In Conversation: Borderline

The New Zealand-based quartet, Borderline, sat down with Slipfast Magazine to discuss their latest release, Chrysalis, musical inspiration, and singing in the rain. 

Written by Claire Hookstra

Borderline, made up of Ben Glanfield (vocals and keys), Matthew McFadden (guitar), Jackson Boswell (drums), and Max Harries (bass), released their new EP, Chrysalis, on July 18, 2025. The 5-track compilation showcases the band’s range of musical style, and unique ever-evolving sound.

It’s getting closer and closer to release day! How does it feel to put Chrysalis out into the world finally? 

Boswell: It feels great, to be honest! This EP has been a long time coming. We’ve been writing it for a really long time– multiple years we’ve been working on these songs. So, it’s really exciting. We love these songs. 

McFadden: We’re so proud of this body of work ‘cause we’re making the music we want to. It’s kind of like our baby, and we hope that once it’s out in the world, other people like it as much as we do. 

What is your writing process like? Do you divide up lyrics and music among band members, or does it all flow together?

Glanfield: As for the writing process, it kind of just comes together in whatever way it comes together. Sometimes we go off of a guitar part or a drum, or a bass line. It kind of just turns from nothing into something and has no set way of getting there. 

Are there any key inspirations in the creation of Chrysalis? 

Glanfield: Because it was written over quite a long time period, all of our inspirations were changing [throughout the process.] I might’ve been listening to something, and then Matt was listening to the same thing three months later. It all came together into a weird mix of our music tastes and things we were enjoying at the time. But there are clear influences on some of the songs, like  [when making] “When It’s Raining,” we were listening to a lot of Fleetwood Mac. A lot of great inspiration.

Boswell: I think the EP as a whole is such a special project because it took so long. Obviously the name Chrysalis [symbolizes that the EP] is very much like a period of growth for us. That’s what the EP means to us in a way; it’s [been] such an influential time of our lives the past couple of years. It’s really nice to have this body of work that’s come out of it. It feels fresh, it feels new. It’s kind of a little time capsule for the past few years, which is really nice. 

McFadden: I think it’s really important that it’s been done over this time period because they’re very pivotal years in our lives. Hopefully, the EP reflects how we’ve developed as musicians and writers and all of that. 

Speaking of the meaning of growth and renewal behind the title Chrysalis, are there any elements of this EP that you think signify the growth from your last work, Perfect Movie Scene?

Boswell: I think sound is definitely a big one. I think we’ve kind of found our sound, or at least our current sound, and are really happy with it. The last EP, Perfect Movie Scene, was very much like… well, we were quite young. While we were in high school and kind of starting out, we had a slightly different lineup as well. Since then, with this EP we’ve found [our] solid lineup and we’ve got a lot more life experiences. We’ve done so much over the past couple of years, we’ve started touring and traveling internationally, and we signed off this record deal, all of these things are kind of going on. It feels a little more settled now. 

McFadden: Definitely. Our first EP–  those songs were the first songs we wrote. It [was] our first time being in recording studios and we were kind of [just] figuring things out. We’re still proud of that work, but it feels like we’ve really come into our own [with] this EP [Chrysalis]. 

Boswell: That’s a good thing to mention. With Perfect Movie Scene, we were kind of chasing ourselves a bit with the rollout of that. It was a lot of singles and then an EP. We had this plan of doing a single every eight to ten weeks. We wrote the first song, “Spinning,” then we were like “oh man, we gotta write some other songs.” But with this body of work, we’ve spent a solid year and a half just writing and spending a bunch of time in the studio writing new material. We’ve been a lot more intentional and selective about the songs that we wanna take into the studio and record. 

You have two music videos out already. What were the inspirations behind the “New Romance” and “When It’s Raining” videos? 

Glanfield: We work with this amazing guy named Tom Grut. The first music video we did with him was “Heartbeat,” and we’ve done everything with [him] since. I remember we made a Pinterest board of the vibe we wanted the music video [“New Romance”] to match. We got on a call with Tom, and he was like, “Hey, I’ve put together this little slideshow for you guys to have a look at, see if you like my ideas.” And we were like, “Man! You nailed that Pinterest board. It matches the vibe perfectly.” He was like, “What Pinterest board?” He just didn’t look at it. He listened to the song and got his own vibe, and it just completely matched whatever sliver of creative direction we had had with it. 

Boswell: Yeah, like we’ve got a connection to the music, and we have an idea visually of what we want. But we are not really great at directing music videos and that kind of thing. Tom’s really great and he has got a very similar take on the music as [we do]. He thinks in a similar way. We really relate with him creatively in that sense. So, he’ll come to us with ideas, we’ll go to him with ideas, and we just kind of bounce [ideas] around. Specifically, “New Romance” was very dreamy. 

Glanfield: “When It’s Raining” is pretty self-explanatory. We just played the song in the rain, which was awesome. We all got sick afterwards. Again, the same approach as there’s no process really. Tom will have ideas [and] we’ll come together and find something that suits the song. Obviously, all of our songs have different vibes, so the music videos have gotta match that. So, I like the contrast between “When It’s Raining” and “New Romance” a lot. 

McFadden: I think one parallel we’ve had with all the music videos and the creative processes is that every time I’ve talked to Tom about ideas, we are so aligned. It just fits perfectly. So, it’s always such a breeze getting the music videos done. 

Boswell: The music is all very different. “New Romance” and “When It’s Raining” are two completely different songs sonically, so those music videos are quite contrasting. It’s been exciting diving into these different worlds and seeing how these songs would look visually. It’s been really fun. 

I love how your music contrasts with one another. Earlier, you mentioned how you’ve “found your sound” with Chrysalis. How would you describe this sound? 

Boswell: I would describe it as kind of two things. The main thing being that it’s the four of us. I think that’s really the core of the sound. You know, we play all of our instruments on the records, and we’re in the videos. That’s kind of our sound. You can tell when the four of us get in a room. It’s really exciting. But also, whatever we’re listening to and enjoying is a part of it as well. We listen to such, as Ben said before, such a different and wide variety of music. 

McFadden: Yeah, I think we go with whatever creatively inspires us, so we don’t shy away from making a more pop tune or rock tune. I think hopefully what keeps it all cohesive enough is just that it’s us and we have our own personalities on our instruments musically. The chemistry we’ve got together has a certain energy. 

Glanfield: We try to just write whatever we want to write. Sometimes a song can be completely different to the next song, but it’s still Borderline. We try to focus on emotions or how the song feels, rather than the lyrical content being a story that relates to another song or sort of has the same vibe. Each song can make you feel something different from the last. If you want a sad song, there’s probably one there. If you want a dance tune, there’s one there too. We try to be as diverse as we can. 

Listen to Chrysalis on Spotify and Apple Music

This interview was minimally edited for clarity and length.