Tip the Artist

Artist Bio

“You make me feel so young.” were the first lyrics that four-year-old Michael Borja sang in his early performance before an audience. Borja’s exposure to music started in jazz and big band from his father like Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespe, and Duke Ellington. And early rock-n-roll from his mother like the Everly Brothers and Buddy Holly. Borja was born in Pittsburgh, PA from parents that met here in the United States after immigrating from the Philippines. With “strong” encouragement from an Asian mother, Borja began playing the piano at age 7 and later found a significant musical influence in his life, “The Beatles”. Borja’s high school years included band discoveries from Led Zeppelin, Rush, The Who to other bands like R.E.M., New Order, The Smiths, and The Cure to name a few. Borja was the lead singer of his band Technical Difficulty and this is where he began to explore the craft of songwriting. During his time in the band, Borja’s foundation as a multi-instrumentalist started as he learned to play the guitar, bass guitar, drums, harmonica, and a few brass instruments, namely the trumpet.
After graduate school, Borja moved to Los Angeles in 1995 and performed in coffee shops mostly in the west side of the city. That same year is when he met Rob Benedict, one of the key individuals that would change both their music lives and careers. Benedict and Borja first started meeting weekly playing guitar at each other’s apartment, writing songs while developing their unique brand of harmonies. This creative force, lovingly named “The Leftovers” gained the interest of Stephen Norton in 1997. Borja would become the bass player of the trio and “Louden Swain” was born releasing three studio albums over the next several years. In 2005, Borja, Steve and Rob met Billy Moran, who added another dimension and a true completion sonically. As a true DIY band, Louden Swain released a series of impressively accomplished albums while touring throughout North America, Europe, and Australia. Over the past two decades, the band has developed a dedicated social media following.
Presently, Borja is recording tracks for Louden Swain’s upcoming album. However, also during this unique time in our world’s history, Borja’s time is dedicated in reflection and rediscovery of the early catalogue of songs written for the band finished and unfinished. The catalogue includes music written that started on the piano or guitar with lyrics that provide a diary of Borja’s early years living in Los Angeles.
As we venture into the unknown of these trying times in our world’s history, Borja now embarks on a different journey. For the first time in over 20 years, Borja is performing solo, but misses the true friendship and brotherhood of his band mates from Louden Swain. Borja’s music provides a small window of his personal experiences that explores topics of self-discovery, satire, skepticism and cautious optimism.