Alex Katunich

Alex Katunich (born August 18, 1976) is the former bassist of Incubus.

File:Alex Katunich.jpg

Since high school, Alex went by the stage name of Dirk Lance which was apparently taken from the credits of an anonymous 70's porn flick. He stayed with Incubus on bass guitar for over 12 years until he left the band in 2003.

Incubus career

During his time with Incubus, Alex went mostly unrecognized (as seen in MTV's Diary of Incubus), however he nevertheless proved to be a major driving force behind the band. Alex was channelling funk and jazz elements. He also wrote infectious and very respected basslines, particularly in songs like Sink Beneath the Line, Glass, Speak Free, Deep Inside, Are You In?, Hilikus, Battlestar Scralatchtica, and Nice to Know You. Alex has been particularly noted for his fast slap-mute technique, as can be heard on his bass solos in the songs Redefine and Sink Beneath the Line. His electric style of playing onstage has also earned him credit with positive rock counterparts 311 and other industry heavyweights.

After twelve years with Incubus, Alex decided to leave the band. There are numerous speculations as to why this happened. One explanation (with not much credibility) is that he fought with bandmates (especially singer Brandon Boyd) over the creative aspect of the band. Probably another factor of his departure was that he was known for his temperamental and stubborn personality, which caused many arguments in the process of writing Morning View. Another reason is when his mother, Linda Katunich, died in 2003. Regardless, with his departure, Incubus' music continues to evolve, although Alex's absence is noticeable, in such things as Mike Einziger's more complex guitar parts. It has been cited that it was due to the fact that Alex wanted time off of the road for his girlfriend and recent wife.

Post-Incubus Career

Recently, Katunich has come back to the spotlight with Stickman Entertainment, which creates videogame music. Stickman Entertainment's portfolio is extensive; it includes contracts with musicians such as THQ, 311's P-Nut and Suzie Katayama. Stickman Entertainment has worked on soundtracks for such video games as Red Faction, WWE Smackdown, and MotoGP 2. Many fans thought that Katunich's new contract was in response to Incubus's release of The Odyssey, a 27 minute long epic that appeared on the Halo 2 soundtrack. However, Stickman Entertainment was incorporated August 1, 2003[1], long before the Halo 2 soundtrack was released, which proves that Katunich started Stickman Entertainment without prior knowledge of the participation of Incubus (post-Alex) in contributing to the Halo 2 soundtrack.

In April 2006, Alex Katunich played a gig with a Southern California-based jam/funk band named Willie's Nerve Clinic. The first official gig since his departure from Incubus was April 6, 2006 at The Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, California, though this gig was just a one time deal, as a fill in at the time. As of this time, Alex is in no band, and spends a lot of his time enjoying work,and talking smack on online gaming, as seen on many online home videos.

Stickman Entertainment has created Traction in Game Radio a software for gamers to listen to music in game.

Trivia

• Part of his ability to mingle with the crowd is his penchant for roadie shirts (for instance, donning black "Security' tee on the Diary of Incubus).
• He is almost always seen wearing caps, but his trademark is often considered his choice of t-shirts.
• He is an avid golfer.
• Even though he was a bassist for a multi platinum selling Alt/Modern Rock band, Katunich had always found joy in jazz. Prior to joining Incubus, he was part of a school jazz band but was dropped because of his lack of knowledge in note-reading.

Gear

Katunich was an avid user of Warwick Streamer Stage II's (much like his contemporary P-Nut of 311), which included both fretted and fretless models. They were usually installed with active Basslines pickups and pre-amps. He has also used acoustic-electric basses at unplugged gigs and playing songs such as Mexico live, as well as on Wish You Were Here and a few other occasions he has dug out a red mid-60's Fender Jazz Bass. He has also used a Warwick Infinity NT, as seen in the video for "Drive".( just for the video, as he hasn't used it in live sessions )

For most of his career with Incubus he used Eden Amplification products. With his somewhat complicated setup, he would divide his sound 6 ways. Firstly, he would carry a clean signal and a 'dirty' signal. Each of these signals would further be separated 3 ways into low frequencies, low mids, and high mid frequencies. Usually Eden WT 100 preamps and WT 1000 power amps were employed. This results in two tri-amped signals, one clean and one with effects. Other gear in his setup included, but not limited to, were a Demeter Tube Compressor, a DBX 120 XP Sub-harmonic synthesizer, a Tech 21 Sansamp PSA-1, a custom switcher/router, a Boss PH-2 Super Phaser pedal, a MXR Phase 90 pedal, and an Electro-Harmonix Big Muff pedal. His use of effects seemed to decrease throughout his time with Incubus. He also used custom designed monitors powered by an Eden WT 80 poweramp. He has been quoted as saying "Everyone makes fun of how huge my rig is until they actually hear it. My tone makes people cry!"