Borderline is an indie pop-rock band from Auckland. Members Ben, Matt, Max, and Jackson have curated a funky, idyllic sound that’s both playful and mature. The Kiwi band is currently going global, touring in America and heading to England later this month.

How did you find your “sound”?
Definitely a mix of our shared musical interests and our very different influences individually coming together in a way we all put our voice into.

Who are each of your music inspirations/influences?
As a band we share influences like Coldplay, the Chilli Peppers, Justin Timberlake etc. here’s a few of our individual ones too.

Ben – Holly Humberstone, Mk.gee, Dora Jar
Jackson – The Killers, Bon Iver, Kendrick Lamar
Matt – Prince, Mk.gee, Magdalena Bay
Max – Tom Misch, John Coltrane, The Beths

What can people expect to experience at a borderline show?
Great music, fantastic guitar solos and people screaming at Jackson to take his shirt off.

How did your US tour compare to touring in NZ?
It was pretty wild, for a couple of us it was our first time in the States. Even though it’s all one country, each state almost felt like a completely different country. We had to pack for every climate from desert to freezing cold and really make sure we ate well and took care of ourselves. In NZ we could send a road trip down the whole country living off pies, but over there the cities are so far apart! And no pies 🙁

What are you most excited for going to the UK?
We are super excited to play of course and to share our music with more people, but we all have some family roots in the UK so it is going to be really nice to spend some time over there.

What is the best advice you’ve received for your music?
“Make the drums louder”.

What is your favourite form of potato?
Hash brown is gotta be the Goat, but don’t sleep on jacket potatoes or patatas bravas either.

Describe your dream project?
Well that’s a tricky one, maybe the sort of project that would let us tour the world and spread joy, or like when artists do the full score of a film, that would be pretty cool.

Are there any rituals or things you do to prepare for a show?
Physio and stretches are very important for us, so is having good food. Sometimes though we’ll put on the song ‘Jump up’ by Reggae Revolution to get the energy pumping.

How do you find new music?
We often find new music from each other recommending stuff, but also Spotify discover weekly is pretty good. It’s also good finding artists through social media.

What has been your favourite show so far?
Might have to be between our show opening for Drax Project at the power station and our experience playing SXSW. They were both fantastic and had a great response from the crowd.

Who is a dream collaboration?
Maybe Anderson Paak or Billie Eilish

If you had to switch instruments what would you play in borderline?

If just swapped around then Ben could play drums, Jackson on bass, Max playing guitar and we’d get Matt to serenade everyone with his deep beautiful voice. But I really think we have a calling as a recorder quartet.

What is your dream festival to play at?
Glastonbury has gotta be the first one that comes to mind, though lollapalooza and Coachella are obviously goals too.
Can you tell us the story behind “when it’s raining”?
The song itself is less about a story per se and more about a feeling that we’ve all had at some point, and so we wanted to share that. It started as just the piano motif and then the drums, giving it that drive. We were very fortunate to work with Joel Jones and Nic Manders who helped bring the song together and elevate it with their production wizardry. We’ve really wanted our new music to evoke some sort of emotion and the beginning with the keys really set the tone for the rest of the writing process.

How do you “make it” as a musician in Aotearoa?
Honestly we’ll let you know when we find out haha. It’s definitely hard to “make it” anywhere in the world, but if you look at some of the biggest artists to come from NZ, you’ll see they all stay true to who they are as people and musicians. If your music is genuine artistic expression and not just made to impress others, the right people will catch on and it will resonate with them on a deeper level.

What movie soundtrack do you think would fit your music?
Cinderella has to be an obvious pick, but I think some classic teen romcoms like “10 things I hate about you” would great. Stranger Things would also be amazing.

Do you feed your bass player?
Only when he’s been a good boy.

If you could tell your fans one thing, what would it be?
It would be a massive thank you for all of the love and support we get from them. Who would we be without the people who listen to our music, especially there’s this amazing group that go by “the cinderellas” who we can always count on to be at our shows and laugh at some of our silly TikToks.

What does the future (near and far) hold for borderline?
So stoked we’ve got the UK coming up soon, but we might have something special to share with everyone just around the corner. We can’t wait!