Incubus

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Fungus Amongus

Released November 1, 1995

01.You Will Be a Hot Dancer

02.Shaft!

03.Trouble in 421

04.Take Me to Your Leader

05.Medium

06.Speak Free

07.The Answer

08.Psychopsilocybin

09.Sink Beneath the Line

10.Hilikus

Enjoy Incubus EP

Released January 7, 1997

01.You Will Be a Hot Dancer

02.Shaft

03.Take Me to Your Leader

04.Version

05.Azwethinkweiz

06.Hilikus

S.C.I.E.N.C.E

Released September 9, 1997

01.Redefine

02.Vitamin

03.New Skin

04.Idiot Box

05.Glass

06.Magic Medicine

07.A Certain Shade of Green

08.Favorite Things

09.Antigravity Love Song

10.Nebula

11.Deep Inside

12.Calgone

Make Yourself

Released October 26, 1999

01. Privilege

02. Nowhere Fast

03. Consequence

04. The Warmth

05. When It Comes

06. Stellar

07. Make Yourself

08. Drive

09. Clean

10. Battle Star

11. I Miss You

12. Pardon Me

13. Out From Under

When Incubus Attacks EP

Released August 22, 2000

01. Pardon Me (Acoustic)

02. Stellar (Acoustic)

03. Make Yourself (Acoustic)

04. Crowded Elevator

05. Favorite Things (Live)

06. Pardon Me (Live)

Morning View

Released October 23, 2001

01.Nice to Know You

02.Circles

03.Wish You Were Here

04.Just A Phase

05. 11AM

06.Blood On The Ground

07.Mexico

08.Warning

09.Echo

10. Have You Ever

11.Are You In

12.Under My Umbrella

13. Aqueous Transmission

A Crow Left of the Murder

Released February 3, 2004

01. Megalomaniac

02. A Crow Left of the Murder

03. Agoraphobia

04. Talk Shows on Mute

05. Beware! Criminal

06. Sick, Sad Little World

07. Pistola

08. Southern Girl

09. Priceless

10. Zedeveel

11. Made for TV Movie

12. Smile Lines

13. Here in My Room

14. Leech

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Incubus' series of live bootlegs have been/will be released from various concerts around the world over the course of their 2004 world tour. All proceeds from the sale of these Bootlegs will go to the Make Yourself Foundation.

Live At Lollapalooza 2003

01.Warning

02.Nice to Know You

03.Make Yourself

04.The Warmth

05.Stellar

06.Circles

07.Vitamin

08.Battlestar*

09.Nebula

10.Pistola

11.Are You In?

12.Nowhere Fast

13.Wish You Were Here

*featuring DJ Cut Chemist and DJ NuMark from Jurassic 5

Live In Japan 2004

Disc One

01.Megalomaniac

02.A Crow Left of the Murder

03.Warning

04.Consequence

05.Idiot Box

06.Nowhere Fast

07.Just a Phase

08.Priceless

09.Wish You Were Here

10.Pantomime

11.Here in my Room

Disc Two

01.Pistola

02.Circles

03.Vitamin

04.Clean

05.Talk Shows on Mute

06.A Certain Shade of Green

07.Sick Sad Little World

08.Pardon Me

Live In Sweden 2004

Disc One

01. Megalomaniac

02. A Crow Left Of The Murder

03. Warning

04. Idiot Box

05. Just A Phase

06. Priceless

07. Wish You Were Here

08. Pantomine

09. Here In My Room

10. Drive

Disc Two

01. Pistola

02. Crowded Elevator

03. Vitamin

04. The Warmth

05. Talk Shows On Mute

06. A Certain Shade Of Green

07. Sick Sad Little World

08. Bass Solo

09. Are You In?

Live In Malaysia 2004

Disc One

01. Megalomaniac

02. A Crow Left Of The Murder

03. Warning

04. Consequence

05. Idiot Box

06. Just A Phase

07. Priceless

08. Wish You Were Here

09. Pantomime

10. Here In My Room

Disc Two

01. Pistola

02. Circles

03. Vitamin

04. Clean

05. Talk Shows On Mute

06. A Certain Shade Of Green

07. Sick Sad Little World

08. Bass Solo

09. Are You In?

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Incubus Volume 2

Release Date : 12/11/2001

Concert Tracklist

01.New Skin

02.Privilege

03.Favorite Things

04.Vitamin

05.Pardon Me

06.The Warmth

07.Make Yourself

08.Calgone

09.When it Comes

10.Redefine

Features

-7 music videos

-4 songs unplugged

-4 songs live in chicago

-behind the scenes on the 'drive' and 'stellar' music videos

-incubus slot machine

-more random behind the scenes footage on tour

-'a virtually unlimited amount of crap'

The Morning View Sessions

Release Date : 05/28/2002

Concert Tracklist

01.Stellar

02.Glass

03.Circles

04.The Warmth

05.Mexico

06.Drive

07.Warning

08.New Skin

09.Just A Phase

10.Nice To Know You

11.Wish You Were Here

Features

-photo gallery

-behind the scenes footage

-'wish you were here' original music video

-the making of the 'wish you were here' video

-many 'morning view session' random video bits filmed while making the MV record

Alive at Red Rocks

Release Date : 11/23/2001

Concert Tracklist

01.Megalomaniac

02.Nice To Know You

03.Idiot Box

04.Just A Phase

05.Priceless

06.Beware! Criminal

07.Wish You Were Here

08.Here In My Room

09.Drive

10.Vitamin

11.Pistola

12.Stellar

13.Made For TV Movie

14.Talk Shows On Mute

15.Sick Sad Little World

16.A Certain Shade Of Green

17.Pantomime

18.The Warmth

19.Pardon Me

Features

-bonus cd with 5 unreleased tracks

-5 unreleased concert visuals

-photo gallery

-backstage footage

-soundcheck footage

-show day

-hardcore fans

-more

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Omg!Omg! They are gr8! good taste, svelte!

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random stories, this one is from the 18th i believe:

Tour adds booking

The rockers of Incubus are due to wrap their 126-date world tour tomorrow night in Colorado, but lead singer Brandon Boyd will be flying back to New York for one last gig on Monday.

That's when he's due to appear in Queens County Court - where, we hear, he'll plead guilty to criminal possession of a weapon. Boyd was arrested in La Guardia Airport last month when security found a souvenir switchblade from Amsterdam in his carry-on bag.

The crime carries a penalty of $1,000 fine or a year in jail.

A rep for the singer, who spent three hours in a Port Authority cell, tells us he plans to bring his checkbook to court.

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Dear Incubus Fans --

As 2004 comes to an end so does Incubus' A Crow Left of the Murder World Tour. After 126 dates in 33 different countries, Incubus will wrap up tonight in Loveland, CO on November 19th.

However, lead singer Brandon Boyd has one more solo gig to perform. His encore takes place at the Queens Court House in New York later this month when he appears on a weapons charge for accidentally carrying a pocketknife through an airport security check. Brandon's judicial debut will be a hard ticket to come by for most.

The band will play their final gig at KROQ's Annual Almost acoustic Christmas show at The Universal Amphitheatre on December 11th. A big thanks to the fans who are supporting this nonprofit event that will benefit Southern California Charities.

In other Incu-news, Alive at Red Rocks hits stores everywhere on DVD

this coming Tuesday, November 23. The package includes the band's electrifying performance at legendary Red Rocks Amphitheater in Denver

along with studio recordings of "Pantomime" and "Follow" plus other rare bonus material.

"Follow" also appears in the blockbuster XBOX game "Halo 2" which was just released on November 9th. The brand new epic track from Incubus entitled "The Odyssey" is featured on the Halo® 2: Original Soundtrack Volume One. The highly anticipated soundtrack was released on November 9 to US retail outlets through Nile Rodgers' Sumthing Else Music Works label.

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Incubus to write scores for Al Merrick Surfing Documentary

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 25 November 2004: - - Having completed touring in support of its latest Epic album, "A Crow Left of the Murder," Incubus is turning its attention to Hollywood. The band will spend the first half of 2005 working on soundtrack material for the action film "Stealth," as well as the score for an as-yet-untitled documentary about legendary surfboard shaper Al Merrick.

"This will be stuff that is largely out or character for us, which is exciting." The band is particularly excited to be working on the Merrick documentary, which "showcases his life but also the lives of the surfers who have ridden his boards. That's a holy grail for us. We're just a bunch of surfers playing music as a different form of expression" says frontman Brandon Boyd.

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Incubus: Road Warriors

From messing with opening acts to playing in front of hostile audiences, the guys explain what its like to spend the year touring.

Tue. June 01.2004

Touring is as much a part of Incubus' life as making records and surfing. A year after they released their third album, 1999's Make Yourself, the Californian quintet was still on the road, bringing their funk-rock sounds to the masses via the Ozzfest and Sno-Core tours. By 2001, the word-of-mouth helped them score a hit single, "Drive," and they were on their way to becoming one of the biggest bands in the country.

When Incubus takes the stage, their fans have a chance to reconcile the band's contradictory elements. Singer Brandon Boyd is a bongo-playing dreamboat; his female followers now expect him to remove his shirt at each show, or else. Frizzy-haired Mike Einziger caters to the more musically inclined, peeling off the wiggiest guitar solos this side of Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Their new album, A Crow Left of the Murder, shrugs off the mellow jamming of past records. Instead, it seethes. Boyd wails as often as he croons, as on the politician-baiting single "Megalomaniac" and the savage finale "Leech." The band tests a few new musical styles, too, like the classic '70s balladeering of "Southern Girl." Fans have embraced the change, sending the record to No. 2.

The rocking may be more refined, but Incubus hasn't lost their work ethic. A tour bus will be their home for the next five months, and those unpredictable Australians the Vines are in tow - could be an explosive combination. Boyd and Einziger sat down with VH1 to explain the ins and outs of the gigging life, getting sick to Skid Row, and why it's a good idea to bring your own towel to the show.

VH1: What was the first concert you both went to?

Mike Einziger: When I was 12 years old, I went to see the Grateful Dead. I was in pure culture shock. There were naked people running around; hairy, smelly people everywhere; people selling drugs ... I never experienced anything like a Grateful Dead concert before. It was cool. I smoked a little weed that night, got high ...

Brandon Boyd: At 12? [Laughs] Awesome, Mike, that is ... not that cool actually.

Mike: It was definitely a life changing moment. Going back to school the next day, everybody seemed just a little more normal to me.

Brandon: Mine is not as good as that. I went to Bon Jovi and Skid Row with my brother and sister. I remember Sebastian Bach's hair flying all over the place and being self-conscious about the poncho I was wearing, 'cause it didn't feel as "rock" as what the guys around me were wearing. I felt sick 'cause I drank some of my sister's beer, so I was kind of like "Uhhhhh." Someone threw up next to me, and some lady was sleeping in their throw-up. I was like, "This is cool ... sort of." [Watch Clip]

Mike [To Brandon]: Dude, you were supposed to say that Black Flag was the first show you went to!

Brandon: Yeah, hold that! [Laughs]

VH1: Who was better that night - Bon Jovi or Skid Row?

Brandon: I remember Skid Row a little more 'cause he was just cussing up a storm, throwing his hair everywhere, and saying stuff like "This is f**king awesome, this is f**king rock and roll!! You need to make out with whoever you are next to right now!!" I looked at my sister, and I'm like, "Noooo ..." I looked at my brother and I'm like, "Noooo ..." I didn't go to any concerts for a while after that.

VH1: Evanescence and Seether are touring together. Their lead singers are also dating each other. Is this wise?

Brandon: That is just a bummer waiting to happen. What if one has a bad night? Or what if one of them has a cold? "Hey baby, I had a really bad gig. Give me a kiss." "No, stay away from me – I have to sing tonight!" That's a recipe for disaster. Or worse: "There are no towels in my dressing room!" "The support band took all the towels." "Oh no, he didn't!" Can you imagine? That would be awesome. We should try it some time.

VH1: Do you ever play pranks on the support act?

Mike: Oh yeah. The most fun thing to do is to take their instruments away from them. Like, if there is a drummer playing, you go up and take his kit away piece by piece, to where they are just left with like one thing, and they're just sitting there.

Brandon: We did that to Jason Schwartzman when he was in Phantom Planet. On the last show of our US tour with them, we all went on stage and took his drums away except for like his snare or high-hat. He just kept playing. He didn't even flinch. He's a good actor!

VH1: The Manila Times described your show there this year as 'mass hypnosis like no other.' Fair comment?

Brandon: It worked! [Laughs] Manila was nuts. We had never even been to the Philippines before. There was like 20,000 people in this big open field, and it was just us playing. We kept looking at each other going like, "Are you sure they know who is playing? Have they got the right band?"

Mike: We tricked everyone into thinking we were someone else.

Brandon: Mass hypnosis - it does work.

VH1: When was the last time you played in a hostile audience?

Brandon: Probably the 2000 Ozzfest. It was fun to be on the tour, but there was a definite sense of feeling out of place. We were sandwiched between a bunch of bands where it was like Cookie Monster singing to loud down-tuned mush. We would go out and play at like 4 o'clock in the afternoon, and the place would be like half full for us. There was definitely that feeling that they were waiting for Pantera or Godsmack. It was humbling, which is always a good thing to go through.

VH1: What do you absolutely have to bring on tour with you?

Brandon: Caffeine.

Mike: Marijuana and caffeine.

Brandon: Really nice tour buses. We have one for the band, and we live in it. Luckily we are all very close friends, so it is not like sharing a dorm with a stranger. For 95% of the time, we are having a blast. That short 5% here and there when we're getting worn out, you can just crawl into your bunk and go to bed.

VH1: How do you know when you have been on tour for too long?

Mike: Every record we have ever put out we have toured for like two years. It's become what is normal for us. But we enjoy it. We wouldn't do it if we didn't enjoy doing it. There are much less constructive ways we could spend our time then traveling around the world playing concerts. You know when you have been on the road for too long when it feels like a job.

Brandon: The first two weeks are the most difficult, 'cause you're just readjusting to that time in the bubble. It's like life in a bubble: living out of a suitcase, washing your face in different sinks every night. You get used to it. People live in much worse conditions.

VH1: What happens at the end of one of those two-year long-distance jaunts?

Brandon: The first thing we do to decompress is sleep for a couple of days. Mike and I go surfing. That's the best thing in the world. I think that everything we do – the band, the traveling - is all to help facilitate more surfing. We've been able to surf more on the road then we have ever been able to [before]. In Florida, we go to this wave pool in Orlando, and it's a hoot. Just us and a bunch of friends for like four hours. It's awesome.

VH1: On the bus do you all retreat into your iPods or do you fight over what music to put on the stereo?

Brandon: For the most part, headphones save your life when you are on tour. We all have our iPods, our laptops and stuff, so when there is music being played aloud it's usually the DJ Chris [Kilmore] and bassist Jose [Padilla], when they do their iTunes party shuffles. They invite a bunch of friends and play music for a couple of hours.

VH1: Are there certain songs or albums you associate with different tours?

Mike: Whenever I hear Reggatta de Blanc by the Police and Homogenic by Bjork and The Color and the Shape by the Foo Fighters, I'm immediately brought back to when we were touring for a couple of years in the van, with no crew, people, no tour manager, nothing!

Brandon: The first European tour that we did, I was listening to Ani DiFranco's Not So Soft. I remember sitting on the top lounge of the tour bus watching the European landscape for the first time, and [it was] the soundtrack to that. It wasn't the most appropriate soundtrack, but at the time for what was going on in my life, it was perfect.

VH1: Do you guys do the brown M&M thing when it comes to putting together the tour rider?

Brandon: What no one really knows is that whatever is on the rider is paid for by the artist. It's coming out of their paycheck. So if you're asking for Cristal and sushi every night or you're not going to show up, it's coming out of [your] pocket! A lot of artists don't even know that. All that Cristal is being taken out of their record sales. So we go with like a case of Corona, Diet Coke, some ginger ale, peanut butter and jelly, some deli meats...

VH1: So somewhere Limp Bizkit must have a warehouse with 8000 towels in it.

Brandon: We're very thrifty. We bought like a dozen towels and take them on the road with us. We wash them and then use them again.

Mike: Venue towels can get scary sometimes. They leave like white little fuzzy things on you.

Brandon: Amongst other things.

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They’re No Messiah

But thanks to the success of the single Megalomaniac, these five guys have proved that Incubus only gets better with age.

Imagine that you and your high school buddies are, like, still talking to one another. Then imagine that you’re all still in the same band after five albums and are certifiable A-list rock stars. The picture in your head may look a little something like the band Incubus … minus Brandon Boyd, of course. (Sigh.)

Anyway, despite the fact that three of the guys from Incubus (frontman Boyd, guitarist Mike Einziger and drummer José Pasillas) went through puberty together, there have been changes to the San Fernando band’s lineup over the years – original bassist Dirk Lance has been replaced by The Roots’ bass-playing madman Ben Kenney, and DJ Kilmore jumped onboard after the band parted ways with DJ Lyfe in the late 90s.

But what really sets Incubus apart from the rest of the record-spinning, alternative music-making pack isn’t their loyalty to each other. From the minute you heard Drive on the radio back in 2001, you knew these guys were different. They were rap-rock without the rap; a group with a hip hop DJ who also had modern rock sensibilities. In short, Incubus quickly became an alternative to the bourgeoning Britney Spears-esque radio fodder. Thank goodness.

Enough with the pseudo-poetry – we like Incubus because they rock. And also because they started a fund called the Make Yourself Foundation, for which they aim to collect $1 million by the end of this year for charitable groups like the Surfrider Foundation, The Painted Turtle and Sweet Relief. (OK, we also dig them because of Brandon. So sue us.)

With that said, stick the band’s latest album, A Crow Left Of The Murder, into your nearest CD-playing device. Then don’t forget to read our interview with drummer Pasillas, who chased away lizards and fought phonal static to get his message across.

PULSE WEEKLY: So what are you doing now that you’ve got a week’s break – just kicking around the house?

JOSÉ PASILLAS: Yeah, I’ve got a friend over and we’re chillin’ out. I’m going to go watch a movie with my dad in a little bit.

PW: When you’re hanging out with the band, can you go out in public, or do too many people stop you on the street?

JP: No, that’s never really a problem. I’m sort of your average-looking skater kid, so I can go unseen. Brandon’s definitely identifiable. Actually, everybody in the band is more identifiable than me. It’s kind of nice; I think that’s a perk that I have. Even when we’re playing shows, I can cruise around with a hat and no one can tell who I am. B could do that with glasses and a hoodie and still get spotted.

PW: So do you guys have a pre-show powwow or anything that you do to get in the zone?

JP: I usually drink a beer, that’s about it. Actually, there is one thing that we’re starting to incorporate into our pre-show ritual – we play this game called Halo on Xbox. So we kill each other before we kill each other onstage.

PW: So what’s your space like on the bus? Are you a messy person or a clean person?

JP: I’m pretty clean; I’m pretty anal. My house is spotless. I like organization. I don’t pick up after anybody; if they make a mess, it’s cool, they deal with it. For the most part, we’re a clean band.

PW: How weird was it when The Vines decided not to open up for you guys on this tour anymore? Was that something that you were secretly hoping would happen, since they’d been fighting onstage and stuff?

JP: Personally I’m not really a fan of their music, so I was sort of indifferent about the whole thing. But to be honest, I thought that something was going to happen midway through the tour, [whether it was that] they broke up or they beat each other up or something, so it really didn’t surprise me. It made us scramble for an opening band for about a week, but it’s OK. That stuff happens.

PW: Has anyone ever showed up to an Incubus show that you never would’ve expected to see there?

JP: Janet Jackson came to one of our shows, which was pretty cool. We did the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas a couple years back, and she wanted to meet Brandon. About a year later we did our L.A. show and she hung out in our dressing room before we played. She was totally cool, not what you would expect, not like a diva or something like that. We were cracking jokes; we were taking prom pictures with her. It was definitely unexpected.

PW: As long as no boobies pop out, everything’s kosher, right? Well, I guess that’s all the questions I had ...

JP: [yells at his cat and then explains to PW] My cat is on a lizard rampage right now; she’s trying to bring it in the house.

PW: Did you say a lizard?

JP: Yeah, sorry. She gets these lizards and she’ll let them run around for a little bit and then she’ll catch them and play with them. This is the second one today. Augh! I stepped on it. Dammit. Hold on. Oh, it’s a blue-belly. Poor thing.

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time for some incubus art...

Jose

Brandon

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some captures of a video the guys put together during their asian leg of the world tour...

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DJ Kilmore of Incubus speaks of the 'crow'

I think that more rock bands should have DJs, because they got the goods on the band in a subterranean way. They have the insider take without the hard protective shell that say the lead singer or other pronounced musicians in the band might incur. Plus, they just say really off-the-hook stuff.

As it turns out, I had the opportunity to interview the illustrious Chris Kilmore aka DJ Kilmore of the band Incubus. He's the dude with the killer dreads and always sporting a signature precocious smirk.

Before the album "A Crow Left of the Murder," there was "Morning View," and before that there was "Make Yourself," which is about the time that, along with a few other fans I'm sure, like to refer to as, "The Awakening." It was during this era in 1999-2000 when people starting catching on to Incubus when their album "Make Yourself" made waves with "Pardon Me," "Stellar" and of course, "Drive."

"Make Yourself," would mark DJ Kilmore's entrance with the band. He had recently signed on with the band after their previous release, "Science," when their former DJ was fired due to "creative differences," and Kilmore was hired as the replacement. As to Kilmore's thoughts on the switcheroo he explained, "They called me up sort of out of the blue. I tried out, and we just sort of clicked as people. My DJing was good enough for them, and now here we are, seven years and three albums later."

First things first, Kilmore and I talked about the title of the new album, "A Crow Left of the Murder." Upon researching, it has been understood that a murder was a group of crows. Kilmore went on to explain the crow left of the murder was a symbol in itself when it came to understanding the present state of the band.

"I just feel that the most important thing is the crow that's the lone crow. That's sort of the meaning of the album - us trying to separate ourselves from the rest of the groups out there."

The first two songs released off "Crow," "Megalomaniac" and "Talk Show on Mute," have produced some controversial music videos which have some thinking that the band has taken a turn down a political road. When approached with the notion, Kilmore mentioned, "I think it's more important that people listening to the music make up their minds and interpret the songs how they feel. I think that's the great thing about Brandon [boyd], our front man, because he's an extremely well-versed writer, and he can directly talk about an emotion that he's having but at the same time leave the ends open."

The type of music Incubus plays stretches from one end of the electromagnetic spectrum to the other. From saucy, electrostatic grooves like, "Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song)" off "Science," raging scream-tracks like "Pardon Me," to sweet, methodical piano ballads such as, "Here in My Room," off "Crow." Incubus reveals their penchant for various styles on each of their albums. So to try and classify these guys would be like trying to define pi.

Early on in their career some people made that mistake and deemed them nu-Metal, a misnomer that I'm sure the band wouldn't mind living down. Talking to DJ Kilmore helped to make light of this situation.

"I would say we're a rock group? Maybe an alternative-rock group. It's hard to classify something that we make, because it really doesn't come from any genre, so it's sort of hard for us. I think that the metal category is sort of insulting a little bit, because if you listen to our music there's not too much metal in there."

All and all, Kilmore suffers from complete coolness. His is a genuine personality, and he has no qualms about being the DJ. He loves what he gets to do on a daily basis and realizes that. He sees the simplicity in things even in reference to himself.

"I'm sort of just the vinyl guy," he says. Where most DJs these days are catered out to hip-hop, he's a rocker. He says, "Being a DJ in a rock group is cool. It's a little more free; there's less boundaries." His role is a unique one, and he takes it very seriously. "I'm sort of like a dry sponge when it comes to music, because I soak up everything. That's how I am. When I go into a music store I'm dry; when I come out totally wet, I'll be into everything ... I think being a DJ, part of your job is to be that sponge, to soak up as much information about music as you can," he explained.

Did I find out what was behind the smirk? I think so. DJ Chris Kilmore, in the flesh. Not some megalomaniac or a sponge, but the real deal. A person like you or I who happens to be in a rock group. So the next time you see him spinning up on stage wearing that precocious smirk, it's just because he's loving life. No more, no less.

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time to re-live june 22nd, 2004

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Incubus -- trying to stay on top

By James Buell | Orlando CityBeat Writer

Posted September 28, 2004

Incubus isn't metal. Incubus isn't funk. Incubus is just Incubus. The Calabasas, Calif. group formed in 1991 and finally broke into the rarified air of mainstream rock with their 2001 release, Morning View.

They've left the shadows of their rap-rock past and gone on to diversify themselves in ways former brethren Korn and Limp Bizkit have been unable to duplicate. Singer Brandon Boyd has even become a catchphrase on ESPN's Sportscenter. Not bad for a band named after an evil spirit that has intercourse with women while they sleep.

After 13 years together, it's clear to see Incubus is not a flash in the pan. The band makes a stop in Orlando on September 29 at the TD Waterhouse Centre in support of their latest effort, Crow Left of the Murder.

Former Roots bassist and now newest member of Incubus, Ben Kenney, stopped to talk about high school reunions, Dave Matthews' crap and what life on the road is really like.

Orlando Citybeat: The presidential election is coming up November 2 and a lot of artists are backing their preference with shows and tours. Why has Incubus shied away from the political landscape in 2004?

Ben Kenney: Well because at the end of the day, we believe more in choice than we believe in telling people what they should be into. It's kind of like how we don't tell people how to interpret the lyrics of the songs. It's all really up to the individual. Most people think if you find your own way, you'll be happy and hopefully that's more important than following my way.

OCB: Do you consider yourself politically active outside of the band?

BK: In certain arenas - yes. But just like anything you've got to choose your battles.

OCB: I'm sure you're asked this a lot, but your name means a demon that descends upon unsuspecting women and performs sexual intercourse with them while they sleep. How the hell did you guys come up with that?

BK: The cool thing was that I just joined the band recently, so I had nothing to do with that. (laughs) The guys…when they started the band they were like 15 years old. And you know when you're 15 years old, certain things seem really cool to you that might not seem really cool to you when you're like 16 even? (laughs) So they started the band under that name and they just kind of rolled with it. It's hard to change the name of a band once you start getting people checking out what you're doing.

OCB: Is it tough joining a group that's already reached a certain level of popularity and whose fans have come to expect a certain sound and stage presence?

BK: It definitely puts different stresses on you than if you just started a band out of the blue. Especially because I'm walking into a band with 12 years of history. And you know, 12 years of fans that have come to be used to certain things.

I've never really tried to compromise who I am for other people's expectations, because that's not living. That's pretending and that's not cool. Ultimately, there are different things that are hard about it. The guys in the band and everybody with the band helps to make that as easy as possible.

OCB: Was the band frustrated being pigeonholed into the Korn, Limp Bizkit genre?

BK: Oh yeah, the guys don't really dig that. (laughs) As with any artist, you kind of want people to listen to your work and not view it as a cover of a book. And that happens a lot. The first major label album (by Incubus) had a certain tone to it and people kind of just ran with it and said, "Well this is what they do."

It's not really the case. The guys are all open to a lot of different stuff. And a lot of different stuff weighs in and influences the sound.

OCB: Is that why this latest album, Crow Left of the Murder, is such a departure from your previous albums?

BK: With that we just got together and we just wrote songs. We weren't really focused on trying to make any departure; it was just kind of where we all were.

OCB: You're the bassist of an internationally acclaimed band, so you can pimp the benefits of your fame without being hassled and recognized in public as frequently as a band's front man. Does that have its advantages?

BK: Oh yeah. It's a beautiful thing. (laughs) I cruise around and when it's my time – when I'm having my own personal time – I rarely ever run into any kind of interference. It's really cool. I have a really comfortable life out in California. I go shopping at the grocery store. I do all sorts of stuff without people asking me when the next time the band's playing.

It's actually really cool to have that anonymity. And then it's wonderful to play a show and all the people that are into it and all the people that are concerned about what you do are there. It's like kind of having a switch and being able to turn it on and off. Where as, it's a little difficult for Brandon (singer) to say go to the mall and pick up a new pair of pants. Me…I just cruise. I love it. I'm grateful for it. Having seen how hard it is for other people…I'm down with it.

OCB: Give me the rundown of a typical day on tour.

BK: Wake up, for me…wake up in the tour bus around noon. Get out of my bunk and walk to the front of the bus and usually the only person that's still on the bus is Brandon. Everybody else gets up and starts their day way before I do. Brandon's usually sitting there eating cereal and watching TV. I'll sit there and kick it with him for a minute and eat some cereal. I go inside, break out my computer. Check my email and make sure the rest of the world is still functioning. Then I'll go and then do one of a bunch of different things.

I might go play drums for a little bit. I might go play guitar for a little bit. Sometimes I'll go and record music. Usually Mike (guitarist) is recording music during the daytime and during the down time. Then eat lunch. Then go and do a couple of phone interviews. Then after that, go back to the dressing room, sit around and veg out for about 20 minutes. Go do sound check.

After sound check, go back to the dressing room or go to the bus or go outside and maybe call my mom or my friends, call my family. Then around 6:00 we do meet-and-greets, so a bunch of people come up and they kick with us a little bit. That's usually over around 7:30 or so. So we sit around from about 7:30 to about 8:30 just trying to relax before we go on and play. And I guess we play from like 8:30 to about 10:30. Somewhere in that vicinity. I don't really keep track of the time, because it's same thing everyday. I don't really have to worry about it. I just know what's coming next.

Then we hit the showers, like a football team. (laughs) Then if we're not leaving right away, we usually hang out and get rowdy, play music and kind of party for a bit. Then we leave. But sometimes if we have a lot of geography to traverse, we'll walk off stage, hit the showers, get on the bus and hit the road.

OCB: What's the craziest story of stopping at someplace to eat in the middle of nowhere?

BK: Usually we try to be careful about where we stop and where we roll to. We won't be on the turnpike in New Jersey, 10 minutes outside of New York, pull over and go, "Okay, let's stop here for an hour." (laughs)

Like a week and a half ago though, we stopped at a TGIFriday's out in the middle of nowhere. I don't even know what state it was in. No wait, it was Texas. Texas! Texas is like it's own country. It's just huge. So we stopped at a TGIFriday's in Texas and we went in and got some burgers and were hanging out and we were skateboarding outside. And people started coming up and saying, "What band are you in?" and other people were like "Oh, you guys are the guys from Incubus."

And maybe like 10-15 people said hi and came and took a couple of pictures. It was cool. But for the next week, at every show there was someone that said, "Yeah, my cousin said he saw you at TGIFriday's" in such and such town. We just kept hearing about it. I guess people went to work or went to school, wherever they went the next day, and were like, "Yo, did you know that Incubus came to Fridays?" (laughs) It's funny because it ain't a big deal to me, but… (laughs)

Sometimes we get really rowdy. Sometimes we'll be real hyper and in the middle of the night we'll stop at a Pilot center. You know the truck stops. And we'll go in and just start buying random stuff. Buying CBs and all sorts of strange truck paraphernalia. It's really for our own entertainment. And usually that's about at four in the morning, so if anybody's up at that time, they're more likely to get in trouble than the rest of the people. (laughs) Me and DJ Koppel (DJ) like to roll into truck stops down in the deep south because we just kind of get looked at like, "Huh? Ya'll must be with the band." (laughs)

OCB: When you were in high school, were you the cool guy? How would you describe yourself?

BK: I hated high school. I was so miserable in high school. I got picked on by a lot of older kids and as I became an older kid I just hated everyone because I had already been picked on. I had a lot of good friends, but they were all kind of… no, I didn't have a lot of good friends. I had a few good friends and there were a lot of really cool people that I spent time with in high school. I definitely wasn't the cool kid. I've always been the dude that's kind of stood out in a weird way.

OCB: Your 10-year high school reunion should be coming up in 2005. Do you plan on going back to check out how fat the cheerleaders have gotten and let everyone know you're rich now?

BK: (laughs) Hell no. There ain't nobody there that I want to see. (laughs) Like for me, I have nothing to prove to anybody in that kind of sense. Some people are going back to their high school reunion and they want to catch up with people to have a good time and remember this, remember that, how are you doing now. And some people want to go back and brag like, "I'm doing this and I'm doing that." I just don't really want to see any of those people. Let them have their fun. That ain't for me.

OCB: What are your aspirations outside of music?

BK: I'd either be doing photography or digital imaging. Those are two things that I really enjoy a lot. I have an older brother that does both. He taught me a lot of it and if the music thing all of the sudden just ceased to exist, I'd love to get into that.

OCB: As Incubus really started coming in their own these last few years, did any shady relatives hit you up for money?

BK: No one hit me up for money, but every girl I ever dated made some kind of weird appearance. (laughs) And I have a huge, huge family and I had all sorts of relatives talk about how they miss me when there's probably only a dozen people in my family that I'm close with. And there's probably four dozen people that are in my family relatively close, but there's probably only a dozen people that I kick it with.

So I had all sorts of people coming out, "Yo, I heard you're coming through this part of time. Let me get some tickets and we'll catch up." I'm like, "I came through that part of town with the Roots last year and you didn't call once." (laughs) Other than like family members and a couple of girlfriends popping up, that's pretty much been it. Everyone else, like all the kids I went to school with, they know that I don't really want nothing to do with them so they're not really checking me out. (laughs)

OCB: Dave Matthews Band is being sued for dumping 800 pounds of human waste onto a boat of unsuspecting tourists in the Chicago River. How long do you have to tour to accumulate 800 pounds of crap?

BK: (laughs) Well, it all depends on who you're with and whether or not you consider the people you're with shit. (laughs) I don't know if that's an appropriate answer.

OCB: Do you think they dumped all of that crap on people just so they could laugh about it on the bus?

BK: I haven't met the guys in the Dave Matthews Band, but I get the impression that they're all just real decent people and they probably were asleep when it happened. I think they have like a couple buses too. We need to find out whose bus it was specifically. (laughs) Like Dave. You know Dave was probably snickering up there like, "I'll tell you what!" (laughs)

OCB: Is it harder for you to make friends outside of other bands and the music industry?

BK: I would imagine that would be a problem. I've often thought about it. Like if I bump into people, I have to be really careful as to what they're trying to get at. Everybody's got some kind of end-game strategy, especially out in Los Angeles where I'm living now.

But I don't really meet that many new people that I want to make friends with. Like I have a couple of friends that are dear and I'm really close to my parents and my brothers. Other than that I've got my squad together, so I'm not going out making friends all the time. And most other people just get filed under acquaintances and if they're trying to get something – good luck. I don't really have anything that they'd want. (laughs)

OCB: What's your plan coming through Florida with all the hurricanes?

BK: Oh man, I don't even know. I'm just terrified. We got hurricanes coming back for more. (laughs) It's kind of like the Gulf of Mexico has become a salad bar for hurricanes. (laughs) I don't really know though right now. We're just hoping everything sticks to the schedule.

OCB: What's your one guilty musical pleasure?

BK: I'm not really a big pop fan. I appreciate how pop songs work and what they do. I really like some new wave stuff. I'm a big Duran Duran fan. Men at Work. That's kind of my shit.

OCB: You're in the midst of another arena tour and your new single is all over the airwaves. As a band, what does Incubus have left to prove?BK: The challenge is staying there. (laughs) Because it's difficult to get there, but it's really hard to stay there. It's exponentially harder to stay at a level than it is to achieve a level.

OCB: When you're out on tour with a band that you really don't like, how do you avoid the inevitable awkward moments? Do you lie to them about how great their set was?

BK: I used to get real stressed out about that and try to avoid it anyway possible. Just avoid the question. But now I find that people may get their feelings hurt initially, but ultimately you save yourself a lot of footwork and you save them any kind of guesswork and any kind of confusion when you say, "Listen. I'm glad you guys have a good time playing. Your music is not really my thing. I'm not into it."

And that's the key thing to recognize. Just because you think don't think it's good doesn't mean it's not good. You can be like, "Listen, it's not really my thing. Personally, I like music that sounds good." (laughs) No, but if you just tell them it's not really your thing, people usually respect you for that.

OCB: Give the reader's one good reason to come out to TD Waterhouse for your show Wednesday, September 29.

BK: I guess the reason is because – if I can venture to say it – the band is kind of a different band now. To people who have seen the band before… I mean most of the people I come in contact with say it's a different experience now. It's a different thing.

We're coming from a different place and playing new songs and playing with a different energy. I'm going to be there! (laughs) No, I'm playing. It's not the Incubus you saw last time, if you saw Incubus last time. And if you never saw Incubus, you should.

[svelte]

Incubus Offers No Apologies

By JASON MOON WILKINS

For The Tennessean

Incubus wasn't really trying to rock the boat or the vote in 2004 when the band released its acclaimed new album, A Crow Left of the Murder, but in this extremely reactionary election year, its hit single Megalomaniac has become a rallying cry and a bull's-eye for people on both sides of the presidential campaign.

For those who oppose the incumbent, the message of Megalomaniac is as clear as its chorus is coarse: ''Hey megalomaniac/You're no Jesus/Yeah you're no (expletive) Elvis . . . Step down. Step down.'' Musically, it is equally confrontational with a monstrous rhythm attack and a riotous fist-pumping melody that quakes with sincere ferocity.

People who were expecting something a little lighter from the band that piled up platinum success primarily due to its sensitive rock ballads were certainly blown out of their chairs upon hearing this one. But Brandon Boyd, Incubus' lead singer, was equally taken aback by the backlash to the single and its even more controversial video (which paired images of Hitler and Stalin with a Bush-like character flanked by slogans such as ''Heroes Don't Ask Why'').

''When we wrote this song and did the video, in no way was it a lash out against George W. Bush,'' Boyd says. ''I was thinking specifically, in mind, about a person whose (identity) is inconsequential and, for lack of a better term, inappropriate. But I think that it's a beautiful thing that people have attached their own idea en masse to the song. It will probably go down in history as that 'anti-Bush rock song.' ''

''It's funny because Floria (Sigismondi), the woman who directed the video, wasn't even making an anti-Bush video,'' Boyd recalls. ''When she cast that guy, who looks a little bit like George W. Bush, and this is coming straight from her mouth, 'That's a friend of mine who I thought looked like a good businessman with big ears.' But it has reflected the cultural perspective or outlook on things. But the song wasn't a lash out at him, it was just, like, 'What do you see in this ink blot?' And I saw one thing and everybody else saw something else.''

Regardless of intention, Incubus and Boyd certainly haven't shied away from politics, and Boyd is quick to unashamedly share his views, unafraid of the backlash that has beset artists such as The Dixie Chicks and Linda Ronstadt.

''The people who are bashing human beings, American citizens, for their opinions, those are the most un-American people out there,'' Boyd says. ''When people start allowing that kind of behavior, that's when we start walking back into the dark ages. That's like saying we should only let politicians elect the president. (Laughs) Well, in a lot of ways that's how it works with the Electoral College.

''I applaud The Dixie Chicks and Linda Ronstadt. I applaud anybody who has the courage to do that because they have the right to do it, and if you're not exercising your basic rights, you're basically just handing them off to somebody else who will probably end up using them against you.

''I think this is our generation's struggle. There are a lot of bands coming out and writing songs about (politics) for the first time since the '60s and rock is finally correlating their efforts again. It's funny. I saw this thing on the cover of a German magazine that said, 'Thank you, George Bush.' They were thanking him because all these bands were writing all these great songs about him.''

[svelte]

Incubus expands its musical vision

By Ralph Berrier Jr.

The Roanoke Times

In an age of studio tricks and technological trickery, when Pro-Tools recording gear makes every teen pop star sound like a Broadway diva and makes every modern-rock ensemble sound like it knows how to play its instruments, Incubus has taken a novel approach to making music.

The Southern California hard rockers are willing to take chances onstage, even at the risk of messing up.

"I think people like to see you make mistakes," guitarist and keyboardist Mike Einziger told the Los Angeles Times this summer. "For me, personally, music's cooler when it sounds like humans are playing."

That's why Incubus stands out from other contemporary rock bands, who usually fall into two categories: miserable metalheads (Korn, Staind, Godsmack) or vanilla post-punkers (Blink-182, Jimmy Eat World).

Incubus, which performs in concert at the Roanoke Civic Center on Thursday, is certainly rooted in the heavy sounds of the 1990s, when four high school buddies first formed the band. But the group has expanded its musical vision on each of its past three releases, especially this year's ‘‘A Crow Left of the Murder.’’

Lead singer Brandon Boyd, who published a collection of writings this year called ‘‘White Fluffy Clouds,’’ explores social and political themes on the new album. Einziger and new bassist Ben Kenney have pushed the music outside the band's former comfort zone of heavy rock into more atmospheric stylings that mix rock, pop and even Eastern sounds. Well-crafted melodies and inspired playing carry the band a long way, especially in concert when it has been known to completely rework popular songs — a definite taboo in the world of studio-molded pop.

When Incubus played at the Roanoke Civic Center two years ago, band members surprised the audience with an acoustic rendition of their big hit ‘‘Pardon Me.’’

Still, the group retains a hard-rock edge, especially on the scathing ‘‘Megalomanic,’’ which bashes power-hungry politicians and oil barons. Like the rest of the album, the song powers along with punk-inspired fury rather than plodding at grunge speed.

"I was really bored with it," Einziger told the Los Angeles Times when recalling the midtempo beats of the previous albums. "Most of the songs off our last two records, 'Make Yourself' and 'Morning View,' a vast majority of the songs fell into the same tempo, the same beats, the same song structures. It was something that I really, really wanted to get away from."