HILLSBORO – “WOAH”
A SPILL EXCLUSIVE VIDEO PREMIERE
Vancouver based emo/shoegaze quintet Hillsboro announce their full-length LP, A Party in Your Name, leading with single “Woah.”
The music video opens with an explanation from the band on the origins and themes of the track, “WHAT IS IT ALL ABOUT? I started out in life so carefree and happy. I was like a little butterfly with beautiful wings and a world of flowers to see. Life seemed wonderful as I looked to the future. It didn’t take long and my views changed. I realized I had to perform to be accepted. Life seemed like a circus. There were hoops held out far into the future. If I jumped through the rings I received approval. If I didn’t, well, everybody else did. Life became a performance. Leap through the rings; make the football team, or the cheerleading squad, or the honour roll. Go to the right college and get a degree. I did some things I wished I hadn’t, but everybody else did them, so, go on and hope to forget. Get a good job and make lots of money. At the right time get married, have the correct number of children, buy a house, a nice big house, and a better car. I think I’m getting tired. Join a club, not any old club, but the right club, jump, jump, jump. Retirement, I have to think about retirement, buy stocks, sell stocks, hit some bumps, go, go, go. And suddenly, I stand before the last hoop. But, it isn’t round, it’s rectangular, and it’s in the ground. The grass stops at the ragged edges. Here is where it all ends. What happened to me anyway? Life wasn’t supposed to be this way. Where is the little butterfly with the beautiful wings? What happened to the flowers? Was I truly happy? What about my soul? Is this what it’s all about? Heaven AND Hell… These are not states that people experience but actual places.”
A Party in Your Name is an EP born out of necessity—an act of survival as much as creation. Each song serves as an emotional container, a space where the band could process the chaos and aftermath of addiction. These songs were not initially written with a project in mind; they emerged as a way to affirm their will to live after confronting the horrors of substance abuse firsthand.
The band shares, “In my early twenties, addiction shaped the landscape of my life, distorting my sense of self and stability. When I finally reached a turning point, I found myself unprepared for what came next: facing reality without the numbing presence of substances. The music on this record chronicles that reckoning—an unfiltered confrontation with my past, my regrets, and my hope for something better.”
Sonically and lyrically, A Party in Your Name reflects this journey. As a band, they tested early versions of these songs in live performances, allowing the energy of those moments to shape their final form. With collaboration from legendary Canadian producer Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, The New Pornographers), the EP became a conversation between the raw volatility of their shows and the quiet introspection of songwriting—between destruction and recovery, between grief and resilience.
This EP is not just a personal document; it’s a testament to the universal struggle of addiction and healing. It holds space for those who have battled the same demons, offering a mirror and a message: survival is possible, and even in the wreckage, there is something worth salvaging. A Party in Your Name is the most complete and honest representation of who we are—as musicians, as people, and as survivors. If our self-titled album was “denial” and white trash “anger”, A Party in Your Name is “bargaining”.
Hillsboro has carved out a place in Pacific-Northwest DIY with their kinetic and emotional live presence. The band blends influences from alternative rock, emo, and electronic elements into a sound which is somehow both nostalgic and wholly their own. Screamo riffs are layered upon blown out drum breaks; screeching violins float over intricate walls of guitar. Often shifting between delicate atmospheres and sudden bursts of intensity, it’s frontman Nima Walker’s vocals that anchor the group’s emotional core, with a style that feels rough-edged and deeply personal.
In just a few years, Hillsboro has taken their sound on the road across western North America by way of DIY tours, sharing the stage with the likes of Preoccupations, Emma Goldman, and PISS. In 2025, Hillsboro brought this energy to festival stages, including appearances at Treefort Music Fest, Sled Island and Philips Backyard, solidifying themselves as one of Vancouver’s most promising emerging acts
Hilsboro
A Party In Your Name
(Independent)
Release Date: May 29, 2026
Pre-Save A Party In Your Name HERE
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Background Photo Credit: Gudrun Wai-Gunnarson
