Revision as of 22:06, 12 February 2009

Wes Borland in 2007

Wesley Louden Borland (born February 7, 1975 in Richmond, Virginia) is a professional musician. He was the guitarist of nu metal band Limp Bizkit before forming his solo project Black Light Burns in 2005, and moving on to Marilyn Manson in 2008 and leaving in 2009 to rejoin Limp Bizkit. Borland is well known for his bizarre appearance during his Limp Bizkit years (covering his entire face with makeup, and wearing completely black contact lenses), and for his fondness of underground musical artists that differed greatly from the musical tastes of his bandmates in Limp Bizkit. It has been confirmed Wes has returned to Limp Bizkit for a 2009 tour and new album.

Career

Early years

A Michigan native, Borland's family moved to Jacksonville, Florida where his father took a pastoral job at a Presbyterian Church. In Florida, Borland met bassist Sam Rivers, but the two did not get along due to rivalries between local bands. He went to school with John Otto, future drummer of Limp Bizkit, and spent his summers in Montreat, North Carolina working in the sound booth for the Montreat Conference Center, a Presbyterian Church institution. When Limp Bizkit was looking for a guitarist, John Otto debunked Borland's name, stating he was more of an artist than a guitarist, but the band decided he'd be worthwhile for the position. Before this, Borland was "embarrassing [him]self in bars, playing really weird music that wasn't... good," as he later said in an interview with From First to Last. In one of these bands, Borland sang and played guitar but did not use a guitar pick. He would only play guitar using the two-hand tapping style of guitar playing that he would go on to use in Limp Bizkit songs such as "Stalemate", "Sour" and "Re-Arranged".

Limp Bizkit vocalist Fred Durst left for Philadelphia, leaving the others to speak to Borland to see if he'd join the band. He accepted, and the three practiced, while keeping in touch with Durst over the phone. Later Durst returned to Jacksonville, and the band had a show scheduled. Durst and Borland met for the first time and played their first show together 30 minutes later. When Limp Bizkit played locally in Jacksonville, Borland would dress up as a girl, wearing tight pink clothes and putting his hair in ponytails. This often frustrated Durst.

In the very early stages of Limp Bizkit, Borland's brother and future Eat the Day bandmate Scott Borland played keyboards, but with the early inclusion of DJ Lethal, the band eventually became a huge success. Scott played with Limp Bizkit as a session keyboardist on Limp Bizkit's first three studio albums until Wes departed in 2001, when the two brothers formed Eat the Day.

On stage, Borland was known for his eccentricity, frequently wearing elaborate face paint and black-tinted contact lenses.

Leaving Limp Bizkit

On October 12, 2001, Borland left Limp Bizkit because, he claims, the band limited his ability to express himself artistically. There were also rumors that Wes believed the band had become a "sell-out" band, and were becoming too popular for their own good. Before leaving Bizkit he formed the band Big Dumb Face as an outlet for his creativity. Big Dumb Face has since been put aside. Borland then started the band Eat the Day with his brother, Scott Borland. Eat the Day was described as heavy and dramatic, with Borland pushing the envelope of his heavy and soft playing within epic, normally over five minute song lengths.

Wes and Scott were initially both going to be Eat the Day's lead vocalists to avoid the stigmas associated with singular frontmen, but both Borlands felt their guitar playing was starting to suffer due to having to contribute vocals at the same time. They first tried fixing this with going through Interscope Records' demos to find a singer, only to find nobody they were satisfied with. During this period of Eat the Day, the band's website released several MP3s with no vocal tracks, asking for interested vocalists to record over the tracks and submit their recordings as an audition to front the band. Full-length instrumental versions of "Beeblicowcarapis", "dAdA", and "Taste My Gun" were initially released (and still are available on the Internet), but later Eat the Day resorted to releasing only the beginning portions of the songs to have vocalists to sing over. This gesture was similar to the Limp Bizkit national guitarist audition after Borland left the band, and proved to be ultimately futile, other than showcasing what the ultimate sound of the project could have become. The members of Eat the Day instead decided to take a small break from the project and focus on other things to see if a vocalist would naturally pop up. Wes also played bass for the band Dobmyer for a short time.

During this down period, Borland also began production on a solo album with friend and producer Danny Lohner of Nine Inch Nails fame. He was also featured twice on the Underworld soundtrack: once on a remix version of the A Perfect Circle song "Weak and Powerless" and another time on the song "The Awakening" with a supergroup of sorts called The Damning Well. The group features Wes Borland on guitars, Danny Lohner on bass, Richard Patrick on vocals and Josh Freese on drums. It was also revealed by Borland himself that during this time, he turned down the offer to join A Perfect Circle as the second guitarist alongside band founder and songwriter Billy Howerdel in order to focus on Eat the Day. In fall of 2003, it was announced that Eat the Day had found an unnamed vocalist, who turned out to be Richard Patrick of Filter and Nine Inch Nails fame. With legendary producer Bob Ezrin at the helm, material for Eat the Day and The Damning Well merged, as did the bands, but Patrick had a falling out with the whole camp. This was announced via Eat the Day's website in late 2003, as did the announcement that Eat the Day and The Damning Well had either split permanently or gone on hiatus. The conclusion of this post stated Borland's beginning stages of creating a new, band-driven solo record with Lohner, Freese, Josh Eustis and John Bates.

In late 2003, Borland co-produced and played guitar on several songs on Legion of Boom, the third studio album by electronic musicians The Crystal Method, released in January 2004. The tracks he worked on were "Broken Glass", "Weapons of Mass Distortion" (also a Japanese bonus track "Weapons of Mad Destruction" featuring Kyono from The Mad Capsule Markets) and the lead single "Born Too Slow". Born Too Slow also featured former Kyuss frontman John Garcia on vocals.

At some point in 2004, Borland was reportedly offered to join Nine Inch Nails as the band's guitarist, replacing Robin Finck who left the band yet again to perform with Guns N' Roses. Borland stated he wrote some material with Trent Reznor, but that the material has gone unreleased. He also explained that Black Light Burns was beginning at that time, and that he turned down the spot in Nine Inch Nails because he wanted to pursue his own creative vision instead of supporting someone else's musical vision, which Reznor greatly respected. Reznor also gave Borland valuable pointers for where Black Light Burns songs should go during this time.

Rejoining Limp Bizkit

In August 2004 or around, Wes Borland rejoined Limp Bizkit. Borland reportedly had to see for himself if he still was at odds with the band's vocalist Fred Durst before he officially joined Nine Inch Nails as guitarist. They met one day and realized that they weren't at odds with each other anymore, so Borland turned down the invitation to join Nine Inch Nails without friction from Trent Reznor, and Borland began writing with Limp Bizkit again. He worked on their latest album, but the only material released from these sessions in Prague was in the form of an EP, titled The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1), released on May 3, 2005, with Ross Robinson producing. However, relations between Borland and the other members of Limp Bizkit became strained again after drummer John Otto began having drug issues while recording Limp Bizkit material in Prague in late 2004, as documented in the video material included on The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1).

Second fallout with Limp Bizkit

Limp Bizkit did make plans to tour behind the EP and to release more material from those sessions in the form of The Unquestionable Truth (Part 2). None of the tour plans materialized, with Borland citing the reason of "nobody [else] wants to tour," and that Limp Bizkit had possibly broken up during this time. By then, Borland was also very disenchanted with how the material he worked on with Limp Bizkit turned out, as he wanted to push the band's envelope but was met with a great deal of resistance, primarily from Durst. However, after an uncharacteristically long time off from the band to do cinema work (so long that it led Borland to believe that Durst was done with Limp Bizkit) and the rest of the members dispersing to be involved in other projects, Fred Durst came back and began posting on Limp Bizkit's MySpace profile, much in the same fashion that Borland was posting on the MySpace profile of his then-new band, Black Light Burns. Among other things, Durst accused Borland of "abandoning" drummer John Otto in his "time of need," and elaborated on the other Limp Bizkit members' year-old decision to have Borland removed from Limp Bizkit again. This was a surprise to not only the Limp Bizkit fanbase but Borland himself as they neglected to tell him of the decision, so he kept planning his time around the never to be materialized plans of Limp Bizkit's tour for a year before this occurred. Durst also stated that the band's upcoming release, The Unquestionable Truth (Part 2) will be released with Borland's guitar playing on select songs that were recorded in Prague, and that the album will be dedicated to him. Borland responded to Durst's massive MySpace post, simply stating the slanderous nature of the remarks, and leaving it at that.

Borland has since declared himself a full-time member of Black Light Burns, and has said of leaving Limp Bizkit, "I feel that they think I'm no good for them but fuck it." Borland and Danny Lohner also contributed guitar parts and instrumentals to Rob Zombie's album, Educated Horses, only to not have their contributions make the record. In late 2005, Borland performed bass on post-hardcore band From First to Last's second studio album, Heroine (after bassist Jon Weisberg left the band), with whom he also toured with for several tours afterward. Borland has since become very close with the band, though he was replaced when the band found a permanent bassist, Matt Manning.

Black Light Burns

Borland's latest project Black Light Burns is an industrial metal band featuring members of Borland's previous band The Damning Well, featuring himself, Danny Lohner, Josh Eustis and Josh Freese. The project evolved from Borland's initial attempts at writing a solo effort, but according to Borland, now includes his solo material and material from Eat the Day and The Damning Well. The initial plans of their record release was posted on the band's MySpace profile: "Final tracking is almost complete on the debut album and the band plans on releasing during the first quarter of 2006 with a world tour to follow." Guests on the album include Carina Round, Limp Bizkit bassist Sam Rivers, From First to Last frontman Sonny Moore and Concrete Blonde's Johnette Napolitano. However, their then-record label, Geffen Records, went through a personnel change and didn't bother returning Borland's phone calls, so both parties split. Borland announced on February 3, 2007 that Black Light Burns would be signed to the record label of Ross Robinson, I AM: WOLFPACK. Cruel Melody, Black Light Burns' debut album, was released on June 5, 2007 and in its first week of release, sold 6,000 copies in the United States alone.

Recently Wes appeared on select tracks of screamo band Drop Dead, Gorgeous' 2007 album Worse Than a Fairy Tale, also released through I AM: WOLFPACK.

Fear and The Nervous System

Fear and the Nervous System is an experimental industrial rock band formed in 2008, consisting of vocalist and guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer of Korn, guitarist and programmer Leopold Ross of Error and IO Echo, bassist Billy Gould of Faith No More, drummer Brooks Wackerman of Bad Religion, and keyboardist and programmer Zac Baird, previously heard on Korn's untitled album and during their live shows. Borland contributed on two tracks for the project and also created the artwork for the album, however in a recent post on the band's MySpace profile, Shaffer reported that Borland's contributions will not be on the final cut of Fear and the Nervous System's debut album.

Marilyn Manson

At a press conference in Seoul, Korea, Marilyn Manson announced that Borland would join the band's touring lineup. The first live performance with Borland being at the ETP festival the following day. It is now confirmed Wes has returned to Limp Bizkit, leaving the guitarist for Manson unknown.

Other endeavors

• Borland has written at the least one solo song that he plays when doing solo sets, titled "The Moment You Realize You're Going to Fall".
• Borland performed as guest guitarist for the X Japan reunion shows at the Tokyo Dome on March 29 and March 30, 2008.
• In late 2007, Borland collaborated with former Damning Well bandmate Richard Patrick's band, Filter, which resulted in the song "In Dreams", released on Anthems for the Damned.

Technique and equipment

As far as his role as Limp Bizkit's guitarist, on the band's first record, Three Dollar Bill, Y'all, Borland would cover much ground. Some guitar work was inspired by thrash metal with harmonic usage inspired by industrial music, whereas some other guitar parts were meant to sound like strange noises and sounds, some were soft and beautiful jazz melodies and the songs themselves were somewhat progressive, as there were traditional song-structures mixed with more experimental ideas. On the band's subsequent hit album, Significant Other, Borland's playing became slower with increased emphasis on groove and heaviness, with more traditional song structures used. On the third Limp Bizkit release, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, Borland's playing became more eclectic, combining the prior elements of heaviness and traditional structure with playing big, complex guitar chords not normally played in metal music before then. On the other hand, The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1), recorded five years later after Borland shortly rejoined the band, featured some of his most aggressive guitar work ever released, using distortion through most of the album and putting all of his trademark effect pedals to rest, instead focusing on heavy riffing, metal tremolo picking and palm mute and release techniques. However, in Black Light Burns, Borland's guitar playing is at its most eclectic. Borland's metal, electronic, jazz, indie rock, soft, and progressive influences come through, and the songs take unexpected turns all throughout. Wes played Ibanez 7-string guitars with Limp Bizkit and later used Paul Reed Smith guitars. He plays a custom 4 string AX series Ibanez on songs "Nookie", "Full Nelson", "The One", and "Stalemate". He tuned his 7 strings to [Low to High] Db Gb B E Ab Db Db and tuned his 4 string to [Low to High] F# F# B E, with the lowest F# string being a bass guitar string.

Borland told crowds at his guitar clinics in the middle east and Total Guitar that he considers himself more a songwriter and rhythm guitarist than a lead guitarist, saying that he never got into shredder bands or jazz fusion artists. He says his two-hand tapping technique was inspired somewhat by Les Claypool of Primus and the rhythmic nature of his bass playing, and not so much from the lead guitar craze of the 1980s. However, he has incorporated lead guitar into his music after leaving Limp Bizkit from time to time.

Painting and artwork

Borland is not only known for his live stage costume getup (ranging from bunny costumes to elaborate face and body painting designs). He has also handled the artwork for Limp Bizkit record he was involved in recording, and is responsible for the cover art of all Black Light Burns releases and the debut album of Fear and the Nervopus System. Borland is reportedly interested in opening an art gallery to display his work, which he nearly did through a gallery owned by Marilyn Manson, but declined upon being informed that the gallery was private. A MySpace account was established exclusively to display his art, accompanied by several ambient musical pieces recorded after the sessions of Black Light Burns' Cruel Melody.

On June 2, 2007, Borland launched The Borland Gallery, a website merchandising his paintings, as well as a store where t-shirts and prints will be available for purchase.

Filmography

• Family Values Tour '98 (1998)
• Woodstock '99 (1999)
• MTV Video Music Awards (2000)
• MTV Video Music Awards (2001)
• America: A Tribute to Heroes (2001)
• Pauly Shore Is Dead (2003)
• Wetten, dass..? (2004)
• Stephen Perkins: A Drummer's Life (2006)
• Spread Entertainment (2007)
• Rock IM Park (2008)
• Anvil Pants Odyssey (2008)
• The Heart Is a Drum Machine (2008)

External links

• Wes Borland at The Internet Movie Database
• Official artwork MySpace profile
• The Borland Gallery

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