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How Incubus left Ozzfest behind. Frontman Brandon Boyd tells EW.com about the band’s evolution from metal to pop

In the nü-metaling, punk-popping universe of rock radio, Incubus are an anomaly. The Calabas, California, group began as a nominal metal band, playing Ozzfest twice. But their hits — ”Drive” from their last album, ”Nice to Know You,” and ”Wish You Were Here” from their latest, ”Morning View”– are neither nü nor especially metallic.

Instead, they’re thickly textured rock, with pop melodies that made them ”TRL” favorites — and a sense of groove that led Moby to declare Incubus one of his favorite bands and invite them on his Area One tour last year. In the midst of their current tour, Incubus’ thoughtful hunk of a frontman, Brandon Boyd, tells EW.com about finding inspiration from Ani DiFranco, being a sex symbol, and fitting in with the new wave of rock and pop.

Given what you guys sound like now, does it ever seem crazy to you that you played Ozzfest?
[laughs] It even seemed crazy to us while we were doing it. But in a really weird way, playing Ozzfest helped remind us what we were and the things that we were meant to do, as opposed to the things we were not meant to do. Ozzy and Queens of the Stone Age were standouts, but most of the other bands were very forgettable. Still, they remind you there are enough bands doing THIS — with a big exclamation point and arrow pointing at the specific genre. So we said, Why don’t we concentrate on things that inspired us when we were a lot younger, like Zeppelin and the Doors, and on things we haven’t heard before in rock music, such as some of the Eastern influences.

Your lyrics seem to come from a different place than a lot of current rock bands. Which songwriters do you admire?
When I was growing up, my parents played Neil Diamond, Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Abba, and my older sister would listen to the Go-Gos and Journey and stuff like that. I liked the music and everything, but I didn’t pay much attention to the lyrics.

That’s probably a good idea.
Right. But I’ve been very influenced by Ani DiFranco. She’s an amazing lyricist. The first time I saw her was at the Troubadour in Los Angeles. I was standing right in front of her, and I remember really hearing what she was saying, and going, wow, That girl knows what she’s talking about. She had a way of saying important things in extremely clever ways. Right around the same time I was being introduced to some inspiring authors, people like Tom Robbins, Charles Bukowski, and Kurt Vonnegut.

Though you guys seem pretty serious and spiritual, a large proportion of your audience seems to be young girls. How do you feel about being a sex symbol?
There has been a contingent of young screaming women but none of us are gonna complain. If they’re there and they’re feeling it in whatever form that they’re feeling it, that’s fine with us. When women first showed up at the concerts, it had been years and years with just guys at our shows — so it was a nice surprise. As far as getting sick of the sex symbol whatever thing, we don’t pay much attention to what’s being said about us. Knock wood, I have yet to see it affect us or me adversely.

Tell me about the acoustic version of the song ”Pardon Me” [from 1999's ''Make Yourself'']. That was the first time I remember really hearing you guys on the radio?
We released [the rock version of] ”Pardon Me” as our first commercial single and it didn’t do very well. [Guitarist Mike Einziger] and I had been entertaining each other with acoustic versions of our songs, almost as a joke. Then we had a few hours off and we went into the studio in Chicago and just recorded that version of the song with a bunch of other ones from the same record. We just did it live; there’s lots of mistakes and it’s very raw. Then our label released it, and it made the rock version make more sense to people.

Did it teach you something to see the stripped-down version of your song succeed?
It was flattering that when people could actually hear the song — hear the lyric, hear the melody — they liked it better. We saw that people reacted more positively towards us when we simplified, when we were doing less. And that’s kind where we always wanted to go anyway.

You guys are a rock band who have been able to connect with the ”TRL” audience. Now teen pop is fading, some garage-type stuff is coming up — what do you make of the current state of rock and pop?
Exactly what you just said. The whole teen pop thing was as much a favor as it was a curse. I think the reasons it was a curse were self-evident. But the reason those teen artists did everyone else a favor was because they acted as a contrast to the real music that was going on. It was so perfectly clear what was the opposite of what they were doing, hence the rise of garage-type acts or even stuff that’s more in the middle, where we fall.

And how will the new climate affect you?
We have yet to create our best record. I love the records we’ve created, but I know that our defining work, our ”Joshua Tree,” has yet to be seen. So it’s very exciting. I’m also really excited about bands like the White Stripes and Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and the Hives. Those are bands that are that really f—ing cool; they’re very retro. They’re doing stuff that’s been done before, but for some reason I’m really, really happy that bands like that are being recognized right now.

Where are you with a follow-up to ”Morning View”?
We’ve all been writing our little parts, like we always do. I’m always writing lyrics. Probably the most thought that’s gone into it is wondering where we’re going to do it this time. We did the last one in a beautiful 12,000 square-foot mansion in Malibu. How can we outdo that? Maybe we can find a castle in Spain to do our record in. I want to record the vocals wireless on a beach, frolicking in the waves. And hopefully not get electrocuted.