Borgore Adventures In Chicago After-Hours and Talks New Jazz Album [Interview]

Israeli-born and LA-based dubstep producer and vocalist Asaf Borger (aka Borgore) has thunderously shaken the industry’s bass scene over the last decade. Establishing a name for himself as an extremely versatile and disruptive artist, Borgore compiled all that he represents and has thrown it into one unique genre he has iconically characterized as “gorestep.”

A heavy musical composition background has brought Borgore to the notable position he stands in today, as one of the industry’s most versatile and boundary-pushing artists in the game. Adventures in Time – his astonishing new jazz album, perfectly depicts how successful he is as an artist, exceeding expectations in numerous areas and styles of production. Growing up as a classically trained musician on saxophone and piano, Borger later transitioned into playing drums in a metal band called Shabira – and this was all before stepping to the plate as Borgore and shifting focus to producing tracks and remixes.

A true testament to his evolution as an artist, Adventures in Time recognizes all of the formal jazz training Borger grew up with, and the undeniable love and admiration he possesses for the art. Drawing inspiration from jazz musicians like Chick Corea and Brad Mehldau, Borger has fine-tuned his craft since beginning in his teenage years, and the talent he encompasses today is certainly the development of his styles over time.

Playing songs on the saxophone and piano for many years has ultimately led to the surfacing of this zestful new project. Borger shares a little about what it’s like to perform these tunes as compared to his well-versed Borgore productions in the video below. Take a sneak peek of this and more during the cozy Adventures in Time release party in LA:

Borgore’s maniacal beats are easily distinguishable wherever he brings his sound, whether it be the main stage of a major global festival or the intimate setting of a nightclub. Last weekend we caught up with the visionary before his Spring Awakening after party show at The Mid in Chicago. The night was wild as one could only imagine, and he threw down a wildly energetic after-hours set. Rolling on into the wee hours of the night, the gorestep was ever present and although we did not get a peak of his latest jazzy venture (obviously,) the show was unreal.

Staples like “Ratchet” and “Domino” rang inside The Mid to give you that head-splitting Borgore intensity amidst a teaser of his new track with Gucci Mane, and of course popular dance classics like Calvin Harris’ “One Kiss,” Martin Garrix’s “Animals,” Daft Punk’s “One More Time,” and Marshmello’s “Violence.” Shoutouts to Drake, RL Grime, Flux Pavilion, Jauz and more amped up the crowd that raged beneath rainbow-colored lasers and smoke clouds. It was one of those amazingly personal experiences, and the venue was just the right fit for the occasion. The smaller space allowed for the sickeningly intense bass to course through not only your body but the entire structure of The Mid – you could visibly see the bass shaking the walls and stereo system in its entirety. Unreal. Overall it was a filthy bass blaring, ears bleeding type of show, and really what more could we ask for to carry on the Spring Awakening weekend festivities?

Read our Q&A with Borgore below for even more insight on Adventures in Time, his recent 5-track collaborative series, Fortnite vs. PUBG & more!

Nocturnal Times: We recently sat down with you in Miami during Miami Music Week. A lot has happened in the world of Borgore since March. Let’s talk a bit about your new Jazz album Adventures In Time.

Borgore: Well, there is so much to say. It was recorded in Israel, all original compositions by me – there’s so many things to say about it I don’t even know where to start. It is actually the original sound and what I grew up with – if anything has changed the electronic music was the change. I’m going back to my roots, and people are asking me (maybe happy or worried) if this is what I’m going to do from now on and I am 100% not. They are two different things and it’s not contradicting in any way. For people who come to my shows and expect jazz, I’m not going to play jazz, unfortunately. I did one jazz show in LA at The Varnish and I would love to do more – it would be very very obvious that that’s the show I’m doing.

Nocturnal Times: Are there any of the tracks on the album that particularly hit home with you?

Borgore: All of them hit home in different ways. From one that I dedicated to my teacher that always believed in me in high school, it’s remembering him because he died in school. Some songs I wrote when I was 17 and just remind me of home, they are all just very nostalgic and the whole album is.

Nocturnal Times: Walk us through the album-making process for you in this case. How did this differ from your usual EDM sessions?

Borgore: Oh it’s completely different because you record it live, there’s no “I’ll fuck up and fix it later” it’s just whatever you play is whatever it is. Also as an electronic producer I never dealt with live mics and now I’m dealing with 24 mics and… it’s very technical. I had to deal with bleeding between the mics and between the different instruments, I had to deal with a lot of things like alignment and phasing. There’s a lot of things that I had to deal with that I never have before so it’s a completely different approach; 100%.

Nocturnal Times: We’re here in Chicago now with festival season in full swing and you’re fresh off the decks of EDC Las Vegas and Shaky Beats. What are some of your favorite things about festival season?

Borgore: What I really like about festival season is the ability to hear so many people. It’s like, let’s say I’m a car maker and I’m going to a car convention with the biggest car companies. So all year I worked on my car, and I’m here to present my car. Now I can go to other manufacturers and see what they’ve done and what they’re working on. I can go on the internet and look at what people are releasing and whatever but going to a festival and actually seeing a DJ playing his set in front of a crowd, seeing the reaction, seeing how he delivers, just seeing all these different DJs is a place to really learn a lot. I love it because I can see what’s up with everyone else. Most of the year I tour by myself or with DJs from my clique, but festival season is the opportunity to go see all the other DJs.

Nocturnal Times: In addition to your new jazz album, you’re also fresh off a 5-track collaborative installment along with AFK, GG Magree, Axel Boy, Benda, & SVDDEN DEATH. What can you share with us about this collaborative series?

Borgore: It was super fun, I like to do it every couple of years and work with who I think is the most influencing, next wave and upcoming. I learned a lot from it, I always love to sit with the other people. It’s the same as festival season you get to see what other people are doing and come up with new ideas.

Nocturnal Times: Aside from music, we know you’re big into gaming and we’ve seen you reference Fortnite before. Are you big on Fortnite now or still prefer PUBG?

Borgore: I love gaming. I’m a huge PUBG fan, I’m really into PUBG. I talk shit about Fortnite all day but to be honest, it’s not so bad. I would play it if my friends play it, but most of my friends and I prefer PUBG so I don’t get to play Fortnite so much. I’ll play any video game essentially because I just like video games. Right now actually we are super, super deep into FIFA, especially with the World Cup and Champions League. We got really strong into FIFA and it’s very personal – my friends and I sit in my house and try and kill each other..! FIFA can make years of friendship end – it can get very personal..!

Nocturnal Times: What’s next for Borgore this year that you can share with The Nocturnal Times?

Borgore: I have tons of releases coming out soon, like millions! I think some of them are very exciting, I have some big collabs coming up and besides that we’re working on a big tour in North America in the Fall. Besides that just trying to become number one PUBG player in the world!