CHESTER BENNINGTON from Linkin Park and BRANDON BOYD from Incubus talk about the new tour.
Interview By Leslie Terhorst
hester Bennington from Linkin Park and Brandon Boyd from Incubus spoke with RIS to talk about the much-anticipated 2012 Honda Civic tour; which starts August 11th and ends here in San Diego on September 10th. The wide-ranging discussion covered many topics, starting with whether or not the bands might join forces onstage together at any point. Boyd said, "At the moment there's nothing planned in the traditional sense but it really only takes a couple of days of making music and being on tour with new friends to become inspired by each other and each other's mutual distinctions and idiosyncrasies and stuff and then for that desire to share a little moments to arise so I have a sneaking suspicion that some of us will be sneaking onstage in each other's sets and I hope that you guys are cool with that." We also asked both band members about any advice they might give each other's band the upcoming tour. While Boyd cracked, "Don't drop the soap," Bennington offered "You know, we both toured so much over the last 10, 12, 14 years. I can't keep track of it anymore. I realize that when I noticed that my oldest son has a full beard and is driving a car. I was like, 'Wow.' Time just flies by. And so the only advice I could give to any of my friends who've been doing this business for this long is 'keep having fun.'"
Bennington continued: “I think that this summer’s going to be really, really exciting and it’s going to be really fun for our friends to come out and see both bands play. And the fact that we’re both known for our live performances and to be able to go out and perform every night with a band that’s as respected as Incubus, and to see them connect with their fans and then go out and do the same with our fans is going to be, it’s going to be really special. And I’m sure that we can both swap stories about some pretty fun moments that we’ve all had on tour. But the great thing about being in a traveling rock band is that any number of things can happen at any time. I’ve been playing racquetball in Singapore and put a racquet through my face and had to have a plastic surgeon fly in and sew up my lip so that I could play the next day. It was like, you know… but you can’t give people advice for that.”
In response to how both bands have succeeded at keeping core members together over all the years, Boyd had this to say in part: “I have an old saying, but it’s a saying that rings true for me all the time. Being in a band is hard. You are essentially traveling in very small steel tubes, confined steel tubes with family members for extended periods of time. Kind of like inhuman periods of time. You love your mom, but how much flight time do you want to spend with her? You know, how long do you want to sit in the car with your dad and your mom and your brothers, you know what I mean? There’s that, but there’s also the understanding that it’s family, and it’s very much a familial thing.”
