Incubus Planning New Sound

Incubus just released their first greatest hits record, Monuments And Melodies, but don't think they're down for the count when it comes to new tunes.

Guitarist Mike Einziger says the band have already begun writing new material and will jump back into the studio early next year — after the Einziger finishes another semester at Harvard.

"We'll probably start recording a new album at the beginning of the year," he says over the phone.

"I'm going to finish another semester of school starting in the fall. It's time we'd take off anyway after we finish the tour. I'll be away from everyone, but we'll still be working on music, and by this time next year we'll probably be back on the road.

"Even though we're doing other things and taking some time to explore other stuff, this is what we do. This is our main focus. We still love it as much as we ever did, and we're excited to make a new record."

It's refreshing to see the band aren't simply adhering to the usual arena rocker trajectory by embarking on one hit parade tour after another. The quintet are ready and willing to explore new territory with their next album.

"I think we have our best record in us yet," says the guitarist. "If we didn't feel that way, we'd stop. If we already made our best records and played our best concerts, we wouldn't do it anymore.

"The further we get into our careers, the longer we've done this and the more records we've made, I have to dig deeper to find things that are interesting to me.

"That's part of why I went to school, because it was some stone that hadn't been turned. Musically, I don't know what those places are. I know they're inside me, I just have to go and find them."

Incubus will play the following dates:

Aug. 1 Boston, MA @ Comcast Center
Aug. 2 Uncasville, CT @ The Mohegan Sun Arena
Aug. 4-5 New York, NY @ Radio City Music Hall
Aug. 7 Holmdel, NJ @ PNC Bank Arts Center
Aug. 8 Philadelphia, PA @ Festival Pier at Penn's Landing
Aug. 9 Washington, DC @ Merriweather Post Pavilion
Aug. 11 Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Aug. 12 Charlotte, NC @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Aug. 14 Atlanta, GA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Aug. 15 Tampa Bay, FL @ Ford Amphitheatre
Aug. 16 Miami, FL @ Bayfront Park Amphitheatre
Aug. 19 Austin, TX @ Austin Music Hall
Aug. 21 Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Aug. 22 Dallas, TX @ Superpages.com Center
Aug. 25 Phoenix, AZ @ Jobbing.com Arena
Aug. 28 San Francisco, CA @ Golden Gate Park (Outside Lands Music & Arts Festival)