Causecast

Brandon Boyd is the lead singer of the multi-platinum band Incubus, a prolific artist, an award-winning surfer, a credible musician and a female ‘heart throb.’ Despite all of his time in the spotlight, Boyd remains as friendly, down to earth, ego-free and socially aware as ever.

Causecast’s Brandon Deroche caught up with Boyd at the release party to speak with him about how the shoes came to be, the higher form of communication presented in music and the hope for a singular state of mind known as peace.

Causecast: Can we talk briefly about how this came to be, and was it a tough decision to make?

Brandon Boyd: It was not tough to decide to want to do. I had met some of the people from TOMS previously and we talked about doing some type of collaborative project, but we didn’t really know what. We just knew that there was some sort of similar energy at work. So I kept seeing them, we kept just sort of brainstorming, and I was just saying to a friend before that I kind of assumed that they had already done a project like this. I think it would have come up sooner had I known. And we started brainstorming, you know, this came up, this idea of doing original canvases that they made into shoes. They hadn’t done it before so we were like “let’s do that.” And then they asked if I knew anybody that I thought would want to collaborate with something like that. So my friend Kristen is a friend, a really good artist, and my neighbor too, so it all just sort of came together, it wasn’t hard. It was hard to do because…it hadn’t been done before and there was no like, road map for it. Untreated, unstretched canvas is really hard to paint on too. So that part was difficult.

CC: That’s what I wanted to ask you – collaboration in music is one thing, but when it comes to painting, how do you decide what you want to paint together?

BB: (laughs) It seems kind of boring to present it like this, but…I never know what I’m going to paint until I’m painting it, and in this case with the TOMS collaboration, it was no different. Got to Kristin’s studio, and they had massive pieces of canvases in big rolls, and we rolled them out and duct taped them to the floor, and had a bunch of paint…just started painting, so…that’s my favorite way to paint. I don’t really like pre-meditating things too much. I’m still hell-bent on like the experience of painting, you know the process of painting, as opposed to like trying to achieve an immediate end result. So, I started working and the first canvas I did on my own, I was kind of feeling it out. On the second canvas, the one we ended up collaborating on, I started to get this flow, line work. I think some of the better shoes in the collaboration are from the second canvas, that was the one that Kristin and I did together.

CC: Is this the first wearable art you’ve created?

BB: Except for Incubus t-shirts, yes.

CC: Is this something you’d want to do more of?

BB: I think so, yeah. I like the idea that these little pieces of art are finding a new life on people’s feet. And the art is going to start smelling like popcorn soon, it’s going to have sweat on it, it’s going to stretch, stuff’s going to get spilled on it, it’s going to step in poo, and you know it’s like it’s alive. It’s live art. What’s better than that?

Causecast: Can I ask you why you feel compelled to be active? Also, why should you or anyone care about someone in another continent when it doesn’t directly affect you?

BB: I think the best way to answer that question is with a very simple answer. It’s probably sounding a little hokey, but honestly what I believe and how I think…I think that we are all from the same place, going to the same place, and we’re different in a lot of ways culturally, but when it comes down to the brass tax, we’re not that different. So, I think we’re really here to be in service of each other. So, if we have ways that we can help each other, and be entertained at the same time, make each other smile, or clothe each other and stuff like that, it seems like a really good idea to me. So it’s about being in service of your fellow man. Art is a really good way to do that.

CC: So you feel that art and music are great means of driving social change?

BB: Absolutely, I think art has always been a catalyst for social change, and I think even more so than ever before. Right now, it’s in. There’s more art in the world now, which is amazing. I think it’s really cool when people decide to dedicate their lives to such pursuits. It speaks to that higher form of communication that I like to talk about a lot.

CC: So how would you say that your consciousness affects your art, and in turn, your art then affects someone else’s consciousness?

BB: Riiight…I don’t know exactly how it affects people’s consciousness, but I know that I have been affected by art and by music my whole life. It has shaped my life in a lot of ways, and it made me want to do what I do. So, if what I put into the world can have even the slightest bit of effect on a small group of people, I think that’s wonderful. Because then those people will hopefully carry that on, and keep it moving, keep it alive once again. I think it’s one of the most important things that a human being can do, you know? And one of the coolest things.

CC: Everyone talks about “peace,” and achieving “peace,” but what does peace really mean? So, what does the word “peace” mean to you?

BB: Wow, that’s a heavy question. The obvious answer is not fighting anymore, but it’s kind of an unrealistic notion for people to not bump into each other or step on each other’s toes every once in a while. So I think what it comes down to, peace is more a singular state of mind that one can achieve and then influence others…if they choose to live that way or they find a way to live in peace, and in oneness with themselves. So, I think peace can become contagious when people live by example or maybe become peaceful in their own mind, heart, and spirit. And then people witness that and see how beautiful it could be.

CC: What do you feel is the most important social action that someone could do?

BB: I like your questions, for the record. Off the top of my head, I would say…live by example. Live the way that you think would make a better world. And so in the case of…I like to lead my life creatively. I think that creative impulse is the closest impulse to spirituality, and letting that be the biggest thing in your life. It’s changed my life, and I’ve watched it change other people’s lives as well. So, I think it’s one of the most important things a human being could do. It’s obviously up for grabs, it’s a matter of opinion, you know? But, to live by example is probably the most important thing you could do.

Read more Causecast musician interviews at www.causecast.org/music.