Brandon Boyd

Brandon Boyd

Brandon Boyd (born February 15, 1976, in Van Nuys, California) is the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band Incubus.

Life and career

Boyd graduated from Calabasas High School in 1994, and attended Moorpark College for two years before committing to Incubus full time.

He grew up in Calabasas, California. His parents Dolly and Charles, both of whom had experience in entertainment, had nurtured his artistic side since he was a child. His younger brother, Jason Boyd, was also the lead singer of a band called Audiovent, which has since broken up. He had first met Jose Pasillas in elementary school in the 1980s, but it was not until high school that he was asked to join a band that already included Pasillas, Mike Einziger, and Alex Katunich. Boyd's vocal abilities, which were for the most part self-taught (he had taken two lessons before he ran out of money, but he claims he learned everything he would need), proved to be the final essential element for the band. As they developed more and more songs, the band quickly became a popular show around the neighborhood.

When the band decided to play their first show together at a friend's house, the time came to choose a band name. Boyd's suggestion, "Spiral Staircase," was denied in favor of Einziger's suggestion, selected at random from a dictionary: Incubus. They chose Incubus simply because it had the word sex in the definition. Boyd put his other artistic talents to good use, drawing concert fliers advertising their early performances. At first, Boyd had copied several drawings from a sex education book that Einziger's mother had given them, but he decided to stop using it after several prospective fans had been confused by their fliers ("What kind of band is this?"). Among his many talents Boyd also plays the didgeridoo and djembe drum adding to the alternative sound of Incubus.

His strong voice was part of what enticed Sony's Epic/Immortal Records, and the band was signed in 1996. The band's first two releases on the label, Fungus Amongus and S.C.I.E.N.C.E. went largely unnoticed, but subsequent releases Make Yourself and Morning View were commercial successes. The band's 2004 release A Crow Left of the Murder... has continued their success. "Anna-Molly", the lead single from their new album Light Grenades, reached #1 in the Modern Rock Tracks chart, boding for continued success with this album. On November 28, 2006, the band released Light Grenades. He has also taken up some guitar parts during live performances.

Over the years, Boyd's lyrics have expressed a range of different ideas. His early work, which was often light and playful, was no doubt influenced in part by his use of marijuana and psychedelic mushrooms. According to Boyd, after smoking his first joint with his older brother Darren, the poetic floodgates had been opened inside of his brain. More recently, Boyd was on the Kevin and Bean morning show on KROQ in 2007. When asked about marijuana use by Kevin & Bean, Boyd replied "yes, it does open creative parts of your brain, at least for me, but some artists use drugs & it becomes a crutch. They have to rely on chemicals, ultimately ruining their life." The band's first album Fungus Amongus is about psychedelic mushrooms.

Boyd was also the subject of controversy for a time, thanks to a deal as a poster child for GAP. Many fans felt this contradicted lyrics that Boyd has written in the past about not conforming to the norms of society. However, once more details about the ad campaign were released, fans cooled down. Boyd sang a cover version of Elvis Costello's "Alison" in this ad. His cover of "Alison" was released on a GAP in-store CD (the rest of Incubus did not contribute to the song). The ad is no longer aired.

Brandon Boyd has written two books during his lifetime. This first, written in 2003, was White Fluffy Clouds: Found Inspiration Moving Forward. It was published by Endophasia Publications and mainly consists of his artwork, photography, song lyrics from Incubus, and additional writings and thoughts. His more recent publication, From the Murks of the Sultry Abyss, hit the shelves in 2007 and was also published by Endophasia. The alternative pop artist Sacha Sacket attended high school with Boyd and was a fellow classmate of his. Sacket has a song, "Brandon Boyd", named after him on his recent album Lovers and Leaders.

He has dated models Lisa Snowdon and Carolyn Murphy. He left Snowdon for Murphy after she introduced them.