Built to Grind

Where trip-hop / trance meets hardcore heaviness you find Orange County six-piece Hed Planet Earth, more commonly known as Hed (pe). Since their ‘97 self-titled full-length debut, they’ve toured almost non-stop with some of the industry’s top acts (Suicidal Tendencies, Korn, Stuck Mojo, and on the Ozzfest ’99, just to name a few) and Hed (pe)’s blue collar ethic has them road tested and built to grind.

"We actually got kicked off of the Stuck Mojo tour," admitted Hed (pe) drummer BC, with both bashfulness and irreverence in his voice. "They said that we drank too much, that there were too many punks in the band and that we were just too crazy."

He laughed knowing that it’s all just water under the bridge now, but the incident did, at the time, earn them a reputation as a bad band to tour with. Consequently, it put them in a hole they’ve been digging themselves out of for almost two years now.

"It was right after the Suicidal tour that we went out with those Stuck Mojo guys," remembered BC. "Nobody would play with us for a while after that, until Max (Cavalera) from Soulfly heard the part on our first CD where Jahred threw in some Portuguese lyrics. He thought that was pretty cool and wanted to play with us, so that’s when we got back out there. We got along really well and kind of mended our bad vibe with that."

Minding their Ps and Qs, Hed (pe) managed to reset their foundation and once again set their sights on greater notoriety. Their self-proclaimed "G-Punk" sound and new-found focus quickly won over those in the know and Hed (pe) found themselves on the Ozzfest ‘99 bill, currently rock’s biggest traveling show.

"I’ll tell ya’," quipped BC, "playing the Ozzfest was pretty cool. It was like the big payoff for all those years of struggle. I mean, getting to play in front of sometimes 50 to 60,000 people at a time is very inspiring. It fulfilled a lifelong dream of mine. It was so inspiring to be around all those other bands, as well, that we wrote most of Broke [August 22, Jive Records] in the back of our tour bus while we were there. And Ozzy... man!!"

In awe of the singer of the band that started it all (Black Sabbath), BC said they were genuinely worried that, since nobody else has a sound quite like their synthesis of hardcore, hip-hop, soul, funk, rock and island rhythms, their peers wouldn’t approve. Their fears were largely unfounded.

"I got to hang out on the tour bus with John Bush and Armored Saint. Bush is the man and he’s such a nice guy," raved BC about the singer for LA’s Armored Saint, who plays with his old-school outfit when he’s not working for his primary band, New York’s seminal metal act, Anthrax. "I swear that guy is so cool. I played our CD for them and there I was standing around all these scary, long-haired, death metal guys feeling really uncomfortable. But they were like, ‘Dude! This is dope!’ and I was relieved."

Modesty always becomes a perspective rock star. But in reality, these six So Cal cats never really had anything to worry about because the material on Broke is innovative, fresh and straight from the heart.

"We just try to stay true to ourselves," told the Orange County drummer. "Each one of us brings something different to the table. Wes (guitarist) likes the heavy, hardcore stuff while a lot of us have roots in hip-hop. I kind of got stuck with a few different bands when I grew up, like Van Halen and Undercover. So we really have a lot of places from which to draw upon. And the way it comes out is the way it comes out. That’s it. I’m not saying that we do it better than anybody else, but I just like the way we mend hardcore and hip-hop together."

This be-true-to-themselves-and-let-the-chips-fall-where-they-may attitude works for Hed (pe). One listen to any of their four releases will prove this (‘95’s Church Of Realities EP, ‘97 Hed (pe), ‘99’s Ozzfest Promotional EP), especially the forthcoming Broke, the group’s second full-length release.

"You get a good sampling of the variety of stuff that we like to do on Broke," described BC. "The lyrics are mostly about Jahred’s emotions, since he writes most of the words, but you can hear all of our different influences."

Broke contains 12 songs of sometimes brutal and sometimes tender ‘normal guy’ laments. The lead-off track, "Killing Time," is simply about the boys in the hood hangin’ out, shooting whiskey and smokin’ the grass. And you know, if there’s a ho or bitch around, they give ‘em the business. "Bartender," with it’s catchy chorus and drinking lyrics, is the first single, and "Feel Good" is exactly what everyone wants to do. All three have moshable, grindable rhythms and are underpinned by the subtle, grooving turntable mannerisms of the stylistic DJ Product.

"Product isn’t like many other DJs," informed BC. "He doesn’t do a lot of scratching. He goes more for a specific sound and never over-does anything. He’s definitely not your typical DJ, especially since he helped write the music for the album. We might start a song with the break beat and work around that or build more beats out of the break beat, stuff like that, and he brings that to the table."

All six members contribute to the material in some way, giving Broke not just a hardcore / hip-hop feel, but because they also dabble with sweet ‘70s soul ("The Meadow"), island flavor ("Swan Dive") and trance / trip DJing ("Pac Bell"), Hed (pe)’s sound is far more amalgamated than many of the other so-called innovative and new bands in the genre. And what makes Hed (pe) so cool is the energy that they bring to the live show. During their opening slot for the first appearance of Suicidal Tendencies in Chico, a roadie would come on stage at opportune times and grind chunks of scrap metal onto a metal grinder, shooting sparks about 15 feet into the air. Adding to the crescendos of their pieces, the sparks were like a visual representation of the music at those peak times. It was really cool and indicative of the energy of these wild, partying musicians.

"We did learn valuable lessons from the Stuck Mojo thing, but we still like to have a good time."

Check Hed (pe)'s official Web site, www.hedpe.com, for more information.

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