The Mad Caddies (or the Caddies) are a third wave ska band from Solvang, California. The band formed in 1995 and has released five full-length albums, one live album, and two EP's. The Mad Caddies sound has influences from broad ranging genres including ska, punk, hardcore, swing, pop punk, reggae, jazz, Spanish, polka, even cowpunk ("Crew Cut Chuck") and sea shanties ("Weird Beard").
History
Founding members Chuck Robertson, Sascha Lazor, Todd Rosenberg, Carter Benson and James Malis started the group while attending Santa Ynez Valley Union High School but the band's membership has changed frequently since its inception. Drummer Todd Rosenberg left the band in 1999, Benson left the band in 2002, bassist Mark Iversen left the band in 2006 and drummer Brian Flenniken left in 2008 to be replaced by Boz Rivera. In 2010 original drummer Todd Rosenberg returned to the band alongside childhood friend Graham Palmer on bass.
In the band's early beginnings in the mid-1990s, they performed as Cracked Macaroni at Santa Ynez Valley Union High School.
Shortly thereafter, the band played under the name The Ivy League, but in 1996 they changed their name after signing to the Honest Don's Records label to avoid confusion (and potential litigation) with two prior bands that went by the same moniker. The band's debut album, Quality Soft Core, was released the following year. After the release of the album, the band was signed to Fat Mike's label Fat Wreck Chords, through which the Mad Caddies have released 5 studio albums, 2 EPs and a live album
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician. After a decade as a guitarist-for-hire in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by playing cover songs at venues in Manhattan's East Village, such as Sin-é, gradually focusing more on his own material. After rebuffing much interest from record labels and his father's manager Herb Cohen, he signed with Columbia, recruited a band, and recorded what would be his only studio album, Grace.
Over the following two years, the band toured widely to promote the album, including concerts in the U.S., Europe, Japan and Australia. In 1996, they stopped touring and made sporadic attempts to record his second album in New York with Tom Verlaine as producer. In 1997, Buckley moved to Memphis, Tennessee, to resume work on the album, to be titled My Sweetheart the Drunk, recording many four-track demos while also playing weekly solo shows at a local venue. While awaiting the arrival of his band from New York, he drowned during a spontaneous evening swim — fully clothed — in the Wolf River, when he was caught in the wake of a passing boat. His body was found on June 4, 1997.
Since his death, there have been many posthumous releases of his material, including a collection of four-track demos and studio recordings for his unfinished second album My Sweetheart the Drunk and expansions of debut album Grace and his Live at Sin-é EP. Chart success also came posthumously; with Leonard Cohen's song, "Hallelujah" he attained his first #1 on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs in March 2008 and reached #2 in the UK Singles Chart at Christmas 2008. Buckley and his work remain popular and are regularly featured in 'greatest' lists in the music press.
Early life
Born in Anaheim, California, Buckley was the only son of Mary Guibert and Tim Buckley. His mother was a Panama Canal Zonian of mixed Greek, French, American and Panamanian descent, while his father was the descendant of Irish immigrants from Cork. Buckley was raised by his mother and stepfather, Ron Moorhead, in Southern California, and had a half-brother, Corey Moorhead. Buckley moved many times in and around Orange County while growing up with a single mother, an upbringing Buckley called "rootless trailer trash". As a child, Buckley was known as Scott "Scotty" Moorhead based on his middle name and his stepfather's surname. His biological father, Tim Buckley, was a singer-songwriter who released a series of highly acclaimed folk and jazz albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Buckley said he only met him once at the age of eight. After his father died of a drug overdose in 1975, he chose to go by Buckley and his real first name, which he found on his birth certificate. To members of his family he remained "Scotty".
Buckley was brought up around music. His mother was a classically trained pianist and cellist. His stepfather introduced him to Led Zeppelin, Queen, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, and Pink Floyd at an early age. Buckley grew up singing around the house and in harmony with his mother, later noting that all his family sang. Buckley began playing guitar at the age of five after discovering an acoustic guitar in his grandmother's closet. Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti was the first album he ever owned; the hard rock band Kiss was also an early favorite. At the age of 12, he decided to become a musician, and received his first electric guitar — a black imitation Gibson Les Paul — at the age of 13. He attended Loara High School, and played in the school's jazz band. During this time, he developed an affinity for progressive rock bands such as Rush, Genesis, and Yes, as well as jazz fusion guitarist Al Di Meola.
After graduating from high school, he moved north to Hollywood to attend the Musicians Institute, completing the one-year course at the age of 19. Buckley later told Rolling Stone the school was "the biggest waste of time", but noted in an interview with Double Take Magazine that he appreciated studying music theory there, saying, "I was attracted to really interesting harmonies, stuff that I would hear in Ravel, Ellington, Bartók."
Early career
Buckley spent the next six years working in a hotel and playing guitar in various struggling bands playing in styles from jazz, reggae, and roots rock to heavy metal. He toured with the dancehall reggae artist Shinehead and also played the occasional funk and R&B studio session, collaborating with fledgling producer Michael J. Clouse to form X-Factor Productions. Throughout this period, Buckley limited his singing to backing vocals.
He moved to New York City in February 1990, but found few opportunities to work as a musician. He was introduced to Qawwali, the devotional music of Pakistan, and to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, one of its best-known singers. Buckley was an impassioned fan of Khan, and during his cafe days, he often covered Khan's songs. In January 1996, he interviewed Khan for Interview and wrote liner notes for Khan's Supreme Collection, Vol. 1 compilation. Buckley also became interested in blues musician Robert Johnson and hardcore punk band Bad Brains during this time. Buckley moved back to Los Angeles in September when his father's former manager, Herb Cohen, offered to help him record his first demo of original songs. Buckley completed Babylon Dungeon Sessions, a four-song cassette that included the songs "Eternal Life", "Unforgiven" (later titled "Last Goodbye"), "Strawberry Street" (a different version of which appears on the Grace Legacy Edition), and punk screamer "Radio". Cohen and Buckley hoped to attract attention from the music industry with the demo tape.
Buckley flew back to New York early the following year to make his public singing debut at a tribute concert for his father called "Greetings from Tim Buckley". The event, produced by show business veteran Hal Willner, was held at St. Ann's Church in Brooklyn on April 26, 1991. Buckley rejected the idea of the concert as a springboard to his career, instead citing personal reasons regarding his decision to sing at the tribute. With accompaniment by experimental rock guitarist Gary Lucas, Buckley performed "I Never Asked To Be Your Mountain", a song Tim Buckley wrote about an infant Jeff Buckley and his mother. Buckley returned to the stage to play "Sefronia – The King's Chain", "Phantasmagoria in Two", and concluded the concert with "Once I Was" performed acoustically with an impromptu a cappella ending, due to a snapped guitar string. Willner, the show's organizer, later recalled that Buckley's set closer made a strong impression. Buckley's performance at the concert was counter-intuitive to his desire to distance himself musically from his father. Buckley later explained his reasoning to Rolling Stone: "It wasn't my work, it wasn't my life. But it bothered me that I hadn't been to his funeral, that I'd never been able to tell him anything. I used that show to pay my last respects." The concert proved to be his first step into the music industry that had eluded him for years.
On subsequent trips to New York in mid-1991, Buckley began co-writing with Gary Lucas resulting in the songs "Grace" and "Mojo Pin",and by late 1991 he began performing with Lucas' band Gods and Monsters around New York City. After being offered a development deal as a member of Gods and Monsters at Imago Records, Buckley moved back to New York to the Lower East Side at the end of 1991. The day after Gods and Monsters officially debuted in March 1992, Buckley decided to leave the band.
Buckley began performing at several clubs and cafés around Lower Manhattan, but Sin-é in the East Village became his main venue. Buckley first appeared at the small Irish café in April 1992, and quickly earned a regular Monday night slot there. His repertoire consisted of a diverse range of folk, rock, R&B, blues and jazz cover songs, much of it music he had newly learned. During this period, he discovered singers such as Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Van Morrison, and Judy Garland. Buckley performed an eclectic selection of covers from a range of artists from Led Zeppelin, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Bob Dylan, Édith Piaf, Elton John, The Smiths, Bad Brains, Leonard Cohen, Robert Johnson and Siouxsie Sioux. Original songs from the Babylon Dungeon Sessions, and the songs he'd written with Gary Lucas were also included in his set lists. He performed solo, accompanying himself on a borrowed Fender Telecaster. Buckley stated that he learned how to perform onstage from playing to small audiences.
Over the next few months, Buckley attracted admiring crowds and attention from record label executives. Industry maven Clive Davis even dropped by to see him. By the summer of 1992, limos from executives eager to sign the singer lined the street outside Sin-é. Buckley signed with Columbia Records, home of Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, for a three-album, essentially million-dollar deal in October 1992. Recording dates were set for July and August 1993 for what would become Buckley's recording debut, an EP of four songs which included a cover of Van Morrison's "The Way Young Lovers Do". Live at Sin-é was released on November 23, 1993, documenting this period of Buckley's life.
Grace
In mid-1993, Buckley began working on his first album with record producer Andy Wallace, who had mixed Nirvana's multi-platinum album Nevermind. Buckley assembled a band, composed of bassist Mick Grondahl and drummer Matt Johnson, and spent several weeks rehearsing. In September, the trio headed to Bearsville Studios in Woodstock, New York to spend six weeks recording basic tracks for what would become Grace. Buckley invited ex-bandmate Lucas to play guitar on the songs "Grace" and "Mojo Pin", and Woodstock-based jazz musician Karl Berger wrote and conducted string arrangements with Buckley assisting at times. Buckley returned home for overdubbing at studios in Manhattan and New Jersey where he performed take after take to capture the perfect vocals and experimented with ideas for additional instruments, and added textures to the songs.
In January 1994, Buckley left to go on his first solo North American tour to support Live at Sin-é. It was followed by a 10-day European tour in March. Buckley played clubs and coffeehouses and made in-store appearances. After returning, Buckley invited guitarist Michael Tighe to join the band and a collaboration between the two resulted in "So Real", a song which was recorded as a late addition to the album. In June, Buckley began his first full band tour called the "Peyote Radio Theatre Tour" that lasted into August. Pretender Chrissie Hynde, Soundgarden's Chris Cornell, and The Edge from U2 were among the attendees of these early shows.
Grace was released on August 23, 1994. In addition to seven original songs, the album included three covers: "Lilac Wine", based on the version by Nina Simone; "Corpus Christi Carol", from Benjamin Britten's A Boy Was Born, Op.3, a composition that Buckley was introduced to in high school, based on a 15th century hymn; and "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen, based on John Cale's recording from the Cohen tribute album, I'm Your Fan. Buckley's rendition of "Hallelujah" has been called "Buckley's best" and "one of the great songs" by Time, and is included on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".
Sales of Grace were slow and it garnered little radio airplay, despite critical acclaim. The Sydney Morning Herald proclaimed it "a romantic masterpiece" and a "pivotal, defining work".Despite slow initial sales the album went gold in France and Australia over the next two years, achieving gold status in the U.S. in 2002, and selling over six times platinum in Australia in 2006.
Grace won appreciation from a host of revered musicians, including members of Buckley's biggest influence, Led Zeppelin. Jimmy Page considered Grace close to being his "favorite album of the decade". Robert Plant was also complimentary. Others who had influenced Buckley's music lauded him: Bob Dylan named Buckley "one of the great songwriters of this decade", and, in an interview with Village Voice, David Bowie named Grace as one of the ten albums he would take with him to a desert island. The album eventually went on to feature in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003, appearing at #303.
Concert tours
Buckley spent much of the next year and a half touring internationally to promote Grace. From the album's release, he played in numerous countries, from Australia, to the UK (Glastonbury Festival and the 1995 Meltdown Festival — at which he sang Henry Purcell's 'Dido's Lament' — at the invitation of Elvis Costello). Following Buckley's Peyote Radio Theater tour, the band began a European tour on August 23, 1994, starting with performances in the UK and Ireland. The tour continued in Scandinavia and, throughout September, numerous concerts in Germany were played. The tour ended on September 22 with a concert in Paris. A gig on September 24 in New York dovetailed on to the end of the European tour and Buckley and band spent the next month relaxing and rehearsing.
A tour of Canada and the U.S. began on October 19, 1994 at CBGB's. The tour was far reaching with concerts held on both east and west coasts of the U.S., and a number of performances in central and southern states. The tour ended two months later on December 18 at Maxwell's in New Jersey. After another month of rest and rehearsal, the band commenced a second European tour, this time mainly for promotion purposes. The band began the tour in Dublin; Buckley has remained particularly popular in Ireland to this day. The short tour largely consisted of promotional work in London and Paris.
In late January, the band did their first tour of Japan, playing concerts and appearing for promotion of the album and newly released Japanese single "Last Goodbye". The band returned to Europe on February 6 and toured various Western European countries before returning to the U.S. on March 6. Among the gigs performed during this period, Buckley and his band performed at a 19th century built French venue, the Bataclan, and material from the concert was recorded and later released in October of that year as a four track EP, Live from the Bataclan. Also, songs from a performance on February 25, at the venue Nighttown in Rotterdam, were subsequently released as a promotional-only CD, So Real.
Touring recommenced in April with dates across the U.S. and Canada. During this period Buckley and the band notably played Metro in Chicago, which was recorded on video and later released as Live in Chicago on VHS and later on DVD. In addition, on June 4 they played at Sony Music Studios for the Sony Music radio hour. Following this was a month long European tour between June 20 and July 18 in which they played many summer music festivals. During the tour, Buckley played two concerts at the Paris Olympia, a venue made famous by the French vocalist Édith Piaf, that he considered the finest performances of his career. Shortly after this Buckley attended the Festival de la Musique Sacrée (Festival of Sacred Music), also held in France, and performed "What Will You Say" as a duet with Alim Qasimov, an Azerbaijani mugham singer. Sony BMG has since released a live album, 2001's Live a L'Olympia, which has a selection of songs from both Olympia performances and the collaboration with Qasimov.
Buckley's Mystery White Boy tour, playing concerts in both Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, lasted between August 28 and September 6 and recordings of these performances were compiled and released on the live album Mystery White Boy. Buckley was so well received during these concerts that his album Grace went gold in Australia, selling over 35,000 copies, and taking this into account he decided a longer tour was needed and returned for a tour of New Zealand and Australia in February the following year.
Between the two Oceanian tours Buckley and the band took a break from touring. Buckley played solo in the meantime with concerts at Sin-é and a New Year's Eve concert at Mercury Lounge in New York. After the break, the band spent the majority of February on the Hard Luck Tour in Australia and New Zealand, but tensions had risen between the group and drummer Matt Johnson. The concert on March 1, 1996 was the last gig he played with Buckley and his band.
Much of the material from the tours of 1995 and 1996 was recorded and released on either promotional EPs, such as the Grace EP, or posthumously on albums, such as Mystery White Boy (a reference to Buckley not using his real name) and Live a L'Olympia. Many of the other concerts Buckley played during this period have surfaced on bootleg recordings.
Following Johnson's departure, the band, now without a drummer, was put on hold and did not perform live again until February 12, 1997. Due to the pressure from extensive touring, Buckley spent the majority of the year away from the stage. However, from May 2 to May 5 he played a short stint as bass guitarist with Mind Science of the Mind, with friend Nathan Larson, then guitarist of Shudder to Think. Buckley returned to playing live concerts when he went on his "phantom solo tour" of cafés in the Northeast in December 1996, appearing under a series of aliases: The Crackrobats, Possessed by Elves, Father Demo, Smackrobiotic, The Halfspeeds, Crit-Club, Topless America, Martha & the Nicotines, and A Puppet Show Named Julio. By way of justification, Buckley posted a note on his Internet site stating that he missed the anonymity of playing in cafes and local bars:
There was a time in my life not too long ago when I could show up in a cafe and simply do what I do, make music, learn from performing my music, explore what it means to me, i.e., have fun while I irritate and/or entertain an audience who don't know me or what I am about. In this situation I have that precious and irreplaceable luxury of failure, of risk, of surrender. I worked very hard to get this kind of thing together, this work forum. I loved it and then I missed it when it disappeared. All I am doing is reclaiming it.
Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk
After completing touring in 1996, Buckley started to write for a new album to be called My Sweetheart the Drunk. Buckley worked with Patti Smith on her 1996 album Gone Again and met fellow collaborater Tom Verlaine, an ex-Television member. Buckley asked Verlaine to be producer on the new album and he agreed. In the middle of 1996, Buckley and his band began recording sessions in Manhattan with Verlaine. Eric Eidel played the drums through these sessions as a stop-gap between the dates drummer Matt Johnson left and before Parker Kindred joined as full-time drummer. Around this time Buckley met Inger Lorre of The Nymphs in an East Village bar, struck up a fast and close friendship. Together, they contributed a track to Kerouac: Kicks Joy Darkness, a Jack Kerouac tribute album. After Lorre's backup guitarist for an upcoming album quit the project, Buckley offered to fill in. He became very attached to one of the songs from the album, "Yard of Blonde Girls", and covered it on Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk. Another recording session in Manhattan followed in early 1997, but Buckley and the band were unsatisfied and the album was not considered finished.
On February 4, 1997, Buckley played a short set at The Knitting Factory's tenth anniversary concert featuring a selection of his new songs: "Jewel Box", "Morning Theft", "Everybody Here Wants You", "The Sky is a Landfill" and "Yard of Blonde Girls". Lou Reed was there to watch and expressed an interest in working with Buckley. The band played their first gig with Parker Kindred, their new drummer, at Arlene's Grocery in New York on February 9. This set featured much of Buckley's new material that would appear on Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk and a recording has become one of Buckley's most widely distributed bootlegs. Later that month, Buckley recorded a spoken word reading of the Edgar Allan Poe poem, "Ulalume", for the album Closed on Account of Rabies. This would be his last recording in New York; shortly after, he moved to Memphis, Tennessee.
Buckley became interested in recording at Easley McCain Recording in Memphis, at the suggestion of friend Dave Shouse from the Grifters. He rented a shotgun house there, of which he was so fond he contacted the owner about the possibility of buying it. Throughout this period, February 12 to May 26, 1997, Buckley played at Barristers', a bar located in downtown Memphis underneath a parking garage in an alley off of Jefferson Avenue. He played numerous times in order to work through the new material in a live atmosphere, at first with band and then solo as part of a Monday night residency. In early February, Buckley and the band did a third recording session with Verlaine, in Memphis, but Buckley expressed his dissatisfaction with the sessions and later called Grace producer, Andy Wallace, to step in as Verlaine's replacement. Buckley started recording demos on his own 4-track recorder in preparation for a forthcoming session with Wallace. Some of these demos were sent to his band in New York, who listened to them enthusiastically, and were excited to resume working on the album. These recordings would go on to compose the first disc of Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk. However Buckley was not entirely happy with the results and he sent his band back to New York while he stayed behind to work on the songs. The band was scheduled to return to Memphis for rehearsals and recording sessions May 29.
Death
On the evening of May 29, 1997, Buckley's band flew to Memphis intending to join him in his studio there to work on the newly-written material. That same evening, Buckley went swimming in Wolf River Harbor, a slackwater channel of the Mississippi River, while wearing boots, all of his clothing, and singing the chorus of the song "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin. Buckley had gone swimming there several times before. A roadie in Buckley's band, Keith Foti, remained on shore. After moving a radio and guitar out of reach of the wake from a passing tugboat, Foti looked up to see that Buckley had vanished. Despite a determined rescue effort that night, Buckley remained missing. On June 4, two locals spotted his body in the Mississippi River near a riverboat, and it was brought to land.
Buckley's autopsy showed no signs of drugs or alcohol in his system and the death was ruled as an accidental drowning. The following statement was released from the Buckley estate:
Jeff Buckley's death was not "mysterious," related to drugs, alcohol, or suicide. We have a police report, a medical examiner's report, and an eye witness to prove that it was an accidental drowning, and that Mr. Buckley was in a good frame of mind prior to the accident.
Legacy
After Buckley's death, a collection of demo recordings and a full-length album he had been reworking for his second album were released as Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk — the compilation being overseen by his mother, Mary Guibert, band members and old friend Michael J. Clouse, as well as Chris Cornell. The album achieved gold sales in Australia in 1998. Three other albums composed of live recordings have also been released, along with a live DVD of a performance in Chicago. A previously unreleased 1992 recording of "I Shall Be Released", sung by Buckley over the phone on live radio, was released on the album For New Orleans.
Since his death, Buckley has been the subject of numerous documentaries: Fall in Light, a 1999 production for French TV, Goodbye and Hello, a program about Buckley and his father produced for Netherlands TV in 2000 and Everybody Here Wants You, a documentary made in 2002 by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). An hour long documentary about Buckley called Amazing Grace: Jeff Buckley has been shown at various film festivals to critical acclaim. The film was released worldwide in 2009 by Sony BMG Legacy as part of the Grace Around The World Deluxe Edition. In the spring of 2009 it was revealed that Ryan Jaffe, best known for scripting the movie The Rocker, had replaced Brian Jun as screenwriter. Orion Williams is also set to co-produce the film with Michelle Sy. A separate project involving the book Dream Brother was allegedly cancelled.
PJ Harvey knew him personally and in the song "Memphis", she takes lines from a song on his unfinished album, "Morning Theft", and in her own words reflects on Buckley's death: "In Memphis...die suddenly, at a wonderful age, we're ready to go".
Rufus Wainwright, whose career had barely started when he met Buckley, wrote "Memphis Skyline" in tribute to him, singing "then came hallelujah sounding like Ophelia, for me in my room living, turn back and you will stay, under the Memphis Skyline".
Duncan Sheik also wrote and recorded the song "A Body Goes Down", from his 1998 album Humming in response to Buckley's death.
Steve Adey wrote a song tribute entitled "Mississippi" on his 2006 album All Things Real. The song contains the lyrics "Until the morning thief steals the humming of the Lord", a reference to Buckley's song "Morning Theft".
Willie Nile’s On The Road To Calvary from his 1999 album Beautiful Wreck Of The World was written as a tribute to Buckley.
Juliana Hatfield has written two songs related to her grieving for Buckley: "Trying Not To Think About It" on her EP Please Do Not Disturb and "Until Tomorrow" on Beautiful Creature.
Mike Doughty's song "Grey Ghost" from his album Haughty Melodic was written in response to Buckley's death.
Chris Cornell wrote a tribute song entitled "Wave Goodbye" on his first solo album Euphoria Morning.
Patty Griffin wrote a tribute song entitled "Goodbye" on her solo album Flaming Red.
In May and June 2007, Buckley's life and music were celebrated globally with tributes in Australia, Canada, England, France, Iceland, Israel, Ireland, FYROM, Portugal and the U.S. Many of Buckley's family members attended the various tribute concerts across the globe, some of which they helped organize. There are three annual Jeff Buckley tribute events: the Chicago-based Uncommon Ground, featuring a three day concert schedule, An Evening With Jeff Buckley, an annual New York City tribute, and the Australia-based Fall In Light. The latter event is run by the Fall In Light Foundation, which in addition to the concerts, runs a "Guitars for Schools" program. The name of the foundation is taken from the lyrics of Buckley's "New Year's Prayer".
On March 7, 2008, Buckley’s version of the Leonard Cohen song, “Hallelujah”, went to No. 1 on the iTunes chart, selling 178,000 downloads for the week, after being performed by Jason Castro on the seventh season of the television series American Idol. The song debuted at #1 that week on Billboard's Hot Digital Songs chart, giving Buckley his first #1 on any Billboard chart.
In a similar vein, the 2008 UK X Factor winner, Alexandra Burke, released a cover of "Hallelujah" with the intent to top the UK Singles Chart as the Christmas number one single. Buckley fans countered this, launching a campaign with the aim of propelling Buckley's version to the number one spot. The campaign picked up support through social network websites and it soon spread to the mainstream media. Buckley's version of the song entered the UK charts at #49 on November 30 and by December 21 it had reached #2; in spite of the fact that it had not been released in a physical format.
In 2009, actress and singer Scarlett Johansson covered Buckley's "Last Goodbye" for the soundtrack of her film He's Just Not That Into You.
Incubus is an American rock band, from Calabasas, California. The group was formed in 1991 by vocalist Brandon Boyd, lead guitarist Mike Einziger, and drummer Jose Pasillas while enrolled in high school and later expanded to include bassist Alex "Dirk Lance" Katunich, and Gavin "DJ Lyfe" Koppell, both of whom were eventually replaced by bassist Ben Kenney, and DJ Kilmore, respectively.
Incubus has received both critical acclaim and commercial success, reaching multi-platinum sales, as well as releasing several highly successful singles. The band started branching out creatively and earned mainstream recognition with the release of their 1999 album Make Yourself. In 2001, Incubus became even more successful with the single "Drive" and their follow up album Morning View. Their latest studio album, Light Grenades, debuted at #1 in 2006 and has received Gold certification in the U.S. Incubus released their first greatest hits album Monuments and Melodies in June 2009, accompanied by a tour of the United States, Japan and Canada.
History
Beginnings and debut album (1991—1997)
Vocalist Brandon Boyd, drummer Jose Pasillas, bassist Alex Katunich and guitarist Mike Einziger began playing together when they were in tenth grade. Somewhere around the year 1994, Incubus released a demo tape called Closet Cultivation, and with addition they released other demos that did not appear on Closet Cultivation such as Miss Bliss, Purple Kool-Aid, and Damnation? Einziger contacted Joanne Stanulonis, a well known music and math teacher who was always working with school age musical acts, usually on the set or in the studio or on tour. Joanne had just finished touring with Steve Vai's teenage musical prodigies, "Bad4Good." With her connections to the music industry and the savoir faire to book minor aged acts on Sunset Strip, Joanne booked Incubus at The Roxy, The Troubadour, and The Whiskey before they graduated high school. Through Joanne's friendship with Producer Jim Wirt and his wife Kathleen, Joanne arranged free recording and studio time at 4th Street Recording. It was where Fungus Amongus was produced and recorded. In 1995, turntablist, Gavin Koppell (known by stage name DJ Lyfe) joined them. The band's first major-label release was 1997's six-track EP titled Enjoy Incubus, and was necessarily created so the band could represent a recording while touring with Korn in Europe.
S.C.I.E.N.C.E. (1997—1998)
S.C.I.E.N.C.E., Incubus' second studio album, was released on September 9, 1997. After their album release, they started opening for bands such as Korn, 311, and Sublime. On February, 1998, Incubus dismissed Koppel. They decided that with him in the band they could no longer be a productive family. A friend recommended Chris Kilmore to fill the position. The band enjoyed Kilmore's style and attitude to life and asked him to join the band. Incubus participated in Ozzfest and Family Values Tour concerts and toured with System of a Down and Ultraspank during the fall. DJ Kilmore (first name Chris) replaced DJ Lyfe.
Make Yourself (1999—2001)
After constant touring throughout 1998, and after selling over 100,000 copies of S.C.I.E.N.C.E. without the support of radio or television exposure, Incubus took a break for two years and then released their critically acclaimed third album Make Yourself.
After just 2 weeks in the studio with producer Jim Wirt, the band was unhappy with the recordings and opted to continue recording without a producer. After another 3 weeks of recording, R.E.M./Nirvana producer Scott Litt took an interest in their songs and started taking part in the recording sessions, mainly focusing on songs like "Drive" and "Stellar". According to the band, Scott's involvement in the record came mostly during the mixing process.
Make Yourself was released on October 26, 1999. Right after their album's release, the band went on tour with Primus and Buckethead, a tour which lasted for the remainder of the year. The first song that kicked off the album, "Privilege", was featured on MTV Sports: Pure Ride for the PlayStation. The band also released the single, "Pardon Me", but it was initially not well-received by radio stations. Brandon and Mike decided to perform a live acoustic version of the song at the few radio stations who were showing interest, and this in turn spread the word of the song. Many radio stations began to play the acoustic version, including the highly influential Los Angeles radio giant KROQ.
With sparked interest in the song, radio stations began playing the studio version of "Pardon Me". In response, Incubus made a video for the song and released a six song EP titled When Incubus Attacks (Vol. 1) on August 22, 2000. The EP contained the acoustic version of "Pardon Me". In its first week, the EP sold nearly 40,000 copies, and scored #41 on the Billboard Album Charts. To start off 2000, the band headed out on Tour with System of a Down, and Mr. Bungle until March, at which point they embarked on a headline tour in clubs until April.
Due to the success of "Pardon Me", Make Yourself reached Gold certification (500,000 copies sold) in April 2000. Incubus continued to tour overseas, and returned home at the end of May to go on a tour of the United States with long time friends 311. "Stellar," the next single from the album was soon released, and its video received afternoon airplay on MTV and TRL, becoming a huge success on Modern Rock Chart. In July, Incubus were once again on the Ozzfest bill, until the late summer.
The band then took a short break after finishing the Ozzfest 2000 Tour, playing two acoustic shows at Artist Direct Studios. On October 5, 2000, Make Yourself went Platinum (1,000,000 copies sold), and shortly after, the band went on tour with Deftones. The band re-released their debut full-length album Fungus Amongus on November 7, 2000.
On January 15, 2001, the band released "Drive," the fourth single from Make Yourself after "Privilege" was released (which then went to the top 20 where it stayed at #3 for 6 weeks.) It moved quickly up to the top of the Modern Rock Charts, eventually hitting the #1 spot. The single was a huge success and helped the band break into the mainstream. The single eventually reached the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.
Morning View (2001—2002)
The band took a break during the first part of 2001 before heading to a beachside mansion in Malibu, California, to record their follow-up album, which would later become known as Morning View.
They began touring once more with Hundred Reasons in Europe from June until the first week of July. At this time, the band was invited to play with the Area 1 Festival, which featured Moby, Outkast, The Roots, Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox, and Nelly Furtado. Also, in July, Make Yourself was certified double-platinum, selling 2 million copies. In August, the band got to play their first shows in Australia and Japan, before returning to the United States to begin their long-awaited headlining tour with their long-time friends from California, Hoobastank. Meanwhile, the band's video for "Drive" was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award in the category of Best Group Video.
Continuing to tour, Incubus released their first single, "Wish You Were Here", from their upcoming record, Morning View, on August 21, 2001. The single instantly began to climb up the Modern Rock charts, reaching #2 by early September. The music video was released at the end of that month, after being re-cut to make it more viewable in the wake of the 9/11 disaster. The video earned viewings on MTV's TRL, VH1, and MuchMusic. Their follow up single was "Nice to Know You."
On October 23, 2001, the band released their fourth full-length major label album. The name was taken from the street on which the band's recording studio was situated. Incubus continued to headline dates after its release, and "Wish You Were Here" continued to sit among the top 10 on Billboards Modern Rock Charts. Morning View debuted on the Billboard Top 200 at the #2 spot (266,000 copies were sold in its first week). This was the highest ever placement for Incubus. At the same time, "Wish You Were Here" was at #2 on the Modern Rock Charts, and "Drive" sat at #48 on the Hot 100 chart. The band won an award for Billboard's Modern Rock Single of the Year for "Drive". By December, Morning View was certified platinum, "Wish You Were Here" was #4 on modern rock charts, and Morning View was #38 on top 200.
On December 11, Incubus released When Incubus Attacks (Vol. 2), a DVD that featured music videos for "Take Me to Your Leader", "A Certain Shade of Green", "Pardon Me", "Stellar", "Drive", "I Miss You", and "Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song)", live footage, backstage video, and more.
To begin 2002, Incubus was #9 with "Drive", #12 with "Stellar", #20 with "Wish You Were Here", #75 with "Nice To Know You" and #31 with the album Morning View. On January 24, 2002, MTV's TRL premiered the "Nice to Know You" video, and Boyd called in from Europe where the band was on tour with 311 and Hoobastank. The band was then featured on MTV's Becoming, TRL, The Tonight Show, and played the Letterman show on February 14, 2002, all before heading off to play dates in Japan and Australia for the remainder of February and March. While in Sydney, the band shot the video for their next single, "Warning", from March 7 until March 11. The band then released the DVD Morning View Sessions on May 28, shortly before playing the Weenie Roast on June 8 for KROQ.
Incubus issued a limited edition version of Morning View on October 1 to coincide with their fall headlining tour. The new version of the album contained a DVD dubbed the "Morning After View Session". It featured the U.K. video for the group's track "Are You In?", tour footage, new artwork, behind the scenes material, and more. Incubus' last performance in 2002 (on November 1) brought several eras for the band to a close. Their last show of the tour would be their last show touring behind 2001's Morning View, as the band looked on to playing new music. The show would also prove to be their last with bass player Dirk Lance, who left the band due to personal differences.
Lance was quietly replaced by former The Roots guitarist Ben Kenney, who began working with Einziger on new songs for a psychedelic jazz-funk project called Time Lapse Consortium. Incubus ended the year on the charts, having "Wish You Were Here" (#10), "Warning" (#16), and "Nice To Know You" (#26) on the alternative rock format chart, joining "Wish You Were Here" (#25) and "Nice To Know You" (#36). Morning View was the 40th best selling album of 2002.
A Crow Left of the Murder... (2003—2004)
On January 6, 2003, the band began writing for their next record. The next month, on February 7, the band began to renegotiate their record contract. The band, which had been signed to Epic/Immortal for seven years, cited the fact that state law limits the amount of time that an artist can be bound to a company. The band had been signed to the label for 7 years, and used California's "Seven Years Law" as a negotiating tool with Epic/Immortal. After releasing 3 highly successful albums, the band had been compensated poorly compared to the revenue that they had generated for Sony. The band entered a lawsuit against their label in order to break from their contract, to which Sony responded with a lawsuit of their own.
On March 1, Einziger, along with Scott Litt, Dave Holdredge, and Rick Will, was nominated for a Grammy in the "Best Engineered Album (Non Classical)" category, for their work on Morning View.
On April 3, after weeks of circulating rumors about Dirk Lance's departure from the band, an official announcement was made by the band. A decision had been reached amongst members of Incubus in a face-to-face meeting at the end of the Morning View tour to discuss his involvement in the band. The band said that the split had become necessary due to "irreconcilable creative differences". Almost immediately after the announcement of a new bass player, the 2003 Incubus vs. Sony case had been settled. The two sides settled on a new contract that delivers three albums to Epic/Immortal with an option on a fourth. The first album would be worth $8 million in advances to the band, with another $2.5 million for each one thereafter.
By December the new album, which was recorded at Southern Tracks Recording Studios in Atlanta, GA was recorded live, opposed to recording each instrument at separate times, and was produced by Brendan O'Brien (Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots) was completed and scheduled for release. Titled A Crow Left of the Murder..., the album was to be an enhanced CD with behind-the-scenes video. In the videos, Einziger and Boyd discussed their new songs. Einziger described them as "like the old shit, but older. It's very different. It's very energetic and fast, and a lot of it is more technical. I guess maybe in the vein of more of our older songs; they don't sound like our older songs. They are more exploratory."
On December 15, 2003, the first single, "Megalomaniac", was released. It raised controversy when it was said to be an attack on the Bush administration, and was banned from daytime view on MTV (despite the band saying that it was not an attack on a particular person, rather a comment on some people's negative attitudes). However, the band was actually pleased with this nighttime viewing restriction. Says Boyd, “When we heard our video had been relegated to late night rotation, I think that all of us were secretly like, ‘Yes!’ ”. Pasillas reflected Boyd's sentiments, saying, "I think it's okay if people think that we're trying to make a political statement. Whatever anyone conjures up or takes from our music is good; I mean, our point is to get people thinking."
A Crow Left of the Murder... was released in 2004, showcasing a new turn for the band. The second single released was "Talk Shows on Mute", featuring a video that was inspired by George Orwell's [Nineteen Eighty-Four]. After this release, Incubus hit the road again.
Incubus toured worldwide in 2004 with many bands, including Ben Kweller, The Walkmen, Hundred Reasons, The Music, Brand New and Sparta, to promote their new album. One song left off the album, the 27-minute long instrumental entitled "The Odyssey", was later featured on soundtrack for the video game, Halo 2.
In November 2004, the band released a live DVD entitled Alive at Red Rocks, filmed in Red Rocks Park, Colorado, during their world tour for A Crow Left of the Murder.... Along with the DVD came a bonus CD featuring five tracks, including a studio version of live favorite "Pantomime", "Follow" (a lyrical version, different from the First Movement of the Odyssey version), and the U.K. B-Side "Monuments and Melodies". Two live tracks were also included. The performance was also sold in high definition via Blu-ray Disc. A high definition version of the entire song "Pardon Me" is also available for free download from the PlayStation Store, an online service for PlayStation 3 users.
In December 2004, at a gig in Los Angeles the band played The Police hits "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da", "Message in a Bottle" & "Roxanne" with Stewart Copeland and Andy Summers from the former band.
Light Grenades (2005—2008)
In the spring of 2005, the band went back into the studio with Brendan O'Brien. Three new songs were released in late July 2005 as part of the soundtrack album to the Sony film Stealth. The track "Make a Move", was released to radio in late May, and song reached #17 (Modern Rock Charts) and #19 (Mainstream Rock Charts). Fan reaction towards "Make a Move" was lukewarm, but the other two new songs, "Admiration" and "Neither of Us Can See" (a duet with Chrissie Hynde), seemed to be much more well-liked.
In January 2006, the first of a series of Incubus podcasts was released by the band via internet. Among other things, the podcast featured the band's thoughts about their 2005 South American tour, some information on their new album, a mash-up of "Drive" and Tupac's "Better Dayz", a cover of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun", and a few live interludes.
On August 1, 2006, the band announced that album number six, Light Grenades, was soon to be released and that it was being produced by Brendan O'Brien. A few weeks afterwards, the release date was confirmed to be Tuesday, November 28. Upon release, Light Grenades debuted #1 on the Billboard charts, the first time Incubus has ever sat atop the album charts, despite only selling 165,000 copies (their lowest debut for an album since Make Yourself) in the first week.
In November, Incubus played two exclusive European shows in Berlin and London. These were both in less than 2000 capacity venues — a special occasion for the band and the fans (due to Incubus's mainstream success, the band now usually plays at large arenas worldwide). The band used these shows to showcase new material from Light Grenades.
The bands first single, Anna Molly, had a music video which had mainstream success.
On December 27, 2006, Incubus launched the "I Dig Incubus" contest, in which participants cut together clips of the band performing their single "Dig", to form a complete music video. On February 1, 2007, five finalists were announced for the "I Dig Incubus" contest. In a video interview on Blender, bassist and vocalist Ben Kenney said, "It's almost something that will happen whether or not we want to do it. People will make their own videos for songs. It's kind of a cool way for us to get together with fans out there who are artistic." On August 4, 2007, Incubus played on the first day at Baltimore's Virgin Festival along with bands such as The Police and Beastie Boys.
Michael Einziger had been suffering from Carpal tunnel syndrome and although he had an operation that has corrected the problem, he needed to recuperate for a few months, hence recent tour plans were postponed. Incubus apologized to fans and continued the tour in the summer and autumn.
In February and March 2008, Incubus hit the road again starting in New Zealand and headlining the Soundwave Festival in Australia alongside The Offspring and Alexisonfire, and toured Asia performing to sell-out crowds. In Singapore, they met fans at a Meet and Greet session at Changi Airport and performed at Fort Canning Hill. In April, Incubus performed at the Festival Imperial in Costa Rica, along with the bands The Smashing Pumpkins and Duran Duran, and later in Venezuela at the Poliedro de Caracas. Incubus also performed a number of shows throughout Europe this summer including the Rock am Ring and Rock im Park Festivals in Germany, the Nova Rock Festival in Austria, Pinkpop Festival in the Netherlands and the Download Festival in England. In July 2008, the band played in a VH1 tribute to The Who alongside Foo Fighters, Pearl Jam and The Flaming Lips.
Hiatus (2008)
In April 2008 the band took a break from touring and recording while its members concentrated on school, family and other activities. Brandon Boyd enrolled in a university art program, while guitarist Mike Einziger went to Harvard music school to study composition. Drummer José Pasillas was also "having a baby, so there's a lot of normal life stuff going on right now—school, babies, mortgages," Boyd said. "I'm of the mind to say it wouldn't be a bad thing to disappear for a year or two years," he said. "A lot of people would say culture moves too fast and you need to remind people, but I would argue there's not any rush."
Seventh studio album (2009—present)
In mid January 2009, Incubus posted a video to their official site, describing what each band member was currently occupied with in the form of letters to each other. The resolution of the video was that the band was planning on getting back together soon, excited to create new music with their diverse experiences over their respite.
On March 11, 2009, Incubus posted an update to their official site detailing the new Greatest Hits album, Monuments and Melodies. The first single for the album is "Black Heart Inertia" expected on April 7, 2009 with the album coming two months later on June 16, 2009. Disc one of the album includes the new singles "Black Heart Inertia" and "Midnight Swim" as well as the top radio hits of the last decade. Then Disc 2 of the album contains songs that have not been released officially on an album, or were rejected demos on prior albums, as well as an acoustic version of "A Certain Shade of Green," and a cover of the Prince song "Let's Go Crazy." The band also announced many confirmed dates for a Summer Amphitheater Tour of the US.
On April 1, 2009, the band posted a fake "making of" video that was filmed on the set of "Black Heart Inertia". In the video, Brandon and his double "swapped places". Brandon fetched coffee for his double, and his double also imitated Christian Bale when the DP annoyed him, shouting at and violently chasing him out off of the set. After the short film, the first full stream of "Black Heart Inertia" was uploaded, clocking in at 4:17. On April 2, the full song was streamed on the band's official site. The song peaked at #7 on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, making it the band's 15th Top 10 standing on the list.
On June 16, 2009, Monuments and Melodies was released to the public, and opened at #5 on the Billboard 200. Monuments and Melodies was the band's fourth album to reach the top 5 on the Billboard 200. The next month, on July 1, 2009, Boyd stated to North County Times, "We are definitely going to be writing ... in hopes of putting out a record sometime in 2010. That's the hope. We can never force anything. I definitely have the suspicion that we're going to get on the road together this summer, and we're just going to start playing and stuff is going to start brewing, and we're going to light that fire again."
In January 2010, it was revealed that former turntablist Gavin "DJ Lyfe" Koppell threatened current turntablist Chris Kilmore in a store on December 28, 2009. Chris Kilmore, who replaced Gavin Koppell in 1998 claimed that Koppell, "asked me to fight him right there and raised his fists to me." As result of the incident, a judge has granted a new restraining order against Koppell. Kilmore also had a previous restraining order issued against Koppell in 2003 after Koppell allegedly spat in his face.
After the release of singer Brandon Boyd's first solo album, The Wild Trapeze on July 6, 2010, it was announced that Incubus will head back into the studio to begin writing and recording a new studio album, tentatively scheduled for a 2011 release. The band played a handful of South American tour dates in October 2010, also debuting a new song "Surface to Air".
Music
Over the course of their career, Incubus has utilized elements from a variety of genres and styles, including alternative rock, heavy metal, electro, funk, funk metal, jazz, hip hop nu metal, rap metal, techno and trip hop. With many critics praising the band's ambition, it has also made them difficult to correctly classify. The band has issued a wide variety of instruments into their music, that are not traditionally not associated with use in rock music, including a djembe, sitar, didgeridoo, and bongos on many of their earlier tracks and during live performances, and with the use of a pipa (played by Einziger) in the song "Aqueous Transmission". The pipa was lent to the band by guitarist Steve Vai.
