INTERVIEW: Pepper go ‘Local’ for new album
Photo: Pepper, a reggae rock band, consists of Kaleo Wassman, Bret Bollinger and Yesod Williams. Photo courtesy of Pepper / Provided with permission by band’s PR.
Pepper, the highly influential and successful reggae-rock band, have decided to progress their sound by turning back the clock almost 20 years. Their new album, Local Motion, will likely remind listeners of the band’s early days, when Pepper were releasing such classic full-lengths as Give’n It and Kona Town, but the sound is more mature, more sure of itself.
Pepper drummer Yesod Williams calls the new album progression by regression, which seems entirely appropriate for this three-person outfit.
“We’ve taken our music, and we’ve given it to the local scene, the local motion, if you will,” Williams said in a recent phone interview on a rare break between gigs. “And we’ve added a bunch of our peers, and even a couple of producers that are younger fans produced this record. And when I say, ‘gave them our music,’ we literally gave them little melodies, little infant versions of songs, whether it be just a little guitar part or melody part, and we really let them put it through their system. And we wanted their take on it, and we’ve been a band for so long that sometimes you can get stuck in your ways. So we thought this was a perfect way after being a band for 20 years to just try something different, to get out into the community. It’s the ultimate farm-to-table for music.”
The recipients of these little infant versions included the band members of Stick Figure, who Pepper toured with last summer. It was a winning collaboration, and the album’s first single, “Warning,” is a perfect example of their combined talents. Stick Figure both produced and are featured on the track.
“We had the idea, and we were going down the road of making a new album for maybe six or eight months,” Williams said. “We were thinking of different ways we could do it, and then we linked up with Stick Figure, who we toured with last year. … And we became really good friends with Stick Figure, and they’re kind of a production crew as well as an amazing band. So just becoming really good friends with them, that’s kind of how the idea was born. Then it just worked so good we kept going down the road.”
Defining the unique sound of Local Motion, Williams said it’s essentially a time-travel record back to their island roots. Pepper, which also includes Kaleo Wassman on vocals/guitar and Bret Bollinger on bass/vocals, are originally from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, so they have definite island credibility.
“It’s weird,” the drummer admitted. “It’s almost like we’ve gone back a little bit to our island roots, but from going back we’ve progressed, if that makes any sense. It sounds totally like us. It’s heavily in the reggae vein, but man there’s a huge progression in it where you can feel a band that has been around for over 20 years and is coming into their own yet again.”
The success of Pepper is an anomaly in the music industry. At the end of the 1990s, there were only a few other bands combining reggae and rock, and many of them are long gone, while Pepper are still touring and recording in 2019.
“I never would have thought that it would been this long,” Williams said. “After Bradley [Nowell] died from Sublime, it was pretty much Slightly Stoopid, which he signed, which were his understudies, and then us. We moved from Hawaii. Same thing, we were just huge fans of reggae. UB40 was like the Rolling Stones growing up. … I never ever thought there would be a reggae-rock scene ever. … I always thought it would just be a few handfuls of us, for lack of a better of a term, against the rest of the record industry, you know.”
Nowadays, Pepper are no longer based in Hawaii. They call Southern California home, and they record in a studio that once housed Pennywise in Redondo Beach, south of Los Angeles.
This summer, they are gigging with Iration, Fortunate Youth and Katastro on the Live From Paradise! tour. They make a stop Friday, July 19 at The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City.
“The tour we’re on right now with our good friends Iration, it’s called Live From Paradise!, and that’s just an analogy for I think what we bring around, not just relating to the Hawaii aspect but just the Ohana aspect that we always preach about,” Williams said. “Everyone says we bring Hawaii to where we come, but it’s not just Hawaii. It’s just the Ohana and the people that we’re so grateful to have surrounded ourselves with and call our fans. That’s what I think everyone is keying on to and saying those things, ‘You’re bringing Hawaii. You’re bringing Hawaii.’ Ohana travels far and wide, and you don’t have to be from Hawaii necessarily to be abundant in it.”
As far as the three members of Pepper, they seem to be sharing in that Ohana as well. They get along with one another after 20 years and stick to democracy when big band decisions are needed.
“It’s because we’re family first and band second,” Williams said of their longevity. “We’ve known each other our whole life. It’s totally a democratic operation, but it’s easy because there’s three of us. Worst, worst, worst-case scenario, we’re like, ‘F—, OK, we have to vote.’ We’ll always have one to offset us, but yeah it’s rad. We’re three friends that have been able to play music for a living, and it’s been an amazing relationship.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Pepper’s new album is Local Motion, and it’s now available. The band is currently touring with Iration, Fortunate Youth and Katastro on the Live From Paradise! tour, which stops Friday, July 19 at The Rooftop at Pier 17 in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
