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| − | Wesley Louden Borland (born February 7, 1975 in Richmond, Virginia) is a musician, best known as the former guitarist in the band Limp Bizkit. He has been in several other bands as well, including The Damning Well, Goatslayer, Big Dumb Face and has recorded on From First to Last's Heroine album, and subsequently toured with them. Borland currently performs in Black Light Burns, where he writes most of the music and sings. 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.
| + | {{Musician |
| | + | | Name = Wes Borland |
| | + | | Img = Wes.Borland.jpg |
| | + | | Img_capt = Wes Borland in 2007 |
| | + | | Background = khaki |
| | + | | Birth_name = Wes Borland |
| | + | | Born = February 7, 1975 (age <yearsold d="07" m="02" y="1975"/>) |
| | + | | Died = |
| | + | | Origin = Richmond, Virginia |
| | + | | Instrument = Vocals, guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums, violin, cello |
| | + | | Genre = Industrial rock, Industrial metal, Alternative rock, nu metal, rap metal |
| | + | | Occupation = Musician, artist |
| | + | | Years_active = 1994–present |
| | + | | Label = Epic |
| | + | | Associated_acts = Limp Bizkit, [[Black Light Burns]], [[Marilyn Manson (band)|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 |
| | + | }} |
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| | + | '''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 (band)|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. |
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| − | ==Early Years== | + | == Career == |
| − | Borland's family moved to Jacksonville, Florida (from Michigan) 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. He spent his summers in Montreat, NC working in the sound booth for Montreat Conference Center, a Presbyterian Church institution. When Limp Bizkit was looking for a guitarist, John Otto threw out his 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",[citation needed] as he later said in an interview with From First to Last. In one of these bands, Borland sang and played guitar but didn't 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 === |
| | + | 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. |
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| | + | === [[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. 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. |
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| − | Fred Durst left Philadelphia, leaving the others to speak to Wes and see if he'd join the band. Wes accepted, and the three practiced, while keeping in touch with Fred over the phone. Later Fred came back to Jacksonville, and the band had a show scheduled. Fred and Wes met for the first time and played their first show together 30 minutes later. When Limp Bizkit played locally in Jacksonville, Wes would dress up as a girl, wearing tight pink clothes and putting his hair in ponytails. Certain people in the audience of these shows found Wes attractive from a distance, but once they got closer to the stage and realized it was Wes, were quite embarrassed. Wes dressing up as a girl greatly angered frontman Fred Durst.[citation needed]
| + | === Marilyn Manson === |
| | + | 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. |
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| − | In the very early stages of Limp Bizkit, Wes'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 keyboard player on Limp Bizkit's first three releases, until Wes quit in 2001, which is when the two brothers formed Eat the Day.
| + | [[File:BorlandManson.jpg|thumbnail|left|200px|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 [[2008/08/15 Seoul, Korea|ETP festival]] the following day. Borland would play one more live show with Marilyn Manson at the [[2008/10/05 Los Angeles, CA|Hot Topic yearly managers meeting]] before leaving the band to re-join Limp Bizkit. |
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| − | On stage, Borland was known for his eccentricity, frequently wearing elaborate face paint and black-tinted contact lenses.
| + | 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."<ref>[http://www2.kerrang.com/2009/05/marilyn_manson_slams_limp_bizk.html Marilyn Manson slams Limp Bizkit!]. Dan. ''Kerrang!''. May 12, 2009.</ref> |
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| − | As far as his role as Limp Bizkit's guitarist, on Limp Bizkit's first CD, Three Dollar Bill, Y'all, Borland would cover much ground. Some guitar parts were 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 Jazzy Melodies and the songs themselves were somewhat progressive, as there were traditional song-structures mixed with more experimental ideas. On the subsequent hit record, Significant Other, Borland's playing became slower with increased emphasis on groove and heaviness, with more traditional song structures used.[citation needed] 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 he 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/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.
| + | In his defense, Borland retorted that "I wrote nine songs to be submitted to [[The High End of Low|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."<ref>[http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=119982 MARILYN MANSON Vs. LIMP BIZKIT's WES BORLAND]. Blabbermouth.net. May 13, 2009.</ref> |
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| − | Borland told crowds at his guitar clinics in the middle east and Total Guitar magazine that he considers himself more a songwriter/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 1980's. However, he has incorporated lead guitar into his music after leaving Limp Bizkit from time to time. | + | 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.” <ref>[https://www.nme.com/news/music/wes-borland-denounces-marilyn-manson-as-a-bad-guy-who-needs-to-face-his-demons-2872467 Limp Bizkit’s Wes Borland denounces Marilyn Manson as “a bad guy who needs to face his demons”]. www.nme.com, February 4, 2021. </ref> |
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| − | ==Leaving Limp Bizkit== | + | == External links == |
| − | 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 to the side. 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.
| + | * [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0096983/ Wes Borland] at The Internet Movie Database |
| | + | * [http://www.myspace.com/wesleyborland Official artwork MySpace profile] |
| | + | * [http://www.theborlandgallery.com The Borland Gallery] |
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| − | Wes and his brother Scott initially were going to both be the 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. The songs "Beeblicowcarapis", "dAdA", and "Taste My Gun" were initially released (and still are available via the internet) as their full length selves, but later, Eat the Day only put up 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.
| + | == References == |
| | + | <references/> |
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| − | During this down period, Wes also began production on his 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/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. It 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 fall of 2003/early 2004, 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 Wes' beginning stages of creating a new, band driven solo record with Danny Lohner, Josh Freese, Josh Eustis, and John Bates.
| + | {{Members}} |
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| − | At some point in 2004 as well, Borland was reportedly offered to join Nine Inch Nails as the band's guitarist, replacing Robin Finck who left Nine Inch Nails yet again for Guns N' Roses. Borland stated he wrote some material with Trent Reznor, but that the material is still 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 Wes valuable pointers for where Black Light Burns songs should go during this time.
| + | [[Category:Band members]] |
| − | | + | [[Category:Males]] |
| − | In late 2003, Wes 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.
| + | [[Category:Musicians]] |
| − | | + | [[Category:0]] |
| − | ==Second Time Out==
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| − | 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 to the side. 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.
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| − | | + | |
| − | Wes and his brother Scott initially were going to both be the 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. The songs "Beeblicowcarapis", "dAdA", and "Taste My Gun" were initially released (and still are available via the internet) as their full length selves, but later, Eat the Day only put up 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.
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| − | During this down period, Wes also began production on his 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/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. It 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 fall of 2003/early 2004, 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 Wes' beginning stages of creating a new, band driven solo record with Danny Lohner, Josh Freese, Josh Eustis, and John Bates.
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| − | | + | |
| − | At some point in 2004 as well, Borland was reportedly offered to join Nine Inch Nails as the band's guitarist, replacing Robin Finck who left Nine Inch Nails yet again for Guns N' Roses. Borland stated he wrote some material with Trent Reznor, but that the material is still 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 Wes valuable pointers for where Black Light Burns songs should go during this time.
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| − | | + | |
| − | In late 2003, Wes 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.
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| − | ==Black Light Burns==
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| − | Borland's latest project Black Light Burns is an industrial metal band featuring members of Borland's previous band The Damning Well, with Borland this time on Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Keyboards and Programming, Danny Lohner on Guitar, Bass, Keys, Programming (but is sparingly using these instruments on the record, as he is mainly BLB's producer), Josh Eustis (from Telefon Tel Aviv) on Programming, Keys and Josh Freese on Drums. The project evolved from Borland's initial attempts at writing a solo effort, but according to Borland, now includes that solo material, material from Eat The Day, material from The Damning Well, and material from an ambient solo record that Borland wrote during his time in Eat The Day that still remains unreleased. The initial plans of their record release was posted on their MySpace page: "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." All guests on the album are confirmed to include Carina Round, Limp Bizkit bassist Sam Rivers, From First to Last frontman Sonny Moore, and Johnette Napolitano of Concrete Blonde. 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 3rd, 2007 that Black Light Burns will be signed to the new record label of Ross Robinson called I AM: WOLFPACK. A June 5th, 2007 release for the CD is planned, and in the meantime Borland will head to various regions in the Middle East for scheduled guitar clinics for his Yamaha signature guitar, and BLB will be rehearsing for a tour starting around summer as well.
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| − | Wes toured with From First To Last roughly since early 2006. Wes announced plans for a fall 2006 BLB/FFTL tour that never went through due to Black Light Burns needing to find a new record label after Borland left Geffen Records. Borland has also discussed plans to write and perform on the next From First To Last album, but he left the band due to Black Light Burns' busy schedule started to pick up, leaving no room for work with From First to Last.
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| − | Recently Wes appeared on select tracks of the 2007 album Worse Than a Fairy Tale, by Colorado screamo band, Drop Dead, Gorgeous. Both artists are on Ross Robinson's I AM:WOLFPACK label.
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| − | ==Fear and The Nervous System==
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| − | Fear and the Nervous System is an experimental/industrial rock band formed in 2008, consisting of vocalist and guitarist James "Munky" Shaffer of Korn, bassist Billy Gould of Faith No More, drummer Brooks Wackerman of Bad Religion, programmer and guitarist Leopold Ross of Error and IO Echo, and keyboardist and programmer Zac Baird, previously heard on Korn's untitled album and during their live shows. Wes Borland contributed on two tracks for the project and also created the artwork for the CD. However in a recent message on the bands Myspace page James Shaffer said that the two tracks Wes contributed to did not make the final cut for the album.
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| − | ==Other Works==
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| − | Wes has written, at the least, one solo song that he plays when doing solo sets, called The Moment You Realize You're Going To Fall.[1]
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| − | Wes Borland performed as guest guitarist for the X Japan reunion shows at Tokyo Dome on March 29th and 30th, 2008. [2]
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| − | in late 2007, Wes Borland also collaborated with his former Damning Well bandmate Richard Patrick in his main band Filter, which resulted in the song "In Dreams" on the Anthems for the Damned album.
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| − | On August 14th 2008, Wes Borland was announced as the new guitar for Marilyn Manson.
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| − | ==Marilyn Manson==
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| − | At a press conference in Seoul, Korea, Marilyn Manson claimed that Borland would join the band's lineup. The first live venue with Borland on board will be the 2008 ETP Festival in Korea. It is unclear how much, if any, Borland contributed to Manson's upcoming album, or if Borland will be a regular member of the band, or simply a guest.
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| − | {{Marilyn Manson}}
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| − | [[Category:Band Members]] | + | |
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.
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.
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.
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]
