They are now in their 40s, ear stretchings gone, although their sense of humour remains. Watch the video for A Certain Shade of Green on the band’s YouTube channelįast forward to the present day, and Boyd and drummer José Pasillas are sitting on chintzy sofas in London’s Soho Hotel. By 2000, every single white guy with dreadlocks and an acoustic guitar at a house party knew the chords to their acoustic road-trip hit Drive. Soon Incubus were everywhere: at one point you couldn’t watch MTV2 without seeing Brandon Boyd’s nipples. But one major-label deal later, they became nu-metal’s bare-chested boyband, creating sensitive make-out music for the misunderstood masses. Early on they played skronky funk metal, with scatted vocals like their heroes Primus, and had songs with titles such as Psychopsilocybin. On paper, perhaps the band’s premise was always a bit ridiculous. They surfed, liked science and had a frontman who never wore a shirt. Slipknot, Korn, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park – though they didn’t sound like each other they were united in weirdness, aggressive riffs, dodgy lyrics and usually, though not always, some light turntable scratching.Ĭaught up in this unfortunate hellscape were five nerdy hippies from Calabasas, California. This was a questionable period in rock music, beloved of frustrated suburban kids like me, that blended rap, metal and what could be loosely termed alternative fashion to freakish effect. I f holographic droids in the future ever excavate the musical period from the late 1990s to early 00s, they would certainly be confused by any items in the time capsule marked nu-metal.

Incubus band mates