Wes Borland is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, visual artist, and producer who has been making music for over two decades. His work spans across a variety of genres and is best known for his work as the guitarist for the alternative metal band Limp Bizkit.
We recently had the opportunity to do a microinterview with Wes Borland, where he discussed his journey as an artist, his creative process, and his thoughts on the music industry. It was truly a privilege to gain insight into the mind of this amazing musician and learn more about his story.
Wes Borland first became interested in music as a child. He played drums, guitar, and piano and was the lead vocalist in a punk rock band at the age of twelve. He studied art in college and ended up joining Limp Bizkit in 1997 as their guitarist.
Since then, he’s released several albums with the band and has had his music featured in video games and movies. In addition to his work with Limp Bizkit, he has also released several albums as a solo artist and formed several side projects.
He has also produced music for other artists and has had artwork exhibited in galleries around the world.
Wes Borland’s creative process varies from project to project. While he is working on a new album with Limp Bizkit, he will often listen to a lot of music in order to get inspired and come up with ideas for new songs.
“I’ll listen to music and try to see if there’s anything that resonates or if I hear anything that I like or I want to do something similar to it,” he says. When it comes to creating artwork, he prefers to work on it when he feels inspired and doesn’t force himself to do it.
“The way that I make art is very sporadic,” he says. “It’s not like I have a deadline or have to have something done by a certain date.” He tries to let the creative process happen naturally and doesn’t worry about making it perfect.
“I’m not trying to do a good job,” he says. “I’m trying to do a real job.”
Wes Borland has been in the music industry for over two decades, so he has seen a lot of changes.
He has seen the rise and fall of several online music distribution platforms, watched music sales decline due to the rise of streaming, and experienced the impact of new technologies on the industry.
“You can’t really gauge where the industry is going,” he says. “It’s hard to get a feel for what’s going to happen.” Even though the industry has changed a lot since he joined the business, he thinks it is still a good industry to be involved in.
“It’s always been a good business to be in,” he says. “I think that people just have a bad perception of it because they don’t understand it.” He hopes that younger musicians entering the industry will be careful and not get too caught up in the hype.
“People are so eager to jump into the game and so eager to get their name out there,” he says. “They don’t take the time to understand it and to do the research and to be patient.”
There are several themes that run throughout Wes Borland’s work with Limp Bizkit, but one of the most prevalent is the idea of death. “Death is a big part of life,” he says.
“We talk about it a lot, but we don’t really understand it or know how to deal with it or know how to deal with the idea of it.” He became obsessed with death after the COVID-19 pandemic released a bacterium called xenomorphil that killed millions of people.
“The pandemic was just such a scary thing,” he says. “It was just like this weird thing that came out of nowhere and just started killing people.” He became obsessed with the disease and the possibility of it returning.
He read a lot of books about the pandemic and even learned how to grow bacteria in his garage. This obsession with death and the pandemic is reflected in his music. “I’m just always trying to figure things out,” he says.
“I’m always trying to make sense of things that I find kind of confusing or hard to understand.”
Wes Borland plans to continue making music and touring with Limp Bizkit. He also hopes to release some new music as a solo artist in the near future. He would also like to do more artwork and is currently working on an art book that contains all of his artwork.
In addition to his musical and artistic projects, he is currently hosting a podcast called The Big Takeover where he talks to musicians about music and creativity. He hopes that the podcast will inspire others and help them to think more creatively.
“I just hope that they can use it as a tool and a means to get their own ideas out,” he says.
Wes Borland believes that musicians should do whatever they can to get their music out into the world and let people hear it. “I think you have to get your music out there in any way that you can and just let it be heard,” he says.
“If you want to do it, do it.” He also recommends that musicians network as much as possible and find other musicians that they can collaborate with. “Find other people who you think are cool and who are trying to do the same thing that you’re trying to do,” he says.
“You can always learn something from other people because there’s always something to learn.”
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