Apparently boy band NSYNC once said “It’s going to be May.” Lo and behold, all these years later . . . it’s true. And that can only mean one thing: a new The Zone @ 91-3 Band of the Month.
Shoegazers Hillsboro call Victoria, BC home and can now also call themselves May 2023’s Zone Band of the Month.
For the past few years, Hillsboro has been grinding away with several releases, making a name for themselves with their live shows. The band is made up of vocalist and guitarist Nima Walker, violinist Dexter Hodgins, bassist Tucker Hoey, guitarist Sam Wells, and drummer Oliver Hollingshead. Hillsboro have become a staple of local rock bills with acts like Faultline, Saltwater Cowboy, and Bonnuit, notably opening for the likes of Pink Mountaintops and Rich Aucoin.
After our sports-themed photo session (with just a hint of parking lot street brawl), Hillsboro’s Nima and Tucker took the time to chat with Tyson Elder about Nima’s sports injuries, who they’d like to challenge to a pickleball match, and their process.
Tyson Elder: First off, I’d like to congratulate you on being May’s Zone Band of the Month.
Nima Walker: Thank you kindly.
TE: Before we get too far into the interview, I have to ask how Nima is holding up after jumping off the van and getting beaten up in the Elk Lake parking lot during our photo session.
Nima: I broke both my legs, I’m just eating ice cream and plotting my revenge on Tucker at the moment.
TE: I also have to ask about the sports outfits for our photos. There was some pretty professional gear in there. Is Hillsboro really into sports?
Tuck Hoey: With the exception of Dexter, no one in the band has run in the last 5 years. That said, we think jerseys look really cool.
TE: Is there another local band you’d like to challenge in a 5 on 5 sports match? What sport would it be?
Nima: With Oliver as captain for team Hillsboro, we would like to face Diamond Cafe as captain for ex-cowboy in a game of pickleball.
TE: Hillsboro is sort of an enigma when it comes to finding out information about the band. The world needs to know more about Hillsboro. Let’s start with an easy question: how did the band get together?
Nima: Oliver and Sam are childhood best friends and have been doing music since then. They were in a band called ACAB Rocky with Colt, our first guitarist, who is Tuck’s older brother. I coerced Colt into making songs with me at an afterparty when I was around 17. We asked Dexter to come through cause we both knew him from school. We started recording and playing shows together cause it’s the best and have yet to show signs of stopping.
TE: In a similar vein I’ve always been curious where the band’s name Hillsboro came from. Care to indulge us?
Nima: We got a show in Vancouver and needed a name really fast. ‘Hillsboro’ popped up on Google Maps and we liked the Duster reference and thought it sounded like a midwest-emo band so that went on the poster. There’s also an English football tragedy by the same name in which 97 people were killed.
TE: I Don’t Care Because You Do is going to be your feature song on The Zone @ 91-3 all month long. The single got some noisy midwestern emo vibes to it with a dash of late ’90s early ’00s shoegaze mixed into it. It’s refreshing to hear, as it’s a sound that you don’t find on the west coast as much these days. Can you tell me how I Don’t Care Because You Do came to be?
Nima: I was listening to a ton of shoegaze at the time. I started the track at like 4am one night. A couple of the guys came over to record stuff later and we landed back on it. Built up the track on the laptop then learned to play it, I whine about my life overtop, and now it’s on the Zone!
TE: You’ve released two other new singles this year: Swallow and Closer. Is there a prospect of a new album around the corner?
Nima: I don’t want to give away too much. We are a music band and plan to make music albums.
TE: Over the weekend I took a deep dive into the band’s available discography and found a fantastic cover of Not In Love by Crystal Castles. Through and through that song is a banger, despite Ethan Kath being a piece of shit. The song feels way more electronic than other your other songs you’ve produced. You really captured the high energy of the song and longing in the lyrics well. How did that cover come about?
Tuck: On Hallowe’en 2021, we played at a costumed set as a goth band at a house party. Nima and Dexter both donned Robert Smith costumes so a cover was natural. We were indecisive about a song by The Cure, and ended up giving Not In Love a go. Oliver started drumming in a rigid, sequencer-programed style, and with our pedalboards we tried to dial in tones sounding like synths to complete the “dance-music” feel.
TE: I’ve had the chance to see the band live a few times over the past year or so. Once opening for friend of Rocktographers Rich Aucoin, and as part of a stacked night in Sooke last fall. Hillsboro seems like a band that really thrives on playing live. You have quite a dynamic sound and high-energy set to watch – especially with Dexter on violin adding another dimension. I know you recently played with Pink Mountaintops. What has it been like back on stage post-pandemic?
Tuck: We weren’t really on stage pre-pandemic! We had years right when we started to be holed up working on ideas, so now we have a lot of pent up stuff to put out there. Shows are the best.
TE: What’s next for Hillsboro?
Tuck: Lucrative and stylish careers as French house producers, e.g., Justice.
Nima: That is quite legitimately my retirement plan. In the meantime however, we have a lot of ideas to share like we said. So we have to do that first.
TE: Thanks for taking the time to chat with me and once again congratulations on being The Zone’s May 2023 Band of the Month.
Nima: Thank you so much!
May 2023’s Band of the Month, Hillsboro will be taking over The Zone @ 91-3’s airwaves with their single, I Don’t Care Because You Do. The song is available for download as well as two other tracks on Hillsboro’s Band of the Month microsite.There you can also find out more about the band and more photos from their action packed photo session.
Rocktographers is a proud supporting sponsor of The Zone’s Band of the Month program.