From late-night takes to gang vocals with mates, BORDERLINE take us inside the making of Chrysalis
Aotearoa’s BORDERLINE serve up Chrysalis – a rich, reflective alt-pop release that channels friendship, growth, and the kind of intuition only time can teach.
If introspective pop is your thing, you’re in the right place.
The four-piece – Ben, Jackson, Matt and Max – have been making waves off the back of sets at SXSW and The Great Escape, and they’re keeping the energy high with a new video for lead single Breakdown (shot in Tāmaki Makaurau with director Tom Grut), and a freshly announced Aussie tour this September, including their BIGSOUND debut.
We were lucky enough to take a behind-the-scenes look at how Chrysalis came together at Auckland’s iconic Roundhead Studios, working with producers Joel Jones and Nic Manders.
The band split their time between upstairs sessions with Joel (Heartbeat, Mi Amor), and the Brickroom downstairs with Nic (Breakdown, When It’s Raining, New Romance). Between late-night takes, spur-of-the-moment piano jams, and friends piling in for gang vocals, the whole thing felt like a proper hangout that just happened to result in some really great music.
Here’s what went down:
No.1: Max getting ready to record bass for ‘Heartbeat’ in studio A. ‘Heartbeat’ had been a song that just came together so naturally when we wrote it at Joel’s studio, this was just a case of recording the bass part with a great amp in an awesome studio space.
No.2: Some of our good friends recording gang vocals for the last section of ‘When It’s Raining’; awesome moment and ended up sounding absolutely massive.
No.3: Max notating the ‘When It’s Raining’ chorus for everyone to learn. One of our favourite photos from our time in the studio, and such a cool moment.
No.4: This is a shot of the living room space for the B studio at Roundhead. It is so beautifully decorated and was our chill space outside of the control room. (Good for photo shoots and chess!)
No.5: Jackson recording drums for ‘Breakdown’ in the brick room. It’s always fun going through the process of finding the right kit sound, which is what’s going on here
No.6: This was Matt recording the acoustic guitars for ‘New Romance’. We like to get pretty creative with all the new gear that’s available in the studio, so we thought we’d have some fun and use the 12 string in an open tuning.
No.7: Ben playing the riff of ‘When It’s Raining’ on the grand piano in Studio A. Jackson joined about 5 minutes later and we played the entirety of ‘When It’s Raining’ front to back without even talking about it. One of our favourite and most special moments ever while writing.
Check out BORDERLINE’s EP track listing and tour dates below.
CHRYSALIS TRACKLIST
Breakdown
Heartbeat
New Romance
Mi Amor
When It’s Raining
BORDERLINE AUSTRALIAN TOUR
Sep 2nd – 4th BIGSOUND Brisbane
Sep 5th The Old Bar Melbourne
Sep 6th the Vanguard Sydney
TICKETS ON SALE THURSDAY 24 JULY 1:00PM (LOCAL)
Live Nation pre-sale: Wednesday 23 July 12:00pm – Thursday 24 July 12:00pm local
For complete tour & ticket information, visit livenation.com.au
