tokyo before heading off to Australia. The residency shows, billed as “from the past, the present and through to the future” features Boris playing 2 consecutive nights in select cities. For the first night, the band will perform its all-time classics along with many new songs never before played in the US. The second night’s set features most of Boris’ cult classic album Flood along with a noise/drone/experimental set. On the additional one-off dates Boris will combine all-time classics with part of Flood and other songs’ US debut. Boris will once again perform in their classic trio lineup.

SEE ALL SHOW DETAILS AND TICKET LINKS HERE

BORIS US TOUR 2013
04/23 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah %
04/24 Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom %
04/26 Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves
04/27 Austin, TX @ Carson Creek - Austin Psych Fest
04/29 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade !!
04/30 Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle !!
05/01 Washington DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel * !!
05/02 Washington DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel * #
05/03 Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts !! #
05/04 Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall * !!
05/05 Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall * w/ Doomriders
05/06 New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge * !!
05/07 New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge * #
05/09 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop !!
05/10 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall * !!
05/11 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall * &
05/12 St. Louis, MO @ Firebird &
05/13 Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theater &
05/14 Denver, CO @ Bluebird &
05/16 Mexico City, MX @ Lunario / Aural Festival
05/18 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile * w/ House of Low Culture
05/19 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile * w/drcarlsonbion
05/21 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop * w/ Bosse-de-Nage
05/22 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop * ^^
05/23 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echoplex * ^^ %
05/24 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echoplex * ^^ also w/ Ides of Gemini

* = residency shows
% w/ Marriages
!! w/ Young Widows
# w/ Stephen Brodsky
& w/ Pallbearer
^^ w/ Deafheaven

BORIS - JAPAN/ AUSTRALIA
06/15 - Tokyo, Japan @ FEVER *
06/16 - Tokyo, Japan @ FEVER *
06/19 - Melbourne, AU @ Corner Hotel
06/21 - Sydney, AU @ Manning Bar
06/22 - Hobart, AU @ Dark Mofo Festival
06/24 - Perth, AU @ Rosemont Hotel

Boris announce Full US tour dates with all support bands

Thu, 07 Mar 2013 11:55:05 -0800

Boris have added extra single-night headlining dates surrounding their special series of US residency shows in several major markets beginning in late April in addition to Austin Psych Fest on the 27th. All support bands for the shows are now finalized and listed below. The residency tour, billed as “from the past, the present and through to the future” features Boris playing 2 consecutive nights in each city. For the first night, the band will perform its all-time classics along with many new songs never before played in the US. The second night’s set features most of Boris’ cult classic album Flood along with a noise/drone/experimental set. These additional one-off dates will combine all-time classics with part of Flood and other songs’ US debut. Throughout the tour, Boris will once again perform in their classic trio lineup without any support musicians. - SEE ALL SHOW DETAILS HERE

BORIS US TOUR 2013
04/23 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah %
04/24 Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom %
04/26 Denton, TX @ Rubber Gloves
04/27 Austin, TX @ Carson Creek - Austin Psych Fest
04/29 Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade !!
04/30 Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle !!
05/01 Washington DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel * !!
05/02 Washington DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel * #
05/03 Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts !! #
05/04 Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall * !!
05/05 Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall * w/ Doomriders
05/06 New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge * !!
05/07 New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge * #
05/09 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop !!
05/10 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall * !!
05/11 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall * &
05/12 St. Louis, MO @ Firebird &
05/13 Lincoln, NE @ Bourbon Theater &
05/14 Denver, CO @ Bluebird &
05/16 Mexico City, MX @ Lunario / Aural Festival
05/18 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile * w/ House of Low Culture
05/19 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile * w/drcarlsonbion
05/21 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop * w/ Bosse-de-Nage
05/22 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop * ^^
05/23 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echoplex * ^^ %
05/24 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echoplex * ^^ also w/ Ides of Gemini

* = residency shows
% w/ Marriages
!! w/ Young Widows
# w/ Stephen Brodsky
& w/ Pallbearer
^^ w/ Deafheaven

Boris to play Austin Psych Fest in April 2013

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0800

Boris has been announced to play at this years Austin Psych Fest. This year the festival will be outdoors at Carson Creek Ranch, just off Highway 183. The festival runs April 26-28 and tickets are on sale now at www.austinpsychfest.com.

Here’s the full line-up so far – Expect more announcements in January:

Acid Mothers Temple
The Black Angels
Black Bananas
Black Mountain
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
The Black Ryder
Boris
Clinic
The Cult of Dom Keller
Dead Skeletons
Deerhunter
Diiv
Dreamtime
Elephant Stone
Goat
Golden Animals
The Growlers
Holydrug Couple
The King Kahn & BBQ Show
The Laurels
Lumerians
Man or Astroman?
Quintron and Miss Pussycat
The Soft Moon
Spectrum
Tinarewin
Ttotals
Vietnam
Vinyl Williams
Gary War
The Warlocks
Warpaint
White Fence
Woodsman

Boris announce residency US tour performing Flood album & all-time classics

Wed, 30 Jan 2013 09:09:08 -0800

Boris have announced a series of US headlining residency dates following their performance at Austin Psych Fest in late April. The residency tour, billed as “from the past, the present and through to the future” features Boris playing 2 consecutive nights in each city. For the first night, the band will perform its all-time classics along with many new songs never before played in the US. The second night’s set features most of Boris’ cult classic album Flood along with a noise/drone/experimental set. Boris will also be selling a limited edition tour-only release available only at these shows.

BORIS US TOUR 2013
04/27 Austin, TX @ Carson Creek - Austin Psych Fest
05/01 Washington DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
05/02 Washington DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
05/04 Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
05/05 Allston, MA @ Brighton Music Hall
05/06 New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
05/07 New York, NY @ Le Poisson Rouge
05/10 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
05/11 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
05/18 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
05/19 Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile
05/21 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
05/22 San Francisco, CA @ Rickshaw Stop
05/23 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echoplex
05/24 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echoplex

SEE ALL BORIS SHOWS & DETAILS HERE

Boris Announce UK & EU Tour Dates December 2012

Wed, 14 Nov 2012 14:53:19 -0800

Boris have announced headlining shows in Europe for December including All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival in the UK and State-X New Forms Festival in Holland. Joining them on most dates will be Joe Volk and in Ireland will be No Spill Blood.

BORIS EU WINTER 2012
Dec 04, 2012 - Brighton, UK @ Coalition **
Dec 05, 2012 - Manchester, UK @ Islington Mill **
Dec 06, 2012 - London, UK @ Scala **
Dec 07, 2012 - Rye, UK @ All Tomorrow’s Parties ATP @ Camber Sands
Dec 08, 2012 - Leeds, UK @ Brudnell Social Club **
Dec 10, 2012 - Dublin, IE @ Whelan’s w/ No Spill Blood
Dec 11, 2012 - Cork, IE @ Cyprus Avenue w/ No Spill Blood
Dec 12, 2012 - Bristol, UK @ The Fleece & Firkin **
Dec 13, 2012 - Birmingham, UK @ The Rainbow Warehouse **
Dec 14, 2012 - Hasselt, BE @ Kunstencentrum Belgie **
Dec 15, 2012 - The Hague, NE @ The Hague - State-X New Forms Festival
Dec 16, 2012 - Karlsruhe, DE @ Jubez **
Dec 17, 2012 - Lausanne, CH @ Le Romandie **
Dec 18, 2012 - Munich, DE @ Feierwerk e.V. **
Dec 19, 2012 - Dresden, DE @ Beatpol **

** w/ Joe Volk

SEE ALL BORIS SHOWS & DETAILS HERE

SPIN: Debuts Boris x Asobi Seksu Split 7" Cover tracks

Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:30:00 -0800

It’s out November 23 on Pink, er, Black Friday for Record Store Day

Japan’s shoegazyiest heavy metal band and America’s most heavily stylish shoegaze band have joined forces for two sides of vinyl to be unleashed on Record Store Day’s Black Friday. Yes, Boris and Asobi Seksu are going the Mudhoney/Sonic Youth route and covering each others’ songs, and their respective labels (Sargent House and Polyvinyl) are footing the bill.

On the A-side, Asobi Seksu leans into a twinkling, shimmering version of “Farewell,” from Boris’ 2005 coming-out-party for thier shoegazer tendacies, Pink. Then on the flip, the mighty Boris cranks up the fuzz on Asobi’s breezy, blurry, “I Melt With You”-summoning “New Years” (as “Neu Years,” lol). We think there’s some theremins at the end. - by Christopher R. Weingarten

Record Store Day Exclusive Asobi Seksu x Boris 7" Split

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 15:32:00 -0700

Boris & Asobi Seksu announce their limited edition split 7” of covers of each others songs available as a Record Store Day exclusive release on Black Friday, November 23, 2012. The vinyl includes a download card that features an additional 4 classic songs from both bands.

Format: 7” Vinyl
Labels: Sargent House & Polyvinyl

Steel For Brains: Sound as Language - A Conversation with Boris

Mon, 17 Sep 2012 16:18:26 -0700

The way it works is you pass on a CD to a friend and preface it with the words: “They’re from Japan. Just listen.” The thing is with Boris - that’s just not near damn enough to say. Sixteen years later after the band’s inception, they continue to not simply reinvent the wheel but instead take the thing of the axle and make it completely different. Like any great group of musicians and artists, they don’t let any barriers stand in their way. They’ve done countless collaborations with other incredible artists such as but not limited to Keiji Haino, Sunn O))), Michio Kurihara, Ian Astbury, and many more. I don’t know that the Melvins realized that their song would spawn such a diverse and sonically tenacious band like Boris, but I can only imagine they see it as an enormous compliment that after seventeen studio albums (not counting the myriad of collaborations), Boris is in no mood to quit and certainly in no mood to turn down the volume. I recently had an email exchange/conversation with Atsuo regarding the band’s history and their own sense of the art they create:

Since the band’s formation in 1996, you guys have certainly evolved your sound from definitive metal to sludge to experimental and even what might be considered pop. How difficult has it been for you all to sort of be able to maintain the Boris sound while still crossing barriers of music from a genre standpoint?

To us it has not been so difficult to maintain our sound since we can catch possible vision and atmosphere when hearing our own recorded music so carefully. However, in that case the member’s own identity and ego are left behind and ignored frequently. That means ‘music first’ method would shake down members. In order to preserve the balance of our feeling we need to overlook ourselves. Sometimes we feel scary about that.

Language barriers seem to disappear in the wake of music - no matter what genre it may be. When you listen to Boris, no matter what your language might be, the connection is immediately there. How do you approach the art you create in not allowing the issue of language to impede the process?

I don’t really care about language barriers at all. If there is, people try to ‘feel’ something instead of communicating with languages. In fact music is to feel, right? Communication should start from where people can’t understand each other perfectly. That is so natural and to start from there is the best way, I believe.

Boris has worked with numerous artists/musicians here in the states. How is the music scene different here than in your native Japan?

Totally different on everything. For example physically, we can’t play instruments the way western people do. And Western music scene and Japan has their own history of rock music.

Boris has put out seventeen studio albums in a matter of about sixteen years. It’s always been amazing to me the prolific nature of the group alongside the constantly changing experimentation with sound. How easy does the songwriting process come for the band now, or is it just as difficult as when you first started?

Each song has their own vision and world, we just lead them into the right direction and destination where they should go. It is like climbing various mountains. It depends how steep which mountain is. Basically we won’t do anything that we can’t enjoy. Focusing on enjoyable stuff with our fans is important, and that is what we call music.

The metal genre seems to be going through a “trendy” phase presently. Bands who, perhaps, would not have even registered with fans or critics just ten years ago are now suddenly becoming critical darlings. As veterans and pioneers of the genre, how does Boris perceive this change in perception? Is it a passing fad, or is it indicative of what’s to come for the genre as a whole?

No, we are not veterans nor pioneers in the metal genre at all; we don’t even think we have been a part of that genre either. However ,we don’t feel uncomfortable when we are recognized that Boris is a metal band. We are just happy many metal fans enjoy our music. We don’t really care how we are recognized or criticized. It is a matter outside of us. Boris just keeps doing what we would really like to do.

Obviously PINK gets a lot of praise as a benchmark for so many other bands/artists/musicians in the metal genre, yet Boris has evolved musically to a point now where fans and critics alike have a difficult time labeling the band as anything but Boris. Do you see this as a success on your part as artists?

Well, I have no idea (Laughs). Are we becoming the band who is hard to describe now? Maybe our fans shouldn’t bother to explain what kind of band Boris is to their friend? (Laughs)

Who are some up and coming bands or musicians that the band is currently listening to?

Right now we keep recording new material and these are the one that we listen to very much. Instead, I am going to shows as much as I can. Last week I went to see our great friend MONO and ETERNAL ELYSIUM, both of them were fantastic. Takeshi seems to hear lots of soundtrack from the 60’s and 70’s. Wata is just into Nintendo 3DS video games.

Since it appears the band never stops working, I’m inclined to ask what you guys do for leisure? When Boris isn’t touring or recording what do each of you enjoy doing on your own time?

It was quite hot in Tokyo this Summer, and I went swimming many times. And watching movie and animation films at my place, as usual. Takeshi is an airplane freak; goes and sees them everywhere. Wata loves video games! She has played all of the ‘Pocket Monster’ series. Now she is playing the new Super Mario Brothers 2 all day. If you bring your 3DS game device to our show you can enjoy ‘Streetpass’ communication with her and exchange Mii character as her fellow.

Lyrically speaking, how does the band approach each song? Is there literature that influences the lyrics, or it simply a sort of projection of your emotions?

We are usually inspired by the general world, scenery, and people that we see through our music. Our music and sound lead us to specific images and ideas. We don’t include any messages in lyrics at all, though character in lyrics would represent our feeling and opinion sometimes.

What’s the future for Boris? What can fans and critics expect from the band who’s constantly changing yet utterly distinct in their sound?

I don’t know, but we try to keep ourselves not afraid of changing. In the real world things changes imminent moment by moment, so we always need to catch up and update ourselves. At the same time there is general and universal thing for sure, we want to preserve the balance in between.

Thanks to Atsuo for his generous time and to Sargent House for helping set up this interview. Boris’ latest release NEW ALBUM can be heard here and, just as you would expect, it’s Boris but unlike anything else they’ve done. The evolution of sound is one of many things, to me, that make the art of music so utterly palpable. It’s essentially the auditory thirst that can’t be quenched if your formula is precisely just that - a formula. For Boris the sound will never plateau and from where I’m listening that’s always a damn good thing.

MTV Iggy's Top Ten List: The Next Generation of Guitar Heroes // Wata from Boris makes the list

Thu, 31 May 2012 19:43:00 -0700

7. Wata

Another one-name beast from the land of the rising sun, Wata of experimental metal band Boris is not content to shred on a guitar. She’s out to shred your mind. Like many great players, she got her start playing in hardcore bands before getting involved with the genre-annihilating evil that is her current venue.

See Boris live and you’ll understand that only a project as mercurial and frankly insane as it is could ever contain her soul warping leads.

SEE FULL LIST

Rave Magazine March Cover Story: Boris

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 13:27:00 -0700

JAKEB SMITH talks to ATSUO MIZUNO, drummer and vocalist of the indefatigable, genre-hopping, Japanese experimental rock trio BORIS; a band who are constantly calling into question the nature of who they are, what they do and what our roles, as listeners, should be.

There is no band. There are no musicians. There is no music. There is only Boris, a Japanese experimental rock trio who have, for the past two decades, coolly challenged every accepted notion of their being. The result has been a recorded output that spans drone, doom and sludge metal, hardcore and crust punk, heavy and stoner rock, a large dose of noise and, most recently, an earnest foray into radio-friendly J-pop. It is often brilliant, occasionally baffling, but always thought-provoking.

Boris force the listener to ask: is this music?

I talk to drummer Atsuo Mizuno through a translator (who is also their manager). I start by asking about the band’s beginnings, at a Tokyo art college in 1992. “We had been making music in separate bands, but we were very close to each other,” he says. “We talked and decided to jam in a casual, hobby kind of way. After we did this a few times, we decided to start a band.”

This loose, freeform ethic has informed their creative approach ever since. “Back then, we were just jamming around together … That’s pretty much what we’re still doing now.”

The band are always neck-deep in live recording sessions, cataloguing sporadic sonic experiments that may one day end up on a record. “There are not many cases in which we start a recording by preparing the songs in advance,” he says. “So we don’t book a studio for a certain period of time just because ‘we want to record an album’.”

Instead the band record when and where they can, whenever they feel the need. “We are always doing the pre-production part of the recording process.”

It is only later that they sit down to edit, to discover new songs and ideas hiding in the recordings. There’s no room for overdubs. “There aren’t so many cases for us to go back and re-record something which has already been composed and arranged,” Atsuo explains. “In many cases, we are producing songs by editing the sessions we had a jam in, trying to capture the atmosphere each time.

“Sometimes the sessions are already songs as they are. Farewell [from 2006’s Pink] is a good example of that. When we listened to the session later, the song already existed within it. Not editing something is also a kind of editing.”

This constant outpouring of ideas means little gets wasted. Indeed, the band’s output numbers 17 LPs, 11 full-length collaborations, three live albums, at least eight reissues and more splits, comps, EPs, singles and demos than even die-hard fans can count. With much of it out-of-print, limited edition, or consisting of multiple versions, collecting Boris’s music is an experience far removed from the modern ‘click to buy’ paradigm.

“I am simply happy that people collect our works,” Atsuo says. “I’ve always enjoyed seeing records and CDs in the shop, selecting them with very little information about the artists. I remember looking for and buying a compilation with the Melvins on it, which had a song called Nothing … actually it had no sound,” he laughs.

“A long time ago, an acquaintance of mine, who is a car dealer, bought our CD and listened to it. He told me he thought his CD player was broken.”

This idea, of any noise existing as music, is central to Boris’s output. In 2005, they released Dronevil – a double LP, where both discs are played together to achieve different albums. It challenges the form of ‘the record’ and subverts the roles of artist and audience.

“Dronevil left us with the enjoyment of being able to watch the listener mix it before our eyes. One disc keeps some outline of a rock format, while the other one gives off a more ambiguous impression. They also give different impressions according to the volume of the sound playing at the time. By changing the timing or changing the disc, they can have a new meeting point, calling each other, starting a new rhythm. Each time it can be established as a different song.”

This fluidity of form and meaning resonates with Atsuo. “I think that music in this world can only be expressed within the range of: ‘the possibility of what music can be’,” he says.

In 2002, Boris collaborated with Japanese noise artist Merzbow (Masami Akita), releasing Megatone. The album is a sometimes-grating mix of Boris’ drone/doom sound with Merzbow’s wilful exploration of disconcerting noise. “I can understand that some people might take his work as a kind of ‘music’, and others as a kind of ‘noise’. I think that everyone has their own sense of what music is and what noise is. It’s subjective. But, ultimately, the work itself makes people decide which one it is for them.”

Megatone offers shades of juxtaposition. It mixes the abrasive with the beautiful. A buzzing static is given equal focus as a lonesome wail; a crushing electrical wave is veiled by a celestial warble. It’s a contrast that empowers so much of Boris’s music. “I think Boris has a process of making opposites coexist, in order to strengthen the musical work. For example, we think about things such as ‘Beautiful vs Ugly’, ‘Slow vs Fast’, ‘Long vs Short’.”

Atsuo says of Akita: “He made us realise that there’s a tone before it becomes music.”

“However,” he says, “speaking in the extreme sense, I feel there really is no such thing as music.”

It’s extreme wording perhaps, but reasonable sentiment. The Cambridge Dictionary rather broadly refers to music as ‘sound intended for pleasure’; if the listener doesn’t like what they are hearing then, logically, it ceases to be music … for them at least.

“I wonder if anyone who listens to our music thinks of it as ‘music’?” Atsuo muses. “A long time ago, an acquaintance of mine, who is a car dealer, bought our CD and listened to it. He told me he thought his CD player was broken.

“Some people still don’t know where an entrance to our music is.”

The band are hoping, Atsuo tells me, that 2011’s imaginatively titled New Album provides that entrance. Produced by Shinobu Narita, it takes Boris’ more accessible ‘heavy rock’ music and adds pop sheen and colourful, radio-compatible reference points. “I think Shinobu’s work is adding the signifiers of music. He is good at burning the phenomenon of attractive sounds. In other words, he is a good translator for Boris.”

Last year saw Boris release no less than three studio albums. Even now they are working towards another and, hoping to “make an announcement about our new release soon”. So for a band that never stops working: does it ever feel like a job? “No, no, it is a job … Does the word ‘job’ sound negative to you? We do stuff that we like, and lots of people enjoy it. Having a life like that, to be able to call that our job, it’s wonderful.”

With Atsuo’s work waiting, I have time for one last question. He was once quoted saying: “…I don’t even think of myself as a musician, or of us as a band, or even what we create as music”. So I have to ask: what are you, and what do you create?

To which he replies simply: “The reflection in the mirror called Boris”.

sargenthouse: Boris live on March 23, 2012 at The Hifi in...

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 12:17:00 -0700

sargenthouse:

Boris live on March 23, 2012 at The Hifi in Brisbane, Australia all photos by Stephen Booth. Click here to see full gallery.

VERI Magazine Feature: Boris

Fri, 30 Mar 2012 12:09:00 -0700

Click Image to Enlarge

Sludge Factory: 7 Questions with Boris

Sun, 25 Mar 2012 18:17:00 -0700

Japanese quartet, Boris, will be heading to Australia next week. Ahead of their tour, Atsuo answered a couple of questions.

1. Do you guys ever fight or disagree, and if so what about?
Atsuo: None at all these days. We had some long ago though as I was control freak. It is quite peaceful among us now, we have realised that democracy during song writing process is way wiser and it will lead better result and possibility. Any specific visions or goal hide the best one.

2. Apart from playing gigs, is there anything else you specifically want to do or see in Australia/Melbourne?
A: Wata would like to hold koala. We haven’t had a chance, we visited zoo last time.

3. What type of music do you listen to and what are your thoughts and opinions on music trends today?
A: Now I am listening to new Boris music over again. We are quite busy on production process that is for some new release. Honestly, I haven’t had much idea on music trends at all so there is very few comment on that. What is a trend in Australia nowadays? Is there popular local artist who is well known over there even though they are not common overseas? By the way I bought many Rick Springfield ‘s 7 inch vinyls at secondhand record shop in Detroit, US. I am big fan of his previous band called ZOOT, are they popular? The only one I have is a bootleg of their 2^nd album in 1971. I would like to look for their original vinyl during next tour. I just realised that they have reformed last year!

4. Jim Jarmusch has described you guys as “jazz musicians” in the way you perform. Do you think that this is an accurate assessment or interpretation of your working/jamming/performing?
A: Everyone has their own way to feel music and nothing is accurate, right? I don’t really care how other people accept BORIS music, we don’t even understand who we are. I would really like to meet up with Jim once again. I feel really comfortable with his tone and tension of his voice, like what his film is.

5. Wata, you sing on the Attention Please album. How much different are the musical dynamics in the band when you stepped up to the microphone for the entire album?
A: That will expand not only our music but also our vision including music. That leads another world that Takeshi’s vocal can’t bring. BORIS’ activity is to see and describe our vision in our heads more than to say ‘songwriting’.

6. Does the music world today beyond BORIS still interest you?
A: Music is just a small part of the world. The world is always beautiful and nasty, but it is still interesting to me.

7. Does Australia ever surprise you as a touring destination to promote your music?
A: No time zone difference between Australia and Japan, which is really good! Usually we have a hard time when touring especially early part of it. I am very looking forward to another great tour over there, see you very soon!

Blunt Magazine Feature: Boris "Where Ever I May Drone"

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 00:00:00 -0700

Time Off : Boris

Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:17:00 -0700

Boris to Tour in Australia & New Zealand - March 2012

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 09:34:00 -0800

Boris will be playing the following shows in Australia & New Zealand in March 2012.

BORIS AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND 2012
March 20 - Perth, AU @ The Bakery
March 22 - Sydney, AU @ Metro Theater
March 23 - Brisbane, AU @ The Hi-Fi
March 24 - Melbourne, AU @ Corner Hotel - SOLD OUT
March 25 - Melbourne, AU @ The Northcote Social Club - 2nd show added
March 27 - Wellington, NZ @ Bodega
March 28 - Auckland, NZ @ The Kings Arms Tavern

Boris for Nintendo Japan

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 16:03:20 -0800

sargenthouse:

Boris scores with Nintendo. Check out this crazy Japanese video game promo music by Boris.

Treble Review: Boris' New Album

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 14:39:40 -0800

Boris - New Album (Sargent House)

It’s not quite enough to say that Boris is a versatile band. The Japanese trio, who once began life as a doom metal band, has taken heavy music well beyond the expected journey of balancing atmosphere, heaviness, noise and melody, and deeper into genres that sometimes expand outside some heshers’ comfort zones. But even more curious than the band’s forays into folky psychedelic rock or dance-friendly doom pop are their tendencies to revisit and re-contextualize their material. They’ve released two separate and unrelated albums under the same title — Heavy Rocks — and issued two strikingly different versions of their 2008 album Smile, the Japanese version revealing a more abstractly mixed version of the more straightforward stoner rock of the U.S. version.

Whatever confusion and surprise resulted in the odd Smile division is likely to be muted with any of the band’s further experiments, yet the transformation on New Album, their third full-length release of 2011, is the most drastic of the band’s catalog. New Album, originally released in Japan in March, compiles a handful of new tracks alongside songs from Heavy Rocks and Attention Please, re-imagined as glittery, dreamy J-Pop anthems. Where, in another life, these songs may have boomed, buzzed, slithered or slunk, here they flash and glisten with blinding starbursts. It would almost come a complete shock to the system, had the band not sent off a warning shot with Attention Please and its ensuing tour with American dream-pop outfit Asobi Seksu.

Though not entirely without precedent, New Album is Boris’ glossiest, most melodic and, unquestionably, weirdest album to date. At times, such as on opening track “Flare,” the exclamatory nature and avoidance of subtlety can seem like being transported into a frenetically paced video game. Yet, that’s also what makes New Album all the more charming in the long run. It’s a multi-colored firecracker of a record, popping and spinning in every direction with brilliant giddiness.

In some cases, the changes are subtle, like the slightly more streamlined “Hope,” or the more densely layered “Spoon,” which flaunt the band’s knack for indie pop songwriting and shoegazer textures. But some of their darker, noisier material is almost unrecognizable from their previous incarnations. Attention Please’s stoner-pop highlight “Les Paul Custom ‘86” removes the crusty bassline for a hypnotic electro treatment, while “Jackson Head” goes from headbanger to (somewhat less successfully) bouncing synth-pop jam. And all it really takes is a wash of synthesized strings and effects to turn the post-hardcore rush of “Tu, La La” into a primetime action drama theme song. Oddly enough, it comes together into an impressive new piece, preserving the urgency of the original while casting it in a surprising new light.

Looking back, fans probably should have seen Boris’ leap to electrified dream pop coming when they stopped using album titles like Feedbacker and Dronevil, and began naming their records with words like Rainbow and Pink. And yet, New Album still feels wholly unexpected, standing like a bright, neon skyscraper amidst a discography of swampy, dense metal. No doubt, Boris still has plenty of drop-D riffs to share in their future, but this year’s trio of albums has proven quite handily that no singular style can contain this band.

Similar Albums:
Boris - Attention Please
Asobi Seksu - Citrus
Cornelius - Fantasma

By Jeff Terich

Guitar World Names Wata in Top 10 Female Guitarists To know

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:06:00 -0800

Wata from Boris
“Tight, skilled and never a dull moment, Japanese trio Boris are known for combining metal, noise, psychedelic rock, ambient and pop to create their own unique take. Launched in 1996, the band has recorded 17 studio albums. Drummer-vocalist Atsuo, bassist-guitarist-vocalist Takeshi and guitarist-vocalist Wata rely on instinct and raw emotion to guide their creative path. Check out the slinky, cranky solo by Wata on “Statement.” So stoic and yet so badass!”

Kicking Against The Pricks : An Album of the Year - Boris' - Attention Please

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 10:42:28 -0800

Speaking objectively, there were better and more elaborate albums that 2011 had to offer. Bolder, though? Not really.

Thinking about music in 2011, especially in the “indie” sense of the word, terms like “safe,” “sanitary,” “sterile” come to mind. The threat of a non-accessible, non-commercial and non-saccharine underground being bolstered by do-it-yourself record labels seems more like a memory, the often ear-splitting, alienating and dangerous sounds of the independent music scene notably in absentia. This isn’t to say that performers and bands of this ilk no longer exist, but it’s difficult to associate any extreme with the idea of “indie” music, its sound having slacked and its bands growing formulaic and obtuse. This music is no longer doing its job.

To hear Japanese experimental rock trio Boris back away from their usual metallic and distortion-laden exuberance, opting instead to navigate their way through something more closely relatable to pop music, is the type of move that makes you consider what options you have once the supposed bastard stepchild of the music industry turns darling. For Boris, Attention Please is an initially confusing but ballsy interpretation of post-punk or new wave, a glam’d up push towards a more avant-garde idea of pop music and its potential. While a track like ‘Attention Please’ evokes dance music’s repetition and reliance on rhythm, something like ‘Hope’ defies the indie paradigm, its pose and grace the type of college rock perfection that many groups in the genre could only dream of reproducing. The song refuses to abandon its strength for the sake of sensitivity.

Being a very versatile band, having played back-up and collaborator to acts as varied as Sunn O))) and The Cult’s Ian Astbury, Boris haven’t really allowed themselves to be easily categorized. Attention Please confirms this probably more than any other release they’ve issued, the band’s female lead Wata taking vocal duties as either the sultry songstress, pop anti-diva or little girl lost. Songs like the aforementioned ‘Hope’, the super-rhythmic ‘Party Boy’ or the very minimal ‘See You Next Weekend’ seem to fulfill the status quo of a standard pop release, rugged tracks needed to enliven and enact some deep-seeded notion of rock rebellion while ballads and single-ready dance tracks provide the heart and fun.

Attention Please of course only utilizes the idea of pop as a template, not necessarily to emulative standards. I would say Boris’ efforts most closely resemble Sonic Youth’s various attempts at breaching that oft-evaluated line between art and pop, their own hostile brand of caustic racket and experimentation never achieving the expectations brought about by alternative’s early-90s emergence into FM territory. ’Tokyo Wonder Land’ illustrates this juxtaposition perfectly, the track attentive to Boris’ own love of loud, screeching irritation while the addition of a drum machine adds a dollop of gloss. Also on the more esoteric side is the post-hardcore persuasion of ‘Spoon’, though the tune is very melodic and mostly accessible.

So, as our supposed heroes rep’ing the utopian ideal of musical iconoclasm drop the ball, Attention Please seems to work to reclaim pop as a device with possibility to engage. And, it’s likely I’ve read into this, simultaneously impressed with Boris’ album while cynically aware of what this creative shift could mean, but Attention Please appeals to me as a challenge, one that not only extends the musical abilities of its makers, but also tries to deepen what some might consider music meant to push product. As skeptical as I am about pop, Attention Please allowed me to remember that it’s as relevant a genre as “indie”, so long as its contributors have something new and worthwhile to offer.

words: sean caldwell