For the past 22 years, Brandon Boyd has served as frontman of the internationally acclaimed rock band Incubus. The band, which has released seven studio albums throughout their career and extensively toured the globe, goes on hiatus occasionally during which they pursue side projects. While some members have gone to college and dabbled in film scoring, Boyd has been experimenting with material of his own. The 38-year-old vocalist released a solo endeavor, The Wild Trapeze, in 2010 and most recently put together a new project titled Sons of the Sea.
<iframe width="620" height="349" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/N6AN1rAtrDs" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
GRAMMY.com caught up with Boyd who walked us through his process of recording and touring with Sons of the Seas, noting how differently things came together than with Incubus. He also touched on why he loves to get involved in every aspect of his musical projects — from approving merchandise designs to coordinating the stage layout — and revealed how he reinvented his solo career with Sons of the Seas.
You took a chance and developed a new project that is very different from your material with Incubus and your solo projects. How has the reception been to Sons of the Sea?
It’s been good. It’s so different from the first independent release that I did, the very first album that Incubus ever put out. We put out a record called Fungus Amongus in the very early ‘90s when we were graduating high school. So this feels completely new again because there’s not a label behind it. There’s not a major push behind it. It’s humbling in many ways but it’s also so joyous too, to put out music under these kinds of circumstances, just purely for the love of music and loving music.
How was your process different when writing and recording for this project versus when you are focusing on Incubus or your other solo work?
I think the major difference was the fact that there was less of a committee involved in the songwriting and the process. In Incubus, there are five of us and when we get in a room together it becomes by committee, sort of like a democratic committee. We vote the best parts in and the transitions and the arrangements and things like that. When we start to write a song with Incubus, it starts between myself and Michael [Einziger] and a lyric and a guitar riff in a really basic way. It’s a really cool way to write music because you get all these different flavors in and everything but if it’s not flowing properly, it can turn into a sort of painstakingly slow process. When it’s working well, it can take a matter of minutes or hours to get the thing done. It’s amazing.
I think part of the main difference is if I had a song idea that I would really like for this Sons of the Sea project, I would just record it into my phone or into my laptop. I’d then show it to Brendan O’Brien and then we’d go record it the next day. So the level of control I guess I could say was notched up a bit.
People are saying that you’ve completely reinvented yourself with this project. After creating a certain sound for so long with Incubus was it hard to branch off in this new direction?
I think that what happens is depending on the players that I’m working with and also the time and what I’m reading, what I’m watching, what is happening emotionally and spiritually in my life, I think that all goes into this mixed bowl of things that are potentially influencing a song. And this time around, after being in a band for 22 years, at this point, we have a pretty good understanding of what we do as a band. It’s still an amazing thing to be in this band but sometimes we go on tour for really long periods of time and then we need a break from being on tour. And that’s what we’ve collectively decided to do now. We’ll go on tour for two years and then be like, “I love you guys but get away from me.” But then you come home and you’re home for a week or 10 days and you start to get the itch that, “I want to keep making songs. I want to keep working. I want to keep singing.” I know that the other guys in the band feel that way too so what we’ve done in recent years is really given each other permission and ourselves permission to branch off and explore. I really think that it’s been a healthy decision. So I’m excited to see how it continues and how it forms the future of this band.
How are Sons of the Sea live shows different than when you would orchestrate an Incubus show?
There are some definite differences. The Sons of the Sea stuff at the moment is considerably more scaled down; not in sound or structure but more so in the sense that we’re not on a record label and I’m paying for everything. I got a crash course in how incredibly expensive it is to go on tour. And as we’re not a proven live project, it’s not like we’re getting crazy out there. This is a little bit more of dipping the toe in the water, this first round. But we do have a great band and we play songs very well and we’ll kind of let the spirit intervene at a certain point and see what happens. But there are some beautiful lights that we have going and sort of an old school rock show I would say. I always like to allow for some space for a kind of chaos factor. I don’t like to over plan.
With Incubus as a whole, you guys seem to be very involved with all aspects of your career – from touring to the fans, to merch, etc. Why is it so important for you to have a handle on all of that?
Occasionally if you’re feeling extra lazy, there’s this “OK we wrote the song. You guys take care of the rest of it” mentality. I know I feel this way and a lot of the guys in Incubus feel this way too but I’ve always felt that there’s this incredible opportunity to, through music, express yourself and be creative in all these different mediums. There’s a visual aspect to it. There’s obviously a sonic aspect to it. There’s s a vibrational aspect to it. It’s like every little piece can be beautiful, every little piece can help inform that larger picture. So each person, it depends on how involved you want to be but I personally think that 90% of the elements involved in being in a band and making music are wonderful. There’s a 10% aspect that I’ve never enjoyed and that’s really the business part — the business aspect of negotiating deals and all that. I’ve never been a fan of that part so I think that’s one of the areas where having a strong manager has really come in handy. But from making music videos to album artwork to designing tours, your stage, there are so many aspects — the merchandise … it’s just a lot of fun. It’s so multi-faceted that if you have the stomach for it, I think there are wonderful things that can be translated.
At this point in your career, you’ve traveled the world with Incubus, you’ve done a solo project, you have Sons of the Sea. Are there other elements of the music industry you’d like to get involved in?
Absolutely. Yes. Speaking to the multi-faceted aspect of music, there are still many many arenas that I have yet to explore that I’m excited about. It’s such a big world and there are so many ways to express and to make music and I’m actually very excited about the future.
