Jose Pasillas - Incubus Interview
Incubus drummer Jose Pasillas is on the brink of releasing an original art collection entitled ‘Abstract & Rhythm Landscapes’ on November 1st.
Incubus drummer Jose Pasillas is on the brink of releasing an original art collection entitled Abstract & Rhythm Landscapes on November 1st. I caught up with him to find out a little bit more about his life away from music. WC: So when did your love for art begin? JP: From when I was a wee lad! I remember painting and drawing pretty much my whole life. My godmother used to give me a pad and pencil to occupy my time when I was five or six years old. I think it was that far back! But yeah, Ive pretty much been drawing my whole life. WC: Could you explain a little more about your new fine art collection? JP: I paired up with SceneFour. Theyve actually done a project similar to this with other drummers such as Matt Sorum (Velvet Revolver/Guns N Roses) and Rick Allen, (Def Leppard). So its kind of the same concept, but one of the differences is that I will alter two of the prints by hand, so Ill paint on top of the canvases and put my stamp on them. WC: Each art collection Scenefour has put out with other drummers has been completely different, do you think people will be surprised your collection is unveiled next month? JP: Yeah, I think so. I mean, this is the first thing Ive put out on my own, specifically when it comes to art. Its a little nerve-wracking but Im very excited about it. I think people will like it; the images are intriguing and kind of beautiful. WC: You have said before that you had no formal training in drum playing, but you did have training in art. What made you decide to pursue this education? JP: I took a couple of courses after high school. We graduated high school, and me and Brandon went to college in California, Mike went to school in Santa Monica and Alex, (our old bass player) went to Santa Barbara. We sort of pursued school after high school to appease our parents, but music was always a priority. Most of my classes were general education and art classes. WC: Aside from music, has anything else artistically inspired you for this project? JP: Music, art, my family, the people around me. I find inspiration in all these things, and it means I feel like Im constantly in the creative. This project feels like this is something to take steps forward in a different sort of form, so putting my artwork out for people to see feels like a natural step for me. WC: Not much has been said about the specific method yourself and SceneFour used to capture the artwork, could you throw a little more light on it? JP: It pretty much just feels like someones filming you. Essentially thats what it is. The technique that they use Im not quite sure on, I mean, Im not a photographer. But Im basically playing drums in the dark, and there are 30-60 second intervals. So the image on the canvas is me playing drums for about 30 seconds, and the outcome, the image it leaves is just very beautiful. Very abstract and very intriguing. WC: Do you have any immediate art projects in the pipeline? JP: Im not thinking too far ahead, but Im sure Ill be doing projects, be it art, fine art or drumming. Were home for quite some time, so each of us find projects and things to occupy our time. So well see. WC: Apart from the art youve created for this collection, are there other methods of visual art that you have experimented with? JP: Primarily, over the last 4 or 5 years Ive been into painting. Its been acrylic but its more of a mixed medium. I use spray cans, paint markers, a lot of stenciling, a mix of all those worlds. Up to that point I was doing a lot of pen and ink, so lot of line drawings, pencil drawings, stuff like that. At home I have my art room, which is an art room/gallery where I hang a lot of pictures and frames from previous works. Theres a lot of pen and ink stuff, and prisma colours and colour inks too. WC: Do you think you will end up collaborating artistically with any of your fellow band members? JP: You never know! Ive done CD covers for friends in the past. Maybe one of them will ask me to do something like that, maybe merchandise or something like that. Who knows? Im always open to collaborate and do stuff like that. WC: You seem to be very fascinated and invested in different art forms. Have you experimented with others, such as film? JP: Not really, in my time Ive done little movies and stuff for things Ive done on the road. Its fun, but time consuming! I think its a really fun medium, and putting music to it and editing and all that stuff, and I can see how people are drawn to it. But its a little too tedious for me, I like the sort of free form of paint strokes and drawing, I kind of thrive off of that more. I can see how people love doing that, but my attention span is a little too small for that! WC: Are there any plans to do an installation or gallery of the collection for public viewing? JP: I think well end up doing that eventually. Probably in five or six weeks after the collection has dropped, well try to put something together where people can come and see the art up. Nothing planned yet but I wouldnt be surprised if we decide to do something like that. WC: In the press releases for the collection you made a point about wanting your art to be affordable and accessible to people, therefore you are selling off the limited collection at a low price. I find it very unique thing that you want to be able to include all people and not segregate the pieces to rich art collectors. JP: Thank you man! Luckily this isnt my main source of income so Im able to make them affordable. I meaning, theyre not free and theres a cost to make, but its nice to do it. There will be pieces thatll be up to $5000 but these are huge, studio wall pieces and a lot of time and effort has gone in to them. But its the same with our tickets for Incubus. We put them on the affordable side rather than rising prices to make as much money as we can. It just doesnt seem fair. WC: So, what lies ahead for the future? Art and Incubus? JP: Ill continue to paint whether Ill put it out or not. Thatll never stop, me painting. Hopefully Incubus will come together to write a record together in the next year or so. Well see, we dont really have any plans, weve just been out on a record cycle for quite some time so no-ones thinking about that right now. But Im always excited to write music will my band so hopefully well put a record together. You can find out more about Joses collection at josepasillas.com