Incubus Band

Biography

Vocalist Brandon Boyd and drummer Jose Pasillas were together in elementary school. When in 8th grade, in 1990, at A.E. Wright Middle School, Jose met with met guitarist Mike Einziger, who liked to spend most of his time playing guitar in his bedroom. Later, while attending Calabasas High, the pair became friends with bassist Alex Katunich. They decided to play music simply for the love of it. They started off by playing Metallica and Megadeth cover songs. This helped them get a few spots to play at parties and they became the "entertainment for the neighborhood".

A few months into this and Brandon was discovered as a vocalist. Hence a band was formed and original scores were written. The first song was called “Love Sick” and had elements of fuck and thrash. Other songs of this period include: “Purple Kool-Aid”, Sylvester Polyester” and the “Milkman Song”. In 1991, the band played their songs at parties and came up with the name “Incubus” going through a thesaurus.

The next few years saw more songs being written such as: “Backwards” and “Miss Bliss”. During these years the band was playing at all-age clubs in San Fernando Valley and at the Roxy on the Sunset Strip.

While Brandon and Jose attended Moorpark Community College, Mike played with Alanis Morissette.

This turned out to be favorable and Incubus found time in their schedules to write, record and perform in 1994. Their first demo tape was released under the name “Closet Cultivation”. Mark Shoffner, a tour manager, made an offer to the band and in January 1995 the demo tape “Incubus” was released. Some ten months later, after recording with Jim Wirt, Incubus released their first full-length album, under their own label called Stopuglynailfungus Music on Chillum. The album “Fungus Amongus” was released in November 1995.

Then DJ Lyfe joined Incubus and they caught the attention of label heads leading to a bidding war. Immortal Records emerged the winner and a formal contract was signed.

Incubus spent 1996 touring and gathered a huge fan following up and down the west coast of the United States. In January 1997, Immortal Records released the band’s first EP “Enjoy Incubus”. These were the first recordings that featured DJ Lyfe and included re-recordings of 4 of their independent tracks and 2 recent ones. In September 1997, after much touring and recording for the Spawn soundtrack, the album “S.C.I.E.N.C.E” was released.

In 1998, after touring with Sugar Ray and 311, and replacing DJ Lyfe with DJ Chris Kilmore, the band went on more tours with the likes of Far, One Minute Silence and Limp Bizkit. They also did the Warped Tour and then on July 3rd, they began the Ozzfest ’98 tour. The year was spent touring and recording “New Skin” for the compilation “Family Values”. The year ended with the band playing with Orgy, Korn, Papa Roach, etc.

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After the tour with Black Sabbath, Incubus released “Make Yourself in October 1999. The album included 13 tracks and a guest appearance. The remainder of the year was spent with Primus and Buckethead. Their single “Pardon Me” was also released.

The year 2000 saw the band on the Sno-Core Tour until March and then with Epic and Ultraspank. By April, “Pardon Me” had struck gold and the band then hit the overseas with Queen Adreena. May was spent touring the US with 311. Incubus then went of to the Ozzfest in July. Realizing that fans loved the acoustic sounds in “Make Yourself”, Incubus released a 6 song EP “When Incubus Attacks Volume 1” in August 2000. In November 2000, “Fungus Amongus” was re-released. 2000 ended with the band playing back-to-back dates at the KROQ Almost Acoustic X-Mas.

In January 2001 “Drive” was released/ in June they went touring to Europe with Hundred Reasons. In August, Incubus played in Australia and Japan. They returned to the US and toured with Hoobastank. They also released their new single “I Wish You Were Here” from their upcoming record “Morning View”. In October 2001, the completed “Morning View” was released. In 2002 the band toured Europe and then went off to Japan and Australia until March. Incubus released their single “Circle” in September. The remainder of September and October was spent on a US tour.

Musical Genre and Styles

Incubus follows the genre of Rock. They however, play with a fusion of styles such as Rap-Rock, Rap-Metal, Alternative Metal, Funk Metal, Heavy Metal and tones that are Irreverent, Confrontational, Fiery, Thuggish, Aggressive, Theatrical, Cynical/Sarcastic, Hostile. The band plays their music on guitars, bass guitars and drums.

References

• De la Font, Incubus, http://www.delafont.com/music_acts/incubus.htm
• Chung, Sandra, Incubus Returns, MUSIC REVIEW Half Metal, Half Pop Album Marks Dawn of New Style, October 30, 2001, http://www-tech.mit.edu/V121/N55/IncubusMorningG.55a.html
• Incubus – Make Yourself. Hal Leonard Publishing Corporation, 2001