concert

Bulletproof Borland plays on

The former Limp Bizkit guitarist has no regrets about moving on to his own band, Black Light Burns: "I'm in the right place now."

By Jay Cridlin
Published June 14, 2007

Only 11 artists have ever sold 1-million copies of an album in a single week. Only two are rock bands: the Beatles and Limp Bizkit.

"The people who were fans of the band were just die-hard, die-hard fans, " former Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland said in a recent interview from his home in Los Angeles. "They're still die-hard."

Borland - known for his Kabuki makeup, monkey masks and ghostly black contact lenses - left the Jacksonville rap-rock combo in 2001, returned and then left again after 2005's The Unquestionable Truth. He now sings and plays guitar for his own band, Black Light Burns, a crunchy, trippy metal outfit that plays St. Petersburg's Garage Bar on Tuesday.

But he minced no words about the possibility of a reunion with Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. "I don't want to go back and be with someone who I feel is abusive and doesn't really have my respect as a musician, " he said.

At this point in your career, how distant do you feel from Limp Bizkit?

It's pretty much nonexistent. I would love to collaborate with those players again in the future, but I just don't like Fred, and don't get along with him at all. I can't work with him. I've tried. I went back - I had to see if maturity was going to replace a lack of communication with more of a grown-up attitude. I was hoping we could discuss differences openly instead of having weird, passive-aggressive, near-fistfight situations going on. . . . I just needed to see, so I wasn't just wondering if we had grown up. And we hadn't. It had actually gotten worse.

When's the last time you talked to Fred?

Probably two years ago.

Was this before or after The Unquestionable Truth? As I understand it, Durst and Geffen (Limp Bizkit's label) did virtually zero promotion for that album.

They wanted to do no promotion for it. It was self-sabotage. I don't know why. I talked to him after the release. He wanted to make another record, and I tried to go do that with him. We probably made the equivalent of three instrumental records, and he sang over half of one. I would love for him to finish the vocals and actually put a record out; I think that would be amazing. But whatever he wants to do with any of that stuff, I can't help him anymore.

So what would it take for the complete lineup to reunite?

It will never happen. Never. I've tried it three times with that band, and I'm too old (32), and I've got too much to do. I'm in the right place now. I have no commitments to anyone except the people I'm working with for Black Light Burns.

You had a starring role in one of the most critically maligned bands in history. How do you get through the day when everybody's taking shots at you?

No one takes shots at me, which is interesting. I'm sure there's people that think I'm the worst thing ever, but I've been really lucky. When I interact with people at shows, they're always like, "We hate Limp Bizkit, but we love you." It's like that scene in Pulp Fiction, where they look down and not one bullet hit them. All the bullets went around me. That's sort of what I feel like on a daily basis."

Jay Cridlin can be reached at cridlin@tampabay.com.

Black Light Burns

The band plays with HORSE The Band at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Garage Bar, 662 Central Ave., St. Petersburg. Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door. (727) 553-9212 or www.stpetegaragebar.com.

[Last modified June 13, 2007, 16:55:10]