Name: Eric Borders aka E. Lundquist
Nationality: American
Occupation: Composer, pianist, producer, arranger
Current release: E. Lundquist's new album Art Between Minds is out via KingUnderground. Stream it here, and buy a physical copy here.
Recommendations: Sven Wunder – Late Again; Glass Beams - "Mirage"

If you enjoyed this E. Lundquist interview and would like to keep up to date with his music, visit him on Instagram, Facebook,  and twitter.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

That’s a jam-packed question. I feel like it all determines what mood I am in, type of music I am listening to, and what environment I am in.

I would say all of the above, sometimes I leave my eyes closed and embrace the music. Sometimes my eyes are open and want to move along to the music. Sometimes it’s shapes, images and colors other times it could be movements and pure emotion.

Entering new worlds and escapism through music have always exerted a very strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to listening to and creating music?

I always love that feeling of listening to a whole album and it has entered you into a whole new world. Each song connects to each other and really feels like a whole body of work. I love when the tracks and sounds are seamless from start to finish and really pulls you in.

Another thing that really draws me into listening to music is the whole experience of the music. The artwork, album cover, titles of the songs, themes, featured artists and overall sonic listening experience. The craft and building a whole album becoming this whole experience every time you put it on is a true skill.

I hope this is something I have been able to do, it is definitely the interworking’s of building a whole project and album.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience?

My first steps in making music from what I can remember was just sitting at a young age in front of the piano that was in our house. I never got the piano lessons or music lessons like my sister had gotten growing up. I think my parents thought I was more into sports and was a more active kid.

I do remember those times sitting alone in front of the piano and just attempting to play notes and sounds. I remember how that resonated in me and how spiritually that made me feel. It gave me this curiosity of what is music.

Which I think propelled my love and obsession with music that I took along with me as a grew up.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

I think around those teenage years is really when you rebel against authority, parents etc. I was definitely that kid during this time to rebel. Hip hop, rock and punk music with an edge is what I really gravitated toward at this time. The music came along I feel with the rise in skateboard culture and really what a lot of my friends were into.

I do remember being heavily influenced by whatever my sister, who is 5 years older than me, was listening to. Taking her CDs, and tapes was a big part of this teenage era. Later into these teenage years is when I got really into underground hip hop. I think this subgenre and culture played the biggest effect on me.

What’s changed since then? Well, everything how we consume music. Having literally so much music at our fingertips and being able to consume it anywhere. I still have that rebel mentality and always gravitating towards the underground or more obscure sounds.

How would you describe your own relationship with your instrument, tools or equipment?

I feel like it can tie into any relationship you have; you must put time and effort into the relationship to get what you want out of it. I feel like I have spent hours upon hours working and crafting music. In order to get the sounds and music you want to hear you have to really devote yourself.

I think I have had pretty good discipline with my tools and instruments. There are definitely those times when you don’t want to work or have felt let down, which is a big part of making and sharing music. The only thing to do is make more music and find the love for it again.

Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

I think the impulse to want to create for me has become this puzzle in my head. Honestly it really isn’t to share with anyone else, it’s really this battle amongst myself to solve this puzzle and put the sounds together to create something incredible and moving.

I think it plays a lot of what art I am consuming and being influenced by. Movies and soundtrack music play a huge part in this and over the years have become more and more of a source of inspiration for my music. I strongly believe everything you consume really plays a huge part it what you create. Sometimes taste can be your biggest strength when creating music.

Your day to day interactions and time spent away from making music are extremely important to the creative process. My family, friends, mental health, environment, and overall well-being play a huge part it what and how much I can create. The influence of my peers and other musicians I have worked with have played a huge part in my growth over the years.

Are you acting out parts of your personality in your music which you couldn't or wouldn't in your daily life? If so, which are these? What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music?

I think I am definitely acting out parts of my personality in my music which I couldn’t in my daily life. I think this sort of hard to explain especially in terms of instrumental music.

But I feel my emotions and really my ego live within the expression of my music. Certain aspects of my personality like maybe flaunting a solo, loving the obscure nature of sounds and arrangements, and different abrupt chord changes. I think all reveal some of my quirkiness, awkwardness, stubbornness, and sometimes my ego. I think some of these I do show in my day to day life but do not all of the time.

Some of my key ideas to my approach to making music has really been focused around discipline. Coming up with concept and theme, sticking to that idea and starting and finishing the idea. One approach I have used on creating these albums is naming the songs before creating them. Using the title of the song to drive the theme and concept of the song.

If music is a language, what can we communicate with it? How do you deal with misunderstandings?

We can communicate all different emotions and feelings with music. When I do think of this I think of movies and how music plays a huge part in carrying the movie from start to finish.

As far as misunderstandings, it’s not really something I have worried about. I think when making the obscure, psychedelic, leftfield music I have made being misunderstood is a normal part of that. I am not making mainstream music and sounds for the masses here, so my music being misunderstood is sort of a normal experience when presenting to your average human.

I am completely fine with being misunderstood.

Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and about discovery. How do you retain a sense of playfulness and how do you still draw surprises from tools, approaches and musical forms you may be very familiar with?  

I have been deep into synthesis and collecting synthesizers over the years. I think learning and interlocking a lot of how to create particular sounds has kept me exploring and engaged. I have also been learning new instruments and finding ways to put them into my productions.

Another aspect of this is watching my kids interact with my equipment watching their eyes light up at the magic is amazing to see.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

I think hearing the noise of rain has had the most moving experience for me. So many times, sitting in the house and making music and hearing the sound of rain is really the most beautiful experience.

I can’t really describe it, but the nonstop rhythm and different constant sounds it makes all while it being in the background as we go along with our day to day lives is very interesting to me. The feeling of the warmth of being inside while the cold rain comes dripping and dropping is a very compelling thing to me.

I love making music inside while it rains.

There seems to be an increasing trend to capture music in algorithms, and data. But already at the time of Plato, arithmetic, geometry, and music were considered closely connected. How do you see that connection yourself? What aspects of music do you feel can be captured through numbers, and which can not?

This is a very interesting question, as far as algorithms go with my music this is something I try really not to worry about. I understand it is an important part of looking at analytics but that really does not at all drive the music I make. I guess my approach is that of the past, attempting to make a thrilling full album. Rather than hitting algorithms, playlists, and likes.

I think there is a distinction in math and patterns in music in general. I think producing music and looking at timing within music can obviously all be brought down to numbers.

I think your SOUL and EMOTIONS can’t be put down to numbers or to AI algorithms.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

I think I live my life freely and really take life one day at a time. This might sound cliché but as far as the music creating process, I really let it come to me and try to create my music as freely possible.

1,000 percent we can learn life lessons from understanding music on a deeper level.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

I think my mood will really depict that, certain days or times of the day. I want to dive into my own record collection or dig into playlists, youtube suggestions, etc but other times the silence can be needed.

Sometimes being overwhelmed having that silence is needed and can be rejuvenating.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Yes, I 1,000 percent think writing or performing music is different than making coffee. I think there are a ton more factors and the level of difficulty is way more difficult than some of the mundane tasks we do.

There can be some similarities between the two tasks but not comparable in my eyes.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

My wish is that the future of music for young people would be having more musical experiences away from computers. More people going out to see bands playing. More people playing live instruments. More touching, feeling, and sensing music.

Technology in music has been a gift and curse and I think the further we gravitate away from it we will be better off. The computer has replaced so much in music and really taken a lot away from the experience.