Thursday, January 14, 2010
Creamtastic Hang the DJs: Former Incubus DJ Threatens to Kill Current Incubus DJ
Posted by Adam Gold on Thu, Jan 14, 2010 at 7:00 AM
If you have an I.Q. in the triple digits and have ever heard the band Incubus, then you probably don't have a hard time relating to someone who might want to physically harm one of its members. However, when death threats are leveraged against band members by former band members, it's hard not to see it as anything but a pot-kettle-black scenario.
In what is easily one of the most amusing--albeit irrelevant--news items of the week, it was reported Tuesday on TMZ that current Incubus DJ Chris Kilmore, fearing for his life, has taken out a restraining order -- for a second time -- against former Incubus DJ Gavin Koppel, who parted ways with the band in 1998. The order was issued in response to death threats Kilmore received from Koppel (allegedly) over a previous restraining order that was issued after a 2003 altercation, in which Koppel spat in Kilmore's face. According to court documents, Kilmore claims the disgruntled DJ approached him in a store and said, "You will get killed if you don't lift that order ... people get killed in the street for that." Consequently, Koppel has been ordered to say at least 100 yards from Kilmore.
While it seems Incubus' ubiquity on modern-rock radio has subsided as of late, the fact that a DJ who was ousted from the band 12 years ago is still so butt-hurt over missing out on the fame and fortune the other band members managed to inexplicably celebrate over the course of their tenure as modern rock's pre-eminent faux-mystical bro-tards, is frighteningly hilarious.
While the band is now a household name in the arena of active rock's auditory tormentors, you have to bear in mind that I grew up in Southern California, where I had to suffer the wrath of Incubus, and shirtless wood-stained bands just like them, for years before they reached worldwide fame. I've waited half my life for this catharsis, so pardon me while I use this little news story as an excuse to burst into flames over this band.
If a snowboard could sing, it would sound like perpetually shirtless Incubus singer Brandon Boyd. Making Jane's Addiction look like The Velvet Underground, Rage Against the Machine look like Fugazi and Tool look like Black Sabbath, Incubus' music is so sonically repugnant and mind-bogglingly elemental that their multi-platinum success of yester-decade makes all too much sense. The band happened upon a perfect storm of quasi-bohemian depth, emotional urgency, teen-angst and moody technical wankery. Basically, all the elements that fool tools into buying the band's bullshit hook-line-and-sinker, and make them think they're deep and enlightened for doing so. If you don't believe me, then just check out how Boyd himself once described the band:
We have all the elements of being the worst band in the world: a bass player who's got some slap-bass shit, heavy riff guitars, a DJ scratching on the songs, a crazy drummer, and a singer who's in touch with his feminine side. Even our band name is the worst name ever: it evokes imagery of 'Incubus' in death-metal writing, with bullet belts across our chests.
Imagine your brain as a canister filled with ink,
Now think of your body as the pen where the ink resides.
Fuse the two - Kapow! What are you now?
You're the human magic marker, won't you please surprise my eyes?
What's even funnier than Boyd's lyrics is his explanation of them. Take for example the commentary he gave to MTV, regarding the lyrics to their politically charged protest hit "Megalomaniac":
Have you ever seen the movie Three Amigos?...Do you remember El Guapo? He was the bad guy. I think it was Steve Martin at the end who was talking about El Guapo and how everyone has their own El Guapo. It might be your mom, your dad or a tyrant of some kind. And basically I'm using my personal El Guapo... I always appreciate when lyrics are distinct enough that you can tell generally what's going on and appreciate it, and vague enough that you can apply your own meaning to it.... So it'd be great if people could apply their own El Guapos to this song.
I think bands like Incubus are my El Guapo. As bad as they are on their own merits, what's perhaps most troubling about is their malignant influence on other artists. A list of their followers and contemporaries reads like a round-up of side-splitting punchlines. Check it out: Hoobastank, Alien Ant Farm, Apex Theory, Audio Vent, Crazy Town (roflcopter), Chevelle and -- for the local angle -- Framing Hanley, just to name a few.
What makes the TMZ story so hysterical is that it not only involves a former bandmate's vendetta against his successor, but that it involves the position of rock-band DJ, going straight to the heart of what makes their genre so intolerable. Can you even hear the DJ in Incubus? Or is he just there to make them look fresh and musically dynamic? I suggest a pay-per-view cage match between these feuding spinners, in which the only weapons they are allowed to use are their fists taped with shards of broken records -- a tribute to the classic fight scene Kickboxer. I'm sure the Incubus demographic would love to tune in. My money is on Koppel.
Comments (41)
Showing 1-41 of 41
Too bad the next big trend of indie rock in 2015 will be neo-Durstian bands. The college kids will bow before them. Trust me.
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my el guapo is diet mountain dew. i wish it tasted ok so i could make it a healthier option to my beloved original mountain dew...but it is horrible. i guess a more interesting life would yield a more interesting el guapo.
Gold, you really should have given me attribution for "faux-mystical bro-tards" and finding the meaning of that tattoo, that quote about him knowing they suck and those magic marker lyrics.
That said, these dudes are really a bottomless treasure trove of bro-tardation, so I'm sure you would have come up with all that stuff yourself.
@larry
if it makes you feel better, most of the research i've done indicates that the health benefits of drinking diet soda instead of regular soda are negligible at best.
Adam Gold, I'm so sorry you were picked on in High School. You're really just as much of a tool as Brandon Boyd for taking so much time to write this lame blog.
wow adam, i guess the girls just didn't like you much. too bad. i'm afraid you are the tool. do you even have any idea what it might be like to find a guy trespassing on your property, possibly with a gun, threating to kill you and your family - screaming inanities at the top of his lungs? enjoy it much moron? okay, so you don't like incubus - fine. otherwise, you act like a 12-year old loser yourself.
Pretty sour, Adam? Sure sounds like it to me. I don't understand how a news report about one ex-band member violently threatening the life of another current band member turns into your personal introspective review towards the band itself...and you're trying to be humorous now?
I'm a musician, and I stick up for these guys because I think they're doing everything right for music. They've founded a charity organization, aren't overplayed on the radio 10,000 times a day, still sell out arena sized venues all around the world, and their music has meaning and position unlike a lot of crap you hear on the airwaves.
What did Incubus ever do to you? Got famous playing rap-rock while you were stuck in Southern CA watching? Sorry they were ahead of the trend all along. Say what you want about that style of music, but it happened and there's no taking it back. It came, it went, but it's a fact that it WAS VERY popular, and you were probably rocking a pair of Jnco's and a backwards red baseball cap too.
...then they got to go tour the world and make tons of money and you stuck around to judge them and bands like them behind your computer screen. Very noble.
Do you know how hard it is to achieve that level of fame that they reached? Do you know how easy and uncreative it is to judge anyone who reaches that goal? Yes, I guess you do. Starting to make sense?
There's a reason they're still playing arenas all over the world after a decade and have fans crushing themselves up against the gates screaming to be let into the venues...they're doing SOMETHING right. And you're sitting there behind your cozy laptop writing your garbage blogs trying to tear people down. Yep, everything falls into it's own place eventually, I suppose...
Do some research - the song you quoted is over 12 years old, and so was the quote from Brandon "describing" his band. I thought the quote to be quite humble actually. He's just saying, they're lucky to be where they're at.
Yes, the lyrics you quoted specifically are somewhat amateur or childish, but that's what makes Incubus great. They're human. They're vulnerable. They've grown, and changed like all great bands do over time. Like ALL musicians do over time.
You don't get anywhere selling the same garbage CD after CD. Fans WILL leave if you never change/grow (look at Limp Bizkit), doesn't matter how much they loved you before. You don't think they've grown up a little since S.C.I.E.N.C.E.? Did you even know that's the record you ripped those lyrics from? Were you aware that DJ Lyte aka Gavin Koppel was actually the DJ on that record?
The "DJ" Chris Kilmore is not just a DJ of their band anymore either. Your last paragraph is outdated and invalid. Yes he has turntables, and yes he can scratch (that ain't easy either, it takes lots of talent, but you wouldn't know that) but did you also know DJ Kilmore also plays piano, synths, sequencers, guitar, and I'm sure anything else they might need to fill their sound just as any other band with an extra musician would do.
He's an equal band member of the group and without his contributions, their songs wouldn't sound nearly as complete. You don't notice it, because you're clearly not a musician. You notice things like, "The singer takes his shirt of a lot, that makes them dumb, derrrrr..."
You don't have to dig the band, but get your facts straight before you start ripping on stuff you know nothing about and comparing them to Limp Bizkit and other outdated rap-rock bands of that early genre because their "modern-rock radio success has subsided". Bro-tard.
Julius, What did Limp Bizkit ever do to you? Got famous playing rap-rock while you were stuck in Southern CA watching? Sorry they were ahead of the trend all along. Say what you want about that style of music, but it happened and there's no taking it back. It came, it went, but it's a fact that it WAS VERY popular, and you were probably rocking a pair of Jnco's and a backwards red baseball cap too.
...then they got to go tour the world and make tons of money and you stuck around to judge them and bands like them behind your computer screen. Very noble.
Do you know how hard it is to achieve that level of fame that they reached? Do you know how easy and uncreative it is to judge anyone who reaches that goal? Yes, I guess you do. Starting to make sense? .....
just kidding...thought it was funny.
@ Larry:
Ah touche! After reading my little "rant" I suppose I did bridge the gap between the Limp Bizkit / Incubus similarities a little, but at the same time, Incubus has changed their sound completely over the years, and Fred Durst couldn't pull another hit single out of his ass if he had the Jonas Brothers up there.
Point is, the best musicians grow with their music as Incubus has, not stick to a gimmick or trend like LB did.
i was i dunno, sitting here randomly reading- and just had to say---- A: using large words does not say as much about a person's IQ as does what they actually SAY. so way to go with your very average whiney article-
B:it is not funny whatsoever for anyone to be threatened and/or harassed in such a way- and is certainly not appropriate to joke about- i mean ya do sound kinda like a tool preaching to a liminal choir--- and just irritating everyone else.
C: so you were around when the band started?--so not only are ya way out of line with this irrelevant tone for a story such as this-... dude um- yer nearin' your forties or so by now- grow up.
@mark p.: so true.
incubus. ha! just typing the name makes me laugh! in.. ha! cu.. ha! bus..!!! i just peed a little. when i leave somewhere i usually say "I'm out.. like rap rock".
I really liked Gold's description of the band as "if a snowboard could sing." Acute personification.
Yes you can hear the djs in incubus songs, quite prominently.
@ Julius, like the heart.
Yeah, this article is pretty reflective of your own insecurities. Have you read the lyrics to your band Eureka Gold? Pretty deep. (For me to poop on)
@HighonLife. Which perfectly epitomizes Incubus -- on the surface it's deep and philosophical, in reality it's boneheaded and nonsensical.
After reading your article and all the responses I have a few comments...1) incubus is not a fad band and shouldn't even be compared to limp bizkit, they came and they went, however incubus has evolved and still brings a crowd...2) i'm not a big incubus fan but i saw them live about six years ago when they opened for deftones (my favorite band) and they put on one hell of a live performance, which to me is the most important aspect to a rock band...3) please never ever ever ever compare chevelle to the likes of hoobastank or alien ant farm, chevelle is a 3 piece band which generates a very loud rock sound with a singer on guitar, they are a very good band and if you disagree i suggest you listen to them more closely, even off their most recent album sci-fi crimes check out track "this is circus"...i'd rather listen to shinedown than alien ant farm or hoobastank and that's just embarassing...period
who is adam gold??? i'd love to hear you try and sing Dig, Rogues, megalomaniac or any Incubus song for that matter, what a bitch...let me guess your favorite band is nickelback??
k- honestly- how everything evolves into people being compared to nickelback is beyond ---but again my point about the fact this line of commentary is entirely off the point- now yes i have read more on it -and other people have gone ahead to take cheap shots at the band as a side to this story- However- first of all- they were witty- all better than this one--
---------- Either way- whether you care or not about this band or any other- God Bless America!!! this is about some unhinged f***tard (who looks like he's been huffing paint) threating a normal person, and obviously more seriously than just for spitting-
people --really- just move this conversation to a more appropriate place- like a why we do or don't hate/love incubus-whatever- and then go to town-geez
@Bob: From a post quoting Adam Gold's Critic's Pick:
Averaging about one spin every three minutes across the country, Nickelback's breakthrough single "How You Remind Me" was the most played song of 2002. This meant that the song, with a duration of 3:43, was on the radio somewhere in the United States at any given moment--and that Scott Stapp had successfully passed the torch of unmitigated mediocrity to poodle-haired, rat-faced NB frontman Chad Kroeger. As this decade comes to a close, it's grievously safe to say that Nickelback are THE biggest band of the Aughts. Fittingly, they're about as good a band as George W. Bush was president, the unfortunate difference between the two being that the Constitution can't prevent the former from continuing to release records. Considering the utter ubiquity of last year's "Rockstar," it's hard to see the Nickelback train derailing any time soon. Their success is a relentlessly malignant phenomenon tantamount to any abject artistic travesty, a blight on rock music so horrible, that their live show must be seen and remembered to ensure that no one is condemned to repeat it. Bear witness!
I'd say Incubus got off easy.
Ok Adam...you need to get over it! Just because I chose to masturbate to Brandon's picture every night rather than come within 10 feet of your 3 inch penis, shouldnt prompt you to bash Incubus. You obviously still havent gotten over the inadequacies of your "manhood" (and thats assuming you actually were a man)and feel the need to vent.
Julius hit the nail right on the head, which I might add is much bigger than either of your heads. If youre going to site information how about trying some that is recent? Lets say within a decade!!! You took info/lyrics from their 1st major release!!! and all those bands you compared them too are gone...where is Incubus??? STILL selling out...STILL gaining new fans everyday...STILL getting respect and admiration from fellow artists/labels...and STILL closer to pussy than youll ever be!!!
As a favor to you I think ill mail you some pics of Mr Boyd and the boys so your normal nightly routine can go by easier. You know, thats when you get all naked, hop in the shower, curl into a ball in the corner and cry while you jack off! However I figure that a picture of someone with talent to help you might just stretch that hamster-cock of yours from 3 inches to a full blown 4. GOOD LUCK!!! :)
you are a jealous douche who wishes he was as creative as Boyd, Einziger, Kil, Jose, and Kenney. Hmmmm lets see.. so you think their shit? Thats weird that you talk so much shit on them when einziger is currently enrolled at the harvard college of music, and that kenney is a former member of the roots, o and that dj kil graduated from georgetown! pretty jazzy huh?! take those stupid blinders off your eyes and realize that they have a creative lifestyle that soothes them. i guess yours is talking shit.. pretty lame dude
Get your facts straight bro-tard (which isn't clever or slightly funny btw). If your don't like incubus that's fine, but at least have good arguement as to why you don't. Taking quotes from 12 years ago, when the crazy former dj was still in the band, is rediculous. As for classifying incubus as 'rap-rock', that is just plain wrong. Just because they came up around the same time as limp bizkit and both bands feature a dj doesn't mean they should be put in the same made-up genre. Listen to incubus' Music and lyrics from their last 4 albums, nothing 'rap-rock' about them. Incubus is to limp bizkit As eminem is to vanilla ice. Get a life buddy.
Wow. I think the way you ragged on Incubus and Brandon Boyd says more about YOU than anything to do with the story at hand. BTW, I think the real story here is quite sad and I can totally understand why someone would take out a restraining order on anyone that made death threats to them. Next time, maybe you can stay a bit more focused on the real issue and not take us all down your "personal demon trip"
Hey mr gold, you suck. Get a life, a new job and quit burdening the bandwith of the internet with your babble bullshit. Thank you.
I really cant believe I wasted my time reading that childish rant. I thought I was going to read something interesting and informative.. and that was pathetic.
Please discontinue any form of contribution to society.
Sincerely, A disappointed reader.
You can't hear the DJ? Show's how much you really pay attention dick smoker. Get your facts and shit that you are trying to "thrash on" correct before you start you waste of time news letter. PS Fuck You
wow that was the biggest load of shit i have ever had the mispleasure to read.
i really dont need to point out the inaccuracy's or short fallings of your 'article' bashing incubus as i and clearly many other people can see that you clearly havent bothered to do any research other than finding lyrics and quotes from over ten years ago.
so i will simply assume that you know there isnt any solid reason you can claim to hate incubus other than the clearly obvious fact that you are jealous of their money sucsess dedicated fans and the fact that they do not need to make money by spending their evenings finding topics to attack and sending shitty articles to websites for a quick buck.
any while i know i am simply venting my anger upon this crappy website and your crappy article if you ever do read this then:
you are quite pathetic
good day
You all suck. Incubus makes good music, they add psychedelic ideas to the over-saturated funk-rock genre. I don't even know why Limp Bizkit is being brought up, everything about that band is retarded. I listened to them when I was 9 and grew out of it, Incubus on the other hand has stuck with me and now I'm 20. The reason being, LB is a group of talented musicians that produce music that is not influenced by trends and has thought-provoking lyrics.
Asher Roth is stupid bro lyrics, not Incubus. Whatever I'm not arguing about music on the internet, peace.
**The reason being, INCUBUS is a group of talented musicians that produce music that is not influenced by trends and has thought-provoking lyrics.
Typo =P
If you dont think that Incubus has been a quality band then you obviously havent listened to them. I never worshiped them, but as a musician i definitely consider them as one of my huge influences. While i agree that in S.C.I.E.N.C.E some of Brandon Boyd's lyrics came across as childish, you cannot disagree with the fact that he (and the band) has grown significantly over the years. I personally wish that i could write lyrics as thought provoking and clever as he has been able to produces time and time again. As far as the rest of the band, they are legitimate world class musicians. Look at guitarist Mike Einziger. I feel as though he comes up with some of the most original riffs of our generation. All in all, if you truly despise incubus then you never truly gave them a chance. They aren't some Hannah Montana or Jonas Brothers disney pop sensation that came up because of their popular tv series. They are a tried and true band that has been putting out quality music for well over a decade, which is a feat these days.
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