Some people say science just isn't fun. They see it as dissecting a frog,
determining the theory of relativity, or having to share your microscope
with the geek who invests in pocket protectors.
Some people just don't know better. They've forgotten about
experimentation, fusion and fission, and big bangs and blowing things
up. They've forgotten science can be fun.
In the Incubus form of fusion, the nuclei of funk, thrash-rock and
hip-hop are joined together, or fused, at temperatures evoking
pleasurable sweat, to form a single heavy nucleus called
S.C.I.E.N.C.E., ejecting twelve powerful sonic neutrons in the
process. The difference in mass of Incubus' first full-length
experiment, S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
(Immortal/Epic), resulted in pure,
clean energy and a lot of phat, big bangs like the metallic
My Favorite Things, the light-speeding Nebula, the chanting
and heavy grooves of Redefine, the far-out bedtime story
Magic Medicine, and the '70s-sounding pornographic-in-a-
Love Boat -way Antigravity Love Song.
While there is experimentation and intellect involved, Incubus,
whatever their name may imply, is not a team of scientists, nor
spirits searching for new ways to suck the life out of sleeping
people, nor a devil-worshipping death-pop band. Incubus is
five musicians from Calabasas, California, a semi-rural bedroom
community north of Los Angeles who began playing music
together out of natural friendship.
Vocalist and percussionist Brandon Boyd and drummer Jose
Pasillas went to elementary school together. In middle school,
they met guitarist Mike Einziger, who spent most of his time
playing guitar in his bedroom; then, in high school, the trio
became friends with bassist Alex Katunich, who was playing
in a jazz band. In 1991, in the 10th grade and still too young to
drive, the four friends decided to form a band simply because
they loved music, from Primus and Rage Against the Machine
to Ella Fitzgerald and Santana to S teve Vai and Iron Maiden.
It was a big day when the oldest, Brandon, turned 16 and got
his driver's license.
Within a year of their earliest party gigs, Incubus were playing
all-ages clubs in the San Fernando Valley and at the Roxy on
the Sunset Strip, thanks to a hundred dollar bill Mike found on
the ground. That's when you had to buy tickets and sell them
in order to play the Strip. That day I went to the Roxy, bought
the tickets, booked the show, and then we sold all of them. The
band's tireless self-promotion expanded its audience from
high-school friends to fans from across the Valley and Hollywood.
In 1995, DJ Lyfe saw Incubus play live and asked if Incubus
would be interested in using some of his hip-hop tracks. Lyfe
joined full-time after one rehearsal. We didn't want the turntable
to sound like somebody scratching a snare drum, like it sounds
on a lot of rap records, explains Mike. We wanted it to be more
of an instrument with its own sounds, like that of a keyboard player
or another guitar player.
As a rapper, Lyfe is very rooted in hip-hop, adds Brandon. But
since he learned to spin discs with a live band, Incubus, rather than
with pre-recorded music, he's got a different approach.
Incubus' unusual amalgamation of styles and high-energy shows,
combined with its growing fan base, turned label heads and put the
band in the enviable
(although somewhat embar- rassing) position
of a bidding war. Immortal Records emerged the winner by
understanding that Incubus is a touring live band, not an out-of-the-
box, hit-single sensation, and intent on building its following from
the ground up. With this strategy in mind, in January '97 the quintet
released the EP Enjoy Incubus
(containing six remixed songs
previously recorded as demos) and completed several mini-tours in
support of it. During this period, Incubus perfected the new songs for
their full-length debut, S.C.I.E.N.C.E.
Our album is called S.C.I.E.N.C.E. because we wer e able to
experiment, notes Mike. We were able to take our time and get
everything to sound the way we wanted it to -- weird science and
energetic funk. The band again enlisted producer Jim Wirt, who
produced their early demos: He helps us come up with strange stuff
and he likes it when we do. He doesn't try to change what we do,
he tries to enhance it. In six weeks at 4th Street Recording, using old
analog gear with phat sounds and spider webs, Incubus recorded
the twelve tracks of S.C.I.E.N.C.E. with the traditional bass, guitar,
drums and vocals along with turntables, didjeridu, djembe, and…well,
other things.
We found out what it's like to actually plug a phaser pedal into the
wall while it's on, explains Brandon. It sounds like a laser gun, and
that's the first sound you hear in 'Nebula.' And we used these walkie-
talkies for children that have this Slinky-like coil between them. When
you talk through them and hit the coil, it makes this natural reverb,
like talking in another dimension.
The lyrics, all penned by Brandon, carry an underlying positive theme
through stories of space, relationships and socio-political issues. His
beliefs are expressed most strongly in Redefine, New Skin and
My Favorite Things.
'Redefine' is about the creation of your own reality and your own world.
The metaphor I used was humans being like Magic Markers. For so long,
they painted black and white pictures in their life because that's all they
thought they could do. But they can paint with a different color and make
a very vibrant and beautiful picture if they take control.
In 'New Skin,' I attribute a scab to the present state of society. The way
the scab looks in its worst state is gross and chaotic and horrible, that's now,
but when it breaks away, there's a brand new piece of skin that's stronger
than before. It's like creation out of chaos.
'My Favorite Things' is my personal beliefs about religion and how it
oppresses the thi ngs I enjoy the most. Unfortunately, the simplest things,
such as thinking for myself, creating my own reality and being whatever the
hell I want to be each day of my life, are a sin. To be a good Christian basically
means to give up the reigns of your life and let some unseen force do it for you.
Incubus has already taken their new songs on the road: A 1997 European tour
supporting Immortal labelmates Korn was capped by a show for more than
5,000 fans in Paris. Brandon: We had never played in front of a crowd that
big, and the response we got far exceeded any response we've ever gotten.
To play in front of a crowd that has no idea who you are, and then you start
playing and they understand the energy of it and start freaking out, it's quite
an experience.
Even so, Incubus is aware that there will always be those ready to criticize.
No matter: People are real quick to put labels on music, so I'm sure they're
going to do that with us. But we think we're doing something cool, and judging
from the responses that we've gotten from all over the world, others do too,
surmises Brandon. We have the music gods on our side.
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