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Stephen Andrew Perkins (September 13, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter. A drummer and percussionist, he currently plays with Jane's Addiction and Hellflower.^[1]

Following the dissolution of Jane's Addiction, Perkins continued to play with frontman Perry Farrell in the rock band Porno for Pyros. He also has a solo project called Banyan, and in the 1990s was involved in Lil' Pit with Mike Watt. In 1992, he appeared as percussionist on Rage Against the Machine's self-titled first album and in 1995, contributed percussion to the Red Hot Chili Peppers song "One Big Mob" on their album One Hot Minute (Fellow Jane's Addiction member Dave Navarro was the guitarist for the Chili Peppers during the making of that album.) Perkins also played drums on the Nine Inch Nails album The Downward Spiral on the track "I Do Not Want This". In addition to Banyan, Perkins worked with Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, former bass player Chris Chaney (bass player on the third Jane's Addiction studio album Strays) and singer/guitarist Steve Isaacs on a project entitled The Panic Channel from 2004 until 2007. Perkins was also involved with members of Suicidal Tendencies in their Infectious Grooves side project, as well as Hellride, a Los Angeles-based Stooges cover band. Jane's Addiction reunited and played at the NME Awards in April 2008, and have since played a few club shows.

Biography[link]

According to Perry Farrell's comments during a Jane's Addiction show in Tel Aviv on Sept. 1, 2011, Steven, who's Hebrew name is Shlomo, celebrated his Bar Mitzva on Aug. 31st 1980. The next day, he got his first drum set - the date of the show marking the 31st anniversary of Steven playing the drums.

Discography[link]

Jane's Addiction

• 1987 Jane's Addiction
• 1988 Nothing's Shocking
• 1990 Ritual de lo Habitual
• 1991 Live and Rare (Compilation of B-Sides and the Remix of "Been Caught Stealing")
• 1997 Kettle Whistle (Compilation of live tracks, demos and unreleased material)
• 2003 Strays
• 2006 Up from the Catacombs (Greatest hits album)
• 2009 A Cabinet of Curiosities (Box set)
• 2011 The Great Escape Artist

Infectious Grooves

• 1991 The Plague That Makes Your Booty Move...It's the Infectious Grooves

Porno for Pyros

• 1993 Porno for Pyros
• 1996 Good God's Urge

Banyan

• 1997 Banyan
• 1999 Anytime At All
• 2004 Live At Perkins' Palace

The Panic Channel

• 2006 (ONe)

Hellflower

• 2010 Us You

References[link]

External links[link]

• Stephen Perkins' official site
• JanesAddiction.org - extensive discography and information
• Stephen Perkins at the Internet Movie Database

Wes Borland
Borland performing with Limp Bizkit at Sonisphere 2011.
Background information
Born	(1975-02-07) February 7, 1975 (age 37) Richmond, Virginia
Genres	Rock
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, drums, violin, cello, percussion, programming
Years active	1993–present
Associated acts	Limp Bizkit, Black Light Burns, Big Dumb Face, From First to Last, Marilyn Manson, X Japan
Notable instruments
Jackson Warrior Jackson Randy Rhoads Yamaha CV820 WB Ibanez RG7 CST PRS Standard 24

Wes Borland (born Wesley Louden Borland on February 7, 1975) is an American rock musician and artist. Originally from Virginia, Borland attended high school in Tennessee, and college in Florida, where he developed his skills as a sculptor and painter. Borland is best known as the guitarist of the multi-platinum rock band Limp Bizkit with whom he has released five studio albums. In 1998, Borland formed a side project, Big Dumb Face, with whom he released one album.

In 2001, Borland left Limp Bizkit. After rejoining the band in 2004, Borland formed another band, Black Light Burns, with whom he released two studio albums. Borland left Limp Bizkit following the release of their album The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1) (2005). The original lineup of Limp Bizkit reunited in 2009, and recorded another album, Gold Cobra (2011). Borland is known for his sonic experimentation and elaborate visual appearance, which has included face and body paint, masks and uniforms. He has drawn album covers and created artwork for many of his music projects.

Biography[link]

Wes Borland grew up in Nashville, Tennessee, he initially took an interest in becoming a drummer, but because his parents didn't take to the idea of bringing percussive instruments into their household, Borland began taking guitar lessons from a member of his parents' Presbyterian church.^[1] Borland's musical interests were at odds with the local music trends which leaned largely toward country music. He recalled, "I would bring in something, and my teacher would go, 'I've never heard of the Damned. Don't you want to play some Merle Haggard?'"^[1]

Borland's brother, Scott, took an interest in bass guitar, and the two brothers began playing together.^[1] Borland's interest in hip hop music piqued with the release of Anthrax and Public Enemy's collaboration, a cover of the latter's song "Bring the Noise".^[1] Borland moved to Jacksonville, Florida with his parents, where he began attending art school due to his disinterest in the local music scene. There, he began practicing sculpture making and special effects.^[1] Borland continued to take guitar lessons, working with a teacher that specialized in jazz. According to Borland, "My first teacher ingrained playing by ear so much that when my jazz teacher gave me a sheet of music and a tape to go with it, I would learn the tape instantly and go in and play it, but I couldn't make myself learn the music."^[1] As his guitar skills improved, Borland began to craft guitar parts.^[1] Wes Borland felt confined by being forced to attend church despite his disinterest in organized religion, and moved out when he was reaching the age of 18.^[1]

Limp Bizkit (1994–1999)[link]

Wes Borland joined Limp Bizkit, a band formed by Fred Durst, Sam Rivers and Rivers' cousin John Otto.^[2] Limp Bizkit developed a cult following in the underground music scene, particularly at the Milk Bar, an underground punk club in downtown Jacksonville, Florida.^{[citation needed]} The band attracted crowds by word of mouth and covering George Michael's "Faith" and Paula Abdul's "Straight Up"; the band also gave energetic live performances in which Borland appeared in bizarre costumes.^[2] Borland's theatrical rock style was the primary attraction for many concert attendees.^[2] After DJ Lethal joined the band as a turntablist, Borland left Limp Bizkit after a disagreement with Durst.^[2] However, Borland rejoined after the band signed with Mojo, a subsidiary of MCA Records.^[2] After a dispute with Mojo, Limp Bizkit signed with Flip, a subsidiary of Interscope Records, and recorded their debut, Three Dollar Bill, Yall$, which featured an abrasive, angry sound that Limp Bizkit used to attract listeners to their music.^[2]

Although the album was met with minimal response, touring consistently increased Limp Bizkit's success, and the third single from Three Dollar Bill, Yall$, "Faith", became a radio hit, leading to a slot on Ozzfest, a tour organized by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne.^[3] In 1998, Borland formed a side project, Big Dumb Face, influenced by Ween and Mr. Bungle.^[4]

Mainstream success (1999–2001)[link]

Significant Other saw Limp Bizkit reaching a new level of commercial success. The album climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 643,874 copies in its first week of release.^[5] In 2000, Durst announced that the band's third studio album would be titled Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water. The press thought that Durst was joking about this title.^[6] The album title is intended to sound like a fictional band; the phrase "Chocolate Starfish" referred to Durst himself, as he had frequently been called an asshole.^[6] Borland contributed the other half of the album's title when the band was standing around at a truck stop, looking at bottles of flavored water, and Borland joked that the truck stop didn't have hot dog or meat-flavored water.^[6]

Departure from Limp Bizkit, side projects and reunion (2001–2011)[link]

In March 2001, Big Dumb Face released its début album, Duke Lion Fights the Terror!! Borland stated that the band's music is "really silly and idiotic and bizarre. [...] It's nothing but stupid [...] just all these retarded songs."^[4] In the fall of 2001, Borland left Limp Bizkit.^[7] In August 2004, Borland rejoined Limp Bizkit and recorded another album, The Unquestionable Truth (Part 1).^[8][9][10] In 2005, Borland formed another side project Black Light Burns. After Borland left Limp Bizkit again, Black Light Burns released its début album, Cruel Melody. Allmusic writer Greg Prato wrote, "For many, Borland was the only Limp Bizkit member who was taken seriously. As evidenced by Cruel Melody, he is now officially allowed to follow whichever musical path he so desires."^[11] In 2008, Borland, along with Richard Fortus and Sugizo, supported Japanese metal band X Japan at their sold out reunion concerts at the Tokyo Dome.^[12] In 2009, the original lineup of Limp Bizkit reunited and began touring. The band recorded a new album, which Borland named Gold Cobra.^[13] Released on June 28, 2011, it received mixed reviews,^[14] with multiple reviewers appraising Borland's guitar playing.^[15][16] It peaked at #16 on the Billboard 200.^[17]

Borland has also gone onto a remixing career with his distribution of alternative versions of songs by metal bands. Most recently, The Word Alive has had their song "The Hounds of Anubis" remixed by Borland.^[18]

On April 20 2012, Borland made a series of tweets criticizing progressive metal band Dream Theater in response to a fan's comment praising the band. Borland made several remarks about the band putting technical prowess and musical complexity over feeling and soul. This caused several fellow twitter users to criticize Borland in the days following his first tweet for being himself known more for his gimmicks, such as body painting, rather than musicality.^[19]

Equipment[link]

Borland used Ibanez seven-string guitars exclusively from 1997 until 1999. However, he stated that he played a 6-string guitar on the entire Three Dollar Bill, Yall$ record. Shortly after embarking on a tour with Korn, Ibanez got ahold of Borland and gave him a number of seven-string Universe guitars, essentially for free, which he continued to use extensively. During the touring in support of Significant Other, Borland used two custom Ibanez RG seven-strings with the electronic setup of an Ibanez AX7521 (two volume knobs and two tone knobs rather than one volume and one tone). Nothing is certain about the type of pickups that he used, however, he did use EMG pickups at one point, stating in an interview with GuitarCenter that he was moving from "passive to active pickups". Borland also endorsed the rare Ibanez RG7CST guitar, which is made from superior/high-quality materials and is also equipped with a GraphTech designed piezo system on a locking tremolo. He is currently one of two American owners of one. Additionally, Ibanez also made him a 4-string baritone guitar modeled after the AX120 model, which he used on songs such as "Nookie", "Full Nelson", and "The One". This was eventually replaced by a custom-made Master Guitars "Cremona" 4-string.

During the recording for Chocolate Starfish And The Hot Dog Flavored Water, Borland switched to 6-string guitars. The entire album was recorded using a Master Guitars Cremona semi-hollow body guitar, which is visible in the video for My Generation. However, Borland did not tour with this guitar and instead used Paul Reed Smith guitars, one of which is a Standard 24 in a Platinum Metallic finish, the other one being a Custom 24 in a Black Slate finish. After the tour, they were not seen again.

In 2005, Yamaha approached Wes Borland about a new signature guitar, which was almost 100% designed by Wes Borland. The model CV820WB was released that same year. It is a semi-hollow body guitar with a large body and new Yamaha high-output split field humbuckers, made exclusively for that guitar. It also comes with the new Yamaha Quick Change finger-clamp locking tremolo system, which rids the user of having to cut the ball ends off of the strings, which is very unusual for a locking tremolo. This was Borland's main guitar for the recording of Black Light Burns' Cruel Melody and the touring behind it, as well as most of the touring Limp Bizkit did before the recording of Gold Cobra. Despite its innovative characteristics, it wasn't a popular guitar, per se, and was discontinued in mid-2011, when Borland switched to Jackson Guitars, more or less beginning with the recording of Gold Cobra.

Borland was endorsed by Jackson shortly before the release of Gold Cobra, and owned several Rhoads guitars, which he used on Limp Bizkit shows. He now plays a custom white Warrior model with black bevels, and a Gun Metal Grey Warrior, along with a white Randy Rhoads guitar. He does not currently have a signature model with Jackson. Additionally, Wes also uses a Fender Bass VI extended scale guitar, tuned to one octave below E standard tuning. He uses this song on "The Story" on The Unquestionable Truth (Pt. 1), and again on "90.2.10", "Walking Away", and "Back Porch" on the Gold Cobra album.

Borland tunes his guitars to C# standard tuning (C# F# B E G# C#) and to Drop B tuning (B F# B E G# C#). He also tunes his 4-string baritone guitars to a variant of this tuning with a low F# string, which is a bass string (F# F# B E).

Borland uses Ernie Ball .011-.052 gauge nickel-wound strings, where the G string is wound. For Limp Bizkit's first three albums, Borland used Mesa-Boogie Dual and Triple Rectifier amps, but has played mainly Orange Amps since touring in support of Cruel Melody began and has continued to use them since then.

Style[link]

"Shotgun" (sample) noicon "Shotgun", from Limp Bizkit's album Gold Cobra, highlights Borland's unique playing style in this solo. Problems listening to this file? See media help.

Borland's guitar playing is experimental and nontraditional, and he is noted for his creative use of six and seven-string guitars.^[20] Three Dollar Bill, Yall$ features him playing without a guitar pick, performing with two hands, one playing melodic notes, and the other playing chord progressions.^[2] The song "Stuck" uses a sustain pedal in the first bar, and muted riffs in the second bar.^[21] His guitar playing has made use of octave shapes, and choppy, eighth-note rhythms, sometimes accompanied by muting his strings with his left hand, creating a percussive sound.^[21] Borland has also made use of unevenly accented syncopated sixteenth notes to create a disorienting effect, and hypnotic, droning licks.^[21]

Borland writes songs by forming them in rough outlines and filling in the details later. According to Borland, "I'm good at creating ideas while using a guitar in a new way, but it takes me a long time. I can't just come up with stuff fast and rip it up. I think about constructing songs, and even riffs, in the same way as a painting, putting on a little bit at a time. They're sketchy at first, and then I know what I want, and I fit notes into places."^[1]

Borland is also known for performing in costumes and body paint during concerts, appearing in bunny and kung fu suits,^[2] and painted as a skeleton and what he describes as a "burnt match". Describing the character, he stated, "I go onstage wearing almost nothing. I have underwear and my boots on, and I paint my whole head black—from the neck up—and I have the black contacts. All you can see is these glowing teeth."^[2][20] Borland's black contacts were customized for him by a company noted for making contacts for the science fiction TV series Babylon 5.^[20]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Wes Borland on Twitter
• Black Light Burns {{{2}}}

Perry Farrell
Background information
Also known as	DJ Peretz
Born	Peretz Bernstein (1959-03-29) March 29, 1959 (age 53)New York City, New York, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock, alternative metal, Progressive House,
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, musician, DJ
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, keyboard, turntables, laptop
Years active	1981–present
Labels	Warner Bros. EMI/Capitol Columbia
Associated acts	Jane's Addiction Porno for Pyros Psi com Satellite Party

Perry Farrell (born Peretz Bernstein on March 29, 1959)^[1] is the frontman for the alternative rock band Jane's Addiction. Farrell created the touring festival Lollapalooza as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction in 1991; it has since evolved into an annual destination festival. Farrell continues to produce Lollapalooza with partners William Morris Agency and C3. Farrell has led the alternative rock groups Porno For Pyros and Satellite Party. He is also a DJ.