Interview: Borgore

I was so lucky as to catch up with one of the fastest rising stars in the dubstep scene at Ultra Music Festival a few weeks ago.  The crazy man behind the tables with a bottle of goose in one hand and jager in the other, donning his signature leopard spirit hood is none other then Asaf Borger, better known as Borgore.  He recently dropped an EP titled flex, which you can pick up here for free. Also make sure to catch him on his “Better then a Strip Club” Tour currently making its way across the US. Check out the interview below to find out what it’s like working with Diplo, being in the Israeli army and the relationship between Justin Beiber and orgies.

So you are from Tel Aviv, what is the difference in the scene in the US as opposed to the rest of the world?

The scene in Tel Aviv was there early.  In 2006 we were already on top of it. The difference between the rest of the world and US as far as music is that here (in the US) is a raver scene, people dressed in UV and costumes. It’s kind of a new age Woodstock.  In the rest of the world dubstep is more skate, underground, urban kind of oriented; it’s more new era hats and skinny jeans, tattoos, this kind of stuff.

Army service in Israel is mandatory, what did you do while you were enlisted?

I was a trainer; I kept the chief of staff and upper level people in combat shape.

Like Krav Magah, hand-to-hand combat shit?

More like ten-mile runs, the gym and stuff like that. Now, I drink a lot of beer and do ten girl blow jobs…the army was a good place for discipline, except its not good for anything.  I wish I wasn’t in the army.  I think most of the kids my age would be happy not serve in the army. Kids want to be teenagers, they want to study and to have fun…there’s no point for wars and fighting.

Who should we keep our eye on as the next big DJ coming up?

Tomba, we went to high school together, he’s my best friend.  Shay too. Those are my guys.

So you were a drummer in the metal band Shabira, how was that? What’s the difference between going crazy on your drum set and stepping up to the tables?

In a band, every time you go on stage, the tune will sound different.  It will be the same tune, but it will sound different.  There’s a dynamic on stage, things change all of the sudden, someone makes a mistake you need to follow him.  There’s something about playing live that you will never achieve as a DJ.  I miss it. I miss playing drums, I miss creating the music on stage, but everything has their pro’s and cons and there’s things I hate about being in a band that I’m happy I don’t have to deal with anymore. Ups and downs man.

What is your favorite thing about being a DJ?

You go to a party and decide what you are going to listen to.  A lot of times you’ll be at a house party with fifteen other people and want some guy to get off the youtube and stop playing his shit cause it’s fucking horrible.  I want to play whatever I want to play.  That’s the best thing about being a DJ, you pick out the music that you want to hear.

So you like strippers, porn, and the Olsen Twins; almost everything I’ve ever read about you has some mention of sex and profanity in it…do you care to comment on that?

Sex is fun, isn’t it? Our most basic instincts are to eat sleep and multiply.  I guess I have these urges more then anyone. I don’t sleep too much. I like food, simple food. But I just love girls, man. I love having sex. It’s good.

Lets talk about your label, Buygore…

Let’s talk about those chicks on that yacht over there…I want those girls

After a brief discussion about the smokin’ hot blonde on the back of the boat and Borgore’s managers love life…back to the interview:

Buygore’s your label, are you loving it?

The thing I love about my label is I can release whatever the fuck I want.  The people signed to me can release whatever they want as well.  I talk to a lot of my friends and they have big labels telling “them this is yes, this is no, this needs to change”…I don’t have that shit man.  If I think something is good, I release it.  There’s no need for big labels any more, because I’m playing in Ultra.

You’re headlining a stage at Ultra…

I don’t want to jump above my pedestal, but I got here ya know? A lot of kids these days are just working off of youtube, theres no need for anyone to tell you yes or no. Just do your music, do whatever you like, and go with it.  This is what Buygore is about. Making music, not making money. I am not making money off my label in any way.  Just making sure the music I want to get out is getting out.

What was it like working in the studio with Diplo?

We are two sarcastic people, we kept on laughing and had plenty of good vibes.  We kept on parring (sparring? the Israeli accent caught me off guard with this one) each other. He’s funny. It keeps your brain sharp.

You guys produced two songs together, Sunset and Animal for a Yelawolf album; did he tone down your grime at all?

Diplo understands, he has been in this game for so long and is so successful because he understands.  He sees that kids like hardcore, so he won’t try to tone it. It was the other way around, he kept on telling me to make it harder. Diplo is great because he just goes with the times; he’s non-stop. That is what makes him Diplo.

You use a lot of samples in your tracks and it comes from all over the place, do you like hip-hop and jazz?

I studied jazz for twelve years, and I have been listening to hip-hop and metal forever.  Music is music, and I enjoy all sorts of it. It’s not just dubstep; it’s everything.

Have you ever tried your hand at hip-hop?

A lot of my intros are hip-hop.  I’m also working with carnage, which is more hip-hop, and Diplo and I produced for Yelawolf, which is straight hip hop and is on his album Animal.  So yeah man.

How do you feel about producing hip-hop or other genres of music these days?

I’m all about everything.  Sometimes I just sit for three days and write tunes for a piano ‘cause that’s what I feel like.

If you were to make a hip-hop track, whom would you want featured on it?

I hate to say it, because it’s nothing nice to say, but I really like old Ludacris, like his first three albums.  I don’t like when people criticize artists for progressing, and I think he has a couple of good tunes from these days. Like Ride with Ciara is a brilliant track, but I really didn’t like the Justin Beiber thing.  Not because I have something against Justin Beiber…the Ludcris that I like was ludacris ya know? He was the guy saying the craziest shit.  That was what made me say the craziest shit. That was my inspiration.  And for him to go on a Justin Beiber tune, and again, I have no problem with Justin Beiber or with popular music, I have no problem with people working with him, he said he was producing a dubstep album and I am dying to hear it.  I’m just saying that Ludacris cannot go crazy and say the craziest shit on a Justin Beiber tune.  Like if Luda could have talked about orgies on the track I would be down, that would have been cool, but it’s not the case. Anyway…back to the question.  Ludacris going crazy on one of my tracks would be awesome.

Do you have three to five adjectives to describe your music not including gorestep?

Beautiful, colorful, full of colors and harmonies, you close your eyes and see things.

What are you going to be drinking tonight…

Grey Goose and Jager.  I always drink Grey Goose. I have a case of Jager coming right now.  Mixing everything.

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