Nov. 23, 2005
By Jennifer McBride
Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Lifelong Los Gatos resident Nicole Willard, 23, and her brother Ronnie Borchert may soon be headed to the big-time with their original music, which combines soulful lyrics and vocals with powerful rock. Their recent performance at Mountain Charley's on Nov. 2 packed the house with enthusiastic fans.

Los Gatos has launched quite a few stars in the entertainment industry--rock superstars Dredg and Trapt, and rising independent filmmaker Ben Rekhi, to name a few.

Now, it appears another name may soon be added to that list--singer-songwriter Nicole Willard.

Willard, 23, a lifelong Los Gatos resident, is currently taking the music industry head-on with her unique blend of soulful singing and passionate lyrics, backed by a talented group of rocking musicians--and if her momentum stays strong, she may soon have her choice of recording labels.

Growing up in Los Gatos, Willard has fond memories of listening to her grandmother sing solos in the local congregation every Sunday. After awhile, she began joining her on the church stage and honing her vocal skills.

Although she still enjoys that genre, it wasn't long before Willard found her rock roots. Her older half-brother, Ronnie Borchert, had made a name for himself in a handful of regionally successful heavy metal bands such as Trixie and Amsterdam. He turned Willard on to such rock legends as Motley Crue, Def Leppard and AC/DC.

Soon, Willard began writing songs of her own, collaborating on many with her brother and her local buddy Chris Brown--who eventually went on to sell millions of albums as the lead singer of his Los Gatos High-based band, Trapt. Willard began to step into her own unique style, blending the soulful singing she had mastered as a child with her newfound love of rock.

After a while, she journeyed down to Los Angeles, where Borchert was living and performing with a band. They decided to make it official and join forces together musically.

"We thought, why not? We're brother and sister, we both have the same dream," Willard says.

It wasn't long before their act began attracting attention in the industry. Soon they had earned the help of San Jose's Robert Hayes, best known as the manager of Smashmouth. They began working with music attorney Tom Fox, and Fox hooked them up with big-name producers to cut a demo CD. To date, Willard and Borchert have worked with some of the industry's best--Academy Award winning-actor and producer Jamie Foxx, who has produced Kanye West; Greg Curtis, who has worked with Eric Clapton; and Grammy-nominated producer Rob Caggiano, who has Anthrax and many other successful acts to his credit. These sessions culminated in a self-titled, 11-song CD, which is currently making its rounds in the music world and being sold at all of Willard's shows.

Although Willard and Borchert have rubbed elbows with many a celebrity, they both say they never felt at home in music capitals Los Angeles or New York City--they say it's all about Los Gatos.

"I'm a diehard lover of all things Los Gatos," Willard says, crediting the town's "hometown flavor and local flair" as providing the "perfect sanctuary" to develop and nurture her artistry.

"We feel we're the most creative here," Borchert says.

"I'm honored to live in such an amazing town, with such amazing people," Willard adds. "We don't really need to be all in the hype and the glitz and the glamour. We don't want to be there until it's absolutely necessary. Los Gatos is genuine and real. We're the most focused here."

"It gives us serenity, in a way," Borchert says. "We don't want to be another L.A. band.

"We want to stay true to ourselves, and it's very easy to get sucked into that scene and lose your integrity. I've seen it happen with a lot of actor friends. We know Los Gatos is going to keep us grounded."

Willard and Borchert have now assembled a strong lineup of backup musicians and have been taking their act to the masses with a recent series of live shows. They are performing with Kim Davis on keyboards, Michael Ricci on bass and Zach Krakov on drums; Borchert sings backup vocals and plays lead guitar. Their music is continuing to garner positive reviews and earn them high-profile collaborations with top names, including Ben Moody, formerly of Evanescence, and rockers Linkin Park.

"The guys from Linkin Park have kind of followed my career. They've been supportive of my vision, and I'm pretty confident that in the future we'll be working together," Willard says.

"We've just been waiting for the right time to shop our demo. We wanted to play out locally and get our stuff together live and really be able to deliver what's on the CD or better," Willard explains. "We wanted to be confident with our live show, and I think we're at that point now, so we're shopping."

"We're negotiating with labels through our music attorney, so we're going straight to the source," Borchert explains.

It seems that dream could soon become a reality for the two siblings, especially after their recent powerhouse Nov. 2 show at Los Gatos' Mountain Charley's, which was packed with enthusiastic fans of all ages.

KSCU deejay Tastovius Aiton says, "Her music has that stuck-in-the-head kind of feel. When I got her CD I listened to it right before my show and I just couldn't get it out of my head. So I call it mainstream, but it doesn't sound like any other band," he says. "They have their own sound and it's catchy. It's meant to be played on the radio," he said before the group hit the stage on Nov. 2.

Willard says this is just more evidence they have what it takes to make it to the top. "I think we have very strong melodies and there's a lot of substance to each song," she says.

"Our songs are very passionate and have a lot of meaning behind them," Borchert agrees.

"We have taken my soulful style of singing and fused it with rock, and I think that's what's so cool and original and different about our music," Willard adds. "And I think not a lot of other acts out there have that."If music industry experts agree, it just may be: Today, Los Gatos, and tomorrow, the world.

Visit www.nicolewillard.com

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