Incubus singer Brandon Boyd has reflected on playing in New York days after the city was rocked by the September 11 terrorist attacks.
Talking exclusively to Metal Hammer, Boyd reveals that he and his bandmates were in New York City to do press for their chart-dominating fourth album, Morning View, on the day two aeroplanes were hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center.
“We were in New York on 9/11 and actively starting to promote Morning View,” the frontman remembers, “and then it felt like the whole world was falling down.”
The band had two sold-out concerts scheduled to take place at the Hammerstein Ballroom on September 15 and 16. Although they thought it “likely” that the dates would be cancelled in the fallout of the attacks, they went ahead.
Reflecting on the experience of playing those shows, Boyd continues: “That song [Morning View’s lead single, Wish You Were Here] is locked away in my memory bank as being a moment of lightness in an otherwise really dark period of time. And it seemed like it had that effect on the audience, as well. We took the song, released it and we kept playing it.”
The singer admits that Incubus have performed Wish You Were Here “ad nauseam” since the Hammerstein Ballroom concerts. He adds that the experience has transformed the meaning of the single for him.
“Almost every song that we’ve written has had that kind of effect with me,” he explains. “I think that I’m writing about one thing and I discover, many years later, that it’s probably about something else. I think that’s only possible as a reflection, in the way that the music is reflected through an audience and listeners’ ears.”
Incubus are currently touring North America, playing the Morning View album in its entirety. Their next show will be at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on June 25.
The band have announced that their first album in eight years, Something In The Water, will come out later this year. In the Hammer interview, Boyd lists the title track of the upcoming album, which will serve as its lead single, as one of the songs that he thinks will define Incubus’ career.
“I’m gonna project into the future a little bit,” he says. “It’s a song that’s reminded people, ‘Oh yeah, I really like this meal. I’m gonna go back to that restaurant and have that meal again.’”
Watch the full conversation with Incubus, featuring Boyd and guitarist Mike Einziger, via the video player below.