Issue 101
May 2013
From performing with one of the world’s biggest rock bands to heavy sparring at Jackson-Winkeljohn MMA, the Incubus bass guitarist tells Aundre Jacobs about his love for the sport in an FO exclusive.
How did you first get into mixed martial arts?
“I have an older brother who wrestled throughout high school and he found the UFC in the early days when everyone was trading tapes. He moved out to California in 2005 and I went out there to see him, and one of the older events was on TV. As soon as I saw it I was like, ‘This is the best thing since sliced bread.’
“When I was younger I was really into boxing, but eventually it became really hazy and it wasn’t as interesting as it was when I was a child. So once the UFC came along it was at that stage when the Zuffa guys had everything dialed in.”
Have any fighters noticed you when you’ve been at events, or has a fighter walked out to one of your songs from either The Roots or Incubus?
“I remember going to UFC 104 without a ticket and, somehow, I got in and got some great seats. Joe Stevenson, who is now a close friend of mine, fought on the card against Spencer Fisher and it was crazy because I got to meet the fighters after they just fought because they’d come into the boxes and say hey. It was so surreal seeing someone like Cain Velasquez in person. To me, these guys are the superheroes of the real world, so when you see guys like that you geek out.”
Are you the sole person in the group who is into MMA, or have you managed to get anyone else in the band into it?
“I can’t get anybody from the band to come and train with me, but my bass tech trains with me and we’ll stop by gyms when we’re on tour, like Jackson- Winkeljohn in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
“We got in there and sparred in the ring at the gym for a little bit, so he’s the greatest bass tech in the world because he lets me try to punch him in the face (laughs). When it comes to the rest of the guys in the band, we all watch the events together and everyone definitely has a couple of fighters they’re really into. But I’m definitely the guy who geeks over it.”
It’s cool that you spar to stay in shape. When did you start training?
“Right after I started watching and getting into it I decided I wanted to do something different. I used to go to the gym and exercise, but it became boring. Then one day I asked the girl who I was seeing at the time to come with me to
a kickboxing class. When we got there we found out it was actually a Muay Thai class. After I did that first lesson, I fell in love with it right there and then.
“It was some of the hardest stuff I’ve ever done and it’s a lot different than playing music. When I’m playing music I have to come up with stuff, create things from scratch. But
taking Muay Thai, and jiu-jitsu shortly after that, it was great because I had someone telling me what to do.”
Is it difficult to train when you’re on the road, especially when you’re touring for a couple of years, like Incubus do?
“We’ll go and find places to train if we’ve got a day off. The hardest part is trying to get motivated to train when you’ve played in Vegas the night before. You’ve got a huge hangover and all you want to do is die (laughs). It’s trying to mix the partying and the fun stuff that we do on the road with the focus and motivation of training. It doesn’t always work well (laughs).”
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