Meandering the Edges of the Self: Interview with Janice, Lead Vocalist of David Boring

Local music group David Boring (DB) blends post-punk and noise into intricate sounds that, together with sharp, critical lyrics, construct a sonic space that draws us in almost unconsciously. DB takes part in this year’s AAGFF programme, ‘In the Zone: A Happening’, performing tracks from their latest album, Liminal Beings and Their Echoes, released in January 2026. On this occasion, we are fortunate to have the opportunity to interview DB’s lead vocalist, Janice.

The word ‘liminal’ in the album title refers to ‘in-betweenness and a sense of belonging to two places at once’, evoking the feeling of being trapped between two conditions—not fully leaving the previous stage, yet not formally entering the next. Janice does not wish to define the term ‘liminal’, believing it holds many possibilities. It can be the threshold between two mental states, where the ‘beings’ stand between the two and withstand the bombardment of sounds from both sides. There, they immerse, absorb the unwavering echoes, and fall into an introspective moment within this sonic field.

Likewise, the album’s narrative moves across different thresholds. Some songs revolve around the individual, whereas others observe a phenomenon from a macro perspective. The former is exemplified by ‘Martyr #1’, which depicts the protagonist healing from pain through self-destructive acts, while ‘Machine #4’ captures the mundane fragments of life from a wider perspective, traversing different thresholds to speak to the emptiness of life. Throughout the album, the songs shift constantly between the individual and the collective, as well as between the psychological and the philosophical, allowing listeners to experience this indefinable, transitional state of liminality.

Janice mentions that DB has received more invitations to perform at art spaces in recent years, sparking new energy through the combination of different themes. Speaking about AAGFF’s festival theme, ‘Space Enter Shift’, Janice recalls walking through the M+ galleries as a construction site with no art installations ten years ago, when she joined the museum’s building project as an architect. This time, she enters the same space as a performer facing the audience. She sees this change in identity as ‘a shift from the me ten years ago to the me now’, as if moving across the two dimensions of time and space. Apart from working as a full-time architect, Janice sees performing with DB as a way to release her creative energy. The band serves as her emotional outlet and a platform for self-discovery. She describes her state when producing DB’s first album in 2017 as ‘restless, yet somewhat lost about her identity.’ Ten years later, Janice finds herself with a clearer understanding of her own identity. In fact, when others label her as rebellious, she sees it as a driving force for change.

Janice’s psychological inquiry also extends to her taste in film. She enjoys horror films and cult cinema. Her longtime favourite, Martyrs (2008), is a regular fixture on lists of the most disturbing films. For her, body horror does not merely offer visceral thrills but also carries a certain romance, using the body’s limits to unpack states of the mind: ‘It is very interesting to render everyday anxiety and negative emotions through body horror.’ The music videos for the new album are equally stimulating. Janice laughs, saying that she gave the directors great freedom during filming, yet in the end, they all chose to interpret DB’s songs in the style of horror and cult films. This shows how Janice’s own tastes have become part of her creative sensibility, infusing DB’s sound with a certain sense of horror and inviting viewers to confront themselves through hysterical performance.

The AAGFF performance is held at the M+ Waterfront Promenade, which presents a greater challenge in terms of acoustics compared to a typical livehouse performance. DB’s music, which ‘maintains a high degree of detail amid noise’, requires extra adjustment to the sound balance. In addition, since the venue lacks a fixed stage, DB has to designate standing zones to ensure audience engagement. In the end, Janice hopes that audiences will enjoy the performance with an open mind.

Everyone is invited to lose themselves in DB’s profound melancholy. Let the restlessness cling to your every nerve and break free from the shackles of the world through dance. This is DB: every tremor forces you to confront your repressed fragments.