Incubus launches summer tour
Like most groups, Incubus had its summer concert plans sidelined by the COVID-19 shutdowns in March 2020. The multiplatinum-selling band, performing at Rose Music Center in Huber Heights on Sunday, Sept. 5, didn’t let the pandemic completely silence its music.
That April, Incubus went forward with plans to release “Trust Fall (Side B).” The five-song EP is the official follow-up to its eighth album, “8” (2017), and the thematic sequel to the 2015 EP, “Trust Fall (Side A).”
Incubus bassist Ben Kenney recently answered a few questions over the telephone, just days before the California-based act launched its late summer tour.
Q: What was happening with Incubus when everything shut down in March 2020?
A: We had a whole summer tour lined up that we were excited to do. We were getting ready to do that and then everything started to get scarier and scarier, and then the rug kind of got pulled out from underneath us. We spent the time like everyone
else, just watching the news in fear.
Q: What did you do to occupy yourself during that time? A:
I did a lot of camping, hiking and other outdoor stuff. Some of that was displacing my wanderlust. I was just finding a new home for it. I also worked on my solo music. I’m always doing that. That’s kind of the constant
background thing for me. I don’t have anything on deck yet, but we’ll see.
Q: Were you able to work on music remotely with the other guys in Incubus during that time? A:
Actually, we didn’t work on anything over the pandemic because we had just released “Trust Fall (Side B).” We had the tour lined up, so we were just
hoping to get to go out and play those songs and promote that stuff.
Q: Are you playing many songs from the new EP on these dates? A:
We’ve played a bunch of them in rehearsals, but I don’t know what the setlists are going to be like because each show is a different environment. We have our own shows and we’re also doing things like the Bonnaroo Festival. I don’t know what to expect as far as the setlists go, but we would love to sneak in some of the new songs. A lot of them were born in a live environment, and we’re really proud of them, so it would be fun to play them for people.
Q: Many acts returned to live shows in May. Was it a tough decision to wait until late August? A:
Yeah, because it was just so hard to tell what was happening. It’s a bizarre time, which goes without saying, but we’re moving as quick as we can. Some people were a little bit more anxious to get out there, but we’re saddling up now, and we’re ready for it.
Q: When did you start rehearsing? A:
I feel like it’s been about two months, but I don’t know for sure. I kind of stopped looking at the calendar. Rehearsals have been going really good. It’s fun to be in a room playing music after all of this time. Now, we’re just excited to get back on stage again. It’s probably going to be pretty emotional for all of us because this is what we’ve spent our whole lives learning how to do. This is everything to us. To get back out there and share it again is going to be magic.
Q: What’s up for the group after these dates? A:
It’s hard to commit to anything right now because we don’t know what the world is going to do next. If it’s up to us, we’ll start writing music and start recording more music to be released whenever that is finished. Then, hopefully, we’ll get to do a real full tour next year.