Wes Borland

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Wes Borland
Wes Borland in 2007
Wes Borland in 2007
Background information
Birth name Wes Borland
Born February 7, 1975 (age 49)
Origin Richmond, Virginia
Genre(s) Industrial rock, Industrial metal, Alternative rock, nu metal, rap metal
Occupation(s) Musician, artist
Instrument(s) Vocals, guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums, violin, cello
Years active 1994–present
Label(s) Epic
Associated acts Limp Bizkit, Black Light Burns, Marilyn Manson, Jonathan Davis and the SFA, Big Dumb Face, Nine Inch Nails, From First to Last, X Japan, Fear and the Nervous System, The Damning Well, Goatslayer, Eat the Day, Filter, Anna Tsuchiya, Combichrist, CRYSTAL METHOD


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.

Career[edit]

Limp Bizkit[edit]

Wes Borland is primarily known for being the guitarist and lead songwriter for nu-metal band Limp Bizkit. On stage, Borland was known for his eccentricity, frequently wearing elaborate face paint and black-tinted contact lenses which did not match the more "street" attire of front-man Fred Durst. Despite massive success with their albums Wes split with the band, citing creative differences. Though he would start other projects (Big Dumb Face, Eat The Day and The Damning Well) and take many opportunities to mock Limp Bizkit, he would eventually rejoin with them only to leave again about a year later and then rejoin in 2009.

Black Light Burns[edit]

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. 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.

Marilyn Manson[edit]

Wes's first involvement with Marilyn Manson came long before he joined the band, when he contributed guitar to the Irresponsible Hate Anthem (Venus Head Trap Remix) as part of a collaboration with Danny Lohner.

Wes Borland performing with Marilyn Manson at the 2008 ETP Festival

Years later, 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. Borland would play one more live show with Marilyn Manson at the Hot Topic yearly managers meeting before leaving the band to re-join Limp Bizkit.

Manson has criticized Borland's departure, confessing that "We almost made the mistake of having Wes play guitar but he re-joined Limp Bizkit. That move forever eradicated my feelings on his choices in life as an artist." When asked why he thinks Borland returned to Limp Bizkit, Manson said: "That is what I find myself asking when I urinate sometimes. He said he would never go back. If the reason is money, then I'd rather roll up a $5 note and shove it up my urethra. I'd rather set my dick on fire than join something that I hated."[1]

In his defense, Borland retorted that "I wrote nine songs to be submitted to the Manson record and none of them made it. I was really in hired gun land there, but was sort of being told that I wasn't. So when I figured that whole thing out, I knew I was never going to get an inch into that band [...] but it's the Marilyn Manson show over there — Limp Bizkit is more of a band."[2]

Borland believes the accusations that were levelled against Manson by actor Evan Rachel Wood and four other women. He added that Manson is “amazingly talented” but stressed he was “fucked up and he needs to be put in check and he needs to get sober and he needs to come to terms with his demons.” “He is a bad fucking guy.” [3]

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. Marilyn Manson slams Limp Bizkit!. Dan. Kerrang!. May 12, 2009.
  2. MARILYN MANSON Vs. LIMP BIZKIT's WES BORLAND. Blabbermouth.net. May 13, 2009.
  3. Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland denounces Marilyn Manson as “a bad guy who needs to face his demons”. www.nme.com, February 4, 2021.