I recently saw an interveiw of Mike and Brandon, on youtube, titled "Keen On: Brandon Boyd & Mike Einziger." It was HARD to watch. The interveiwer is a total asshole. Brandon does a very good job at easing tension and keeping everyone on the same page, as far as I can tell. Mike just fuckin' lays into the guy when he "stereotypes" about rock stars. The guy desrved it, and it was hilarious to read the reactions of Brandon, Mike, the dick, and the audience. Check it out if you would like.

At one point in the interview, the interviever asks Mike who they can trust, as a band. He gives Mike two options: 1) Their manager; 2) Their audience. Mike says, ultimately, they have to trust their manager, or at least, "align themselves with someone who has their best interests in mind." I feel there is a third option, here, that SHOULD BE the case, if I may be so bold.

We, as fans, as the audience, need to show the band that we are willing to back them, no matter what they come out with. I have only been a fan of Incubus for about a year, now. However, since I have been a fan, I haveve been a die-hard one, and trying to support the band as much as possible. This goes from nagging all of my friends to check them out, to buying CDs, DVDs, and compilations, to blasting nothing but Incubus in my car, windows rolled down in the cold of winter, and singing their songs out into my little corner of the planet.

Later in the interview, Brandon talks about how their record was leaked on the internet. Mike says it felt like "being kicked in the balls." The interviewer asks Mike, if the pirate who leaked their album, before they were done with it, was watching the video, what he would say to him/her. "I'm coming for your eye patch...and your parrot," is Mike's semi-intense response. Brandon says his view, while it may be a bit of a cop-out, is that he is unhappy that the record was leaked, but at the same time it was a reassuring thing: it showed him that people not only still wanted music, but their music, after 20 years. Not only do they want it, but they want it bad enough to steal it, and that was at least refreshing. 

(Let me take this time to say that I live in Virginia Beach, and it is 4 a.m. here, and I am strung out as fuck, so hopefully I am putting this together in a cohesive manner.)

Anyways....this brings me back to that third option. We have been spoiled by the internet and enticed by illegal downloads. We want their music, we want it now, and we want it for free. Fuck that! These guys put their SOULS into their music. They deserve to be rewarded and appreciated for that sacrifice. Sure, they don't get paid per album sold, but they know when their albums are being sold, and when they are not. We need to show them that we support them, by actually spending money on their albums. Already have all of their albums? Get a T-shirt or something. Can't afford that? Respond to this discussion or create one of your own. Hopefully, if enough of us do this, we can transmit the mesage that we LOVE them, and their music. I know I do. Don't you, too?!

It is my deepest hope, that if we do this, the band will see that they don't have to trust their manager or their audience so much, only themselves. I don't care if their next album sounds like S.C.I.E.N.C.E., If Not Now, When?, or something totally different. It's. Fucking. Incubus. I will buy the shit out it, and promote it to all of my friends. That's one of the great things about this group: they come out with all different sounds and styles of expression. Another great thing about them: their energy. I wish I could time-travel and see them while they were still touring and filled with energy, but that is not possible.

Let us show them that we want more of them, and we want it now, but we're willing to wait for their inspiration. I'm a human, and I'm selfish, and I want more Incubus songs, or at least to see them live, once before I die. Don't you, too?!