Touring dates followed before Incubus headed home in November to take a well-deserved break. The group remained a part of the Sony empire, however, and released A Crow Left of the Murder on Epic/Immortal in early 2004, which hit number two on the Billboard Top 200. Within days, fellow Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger called upon his Time Lapse Consortium mate Ben Kenney (who had also played with the Roots) to be Lance's permanent replacement. In April, the band announced the departure of bassist Dirk Lance. In early 2003, Incubus became embroiled in a contract dispute with Sony and filed a lawsuit to have their deal terminated under California labor laws.
"Wish You Were Here," "Nice to Know You," and "Warning" were all popular on rock radio, and the band naturally toured heavily in support - this time as a headliner. It entered the charts at number two, confirming that Incubus had diligently worked themselves into stardom. Incubus expanded their audience by playing Moby's Area: One package tour that summer, and with "Drive" still fresh in the public's mind, they released Morning View during the fall of 2001.
The second single, "Stellar," was a smaller-sized hit on rock radio, but the album's biggest song didn't hit the airwaves until 2001, when "Drive" became their first Top Ten hit on the pop charts.
The group went right back out on the road, and their stint on the 2000 Ozzfest helped cement the new audience that the band's new single, "Pardon Me," was pulling in.Īlthough Make Yourself barely broke the Top 50 on the album charts, it was a tenacious seller that eventually pushed past the double-platinum mark. With their momentum and exposure slowly building, Incubus returned to the studio and delivered their follow-up album, Make Yourself, in late 1999. They had amassed enough of a following by 1998 to land a slot on that summer's Ozzfest tour, and they rounded out the year with a stint on Korn's inaugural Family Values tour, by which time DJ Lyfe had departed and been replaced by DJ Kilmore (first name Chris). Incubus then hit the road with a vengeance, opening for bands like Korn, Primus, 311, Sublime, and Unwritten Law. Their full-length debut album, S.C.I.E.N.C.E., followed before the year's end. Incubus' first major-label release was the six-song EP Enjoy Incubus, which was released in early 1997 and consisted of previous demos that were revamped in the studio. That, coupled with a strong local following, helped the band earn a deal with the Epic Records subsidiary Immortal. In 1995, Incubus added hip-hop turntablist DJ Lyfe (aka Gavin Koppel) to their lineup and recorded the independently released album Fungus Amongus. By the time the musicians had graduated from high school, they had already been playing all-ages shows around Southern California on a regular basis. Their early funk-metal sound was heavily influenced by the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but broadened over the next few years to incorporate thrash, rap-metal, post-grunge rock, and grinding alt-metal à la Korn or the Deftones. Formed in 1991 in the San Fernando Valley suburb of Calabasas, CA, the band's early lineup was comprised of tenth-grade classmates Brandon Boyd (vocals, percussion), Mike Einziger (guitar), Alex Katunich (aka Dirk Lance bass), and José Pasillas (drums). Incubus became one of the most popular alt-metal bands of the new millennium, setting themselves apart from a crowded field with a tireless touring ethic and a broad musical palette. Incubus is an American rock band from Calabasas, California, 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.