BRIDES

"A dream from the trenches of life's cold war."

With influences from icons such as Motorhead, Jennifer Rush, Heart, Bad Religion & the Ramones BRIDES is a in 2023 founded Norwegian ‘Neo-Expressionist-Rock-N-Roll’ act.

In the same way as a ship moves over the ocean, frontman Adrian Borgia’s music delivers you black leather fuzz galore as well as perfectly acceptable Pop ballads. All with a smirk and a wink to the Lizard Kings of yore.

BRIDES debut album ‘Doom Profits’ stranded on planet Earth March 15 last year, followed by a handful of singles and the ‘Sundown’ EP. Opportune moment to have a head-to-head talk with frontman Adrian about the ins and outs of BRIDES. Past, present and future.

Hello there Adrian!

Hi hello.

So, tell us something about BRIDES, how did it begin?

Scribbling in notebooks, fiddling with a dusty Korg MS20 and simply having nothing better to do.

And the result, the first singles ‘Undone’. Correct?

Well, yes. Although I tend to think of the first couple singles as more of an unofficial impulse thing with 'Crystalline' serving as the "real" first single but its not of any real significance really.

To skip the first singles and immediately jump forward to your debut album 'Doom Profits'. I do not think I'm wrong when I say that this album is of very real significance to you. A little more over a year old now, how do you look back on it?

I'd like to think its taught me a few things in terms of production, each song, EP and album contains a lesson you can take with you to the next thing. I don't tend to listen to my old releases as I'm typically busy working on a new one. I tried to paint a complete but varied picture with that album, bring the first one and all, wether that was successful or not I'll leave up to the listener and what they take from it.

Every song you paint can be described as ‘Neo-Expressionist-Rock-N-Roll’. What attracts you to the neo-expressionist art style? How important is it to your music?

Ideally, all art is expressionistic, in that one has something one would like to, well, express. Beyond that, I happen to watch alot of German silent films in that style and in a more general (and visual) sense, the bands I listened to growing up and still to this day all had a strong visual side, be that in the artwork, stageshow or otherwise. There's a trinity of sound, word and vision. Each part is equally important.

German painter George Baselitz, who is often considered a forefather of (German) Neo-Expressionism, said “I always work out of uncertainty but when a painting's finished it becomes a fixed idea, apparently a final statement. In time though, uncertainty returns... your thought process goes on.” As a musician, do you recognize yourself in this?

At times that may be the case, other times I have a pretty clear idea of what I want and how to get there. It may be more relevant as far as lyrics are concerned, I'll collect terms and phrases I hear or read, words and lines that pop into my head seemingly at random, without necessarily knowing where it'll fit in yet. Eventually each piece finds its place in the puzzle.

When I look where your influences come from, I see a range of iconic bands and artists (Motorhead, Jennifer Rush, Heart, Bad Religion, the Ramones,...). Say you could cooperate with some of them (even those who are no longer with us), who would you choose and how would you like that cooperation to happen?

As with any other collaboration it would depend on the idea and what it required. I'm not a fan of collaboration for the sake of it or as some attempt to grow your audience as so often is the case with such. Bearing in mind the kinds of songs I've been writing lately for what will become the third album I'd imagine Lemmy could come in handy. Although I doubt I'd be able to turn down Jeniffer if she came a-knockin' albeit for slightly different reasons.

Before putting the focus on your soon in june to be released new third album; have you with BRIDES already done live performances?

We have not. There were loose plans to get a short U.S tour together but with the current administration such a trek seems a little too risky for my taste. I'm currently sewing together a EU based live lineup to hopefully get something going closer to home.

Sounds promising. Keeping fingers crossed it will work out! In just over a week it will be finally upon us; your latest brainchild, the new album ‘Sandcastle’. Being able to listen to it in advance one I can definitively recommend.

Glad to hear you like it. It's taken a while to get everything together in a presentable manner. It may be a tad outdated in the era of playlists and streaming but details such as the track sequencing and formats are still important to me. Getting this one out on vinyl is a milestone for sure so shout out to our label folks at Produkt 42 and Violet Hour Transmissions for sinking a fairly decent amount of cash into this little thing.

Is there a special meaning behind the title of the album (‘Sandcastle’)?

Anyone who's ever built one will surely have experienced its destruction by the waves. While far from a concept album there is perhaps a common theme throughout relating to the temporary nature of things be it empires, personal relationships or anything else you may think of. Any BRIDES song is merely a reflection of the world as is, I'm reporting the things I see, hear and otherwise experience directly or indirectly. This album is in itself a sandcastle of sorts in that the moments that influenced its content will also be swept away by the waves.

Alright Adrian, thank you very much for making time for us! What may we wish you and BRIDES for the future?

Right now we hope everyone enjoys the coming album enough to consider leaving the house for any future live appearances that may come. Beyond that, writing continues and the next collection of summer hits is under construction.

• BRIDES | Bandcamp
• BRIDES | Instagram

Hayley CLX
23/05/2025