9+1 Q&A with Borza

What inspired you to first start making music? And how did you come to be in your current incarnation? Or if you prefer, a brief bio about you.

My love for musical projects filled up many of my years since an early age and all through high school & college in music programs. And since then I’ve been working with many artists that have a conscious message to send out in the world for encouragement and inspiration to others.

I helped on releasing many records throughout the years by either playing, writing, producing or engineering with brand new artists from the music scene in Quebec, and also with established artists such as the McGarrigle sisters, Emmylou Harris to Lauryn Hill.

However came the moment where I noticed my musical endeavours did not feel complete if I myself didn’t complete & put out my records as well amongst my fellow artist friends and partners.

So I released a first alternative/folk EP called “playing with time” in December 2016, and then in October of 2019 I released a full length record with essences of alternative pop, folk & reggae, that was produced by my dear friend Malcolm Burn (Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois).

I believe that music can help to heal people in different ways, I’m happy & proud to do this everyday.

Provide us with some info about your latest release…

Initially the song is about reminding ourselves to make every decision with our hearts present, and remembering that love heals us. Back in January when I released this song, My daughter Charlotte came up with the idea for the cover and video to come. We had no idea the visuals would be so relevant today .. But I’m glad they are, the point of this video today would be that even though we’re all in this isolation period, we’re actually not alone, we can always reach out to someone, and it will be over eventually. Hopefully we’ll learn lots form this period and learn to live in new and better ways.

Which ones would you consider your main influences both music-wise & non-music-wise?

Musically of course conscious artists such as John Lennon & Bob Marley for example are like heroes to me. They used their influence in a great way.

My influences in life are generally situations that I would find myself in. I think everything that happens to us has a direct link to where we are supposed to be headspace wise, at that moment. I find it’s important to keep our senses open to receive the magic that life has to offer.

In what way does your sound differ from the rest genre-related artists/bands and why should we listen to your music? In other words, how would you describe your sound?

I guess the sound of my recordings so far have been quite raw. So if one enjoys a very honest and unpolished production, you’ll probably enjoy my material. This last release “Guérir les hommes” is a little fluffier.

Please name your 3 desert islands albums, movies & books…

Albums : A Serge Gainsbourg reggae influenced record called “Aux armes Et Caetera” which is a classic and goes very well with island vibes ..

Books : The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam explained by Paramahansa Yogananda. This book can make you feel quite confortable alone all by yourself on a desert island ..

Movie : In general any comedy movie with Eddie Murphy, he’s just too much..

Do you prefer studio or performing live and why?

I would say that they both have very different feelings .. In studio you really enter a bubble, a total concentration to offer the best possible performance for the recording that will be there forever. Where live the performance is to achieve the connection with the people at the show at that very moment. I love both.

Is there any funny-unique story you would like to share with us, always in relation to your music ‘career’?

I guess touring has the best stories … Sometimes we can find ourselves in incredible situations on the road .. I guess just trying to communicate properly with people outside your country with a different language is a whole show by itself ! Like this one time where we asked a taxi driver in Malta where the beach was, and he thought we where asking him where the bitches were at lol ….

Which track of your own would you point out as the most unique and why?

I guess “Claim you peace of mind” from Cocoon. It’s an electrified acoustic reggae track with some rock in the choruses. The song talks about settling down somewhere you feel good, in order to reset & ground yourself. However the only thing that can stop you from doing this is your own self.

Would you like to share with our readers your future plans?

To re-organize a tour as soon as things settle back in for the world. My European tour in Italy, France, Spain & Holland starting end of April was obviously canceled because of Covid-19. So I’m looking very forward to getting out there and connecting with the people again.

Free question!!! (Ask yourself a question) you wish to answer and haven’t been given the opportunity…

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Photo credits: Charlotte G Ghomeshi

Curated by: Christos Doukakis

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