Where is Incubus from?
This Southern California quintet is originally from
Calabasas, a Los Angeles suburb west of the San Fernando
Valley. Ben Kenney is from New Jersey.
How many albums do Incubus
Have?
Incubus has five official releases on Immortal/Epic
Records:
How did Incubus get their
name?
Hours before their first show, the band was forced
to come up with a band name. After rejecting Dirks'
"Chunk O' Funk" and Brandon’s' "Spiral
Staircase", Mike turned to a nearby thesaurus.
The first word he came to was Incubus, which means
"nightmare" in Latin. At 17 years old each,
the band all thought the name sounded cool, so it
stuck.
Who is this DJ Lyfe guy
I keep reading about?
Well, DJ Lyfe (A.K.A Gavin Koppel) is Incubus' original
DJ. He was a part of the band for two years, and then
Incubus asked him to leave, due to certain issues,
and replaced him with Chris Kilmore. DJ Lyfe now goes
by "DJ 1987."
What kind of guitar does
Mike use?
For the recording of Enjoy Incubus, he used an Ibanez
RG570. Then he finally got some cash form the record
company and bought a Paul Reed Smith guitar for the
recording of S.C.I.E.N.C.E . For Make Yourself, he
had custom colored PRS guitars made for him. He takes
three with him on tour. One silver colored one, one
black one he tunes down for the drop D songs, and
a natural colored PRS with two F-holes in it for the
acoustic style stuff. For the Time Lapse and new album
material, he has switched to a Fender Jazzmaster.
Take a Look at Mike's setup on his Bio page.
What are the Incubus albums
"Beyond the Unknown" and "Serpent Temptation"?
Well, there is actually another Incubus out there.
This is death metal, and in our opinion, not very
good. There are alot of people out there trying to
sell this as a rare 'Incubus' cd, so be careful. Just
make sure you check the discography pages before you
buy anything. We have also heard rumors that there
may be even a third 'Incubus' out there. But, OUR
'Incubus' has the rights to the name, so no worries
folks; there will not be a name change anytime soon.
Where did videos for "I Miss You"
and "Summer Romance" come from?
Brett Spivey, visual artist and a friend of the band,
made these videos. Summer Romance features artwork
by Jose and Brandon; I Miss You contains Japanese
subtitles.
I found this song and
heard it was by incubus, but it doesn't sound like
them?
Unless you see it in our Song
Index, you've been had! Be sure to note our list
frequently mis-identified songs.
Where can I find these
rare incubus songs? Love Sick
My Soul, The Underground
Sylvester Polyester
The Milkman Song
Mr. Wiggly
These songs are among the bands
first works and there are no recordings of them as
far as we know.
Have the members appeared
on other bands' songs?
See the Song Index.
Who is the guy on the
cover of Enjoy Incubus and SCIENCE?
Check the section called: Chuck...
Was the girl in the 'Stellar'
video really Brandon's' girlfriend? How about the
girl in 'Are You In?'
The girl in the 'Stellar' video is Joan English, Brandon's
girlfriend at the time. His ex-girlfriend, Carolyn
Murphy, also appears in the 'Are You In?' Video.
Are those whales at the
beginning of "The Warmth"?
Yes. Chris used recordings of whale mating songs for
the intro to the song.
In the secret song (We're
Smokin') on When Incubus Attacks Vol. I, who is the
guy Ted they refer to?
Ted is one of their Stage Managers/Tour Managers.
Whatever happened to Jose's glasses?
After the recording of Make Yourself, Jose got rid
of his familiar black-rimmed glasses by having corrective
laser surgery on his eyes.
Who does the Saxophone
solo on Anti-Gravity Love Song?
Jeremy Wasser, he used to play saxophone in the band
Hoobustank.
I heard that Mike tried
out for some girls band years ago, any info on this?
When Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger was 17 in 1994
he tried out for Alanis Morissette's band. Needless
to say he didn't get the part but he did comment about
it, "I actually auditioned for Alanis' band when
I was like 17, before she got really big. I was just
like, Oh, this girl singing these songs . . . and
then a few months later it was on the radio, and I
was like, What? Damn, I should've tried harder!"
What's up with the secret
track on the ENJOY EP?
The secret track on the Incubus EP, Enjoy
Incubus, was recorded on Mike's brother Ben's
birthday. During track, you hear a "slowed-down"
sample of Mike wishing his brother a Happy Birthday.
What about that backwards
message on 'Azwethinkweiz'?
Brandon is saying, "Thursday Night we smoked
indica, and Azwethinkweizm was born"
I heard something about
Mike's brother being on Make Yourself?
Ben also joined his brother Mike during the recording
of the Incubus song, Nowhere Fast. During the intro,
when the distortion begins, there are two guitars.
One of them being the sounds of Ben's (Einziger) PRS.
I know who Vent (Audiovent)
is, but I read that Mike recorded some of their songs,
is this true?
Mike recorded the music for the VENT songs Back And
Forth and Remedy at Ben's house on an 8-track recorder.
What is up with the secret
track on SCIENCE?
The track is a mix of crazy stuff. Gavin (DJ Lyfe)
almost erased one of the songs while filming. Some
of the noises are beats, bass, guitar, etc etc. There
is even a loop of an old arcade game being played.
The title for this "secret track" is: "Jose
loves Kate Moss. Part 1". This, along with 'Magic
Medicine' mostly Mike messing around.
I heard something about
Brandon getting in a car accident?
Brandon was involved in a major car crash during the
recording of the band's album "Make Yourself".
Ironically, the band had just finished mixing the
song, "Drive."
What does SCIENCE stand
for?
It doesn't really stand for anything in particular.
They give a million different things, kinda like the
"CHUCK" thing. They have different stories
every time. Here are some thoughts...
'Sailing Catamarans Is Every Nautical
Captain's Ecstasy'
'Social Chronology Includes Everyone: Neanderthals,
Cannibals, Everyone'
'Southern California's Incubus Enters Nevada Carrying
Enstruments'
Who did the artwork in
the Drive video?
Brandon and Jose, they spent over 50 hours working
on it!
I heard something about
Brandon and Mike bring in the Strait Up Video?
Brandon and Mike both appear briefly in the Strait
Up video for "Angels Son."
I may have heard someone
on ESPN say Brandon's name, any idea on this one?
On "NHL 2 Night" on ESPN there was a reference
on Wed. 1.18.01... Host John Buccigross said, "Rob
Blake is to the (LA) Kings what Brandon Boyd is to
Incubus." Brandon's name was used again on subsequent
shows.
Was Incubus on some video
Dare Devil show?
Incubus was featured on MTV's Senseless Acts of Video,
where a guy really performs computer-enhanced stunts,
only for real. On this episode, a man set himself
on fire breaking the world record by 7 seconds, which
means 2min 14 sec, to compare it to Brandon on fire
in the Pardon Me video.
I've heard that Incubus
has gone into therapy in the past?
Incubus became one of the first bands to employ mediated
"band therapy" before the recording of Make
Yourself and A Crow Left of the Murder. The sessions
were designed to allow the bandmates to come closer
and improve the dynamics of living together on the
road.
What is that Oriental
Instrument on 'Aqueous Transmission'?
The instrument is called the Pipa, an oriental stringed
instrument that Mike borrowed from Steve Vai. Previously
the band also referred to the instrument as the kyoto
and the ko-kyu.
Is it true that there
is a picture of Chuck on the Morning View Album cover?
It is rumored that he appears on the first 100,000
copies of the album, but this is totally untrue.
What's With the 10:24
in the 'Warning' vid? How about 2012 AD?
The number 421 has seemingly become the bands official
number, and 10:24 is 42:01 backwards.
Ancient Mayan Prophecy predicts that the end of the
world will occur at the time of the winter solstice
on December 21, 2012 AD.
Somebody told me that
Incubus has had to change the way they write their
name?
There is a false rumor that the band has had to change
the way they capitalize/write their name after a bandmember
is removed/added. The band is under no such obligation.
Where are the songs,
Police Car
Anything
Puzzle
I Dream of Fiji
Little Cat, Big Litter Box?
According to Mike, during the
recording of Morning View there were no tracks cut
after being recorded. This means that these tracks
were alternate names or songs that never progressed
to the recording phase. The last, Little Cat, Big
Litter Box, was a song created by Chris and Brandon.
The lyrics appear in Brandon’s book.
Where Can I Get Brandon's
Book, A Life Less Lived?
Somebody went and took Brandon a little too seriously
here (see: Brandon's Bio).
There actually is an author named Brandon Boyd with
several books to his credit, but it is not the same
person. Brandon has published only one book, White
Fluffy Clouds, in 2003.
What happened to Alex
"Dirk Lance" Katunich?
At the end of the 2002 Morning View tour, the group
made the decision that Dirk leave the band. The reasons
behind him leaving came down to creative and personal
differences.
What is the Time Lapse
Consortium?
The Time Lapse Consortium is a side project started
by Mike and Suzie Katayama. Jose, Ben, Neal Evans,
Brandon, and a small orchestra are involved in the
group, which plays its own unique brand of Jazz-Funk.
Battlestar Scralatchtica
and J-5
While recording Make Yourself, Incubus shared the
building with the group Jurassic 5, who were recording
their own album: Quality Control. The two groups spontaneously
collaborated on the track Battlestar Scralatchtica
during a studio improv session, which includes DJ's
Nu mark and Cut Chemist from Jurassic 5. The three
DJ's reproduced their efforts several times on the
2003 Lollapalooza tour. On J5's track Quality Intro,
Brandon can be heard as the second to last person
to say "Quality". The band can also be seen
reproducing the end of J5's Monkey Bars on the Morning
View Sessions DVD.
Nuggets
The first song Mike ever mastered
was "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" by Metallica.
Jose's favorite artist is Maxfield
Parrish; Brandon's is Mark Ryden. One of their favorite
authors is Tom Robbins.
The metaphor "Like a Waking
Limb..." in "Nice to Know You" was
inspired by a specific event: one of Brandon's fingers
'fell asleep' for two weeks while on tour.
Longtime tour mates Incubus and
System of a Down used to formally proclaim their enjoyment
of marijuana on the site "420Bands.com".
The band admits to casual, recreational use of this
drug, but claims not to use any others.
At the beginning to the song "Make
Yourself" Brandon is singing through the pick-up
of Mike's guitar.
Mike and his bandmates have shown
a particular affinity for several artists throughout
their career. During the recording of their earliest
works through SCIENCE, the band was particularly fond
of Mike Patton's bands "Mr. Bungle," Primus,
and the Red Hot Chili Peppers. During the recording
of Make Yourself and Morning View, many of the guitar
parts were inspired by Steve Vai. During the recording
of Morning View, Mike was particularly enthralled
by Bjork. Brandon stated in 2004 that Jeff Buckley
is one of his vocal influences, and the entire band
has used The Police as a muse over the years, which
was finally crowned by a performance with Andy Summers
and Steward Copeland in December 2004.
For the recording of Morning View, Incubus took a
different approach by renting a mansion on the beaches
of Malibu. The bandmembers drew names for rooms in
the giant house, and spent a summer surfing, recording,
and enjoying the scenery. Frogs inhabiting the area
were recorded for use in the song "Aqueous Transmission",
and the album takes its name from the street on which
the house was located.
The sounds of Flea's (from RHCP)
trumpet can be heard on the 3rd Movement of the Odyssey.
Mike, Brandon, and Ben are vegetarians.
Specifically, Ben is a vegan.
Incubus are friends with Ozzy
Osbourne and the Osbourne family, and have been since
performing on their first Ozzfest. The band can be
seen walking with their surfboards briefly on an episode
of MTV's "The Osbournes", collaborated with
Kelly Osbourne for the demo of her cover of "Papa
Don't Preach", and are said to be one of Jack
Osbournes favorite bands.
The Koi fish on the Morning View
disc was drawn by Jose, and also appear on his right
and Brandon's right forearm.
I heard _____ rumor about
_____ band member, is it true?
This one should go without saying, but please, don’t
believe any rumors about the band, bandmembers, or
their personal lives unless you see it here on this
site!
Return to top
