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Incubus took a break from music and have regrouped with a new album.
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You've heard the great rock'n'roll cliche about how being in a band is like a marriage. Well, Incubus singer Brandon Boyd reckons time apart - a separation rather than a divorce - does wonders. The Los Angeles band took a break after 2004's album A Crow Left of the Murder and when they got back together there were fireworks.
"When we started writing again it was like I hadn't seen this girl in a couple of years and she was looking good. She wanted to get down and cook me dinner as well," smiles Boyd. "And it tastes pretty good too," he laughs.
The result: their sixth album, Light Grenades, which is out on Monday. Boyd and guitarist Mike Einziger are relaxing in the bar at the Metropolis in Auckland on a promo trip for the new album.
The pair, both 30, are a stark contrast to look at: Boyd is an obvious frontman, with perfect skin, a frat-boy hair cut, and bulbous earrings through both ear lobes, while Einziger hardly looks like a rock star with his ginger beard and tight curly locks.
They've been friends since high school in Calabasas, California, where they formed Incubus with drummer Jose Pasillas when they were 15. That was in 1991 and they were committed to their music. "It was almost like a punk rock ethic and the integrity of the band was musically based, nothing else; like [expletive] the aesthetic and [expletive] the way it was presented," says Boyd.
But at the end of the band's last tour for Crow in 2004, Boyd says they needed a break from music and returned home to Los Angeles where "we were able to unpack for the first time in a decade. We did nothing with the band for a year. We fixed our houses that were sitting there rotting away," says Boyd.
They were tired and hadn't had any time off since the band had started, and there was a risk that if they didn't have a break it was going to get complicated.
As well as being home handymen, Boyd and Einziger worked on a surfing movie; Boyd compiled his second book which will be released in December; drummer Jose Pasillas ("A total hippy," says Boyd) worked on art projects; DJ Chris Kilmore learned new instruments, including the guitar-o-phone and mellotron; and bass player Ben Kenney did some producing and played in a side project called the Division Group.
"We all branched off and did different things which was very necessary," says Einziger. "I want to do this as long as I can and you have to find ways to keep it new and fresh and exciting."
Two Incubus albums, the 1999 breakthrough Make Yourself, and 2001's Morning View, with tracks like Wish You Were Here and Nice To Know You, made them one of the biggest bands around. In New Zealand the latter sold more than 30,000 copies, making it the most popular Incubus album.
Their last album, A Crow Left Of The Murder, was less successful even though it was critically acclaimed. "It wasn't a huge drop-off. It only sold a buck and a half instead of 2 million," says Boyd with a smirk.
"It's funny because the way it's perceived around the world is vastly different. For some people Crow was the best record we've ever done, but some people look at that record as a pause in our talent as a band," he laughs.
He is expecting the same mixed reaction to Light Grenades because it is typically diverse, moving from the noisy title track to a loping ballad like Love Hurts and on to the deadpan discord of Pendulous Threads.
"We made the record we wanted to make," says Boyd.
"This record is completely all over the place," says Einziger. "You have a song like Love Hurts, which is quirky and left of centre, but it's right next to another one called Light Grenades which is a chaotic explosion.
"That's how I see all our records; they go through all these different changes, and some people see this as a negative but it gives it impact. And I think rock music is supposed to be exciting, chaotic, and scary."
"It's supposed to incite something and inspire you to react," adds Boyd.
Lowdown
Who: Incubus
Formed: 1991 in Calabasas, California.
Line up: Brandon Boyd (vocals); Mike Einziger (guitar, piano); Jose Pasillas (drums); Chris Kilmore (turntables, multi-instrumentalist); Ben Kenney (bass).
Essential albums: Make Yourself (1999); Morning View (2001); A Crow Left of the Murder (2004)
New album: Light Grenades, out Monday.
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