George Alex Katunich (born August 18, 1976) is an American musician. He is best known as the founding bassist of the Californian band

Incubus An Incubus () is a demon, male demon in human form in folklore that seeks to have Sexuality in Christian demonology, sexual intercourse with sleeping women; the corresponding spirit in female form is called a succubus. Parallels exist in many c ...

. He left the band in 2003. Since high school, Katunich has used the

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

of Dirk Lance.

Personal life

Katunich's paternal grandfather George was born in

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

, to Croatian parents from the town of Ozalj.

Career

Incubus

Katunich was a member of Incubus from 1991 to 2003, playing

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

on the albums '' Fungus Amongus'' (1995), '' Enjoy Incubus'' (1997), '' S.C.I.E.N.C.E.'' (1997), ''

Make Yourself ''Make Yourself'' is the third studio album by American rock band Incubus. It was released on October 26, 1999, through Epic Records and Immortal Records. The album received double platinum certification by the RIAA and produced three charting ...

'' (1999), and '' Morning View'' (2001). The decision to leave the band was made in October 2002, towards the end of the touring cycle for ''Morning View'', and his final performance with the group was on November 1, 2002. His departure was first announced to the media on April 4, 2003, through a statement from lead singer

Brandon Boyd Brandon Charles Boyd (born February 15, 1976) is an American musician, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Incubus, with whom he has recorded eight studio albums. In addition to his work with Incubus, Boyd has released two solo alb ...

. He was replaced by

The Roots The Roots are an American Hip-hop, hip hop band formed in 1987 by singer Black Thought, Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter and drummer Questlove, Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Roots serve as the house band on NBC's ''T ...

bassist Ben Kenney, who started performing with Incubus in July 2003.

After Incubus

Katunich later entered the video game industry with Stickman Entertainment. He has worked on titles like WWE Smackdown. In 2012, Katunich joined forces with his first bass teacher Stray Deuce and Germany native Alexa Brinkschulte to form Willie's Nerve Clinic. In September 2013, Katunich and former bandmate Jose Pasillas II, along with former Pharcyde MC

Slimkid3 Trevant Hardson (born October 5, 1970), best known by his stage name Slimkid3 (Slim Kid Tre; sometimes stylized as SlimKid3), is an American rapper from Los Angeles. He is a founding member of The Pharcyde. Career Tre Hardson began his career i ...

and

Jurassic 5 Jurassic 5 (stylized JuraSsic 5) is an American alternative hip hop group formed by rappers Charles Stewart (Chali 2na), Dante Givens (Akil), Courtenay Henderson (Soup (Jurassic 5), Soup, Zaakir), and Marc Stuart (Marc 7); and disc jockeys Mar ...

DJ Nu-Mark Mark Potsic, better known by his stage name DJ Nu-Mark (born June 10, 1971), is an American hip hop producer and DJ. He is a member of Jurassic 5, as well as the owner of Hot Plate Records. He has collaborated with and produced for a variety of a ...

, under the name 4 Player Co-Op, released the song "Picture Perfect Phantasy", inspired by the video game '' Rayman Legends''. Katunich spent the 2010s with Willie's Nerve Clinic before joining with Kyle Mortensen to form his current band and latest collaboration East of June in 2019.

Style and influences

Katunich's playing is heavily influenced by

funk music Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the mi ...

. He said he had been exposed to funk music from a very young age, and that one of the first records he owned was an album of

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

songs done in

Disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

-style. As he grew older, he began to be influenced by bassists from

funk metal Funk metal (also known as thrash-funk or punk-funk) is a subgenre of funk rock and alternative metal that infuses heavy metal music (often thrash metal) with elements of funk and punk rock. Funk metal was part of the alternative metal movement, ...

bands, including

Robert Trujillo Roberto Agustín Miguel Santiago Samuel Trujillo Veracruz (; born October 23, 1964) is an American musician who has been the bassist for heavy metal band Metallica since 2003. He first rose to prominence as the bassist of crossover thrash band ...

of Infectious Grooves,

Les Claypool Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American rock music, rock musician. He is the founder, lead singer, bassist, and primary songwriter of the band Primus (band), Primus. Listed as one of the greatest bassists of all time by ...

of Primus, Trevor Dunn of Mr. Bungle and

Billy Gould William David Gould (born April 24, 1963) is an American musician and producer. He is best known as the bassist of Faith No More. Biography Early years Gould was born on April 24, 1963, in Los Angeles, and he is of Scottish and Hungarian desce ...

Faith No More Faith No More is an American Rock music, rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1979. Before September 1983, the band performed under the names Sharp Young Men and later Faith No Man. Bassist Billy Gould, keyboardist/rhythm guitarist ...

. Katunich has mentioned Faith No More's 1989 album '' The Real Thing'' as being an important early influence on him, saying "you could hear the bass, and it was just front and center."Katunich, Alex (2024). ''The SBL Podcast''.

References

External links

Dirk Lance's 2000 Incubus Bass Rig
GuitarGeek.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Katunich, Alex 1976 births American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists American people of Croatian descent Incubus (band) members Living people People from Bell Canyon, California American male guitarists Guitarists from California 21st-century American bass guitarists Place of birth missing (living people)