On August 20, 2018, Incubus made a stop at Berlin’s Columbiahalle during their tour of Europe. In connection with that, we met up with the band’s drummer, Jose Pasillas, to have a nice chat about the most important thing in the world, i. e. drums. You can see the first part of our conversation HERE and now it is time to see the artist magnificent five.
Photo: beatit.tv
“I will definitely give you the five that inspired me to first play the drums. Those are the ones that really got me thinking of drums, wanting to play drums and really studying them when I was younger. I was probably 12, 13, 14, maybe even 11 when I started finding my own music as opposed to my parents’ music or friends’ music. At that time, I was into the alternative scene of the early 90s. That’s when we kinda started.
One of the bands that I just wanted to emulate was Primus with Tim Alexander. They were doing something completely different and so unique. Tim always had the coolest chops, flair and color. So Primus was a big band for me.
Stuart Copeland of The Police was always a big one for me. I was always a fan of theirs, even before I started playing drums. That’s music that I would hear on pop radio or even through my family. The flair that he has, he does a lot of hi hat stuff. Obviously, there is a nice, linear trail from Stuart Copeland’s playing to mine, so he’s definitely up there.
I really liked Chad Sexton from 311. What he and his band were doing at the time was just very unique and alternative. I liked the mixture of all the different genres that they did together. It’s very much what we do now – in a different sound but the same sort of philosophy. They did a really good job at putting all those different things that they enjoyed together and Chad came from the marching background so he had those really cool chops. Watching him implement his chops into a live setting and a rock band was really cool.311 was always a big band for me when I was growing up.
John Bonham. Led Zeppelin was probably one of the first records that I actually went to a record store and bought.Moby Disc was the record store by my house. I got a Ramones tape and Led Zeppelin. Before I even started playing drums, I was probably 10 or 11, I would always sit in front of a mirror, on a chair and pretend I was doing all the ’Moby Dick’ solos. I never stopped listening.
The Meters and Zigaboo Modeliste. I think that’s how you say it. I forgot who I found them through ’cause I was younger and they’ve been around forever. What he was doing – that New Orleans feel and jazzy vibe… As I grew, I listened to a lot of drum and bass and it always reminded me of the music they were playing, but on crack – sped up really fast. The odd timing and the different placement on the snare always inspired me.
Obviously, I’ve got dozens and dozens of other inspirations but those are sort of the ones that started formulating what I do with my band and myself.”
