Positive Vibe

The four musicians behind rock and soul advocates Inc3do – Shane La Roche, Ivan Tutic, Paul Mitchell and Nick Plakidis – have stepped out of their collective comfort zones to create a sound that is brimming with positive energy, and chose a moniker that helps to mirror that. That said, the name often throws people (it's pronounced in-see-doh), but Tutic insists that its strange conception is steeped in the mission statement that the band upholds.

“When we started, Shane brought his lyrics to the table and we looked at names that we thought would best represent us in the public eye. Now, in Latin incedo means to wake up or march forward, but instead of the 'e' there we wanted the ohm symbol, which is used in meditation and can be represented as a 3. And it is a true representation of us – we have very diverse backgrounds, musically or in our personal lives, and we all have our own agendas and demons that we deal with. And Shane has brought that across in his lyrics where everyone in life has these moments which feel like the worst time of your life, but there's always a way out.”

This life-affirming outlook permeates Inc3do's debut EP, appropriately entitled Wake Up Now. The seven-track record touches on many genres – rock, reggae, soul, hip hop – yet with an overarching notion that it is the song that is the most important element, not the band. “There are two ways we go about it,” Tutic explains. “Either Shane has some lyrics and a basic melody that he wants to play around with, in which case he and I will sit down with some acoustic sessions to find out what medium we want to go with the song. At other times he will only have the lyrics, and I will start writing based on what those lyrics hold. So the weight of the lyrics dictate the type of music we write, whether it's heavier, more melodic – whether it has a pop-oriented edge. Then there are times when I have a melody and Shane sees something that he can create within that. It's about finding that happy medium where we have created a foundation which we can then take to the rest of the band to find that groove which we strive for.”

The altruistic themes that nestle at the core of Inc3do's musical aesthetic have taken time to grow, but Tutic is already seeing the desired connections taking place in the format, whereby the audience are confidently interacting with the band's message, even if it is at a subconscious level.

“We have always gotten different reactions to our music when we play it live, but most of the time there seems to be an issue where they can't quite nail down the reasons why they are enjoying the music as much as they are,” Tutic states. “It has got that positivity built into it; we aren't going out there and playing heavy music, or providing just another rock song. We go out there with many influences, from rock to reggae to hip hop, even heavy metal, but we are all making sense of what Inc3do is and what it all stands for. And when people listen to it we get the reaction that people are hit with the music and yet can't pin down why they are drawn to it, amidst others who actively get into it with the whistles and cheers and whatnot. It confirms that what we are doing is different, that it can effectively influence people, and that it resonates hopefully for a lot longer after the show is over.”

Inc3do will be playing the following shows:

Saturday 8 September - The Hi-Fi, Melbourne VIC