Incubus frontman Brandon Boyd explains why he’s a big fan of Phish in a new installment of Rock Sound’s My Favourite Band video series. Boyd shared his appreciation for the quartet’s music, discussed Phish’s influence on Incubus and detailed his early experiences listening to the band and watching them perform live.
Boyd has never been shy about his Phish fandom. The vocalist has talked up the Vermont-based jam act in numerous interviews over the years and hosted an episode of Phish Radio’s “Crowd Control” in 2021. Incubus guitarist Mike Einzinger is also a big Phish devotee.
The 46-year old vocalist revealed he first heard Phish at a friend’s house in the Calabasas, California area where he grew up. “My first reaction to this band that ultimately would be on an infinite repeat for me for the next couple of years was ‘I don’t get it,’” Brandon Boyd explained adding, “It sound[ed] confused to me.”
Boyd didn’t think much about the band’s music for a while and then other friends spun Phish tracks for him. “I started to clue in to some of the musicality around it and started to parse out what was happening,” Brandon noted. “With Phish, there were elements of it that I could deconstruct but then there was a lot of stuff, and still to this day, where I’m like, ‘I actually don’t understand why you made that decision. I don’t understand how you got from A to Q here.’ And that is usually an indicator of a band I’m really going to enjoy.”
Brandon can’t recall when he first saw Phish perform live but he caught them live numerous times. “Part of what I wound up falling in love with about it was not only the music — the music I thought was so clever and weird and funny and virtuostic — but there was an environment around them … the people it attracted,” the singer said. “To me, at that time in my life, felt otherworldly. It felt like I was walking into another universe. “
The video interview continued with Boyd detailing the “undeniable” influence of Phish on Incubus. “I don’t think that’s the most intuitive [influence] for most people to go to,” Brandon noted. “I don’t think they would listen to Incubus or watch one of our shows and be like, ‘This band was influenced by Phish!’ but I think maybe some of our more dedicated listeners might agree if they listened to Phish and listened to us.” The vocalist clarified the influence is especially apparent on Incubus’ early material. The Grateful Dead, Primus and Mr. Bungle were among other acts who influenced Incubus mentioned by Boyd.
Boyd went on to talk about Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio’s impressive skill set, his appreciation for certain Phish studio albums and more. Watch Brandon Boyd discuss Phish in the My Favourite Band video below:
