After a couple of aborted attempts, the Japanese experimental rock legends make their long awaited Mainland debut on March 13 at QSW Culture Center as part of the JUE Festival. Vocalist and drummer Atsuo promises the wait will have been worth it.
“Boris is a party band that likes to enjoy shows together with the audience. We deliver huge sounds not only to the eyes and ears but also physically to the whole body,” he teases. “You will see how it works.”
Named after a song by Seattle grunge precursors Melvins, Boris emerged from Toyko’s early 90s hardcore scene with a genre-defying sound that incorporates different styles ranging from noise rock to dream pop.
Over 19 albums, they’ve accumulated an international following. Their 2005 disc Pink was chosen as Album of the Year by Spin and Blender. Last year’s Noise amplifies their musical extremes – a heavy mix of sludge-rock, shoegaze, psychedelic doom and crust punk infused with melodic vocals, such as the shockingly poppy ‘Taiyo no Baka’.
No VPN? Listen to Boris on Xiami.
“Our albums are similar to climbing different mountains. Each has different challenges and pleasures at once,” Atsuo muses. “With Noise, we tried to reduce recording multiple tracks as much as we could. Compared to our past albums, there’s more space and room within the songs. By being simpler, we’ve made songs that are more complex and attractive.”
Famous for their nine amplifier set-up, Atsuo admits “new music tends to be brought by new gear. Wata won’t play guitar without vintage Roland Space echo. I love using an OSC3 pedal by M.A.S.F. these days, and Takeshi has his signature model of double-neck guitar by First Act, which is enabling us to try more new styles. We have also used an Orange Terror Bass amplifier for years.”
Their Shanghai show will predominantly consist of songs from Noise but Atsuo notes, “even though we don’t change the setlist very frequently, the songs vary drastically according to the audience and atmosphere. Our priority at shows is to communicate with our audience.”
// Mar 13, 8.30pm-late, RMB150-180. QSW Culture Center, tickets. For more JUE Festival, check out our preview.
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