Hillsboro – the Vancouver-based band of Nima Walker (vocals, guitar), Dexter Hodgins (violin), Sam Wells (guitar), Oliver Hollingshead (drums), and Layten Kramer (bass) – announced their new EP this is me if i was you will be released on November 13th, 2026 via their own label play dead.
The band also shared the EP’s lead single “My God,” which sees them level up their dynamic sound as tightly woven guitars and an intoxicating groove build to an emotionally charged chorus. “This song is about being in a vulnerable state at the end of a relationship, where you’re sort of quietly bewildered by what you’ve just been through, and you feel willing to destroy whatever is necessary to make space for a new way of being,” Walker reflects. “It was our first time allowing ourselves to record a song quickly without leaving time to overthink, which defined the new direction our creative process is going in.”
Hillsboro have been making a name for themselves in the Pacific Northwest scene through their kinetic live shows as well as their DIY ethos, which extends to their self-run record label. On their new EP, the band channels influences that range from emo and alt rock to lo-fi folk and electronic, while Walker breaks his destructive cycles, and proves the power of connection and community in making it through your darkest days.
Recorded at The Hive in Victoria, BC alongside producer Colin Stewart, the band’s main focus for the EP was to make the biggest emotional impact possible. “We are all producers and very detail-oriented, but we believe music should have an immediacy that hits your nervous system before anything else,” they say. “If something is in the way of that, it needs to go.”
