Brandon Boyd Inseparable threads
Brandon Boyd is something of a Renaissance man. He may have found fame creating vocal hooks with esoteric lyrics as lead singer of Incubus, but the thirty-one-year-old is also an accomplished artist, has published two books (White Fluffy Clouds, 2004, and From The Murks Of the Sultry Abyss, 2007), and spends a fair amount of time in the water. Super mellow, articulate and exuding hippy-ish charm, Boyd tells HUCK about the inseparable threads that make up his life.
HUCK: Okay, so how did you start surfing?
Brandon Boyd: I was ten and my family took a trip north of Los Angeles. We were driving towards San Francisco and stopped at Pismo beach – a big surfing spot in Southern California – to have lunch. There were a bunch of kids, not much older than me, surfing and walking out of the water with surfboards. I thought it looked cool, pointed at them and was like, ‘I wanna do that!’ I didn’t even see what they were doing – just walking with their boards. So my dad, brothers and I did a couple of weekends worth of chores – weed-pulling, vacuuming and what not – until we saved up enough money to buy one surfboard that we shared among the three of us. By the time I was eleven I was surfing quite a bit, then by twelve and thirteen I was obsessed.
Can you remember what it first felt like when you could pop up?
I think my dad was filming, and so when I first stood up I started turning my board all crazy like I had seen in the /Wave Warriors/ videos. I thought I was fucking ripping. Then I saw the video and it made me really sad. From this day I won’t watch a video of me surfing because you always rip harder in your mind than you do in reality. I won’t watch videos of us in concert either – I rock way harder in my head than I do in real life.
Do you get a lot of time to surf when you’re at home?
Every day! When Mike was recovering from his surgery [Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger had an operation to combat Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in his hand and couldn’t play guitar for months in spring 2007], I would ride my bike and go to the beach every day.
Have you got any plans for trips further afield?
I would very much like to surf in Costa Rica. We were trying to organise a concert there in December, but I might just go with some friends. We went before, and didn’t get a great swell, but it was fun, and the atmosphere is so cool.
Do you skate or snowboard as well, or is it all about surfing?
I didn’t snowboard when I was young because it was so expensive. My older brother actually started surfing, but then got obsessed with snowboarding so he actually got a job manning a lift in Big Bear. A lot of people gravitate from skating or snowboarding – there’s a lot of cross-pollination. But for me, I just love being at the beach. Before you surf, after you surf, you can sit and gaze at waves – stare off into your playing field. Seeing the water move, hearing the seagulls, smelling the salt… it’s all part of the experience.
Do you think creatively music and surfing are linked or are they quite separate?
I think that the two have a lot of differences, but the similarities are pretty obvious: they are the most spontaneous behaviour that we can engage in. Sexuality is relatively spontaneous as well, but in surfing you’re reacting moment-by-moment, and not really sure of what you’re doing until you’re doing it. I’ve linked the two together before but I think that’s what makes them so important and why artists gravitate to such things. They’re looking for that spontaneity – that moment. You have to think on your toes constantly. And it’s a really wonderful place to exist.
Does surfing inspire your music?
It must! Exactly how it does I don’t know, a lot of times when I’m surfing, or getting smashed around, I’ll get weird ideas for melodies. Mike will e-mail me an MP3 or CD of a musical idea he’s had and I’ll listen to it a bunch, then on my way to the beach, or when I’m sitting in the water, his idea will be pumping around my head. I’ve written a whole bunch of stuff in the water.
From The Murks Of The Sultry Abyss, a collection of photos, drawings and musings, was published earlier this year. What did you make of the incredibly positive reaction from fans?
I was not prepared for it all. It was a pleasant surprise. Like waking up and walking downstairs and you’ve forgotten that it was Christmas and being like, ‘Holy shit! Look at all these presents!’ I feel very lucky: firstly to have that opportunity, and secondly to have a lot of people who are interested.
Does it ever freak you out that fans can be so obsessive over you?
A little bit, but only when I look at my mailbox and there are people actually in there [actions someone peering through his letterbox]. I have one of those mailboxes where my mail should fall to the floor, but every so often I’ll hear it creek, and be like, ‘Is it mail time?’ Then when I go to look, I see a pair of eyes staring back out at me… My house isn’t gated or anything – it’s just on the street.
I know you were thinking of writing a novel: have you started it yet?
I’d like to – when that happens I have no idea. I’m going to wait until I’m a more interesting individual, when there’s a bit more anger in me. [Laughs]
Have you got any exhibitions of your artwork coming up?
I did my first one in LA about eight months ago, and it went really well. It was with two friends of mine, a promoter/photographer named Brent Bolthouse and a professional photographer, Brian Bowen Smith. It was a small group show, which we hope to take to New York.
Any plans for Europe?
It would be amazing, it would be so cool to do that, but we’ll see how New York goes first. One step at a time…
You made the tour for Light Grenades carbon neutral using a biofueled fleet, recycling at shows, selling organic food and merchandise and educating fans. How did this come about?
We're a band that tour, and have made our careers from focusing on live music, but we have to take responsibility that this is also highly polluting. So we needed to find a reasonable way of making the least impact – to leave the biggest impression on our audience without leaving a massive impression on the environment.
Did your fans pick up the message pretty clearly then?
Yeah. We had the option to buy a sticker at every show, and the $3 that they spent on that sticker was spent on offsetting their carbon footprint for their journey to the show.
Is this something you'd like to continue in the future?
We'll definitely keep up with those standards and hopefully the longer we're aware of these things, the more we can think of cleaner, better ways to tour.
Is there anything you do personally?
I drive a car when I'm home – I need to as LA is big. But all of us have chosen to live in parts of California where we can do what we want to do near our home; if I can walk, I'll walk. I recycle… I have a collection of bikes and I'm lucky enough to live close to the beach.
Any last words?
Yes. Buy a bike.
The original story appeared in Huck #008.
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