Incubus manifests itself in Manila

House rules come first.

MTV DJs Andi Manzano and Kat Alano make the announcement following the traditional acknowledgment of corporate sponsors. The band would stay a maximum of 15 minutes for the Q&A, no flash photography during the Q&A, and other niceties.

But the press in attendance weren’t going to let anything dampen the already electric mood.

An unabashed din of shrieks and excitement usher the group into the press conference at Crowne Plaza’s Bar One. Ladies and gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure: Incubus. You have 15 minutes.

A long way this hard-rocking and working band has come indeed. From out of the West Coast (Calabasas, California) Incubus appeared on international radar following the release of its third album S.C.I.E.N.C.E. in 1997 (following Fungus Amungus and Enjoy Incubus). Its heady brew of influences ranging from metal to punk to hip-hop and everything else proved to be ear candy for many. Even before the major breakthrough of the late lamented, so-called nu metal cum rapcore act Limp Bizkit, Incubus was perfecting the integration of turntables and hard-rocking metal/rock.

To be fair, the notion of the rap or hip-hop and metal as bedfellows was already explored via earlier acts like Body Count (featuring Ice T), Biohazard, the Beastie Boys and (later) Korn. The groundbreaking work in 1993 on the soundtrack of the movie Judgment Night saw bands from the rock and rap genres come together in various ways — heralding the end of polarization and the start of collaboration. Syncopated shred kings Helmet worked with House of Pain, Teenage Fanclub did a track with De La Soul, Living Colour jammed with Run DMCÖ well you get the point.

Still, there was something different that Incubus offered. There was depth and a willingness to experiment — even as the band came up with a sound all its own. Technical proficiency with instruments certainly helped, along with a healthy dose of pop sense. Perhaps Summer Romance (Anti-Gravity Love Song) best exemplified this pop sensibility on S.C.I.E.N.C.E. even as Incubus maintained against the grain.

That kind of latitude, of course, can only be realized in a record label with open-minded executives. That was exactly what Immortal/Epic gave Incubus — and reaped the rewards for it with 100,000 S.C.I.E.N.C.E. copies sold in just a year after release.

Five albums and 10 years from S.C.I.E.N.C.E., Incubus is now a byword. Its members are, gasp, grizzled veterans — with frontman Brandon Boyd a certified poster boy not just for the disenfranchised of the ‘90s and the new millennium, but teenage girls and yuppies as well. It certainly doesn’t hurt the Incubus drive for world domination.

The group takes to the road to promote its new album Light Grenades. It is a testament to just how big Incubus that it can stage a whirlwind Pacific Rim tour. The members plane in from Singapore on Saturday, stage a show at the Araneta Coliseum on Sunday, and are airborne again on Monday.

Additionally, Saturday night is press conference night at Bar One in Crowne Plaza Hotel, (the official residence). On this night, you can’t tell if people are media reporting on a famous rock band, or fans ogling their favorite band. Well, whatever it is merely underscores the fact that Incubus is a hot sell — particularly its front man Brandon Boyd. Event producer MTV Philippines screen people milling around the function room as some fans have appeared.

Brandon Boyd, wearing a simple blue shirt and a scarf, takes a seat with the rest of his bandmates onstage as frantic cameras snap away and big video cameras roll silently. They have just come from Singapore, and look a little weary. Still, kudos to the band for answering even the weirdest questions from our gaggle of excited reporters. One reporter even has something of a meltdown as she struggles to ask her question.

A thriving 16-year career has afforded the guys the luxury of time to further develop their music, and they have taken advantage of this to hone their craft. “We have never really allowed ourselves to have definite time to write music. We give it time,” shares Brandon.

Drummer Jose Pasillas II acknowledges, though, that they’ve improved on their songwriting. “We have just sort of gone better in honing our music on a personal level. As the years go by and we play in many more concerts and kind of grow in terms of material.”

Brandon interjects: “Or it could be worse.”

Jose: “It could be. But don’t tell us — or maybe you should.”

That seemingly insignificant exchange possibly shows how the band strives to stay grounded — something exponentially harder to do than the last time Incubus was in town — three years ago to be exact.

Recalls guitarist Mike Einziger: “At that time it was the biggest concert that we ever played, here in the Philippines.”

“There were 25,000 people,” volunteers Chris (DJ) Kilmore.

Brandon says: “The last time we were here we really had no idea what to expect. So we were kind of walking into it a little blind, which was fine and scary at the same time. But the reaction was very enthusiastic and very heartfelt. It was one of the loudest audiences we’ve ever heard at that time. We had wanted to go back ever since.”

Light Grenades is a little bit of everything Incubus. Some in your face purging, some delicate meandering, a little heartache, a dash of anger.

“We have been writing music together long enough that there is a sense of perspective available that has only come to us with time. Some of our earlier works, though pure and even fun at times, lent to a sense of disorganization; a readily apparent lack of focus in my opinion. I have always said, ‘Yeah, we suck...but we’re really good at it,’” writes Brandon on the band’s website.

He continues: “Light Grenades is a very new perspective for Incubus. Working, once again, with super producer Brendan O’Brien, we spent more time crafting, and sculpting these songs than we ever have historically. Every album we had ever made was written in eight weeks and recorded in eight weeks. A long time by some standards, but alarmingly brief by most. It’s not that we were rushed, we just like working quickly. We wrote twenty-something songs during this sitting. Like proofreaders on meth, we devoured songs and only let them live if they excited, surprised and inspired us all! In a nut shell, it took about a year.”

* * *

The Araneta Coliseum is colossally packed — expensive tickets notwithstanding. While rowdy, half-intoxicated hooligans posing as fans smoke and scream and basically stay obnoxious, the lot of us waits with bated breath and occasional raspy screams. I know it’s a rock concert and all, but must we suffer in silence through the acrid, stinky smoke? Joyce coughs. Guards are overwhelmed by the number, and merely stare at offenders. Sigh.

Front act Up Dharma Down delivers its eclectic music melding electronic, jazz and everything in between. But the crowd, while appreciative, is restless for Mr. Boyd and company.

So, when Incubus finally takes the stage after a protracted sound check, the venue goes ballistic. Everyone did his homework, singing along to most of the songs in the hour and a half set spanning songs from most albums. And many more went crazy when Brandon took off his jacket, then shirt.

But you probably heard about it already.

* * *

Someone asks the band how the members manage to stay grounded despite being big rock stars.

“Paying the bills. Getting the phone bills,” jests Ben Kenney.

 Brandon says: “It’s a fantasy land but we don’t exist in it 100 percent of the time. So we go in and out of it. So when we go on tour and we travel to different places, it is pretty surreal. Like this here right now is pretty surreal. The most consistent part of the band that keeps us grounded is the fact that we love and respect each other. So we need trust as human beings first then as friends, then as artists. We are able enjoy each other’s company and the art that we make together as well.”

“We hope you guys really have a great time. We try our best to bring the best concert, play our hearts out,” promises Brandon.

Oh and did they.