Gilla Band's Alan Duggan Borges has built something remarkable in the spaces between buttons and wires. His latest venture, The Null Club, stands as a testament to vintage hardware and human connection – a collection crafted through hand-stamped vinyl and cross-continental collaboration.

The project emerged during those strange, isolated days of the pandemic when many artists found themselves exploring new creative territories. "This began a few years back, around the start of lockdown," Duggan Borges explains. "Over that period of time, I started to learn how to record, produce, and engineer, and I also started buying some old synths. I wasn't exactly sure what I was working towards, but I did have it in mind that I would produce full tracks and have different vocal collaborators contribute."

That initial spark has evolved into something rather special. The Null Club's self-titled debut EP, set for release this spring, brings together an impressive roster of guest vocalists, including Faris Badwan of The Horrors, Valentine Caulfield from Mandy, Indiana, and ELUCID of Armand Hammer. Each brings their distinct character to Duggan Borges's experimental soundscapes, which blend elements of noise, techno, experimental hip-hop, and post-punk.

What makes The Null Club's collaborations particularly intriguing is that they represent artistic connections forged purely through mutual admiration rather than pre-existing relationships. "These are artists who I had not met before I started working with them. But they are all artists who I have massively admired," Duggan Borges reveals. "ELUCID is an incredible MC from NYC and part of the group Armand Hammer. Faris is the singer of The Horrors, a band who I have been a huge fan of since I was a teenager. And Val is from Mandy, Indiana, who are one of the best new bands I have heard in many years. I believe they're all quite distinctive in their own ways and you can hear that on what they've done on each of the tracks."

The decision to package these collaborations as an EP wasn't predetermined but emerged organically from the creative process. "I had spent a good bit of time trying to get these tracks together but was not sure exactly how I would release it," Duggan Borges admits. "After a while, it just made sense to make these tracks as an EP. Felt like a nice way to start this project."

Debut single 'Slip Angle' features Valentine Caulfield's distinctive vocals, and its selection as the introduction to The Null Club was carefully considered. "I feel like this is the most immediate out of the three," Duggan Borges notes. "It was also the first one I completed, so it felt like a natural entry point to the project."

The selection of Valentine's contribution as the lead single reveals interesting connections between Duggan Borges's musical past and present. "I always felt like what I do with Gilla Band was not a million miles away from Mandy, Indiana," he reflects. "When Val sent back her vocals I immediately felt like I knew what to do with them in terms of sounds and structure. It feels like a good halfway point between the other two tracks and helps tie it together, I think."

The collaborative process behind the EP reflects the increasingly connected nature of independent music production while maintaining an intimate, personal touch. "Each collaboration was kind of different," Duggan Borges reveals. "For Faris and Val, I went over to the UK where they lived and recorded them in their homes. We sketched out some different ideas and worked together on building melodies and structure. For ELUCID, he did his vocals over in New York and just sent me what he had worked on. I then tailored the track to suit that. Mostly, a lot of the creation of this EP was done through emails."

The physical release embodies the project's DIY ethos – a limited run of 500 white label 12" records, each hand-stamped by Duggan Borges himself. The release is being handled through a label he runs with his wife, maintaining complete creative control. "We decided to set up the label and just put our own money into the release," he explains. "Instead of relying on other labels, we wanted to get on with it and just release the music. Me and my wife basically run everything including merch, visuals, and general planning."

And while The Null Club represents Duggan Borges's current focus, he remains an enthusiastic champion of other artists pushing boundaries in contemporary music. His advice? "Listen to M(h)aol."

This independence isn't merely practical – it's philosophical. "I don't think I could ever work with a label that did not give me complete artistic autonomy," Duggan Borges states. "We have this with Gilla Band at Rough Trade, but I have heard horror stories of artists not having full control over their work. I don't think I could work like that. Doing everything ourselves just felt like an obvious choice."

The Null Club's live incarnation promises to be equally distinctive. With upcoming shows at venues including Dublin's The Workmans, London's Corsica Studios, Bristol's Rough Trade, and Manchester's Yes, The Basement, Duggan Borges is reimagining the recorded material for solo performance. "It's a solo show, so I am reworking tracks from the EP as well as other unreleased stuff to make sense in a live setting. So there are moments in the set for drawn-out moments of improvisation and other elements that are definitely worked out."

The future of The Null Club appears appropriately open-ended, with Duggan Borges expressing clear ambitions: "I would like to continuously put out music in different forms. Whether that be EPs, singles, or albums. I just want to release a lot of music and work with a lot of different artists."

When not working on The Null Club, Duggan Borges maintains an admirably broad musical diet. "I am not too sure what feels most me, to be honest, but I do go out of my way to listen to new kinds of music every day. In 2024, I did my best to listen to an album I had never heard every day, which was really fun. ATM, I'm currently listening to some Kim Gordon, Cameron Winter, Horsegirl, MIKE, and ILLIT."

And when he's not making or discovering music? Well, there's always television. "I've committed myself to watching all the seasons of 24, and I am currently working my way through season 8. Jack just got stabbed, but he's totally fine."