Incubus

Some bands enter our lives under the premise of more than a casual listen or an anticipated new release. Sometimes, for what ever reason, we are subjected to certain music simply because it is the only thing we have to listen to whilst we are more concerned about the other events in our lives. This was the case with Incubus and me.

Let’s be really straight here, I have loved Incubus for a long time now. Probably since ‘Make Yourself’, their first really big album]. But it wasn’t until the release [or a little thereafter] of their 2004 album ‘A Crow Left of the Murder’ did they become so ingrained into our family that its more than difficult not to acknowledge that these guys have a very special place in my heart.

Around 2005 our wonderfully strong young son was making more visits to the Royal Childrens than anyone would have been comfortable with. Much bedside sitting. Much tiredness and much much driving. I can make it from my house to Flemington in 12.5 minutes at 2am in the morning assuming I am not pulled up by cops. Needless to say, the choice of music played in the car was not high on the list of things we were noticing as time went on, trip after trip. With a CD player in the car, like everyone else, the glovebox always had 3 or 4 CD’s in there as if they were the last resort CD’s you would fall back on in an emergency pending an apocalypse. Over a couple of weeks/months, the album ‘A Crow Left of the Murder’ played on loop over and over during that time because we were simply too concerned with what what going on that nobody changed the CD. Plus, the other CD’s in the glovebox were Jeff Buckley’s ‘Grace’ [too emotional], Pearl Jam’s ‘Ten’ [Rach was never a big PJ fan & Cake’s ‘Fashion Nugget’ [Great album.Have to be in the right mood]. So we just left this album in there…on repeat…for weeks.

I know every word. But it always reminds me of a very overwhelming time in my life. And thats a good thing. Music is such an evoker of memories. Its like this is it’s main job. Both good and bad, it’ll conjure them and for me, Incubus is one of the strongest.

Around 2000, when I first getting into them after ‘Make Yourself’ life was full on. New baby. New home. New life. I’m not even gonna start with how our journey roller-coasted over the next few [decades] years, but as music began to become more and more essential in my life from a survival aspect, it was really important for me to begin swimming with my favourite groups instead of watching them from the safety of a towel on the beach…waving…and wishing I could join them in the water.

Incubus inadvertently became one of those bands simply by the feeling I got when I would listen to them in my headphones. Alone and at peace with whatever music you want to listen to is one of the most intimate moments anyone can have. No  judgement from anyone else’s musical taste. No reason or rhyme. There doesn’t have to be anything apart from your choice to feel how you do when you hear music from a certain artist, and I love how I feel when I hear Incubus.

So when they released their fourth studio album in 2001…I was fucking primed! Just waiting for it. And it was glorious. ‘Morning View’ cemented the Incubus sound for me and because I didn’t really know anyone else who was into them as much as I was, I was able to selfishly enjoy them on the album to album level. What I mean by this is that a lot of people knew a single or two from what had been released, but there is the leap a fan makes to enveloping themselves in the craft of an album from top to bottom. And ‘Morning View’ is a beautiful album.

From the thundering rock influx at the 19 sec mark of ‘Circles’ or the meandering acoustic notes of ‘Mexico’, it seems to give the listener shades of dark and light that have been crafted amazingly well for a rock group. Add to this the unique addition of the turntables being a regular instrument within the rock genre, and you’re beginning to see how their unconventional approach to music starts to set them apart from other Alt Rock bands of the era [or since]

After listening to them so much over the past few decades, here is why I think their music works.

Brandon Boyd
Its hard to think of Incubus without their enigmatic front man. From the first impressions most of us got of him from the music video of their most successful track around that time ‘Drive’ where he parades around singing shirtless while magically drawing himself [A-Ha did it years ago bro…] Brandon always looked like he should be a lead singer. Apart from having the charisma to pull off the required performance aspects, its hard to argue with the fact that his voice is pretty fucking spot on.

Mike Einziger
The Lead guitarist, songwriter, producer and multi instrumentalist who is bigger than just his role in this band. His ability to write music that is so relatable as well as being able to produce it is a great skill set to have. This dude has collaborated with some decent muso’s including Pharrell, Hans Zimmer, Skrillex, Tyler, the Creator to name a few. The bands outside persona is very much steeped in Mike’s musicality and his ability to guide the group both from a member and producer standpoint.

José Pasillas II
OK, so this is where I get up on my self made soap box. [Hmmm, it looks really good from up here…] Like a lot of really great bands, the musicality may come from a few members who write, play guitar or sing. But there is a very clear difference between groups who have drummers that are able to take their bands music to the next level through their creativity and skills. Pasillas is one of those…and more. Not traditionally trained, he learned his craft while starting the band and throughout the albums they’ve released over the years, you can tell that is unconventionality brings something [and in my opinion the key ingredient] to the music of Incubus.

These three dudes began the band together in ’91 after all attending the same high school. Which reenforces my belief that open creative minds help others to open and create. If you can manage to get a few like minded souls in the same room [band], it makes for rapid growth and amazing collaborations.

I’m fully well aware that the music Incubus make aren’t everyones cup of tea. But unlike the early years of listening to them, their fanbase has slowly grown over a few decades to include a new generation of fans.

I had the honour to see them in concert in 2015 at the last Soundwave Festival at the Melbourne showgrounds. It was a bliss moment for me as they played before the Soundgarden set….who played before the Faith No More set. *looks off distantly remembering a time that will never come again*. Playing in front of such a massive crowd in the outdoors, it was hard for them to recreate the intensity they would usually have been able to spark. But even then, I knew every word and every note. It was amazing.

Amazing to be transported back to my CD playing car in the early 2000’s and feel the vibration of the live drums vibrating through my chest and my heart preempting every next beat as it longed for the gig to go on for ever. Sound melancholy? Maybe I am. Maybe because the music is so engrained in me. Maybe because I am so familiar with the music that its like looking a photo of yourself 20 years ago and recalling how far you’ve come in life. Or maybe, its simply because I am truly full of gratitude for the music that I am able to digest to help me move through my life. From year to year it changes. Even day to day or hour to hour. But there is simply no parallel to the effects that music have on a human being.

Music can [and is] many things for many different people. For me, it’s like a journal. A history of who I am and where I’ve come from. But the best part is that we’re able to relive that journal entry and add a new experience any time we want. The journal just gets bigger as our lives are more lived, and the most poetic part of all of it is…no one can ever take it away from you.

So listen more. Experience more. Turn on the stereo instead of the TV. Show ourselves that our memories are more important than what the network televisions recommendations are. I know its not that simple…but sometimes it is. And when it is, we need to choose ourselves instead of watching what others do.

M /

~ Article updated March 2020