You formed Incubus in 1991 with Mike Einziger and José Pasillas at Calabasas High School. And with music, maybe they thought, ‘Wow, he’s actually making noise now! We should just let him do it.’” So my mom always encouraged me to draw what I was feeling. Maybe one of the reasons they tolerated it was because I was always really, really shy and would only fully express myself when I was able to paint the emotions, because they felt so complex I didn’t really have the vocabulary to express them properly.
“Ironically, that’s exactly who I was growing up. READ THIS: Deftones albums ranked from worst to bestĭo you think they knew that you were never going to be the quiet person in the corner? It was probably driving our parents slowly nuts, but for whatever reason they tolerated the noise.” I remember if I wasn’t playing the drums or smashing a guitar then one of my brothers was. There was just an environment that was conducive to expressing oneself. My dad was pursuing a career in acting from before I was born it was why he moved to Los Angeles. My mom was an avid painter when I was growing up, but she also played the piano and sang. I’ve been drawing and painting since… My earliest memories are me expressing myself in that way.
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There was just enough boredom to want to learn how to play an instrument, learn how to sing and learn how to paint – stuff like that.” I grew up outside, surfing, and if I wasn’t surfing I would skate. Where I grew up was in a pretty rural area for Los Angeles and we didn’t have cable TV, so I didn’t necessarily grow up on a normal media diet. “The older I get the more I realise how beautiful and rare our circumstances were. What was it like growing up on the edge of Los Angeles, in Calabasas? “Maybe one of the perks of going into your 40s is you appreciate things a little differently,” he ponders in his wise, hippyish manner…
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But Brandon is full of positive energy as he discusses where he finds himself in life now, demanding tour schedules and all. It’s a lot to have accomplished by the age of 43, and now Incubus are experiencing a second wind in their career since reconvening in 2010. After almost a decade near the top of the rock tree, Incubus announced a hiatus in 2008 when they were arguably at the height of their powers.Īlong the way, Brandon has found time to issue a solo record, publish three books of artwork and lyrics (he is currently working on a fourth) and establish a parallel career as a visual artist, exhibiting around the world and raising awareness for environmental causes. Both albums sold millions, propelling Incubus and Brandon’s good looks on to magazine covers and screens everywhere for a new generation of MTV-watchers. READ THIS: The 12 most underrated albums of the '90sīoth 1999’s Make Yourself and 2001’s Morning View drew from a wider sonic palette, coalescing electronics, prog, jazz and even didgeridoos into their funk-rock blueprint, while Brandon’s lyrics aspired to higher consciousness and equilibrium with the universe. Compared to their peers, Incubus were a cosmic anomaly. Incubus rose to prominence at the turn of the century, when everyone from Limp Bizkit to Eminem were utilising shock, experiences of domestic trauma and anger at authority to mainstream commercial success.
Uncomfortable with the idea of playing in front of the class, they recorded the performance (“I just kind of acted like an idiot and it was fun”) on to a videotape, which they simply labelled ‘Incubus’. Their first recording came in the form of a literature class assignment to compose an original poem or song. In some respects the things that get Brandon out of bed in the morning haven’t changed much since he and skate buddies Mike Einziger (guitar) and José Pasillas (drums) began playing music together in 1991, while the three were attending Calabasas High School. When he leaves again for tour in a couple of days, he will pack a few paintbrushes and a skateboard so he can while away the dead hours between travel and performing. The 42-year-old bachelor lives among the trees of the Santa Monica Mountains when he’s not on tour, and spends his days hiking, walking on the beach and painting. “I now have to push him around in a stroller, which is kind of embarrassing, but kind of hilarious at the same time.” “I’ve been hanging out with my super-old dog who doesn’t walk anymore,” he replies when Kerrang! enquires how he’s been enjoying the breather. Brandon Boyd is taking in the California morning, enjoying a rare stretch at home between legs of an intensive worldwide tour with Incubus.