George Alex Katunich (born August 18, 1976), best known by his stage name Dirk Lance, is an American musician. He was the founding bassist of the Californian rock band Incubus, which he left in 2003 after the tour supporting the band's fifth album.

Personal life

Lance's paternal grandfather George was born in Indiana, to Croatian parents from the town of Ozalj.

Career

Incubus

Lance was a member of Incubus from 1991 to 2003, playing bass guitar on the albums Fungus Amongus (1995), Enjoy Incubus (1997), S.C.I.E.N.C.E. (1997), Make Yourself (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. Lance later said of leaving Incubus, "We were going in different directions, personality-wise and musically. If there was ever a time to get off the rollercoaster, it was going to be at the top." He also said long tours had become "trying" for him and that he felt the band had no "'What if?' questions left to answer."

Lance was replaced by The Roots bassist Ben Kenney, who started performing with Incubus in July 2003.

After Incubus

Lance later entered the video game industry with Stickman Entertainment. He has worked on titles like WWE Smackdown. In 2012, Lance partnered with his first bass teacher Stray Deuce and Germany native Alexa Brinkschulte to form Willie's Nerve Clinic. In September 2013, Lance and former bandmate Jose Pasillas II, along with former Pharcyde MC Slimkid3 and Jurassic 5's DJ Nu-Mark, under the name 4 Player Co-Op, released the song "Picture Perfect Phantasy", inspired by the video game Rayman Legends.

Lance 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

Lance's playing is heavily influenced by funk music. 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 songs done in Disco-style.

References

  • Dirk Lance's 2000 Incubus Bass Rig. GuitarGeek.com