What do you get when you put a Filipino, an Indian, an Australian and a Scotsman together in a music studio or on stage with some musical instruments?
The answer is Borrison Ivy, one of Dubai ’s newest originals rock bands formed in 2008 but one that is quickly gaining a good foothold in the UAE’s music scene.
The band composed of Quay Evano on bass, Nikhil Uzgare on vocals, Richard Barber on guitar and Marc McWilliam on drums, are working on releasing an album of all original songs early this year (their target is March). With so many original compositions in their catalogue, they are even thinking of debuting with a double album or release albums in quick succession. But for now, Borrison Ivy are plain happy recording their songs in the studio and playing in as many gigs and events as they can all over the UAE.
So far, the band have performed in Dubai , Sharjah and even as far as Ras Al Khaimah. They have played in the monthly 15 Minutes of Fame at Sharjah Wanderers Club, Fete de la Musique at the Madinat Souq, Dubai Motorsports Festival and PEACE Club Christmas Party. They are scheduled to perform at the Global Village, Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai Desert Rock and Dubai Bike Week. Last October 2008, they were the front act for heavy metal bands Nerve Cell and Sun King at the Rock Nation event in Dubai .
With everyone in the band working hard looking for record producers, record companies, events, gigs, practicing their songs and perfecting their crafts and performances, not to mention that all band members are songwriters too, they just might make it to the international music scene. As everyone knows, Dubai is where many humble dreams turn into big realities and in this city of dreams, Borrison Ivy might just become one of its thousands of success stories.
The band started as an idea of Richard Barber who arrived in Dubai around two years ago after working in Japan as a language teacher for six years. He picked up the electric guitar again after having played one for a few months when he was a teenager, but never since. Inspired by his music idols Randy Rhoads and Eddie Van Halen, he felt a growing urge to play, and that urge turned into a desire to come up with original rock songs and put together a rock band.
So, he posted a couple of ads on two Dubai-based websites looking for people to be part of the band he was forming (which named after his two plants “Borris” and “Ivy”). Soon, thereafter, he found musicians heeding his call. A couple of jams in the music studio, membership changes and gigs, and the band are now at ease with their present roster.
Quay joined the band in April 2008 as its bassist. He was looking to buy a secondhand bass guitar on www.dubizzle.com but came across Richard’s “Bass Player Wanted” ad and he slotted straight into the band line up and hasn’t looked back since (since he had been wanting to be in a band again for ages). He has been playing the guitar since high school and used to be in a band called Abstract during his college years in UP Diliman and in Crossroads, a band composed of fellow teachers from Ateneo de Manila University. He works as a writer and a graphic artist in Dubai (he is the former Middle East Editor for SSMMEE) and even with his busy schedule involving his family, work and band he still finds time to be help out and be active in the Filipino community in the UAE.
Nikhil is the organizer of the Rock Nation event and was in constant communication with Richard about their gig. But a few days before Borrison Ivy’s performance, the previous singer backed out all of a sudden. So Nikhil quickly volunteered himself to fill-in and when he was asked to permanently join the band, he agreed. He has been performing in rock bands since he was a teenager in India . He was in bands called Pride, Split , Panic Attack, Vertigo, and Believe and when he arrived in Dubai , he formed the band Point of View, which has also become one of Dubai ’s originals rock bands.
Marc McWilliam has been playing the drums since he was 13 years old and has played in bands in all the countries he’s been to amounting to around 50 countries. He used to play drums for the bands Electric Circus, Rich Bitch, Mothers Ruin, Stilletos, WWIII, Perfect Strangers, Nasty Frogs, Fatal Charm, Tramp, Free Beer, Road Hogs. He works as a surveyor manager in Dubai Drydocks.
The band have so far recorded six demo songs in almost full production quality: (1) Asian Girls is a fun song about the head-turning beauty of Asian Women, (2) Brake! Baby is foot-stomping song about overbearing love, (3) Damned If You Do is about the reality that with whatever good things you might do, people can always find negative things about it, (4) Hobart, Tasmania is a song about the place where Richard grew up in, (5) Lonely, Lonely Days is about depression, suicide and the unbelievable loneliness in struggling for your sanity, and (6) Salary Slut is a tribute to people who realize that the only reason they go to the work they actually hate is because of the money which they need to survive every day. The song demos can be heard on the band’s website: www.borrisonivy.com or downloaded from www.myspace.com/borrisonivy.
Some other songs in their catalogue and which they have played live are “When It’s Over,” “Start,” “Chainsaw,” and “Just Another Office Job” and many more home demos in their website which they will be playing in gigs and concerts soon.
As diverse as their nationalities are, so are their music tastes. Richard is heavily influenced by Randy Rhoads, Eddie Van Halen, Def Leppard, Ozzy Osbourne and AC/DC specifically Malcolm Young. Quay loves the Beatles, Sting, U2, Sting, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden and a lot of instrumentalists like Eric Johnson, Jaco Pastorius and many Jazz artists. Nikhil has a wide variety of musical interests such as Whitesnake, Poison, Pink Floyd, Skidrow, White Lion, Def Leppard, Simon and Garfunkel, Bad Company, Stone Temple Pilots, Incubus Rage Against The Machine, Sound Garden , Pearl Jam, Tears For Fears, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, and Temple Of The Dog . Marc is more into Deep purple, Queen, Whitesnake, Black Sabbath, Ian Paice, and Cozy Powell.
But when asked how to categorize their music, the band answers, “We’re not a heavy metal band, we’re not a thrash rock band. We simply play rock music. We play Borrison Ivy music.”
Four people of different nationalities, different musical tastes, different cultural backgrounds, different experiences, different faiths and beliefs and (at times) quite different world views who met over the internet equal to the sound of Borrison Ivy: original rock music that is cool, catchy, melodic, thumping and lots of fun.
And hopefully soon, audiences everywhere will be united in rocking to their music.
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