Mike Einziger
Encyclopedia
Michael Aaron Einziger is a Grammy-nominated musician known as the co-writer and guitarist
of the alternative rock band Incubus
. Einziger is widely known as an innovator and enthusiast of the use of pedalboard guitar effects during live concerts, and was voted #41 in Total Guitar's top 100 guitarists of all time in 2002. In an interview with Gibson Guitars, writer Steven Rosen states "[Einziger] hasn’t played the guitar so much as he has manipulated it, submitted it to his own needs. Einziger fashions a sonic tapestry that draws heavily from the Zappa/Vai/Hendrix school of rock." Mike is also an active composer, writing his first full-scale orchestral concert entitled "End.>vacuum", as well as "Forced Curvature of Reflective Surfaces"; an experimental composition that will be featured at the "West Coast, Left Coast" Festival at Walt Disney Concert Hall
. Einziger is currently enrolled as a student at Harvard University
.
in 2003. The group featured Incubus musicians Jose Pasillas II and Ben Kenney (who was not a member of Incubus at the time), Neal Evans of the band Soulive, and long-time collaborator Suzie Katayama contributing string arrangements. The band had their debut show at The Roxy in LA, and would go on to play Jimmy Kimmel and the Knitting Factory in New York City.
In 2003 Einziger contributed to Ziggy Marley's debut solo album Dragonfly alongside fellow Incubus member Chris Kilmore as well as Flea
and John Frusciante
of Red Hot Chili Peppers
. Einziger expanded into the realm of video games when he and his fellow bandmates worked on the soundtrack of the popular game Halo 2
, writing a 26-minute song that also featured Flea on trumpet. In 2006 Einziger produced the debut album "Red Rover" by Agent Sparks; a collaboration with younger brothers Benjamin Einziger and Paul Fried.
In 2007, Einziger produced Nighttiming
, the debut album of long-time friend and former Phantom Planet
drummer and actor Jason Schwartzman
's Coconut Records project. The album featured appearances by Kirsten Dunst
, Zooey Deschanel
, and Robert Schwartzman, and was recorded at Einziger's own home studio in Malibu, CA (Casa Chica).
Einziger began crafting an orchestral composition “End.>vacuum” following surgery in March 2007 for Carpal tunnel syndrome
, a repetitive-strain injury to his left wrist undoubtedly due to a lifetime of playing guitar. The condition forced him to take a hiatus from the band and his instrument. It would be the longest he’d ever gone without playing, and enabled him to follow some other musical, as well as outside, interests.
The piece consisted of nine musical movements (approximately 40 minutes total) and was performed by a chamber orchestra led by renowned Los Angeles conductor and Einziger’s longtime collaborator Suzie Katayama. Inspiration has been attributed to such iconoclastic modern and avant-garde composers as Igor Stravinsky
, George Crumb
, Samuel Barber
, Krzysztof Penderecki
and Frank Zappa
.
According to Einziger, “End.>vacuum” makes reference to his perception of the outer edge of human understanding, “the finite place where rational scientific knowledge stops and pure speculation ensues…The event horizon between what we know and what we don’t know is what keeps me awake at night, but also gets me out of bed every day.”
“Einziger's work plays with time.” Los Angeles Times
’ Steve Hochman proclaimed, “Pulsating tribal/mechanical rhythms melt into sustained, almost static stretches before the rhythm reemerges. The early-'80s large ensemble work of John Adams comes to mind, but the character of the piece is Einziger's own.”
End.>vacuum was Einziger’s first original orchestral composition. It debuted at UCLA’s famed Royce Hall
on August 23, 2008. On Saturday, November 21, 2009, Einziger will be participating in the premiere event of the West Coast, Left Coast festival titled "EUREKA!". Einziger will be performing his latest musical endeavor, a piece called "Forced Curvature of Reflective Surfaces". Forced Curvature was inspired by a combination of the physical appearance of the Frank Gehry
-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall
, and Einziger's studies in the philosophy of quantum mechanics
.
The music was written for 12 electric guitars (played with a slide), 12 strings (violin, cello), and is based on the glissando. The instruments have been orchestrated in terms of corresponding high and low registers, that reflect each other as though being viewed through a mirror. The exterior shape of Disney Hall informed the shape of the sounds created and by necessity, was first drawn visually in the form of architectural-like renderings, before being committed to paper in the form of a hand-written score.
"[Disney Hall] is obviously a solid, immobile structure, but it looks like a series of reflective waves that have been frozen in a specific state at a specific place in time, and I wanted to try and imagine what it might sound like if that idea were to be expressed as waves of sound. Adding a 4th dimension of time to the picture would force the structure into a Minkowskian space-time manifold, and it would therefore become directional. It would be as though time itself were forcing the curvature of the reflective material in a forward-motion, because time appears to be directional."
The piece has no apparent formal structure and has been through-composed. All of the instruments will be fused together, forming 2 distinct 'mirror images'. The strings and guitars combined will not sound like separate groups of instruments, but rather as dense units of a single instrument uncharacteristic of entirely one or the other.
Einziger conceived of the piece at Harvard University where he is currently a student, and has studied the history and philosophy of physics with physicist/historian, Dr. Peter Galison.
Einziger has a profound interest in the physical sciences. In 2008 he contributed to an article on the topic of human evolution with evolutionary biology figure and Brown University professor Dr. Kenneth Miller.
On June 17, 2008 Einziger took a personal tour of the Large Hadron Collider
at CERN
in Geneva, Switzerland with British physicist Dr. Brian Cox
. During that visit, Einziger invited Dr. Cox to appear as a speaker at his concert for "End.>vacuum" later that Fall.
In 2009, Einziger orchestrated and recorded the additional strings for the 30 Seconds to Mars
third album This Is War
.
, Jimmy Page
, Steve Vai
, and Frank Zappa
. He claims "infatuation" with Björk's
voice. Mike was also heavily influenced by the music of Black Sabbath
and Metallica
.
.
guitars, and sometime around the making of Enjoy Incubus
he switched to PRS
(Custom 24's). On the albums "Science" and "Make Yourself" he used a Mesa-Boogie Tremoverb. Mike used PRS McCarty Archtop guitars while recording some songs on the album Make Yourself (for example the song "Make Yourself"). On the album Morning View, Mike only used his PRS McCarty Archtops. During the A Crow Left of the Murder...
tour, he started playing Fender Jazzmaster guitars. This guitar is played most prominently on the "Alive at Red Rocks
" DVD. On a recent tour he has been seen using a Gibson
SG Junior
with P-90's modified with an extra neck pickup and a pickup selector switch.
Einziger is a multi-instrumentalist, and in addition to guitar, he has played piano, Mellotron
, pipa
, analog synthesizers, tape samplers, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, and many other instruments on his recordings with Incubus as well as his other projects. He has also played a Jerry Jones Guitars
Master Sitar
on "Nowhere Fast" from the Make Yourself
album (live, he simply plays the sitar part with his guitar), and a Pipa
on "Aqueous Transmission". Mike also plays electric piano on songs like "Here In My Room" and has played piano on live versions of "Drive."
He commonly uses Mesa/Boogie Trem-O-Verb 2/12 Combos, Fender Twin Reverb. Uses [Electro-Harmonix] Micro POG [Polyphonic Octave Generator] for the solo section on “Promises, Promises.” On title track, “If Not Now, When?” Einziger plays a Mellotron mandolin. Has a 1930s Gibson with a smaller body and used an older Martin acoustic when recording “Defiance.” In the video for “Adolescents.” he is seen with a custom PRS guitar which was sold at a charity auction for $15,000 and was borrowed from the buyer for the video shoot.
Stopped using PRS guitars after sine issues arose with a particular employee of Paul Reed Smith.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
of the alternative rock band Incubus
Incubus (band)
Incubus is an American rock band from Calabasas, California. The band was formed in 1991 by vocalist Brandon Boyd, lead guitarist Mike Einziger, and drummer Jose Pasillas while enrolled in high school and later expanded to include bassist Alex "Dirk Lance" Katunich, and Gavin "DJ Lyfe" Koppell;...
. Einziger is widely known as an innovator and enthusiast of the use of pedalboard guitar effects during live concerts, and was voted #41 in Total Guitar's top 100 guitarists of all time in 2002. In an interview with Gibson Guitars, writer Steven Rosen states "[Einziger] hasn’t played the guitar so much as he has manipulated it, submitted it to his own needs. Einziger fashions a sonic tapestry that draws heavily from the Zappa/Vai/Hendrix school of rock." Mike is also an active composer, writing his first full-scale orchestral concert entitled "End.>vacuum", as well as "Forced Curvature of Reflective Surfaces"; an experimental composition that will be featured at the "West Coast, Left Coast" Festival at Walt Disney Concert Hall
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Avenue, 1st and 2nd Streets, it seats 2,265 people and serves as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the...
. Einziger is currently enrolled as a student at Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
Incubus
Einziger co-founded Incubus with classmates Brandon Boyd, Jose Pasillas II, and Alex Katunich in 1991. Incubus has sold over 13 million albums worldwide and has been nominated for 2 Grammys, MTV music video awards, American Music Awards, mtv U Woodie Award, and the Billboard Awards. Incubus has performed sold-out concerts at The Hollywood Bowl, The Great Western Forum, Madison Square Garden, Radio City Music Hall, Wembley Arena in London, and Araneta Coliseum in Manila, Philippines.Solo work and current projects
Outside of his work with Incubus, Einziger founded his own project Time Lapse ConsortiumTime Lapse Consortium
Time-Lapse Consortium is an American band formed in 2003. Their sound is described as Psychedelic, Jazz, and Funk. The group consists of current Incubus members Mike Einziger on Guitar, Jose Pasillas on drums, Ben Kenney on Bass , Neal Evans of Soulive on Organ, and Suzie Katayama contributing on...
in 2003. The group featured Incubus musicians Jose Pasillas II and Ben Kenney (who was not a member of Incubus at the time), Neal Evans of the band Soulive, and long-time collaborator Suzie Katayama contributing string arrangements. The band had their debut show at The Roxy in LA, and would go on to play Jimmy Kimmel and the Knitting Factory in New York City.
In 2003 Einziger contributed to Ziggy Marley's debut solo album Dragonfly alongside fellow Incubus member Chris Kilmore as well as Flea
Flea (musician)
Michael Peter Balzary , better known by his stage name Flea, is an Australian-American musician and occasional actor. He is best known as the bassist, co-founding member, and one of the composers of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers...
and John Frusciante
John Frusciante
John Anthony Frusciante is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, record and film producer. He is best known as the former lead guitarist of the rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers, with whom he had been for a number of years and recorded five studio albums...
of Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
. Einziger expanded into the realm of video games when he and his fellow bandmates worked on the soundtrack of the popular game Halo 2
Halo 2
Halo 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Bungie Studios. Released for the Xbox video game console on November 9, 2004, the game is the second installment in the Halo franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed Halo: Combat Evolved...
, writing a 26-minute song that also featured Flea on trumpet. In 2006 Einziger produced the debut album "Red Rover" by Agent Sparks; a collaboration with younger brothers Benjamin Einziger and Paul Fried.
In 2007, Einziger produced Nighttiming
Nighttiming
Nighttiming is Coconut Records' 2007 debut album. It was originally released as a digital download. The album was produced by Mike Einziger of Incubus in Casa Chica in Malibu in August 2006...
, the debut album of long-time friend and former Phantom Planet
Phantom Planet
Phantom Planet are an American alternative rock band from Southern California. Formed in 1994 in Los Angeles, the band consists of Alex Greenwald , Darren Robinson , Sam Farrar and Jeff Conrad . The band is best known for its track "California", which became the theme song for the Fox TV series,...
drummer and actor Jason Schwartzman
Jason Schwartzman
Jason Francesco Schwartzman is an American actor and musician. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Rushmore, Spun, I Heart Huckabees, Shopgirl, Marie Antoinette, The Darjeeling Limited, Funny People, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World...
's Coconut Records project. The album featured appearances by Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Dunst
Kirsten Caroline Dunst is an American actress, singer and model. She made her film debut in Oedipus Wrecks, a short film directed by Woody Allen for the anthology New York Stories...
, Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Deschanel
Zooey Claire Deschanel is an American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter. In 1999, Deschanel made her film debut in Mumford, followed by her breakout role as young protagonist William Miller's troubled older sister Anita in Cameron Crowe's 2000 semi-autobiographical film Almost Famous...
, and Robert Schwartzman, and was recorded at Einziger's own home studio in Malibu, CA (Casa Chica).
Einziger began crafting an orchestral composition “End.>vacuum” following surgery in March 2007 for Carpal tunnel syndrome
Carpal tunnel syndrome
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is an entrapment idiopathic median neuropathy, causing paresthesia, pain, and other symptoms in the distribution of the median nerve due to its compression at the wrist in the carpal tunnel. The pathophysiology is not completely understood but can be considered compression...
, a repetitive-strain injury to his left wrist undoubtedly due to a lifetime of playing guitar. The condition forced him to take a hiatus from the band and his instrument. It would be the longest he’d ever gone without playing, and enabled him to follow some other musical, as well as outside, interests.
The piece consisted of nine musical movements (approximately 40 minutes total) and was performed by a chamber orchestra led by renowned Los Angeles conductor and Einziger’s longtime collaborator Suzie Katayama. Inspiration has been attributed to such iconoclastic modern and avant-garde composers as Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
, George Crumb
George Crumb
George Crumb is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He is noted as an explorer of unusual timbres, alternative forms of notation, and extended instrumental and vocal techniques. Examples include seagull effect for the cello , metallic vibrato for the piano George Crumb (born...
, Samuel Barber
Samuel Barber
Samuel Osborne Barber II was an American composer of orchestral, opera, choral, and piano music. His Adagio for Strings is his most popular composition and widely considered a masterpiece of modern classical music...
, Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
and Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
.
According to Einziger, “End.>vacuum” makes reference to his perception of the outer edge of human understanding, “the finite place where rational scientific knowledge stops and pure speculation ensues…The event horizon between what we know and what we don’t know is what keeps me awake at night, but also gets me out of bed every day.”
“Einziger's work plays with time.” Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
’ Steve Hochman proclaimed, “Pulsating tribal/mechanical rhythms melt into sustained, almost static stretches before the rhythm reemerges. The early-'80s large ensemble work of John Adams comes to mind, but the character of the piece is Einziger's own.”
End.>vacuum was Einziger’s first original orchestral composition. It debuted at UCLA’s famed Royce Hall
Royce Hall
Royce Hall is a building on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles . Designed by the Los Angeles firm of Allison & Allison in the Italian Romanesque Revival style and completed in 1929, it is one of the four original buildings on UCLA's Westwood campus and has come to be the...
on August 23, 2008. On Saturday, November 21, 2009, Einziger will be participating in the premiere event of the West Coast, Left Coast festival titled "EUREKA!". Einziger will be performing his latest musical endeavor, a piece called "Forced Curvature of Reflective Surfaces". Forced Curvature was inspired by a combination of the physical appearance of the Frank Gehry
Frank Gehry
Frank Owen Gehry, is a Canadian American Pritzker Prize-winning architect based in Los Angeles, California.His buildings, including his private residence, have become tourist attractions...
-designed Walt Disney Concert Hall
Walt Disney Concert Hall
The Walt Disney Concert Hall at 111 South Grand Avenue in Downtown Los Angeles, California is the fourth hall of the Los Angeles Music Center. Bounded by Hope Street, Grand Avenue, 1st and 2nd Streets, it seats 2,265 people and serves as the home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra and the...
, and Einziger's studies in the philosophy of quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics
Quantum mechanics, also known as quantum physics or quantum theory, is a branch of physics providing a mathematical description of much of the dual particle-like and wave-like behavior and interactions of energy and matter. It departs from classical mechanics primarily at the atomic and subatomic...
.
The music was written for 12 electric guitars (played with a slide), 12 strings (violin, cello), and is based on the glissando. The instruments have been orchestrated in terms of corresponding high and low registers, that reflect each other as though being viewed through a mirror. The exterior shape of Disney Hall informed the shape of the sounds created and by necessity, was first drawn visually in the form of architectural-like renderings, before being committed to paper in the form of a hand-written score.
"[Disney Hall] is obviously a solid, immobile structure, but it looks like a series of reflective waves that have been frozen in a specific state at a specific place in time, and I wanted to try and imagine what it might sound like if that idea were to be expressed as waves of sound. Adding a 4th dimension of time to the picture would force the structure into a Minkowskian space-time manifold, and it would therefore become directional. It would be as though time itself were forcing the curvature of the reflective material in a forward-motion, because time appears to be directional."
The piece has no apparent formal structure and has been through-composed. All of the instruments will be fused together, forming 2 distinct 'mirror images'. The strings and guitars combined will not sound like separate groups of instruments, but rather as dense units of a single instrument uncharacteristic of entirely one or the other.
Einziger conceived of the piece at Harvard University where he is currently a student, and has studied the history and philosophy of physics with physicist/historian, Dr. Peter Galison.
Einziger has a profound interest in the physical sciences. In 2008 he contributed to an article on the topic of human evolution with evolutionary biology figure and Brown University professor Dr. Kenneth Miller.
On June 17, 2008 Einziger took a personal tour of the Large Hadron Collider
Large Hadron Collider
The Large Hadron Collider is the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator. It is expected to address some of the most fundamental questions of physics, advancing the understanding of the deepest laws of nature....
at CERN
CERN
The European Organization for Nuclear Research , known as CERN , is an international organization whose purpose is to operate the world's largest particle physics laboratory, which is situated in the northwest suburbs of Geneva on the Franco–Swiss border...
in Geneva, Switzerland with British physicist Dr. Brian Cox
Brian Cox (physicist)
Brian Edward Cox, OBE , is a British particle physicist, a Royal Society University Research Fellow and a professor at the University of Manchester. He is a member of the High Energy Physics group at the University of Manchester, and works on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at...
. During that visit, Einziger invited Dr. Cox to appear as a speaker at his concert for "End.>vacuum" later that Fall.
In 2009, Einziger orchestrated and recorded the additional strings for the 30 Seconds to Mars
30 Seconds to Mars
30 Seconds to Mars is an American rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1998. Since 2007, the band has consisted of actor Jared Leto , Shannon Leto and Tomo Miličević...
third album This Is War
This Is War
This Is War is the third studio album by American rock band 30 Seconds to Mars, released through Virgin Records and EMI on December 8, 2009. It peaked at number 18 on the Billboard 200.- Background and development :...
.
Musical Influences
Mike has cited his early guitar influences as Jimi HendrixJimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
, Jimmy Page
Jimmy Page
James Patrick "Jimmy" Page, OBE is an English multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and record producer. He began his career as a studio session guitarist in London and was subsequently a member of The Yardbirds from 1966 to 1968, after which he founded the English rock band Led Zeppelin.Jimmy Page...
, Steve Vai
Steve Vai
Steven Siro "Steve" Vai is a three time Grammy Award-winning American guitarist, songwriter and producer who has sold over 15 million albums. Steve Vai is widely known as a flamboyant guitar virtuoso....
, and Frank Zappa
Frank Zappa
Frank Vincent Zappa was an American composer, singer-songwriter, electric guitarist, record producer and film director. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa wrote rock, jazz, orchestral and musique concrète works. He also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed...
. He claims "infatuation" with Björk's
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...
voice. Mike was also heavily influenced by the music of Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...
and Metallica
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1981 when James Hetfield responded to an advertisement that drummer Lars Ulrich had posted in a local newspaper. The current line-up features long-time lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo ...
.
Personal life
As of 2008, Mike is enrolled as a special student studying music at Harvard UniversityHarvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
Equipment Used
Early on, Mike was playing IbanezIbanez
is a Japanese guitar brand owned by Hoshino Gakki. Based in Nagoya, Aichi, Japan, Hoshino Gakki were one of the first Japanese musical instrument companies to gain a significant foothold in import guitar sales in the United States and Europe, as well as the first brand of guitars to mass produce...
guitars, and sometime around the making of Enjoy Incubus
Enjoy Incubus
Enjoy Incubus is an EP by Incubus released on January 7, 1997 on Epic Records. It was their debut major label release. It contained re-recordings of songs that featured on their previous, independent releases Let Me Tell Ya 'Bout Root Beer and Fungus Amongus, as well the previously unreleased song...
he switched to PRS
PRS Guitars
PRS Guitars is an American guitar manufacturer headquartered in Stevensville, Maryland. PRS Guitars was founded by guitarist and luthier Paul Reed Smith in 1985. The company is one of the leading manufacturers of high-end electric guitars.-Materials:...
(Custom 24's). On the albums "Science" and "Make Yourself" he used a Mesa-Boogie Tremoverb. Mike used PRS McCarty Archtop guitars while recording some songs on the album Make Yourself (for example the song "Make Yourself"). On the album Morning View, Mike only used his PRS McCarty Archtops. During the A Crow Left of the Murder...
A Crow Left of the Murder...
-Live 2004 EP:When bought at some retailers a bonus live EP was bundled with the CD.-Bonus DVD:#"Lollapalooza" – 9:13#* Includes a brief interview discussing the Lollapalooza tour, then performances of "Megalomaniac" and "Pistola"....
tour, he started playing Fender Jazzmaster guitars. This guitar is played most prominently on the "Alive at Red Rocks
Alive at Red Rocks
Alive at Red Rocks is a live DVD and bonus CD by the band Incubus. It was recorded in Red Rocks, Colorado on July 26, 2004. It was the first DVD showing new bassist Ben Kenney...
" DVD. On a recent tour he has been seen using a Gibson
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...
SG Junior
Gibson SG Junior
The Gibson SG Junior was a solid-bodied electric guitar manufactured by Gibson from the early 1960s to the late 60s. Like its earlier sister, the Gibson Les Paul Junior, it had been created for sale to anyone who wanted Gibson quality for a cheap price. It is known for its single P-90 treble...
with P-90's modified with an extra neck pickup and a pickup selector switch.
Einziger is a multi-instrumentalist, and in addition to guitar, he has played piano, Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
, pipa
Pipa
The pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26...
, analog synthesizers, tape samplers, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer, and many other instruments on his recordings with Incubus as well as his other projects. He has also played a Jerry Jones Guitars
Jerry Jones Guitars
Jerry Jones Guitars is a musical instrument manufacturer based in Nashville, Tennessee, United States.The company specializes in making electric guitars and basses based on Danelectro's designs from the 1950s and 1960s...
Master Sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...
on "Nowhere Fast" from the Make Yourself
Make Yourself
Make Yourself is the third album by American rock band Incubus, released through Epic Records on October 26, 1999. The album has been certified double platinum in the United States along with featuring three charting singles, "Pardon Me", "Stellar", and "Drive", all of which reached the top three...
album (live, he simply plays the sitar part with his guitar), and a Pipa
Pipa
The pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26...
on "Aqueous Transmission". Mike also plays electric piano on songs like "Here In My Room" and has played piano on live versions of "Drive."
He commonly uses Mesa/Boogie Trem-O-Verb 2/12 Combos, Fender Twin Reverb. Uses [Electro-Harmonix] Micro POG [Polyphonic Octave Generator] for the solo section on “Promises, Promises.” On title track, “If Not Now, When?” Einziger plays a Mellotron mandolin. Has a 1930s Gibson with a smaller body and used an older Martin acoustic when recording “Defiance.” In the video for “Adolescents.” he is seen with a custom PRS guitar which was sold at a charity auction for $15,000 and was borrowed from the buyer for the video shoot.
Stopped using PRS guitars after sine issues arose with a particular employee of Paul Reed Smith.