Interview with Jahred of HED pe
HOB - Las Vegas - March 26, 2005
Phil: We're sitting here backstage live with Jahred of HED pe...thanks for joining us!
Jahred: My pleasure!
Phil: Alright man! Starting fresh with a new line up and a new label with Koch Records....who is in the current line up?
Jahred: Ok...so I have my original homeboys...the bass player and the DJ. Then I got this new shredding guitar player from Around the Way, and I got half man half amazing Moke, I stole him from Otep. I have this great band right now!
Phil: Alright! Sounds good...How is Koch Records doing?
Jahred: Koch Records is great for my artistic freedom. You know they're an indie label, so they're not that great at putting the money in to get you a lot of spins at radio or get the word out, but great in other ways!
Phil: Very Cool! So you decided to drop the parenthesis from HED pe's name?
Jahred: Yea, well just change the line up, change the logo, we kinda changed our sound and our approach so we just wanted a fresh new look on the logo.
Phil: So rather than change the entire name?
Jahred: *laughs* That was gonna happen, but it seemed like so many of the kids who were into what I was doing...wanted it to stay the same.
Phil: So you're satisfied with the new record company, the new label...obviously! They been treating you good and taking care of you?
Jahred: Yea, yea...it's an indie label, you know what I mean...and that it is what it is, but it's fun for us!
Phil: You're new CD 'Only In Amerkia' was released on February 22, how has it been received?
Jahred: *laughs* Our fans think it's great! I hear some of the reviews are pretty blistering...but that's funny and even great to me! You know, it was only made for the youth and the people that...it was made for the "street". You know what I mean, so I didn't expect people to go "Wow, this is like Dark Side of the Moon!" *laughs* I'm loving the reaction it's getting and I'm proud of the album.
Phil: I am too, I like it!
Jahred: Cool! Right on!
Phil: I wanted to ask you something about the album...are you actually rolling one while you're giving the sausage to the ho? *laughs*
Jahred: Probably lost in the imagination...but maybe smoking one while!
Phil: Smoking one during? That's pretty talented! *laughs*
Jahred: I'm sure I'm not the only one...just to get your mind off of it. You know how people think about baseball or something, maybe actually smoking the joint is going to extend your extra innings! *laughs*
Phil: I got ya! So your new CD debuted at #20 on Billboard Top Independent Albums...
Jahred: Yea, that's killer!
Phil: Yea, I thought that was pretty awesome...congratulations on that! How's that make you feel?
Jahred: Hey guys we debuted at #20 on the indie charts! Oh yea, that's great! That's awesome! That's what we hoped for right there on the top 20 charts, so we made it right there in the window!
Phil: Only In Amerika was originally supposed to be called Raise Hell?
Jahred: Yea, that was...it was one of these deadline, we need a title right now! Nobody could agree on one and that was one of the songs so we were like Raise Hell let's use that! It was there for a little bit and it got changed.
Phil: So, you went ahead with Only in Amerika?
Jahred: Yea, Only in Amerika is a deeper title, it has more meanings.
Phil: You wrote and mixed most of the album in your apartment?
Jahred: Yea, we mixed the whole album in my apartment.
Phil: Really! How'd you do that...on the computer, Pro Tools...what are you using?
Jahred: On the computer, using a thing called Sonar. Pro Tools was the first of those recording software things and now there's a lot of competitors and this is the one that we chose.
Phil: You created most of the merch, and the concepts yourself as well?
Jahred: You know...well Jaxon helped me with about half the songs. Wrote, brought me the music for that, but beyond that there was a lot of creation going on. With people doing their own things. Like the DJ, he does his own ideas. The bass player sits with the music and records it himself, as well as the drummer who brought so much of his creativity to the mix. But it all came together in a living room in Huntington Beach.
Phil: The video for Represent was chosen by the fans at hedrocks.com....tell me about that?
Jahred: Yea, that was killer! It was chosen by our fans...8,000! Which coincidently our first week we sold 10,000 so...we have a really hardcore following.
Phil: Are you planning to do that again with the fans? Or are you planning to do something, again?
Jahred: I'm not sure we'll do the exact same thing...like pick the second single. But, maybe we will...you never know! We will do it again though! It's fun to include them, because they're the ones who keep us around, anyway.
Phil: I recently saw Represent on Headbangers Ball and I've listened to the actual CD. There was a lot of changes, to make it more MTV friendly!
Jahred: A lot! You know I did a clean version, a lot of the stuff on the new album is quite...blue. *laughs* I like to work, blue, so when I had to do the television version...yea, it was quite different.
Phil: Who directed it?
Jahred: Dale Restighini, he does a lot of Hatebreed, Candiria, and Agnostic Front. Really good bands...bands that I admire.
Phil: XM Satellite Radio is putting together a 24 track Pro Tools recording of a NY gig,. How is that coming along, what's going on with that?
Jahred: Oh, that's supposed to play on tax day. Did that pass already? No! So yea, on tax day it's playing. XM is really cool to us, they play our shit constantly!
Phil: And their going to be playing that live gig. Where was that gig at?
Jahred: Yea, and we were in there and we took over the station for an hour. Where'd they tape that gig? That XM gig, you guys remember? B.B. Kings! B.B. Kings in New York City!
Phil: What's your...any DVD plans?
Jahred: Yea! We were just taping about 20 shows that we plan to compile for a DVD.
Phil: How about future tours? Anything coming up...Warped Tour, Ozzfest type shit?
Jahred: Well we were on with the warped tour but we couldn't afford it. That's how a lot of those big tours are...
Phil: Yea, you put up 75 G's and you can go on tour! *laughs*
Jahred: Exactly! Being on an indie label, that's not an option, for us. We'll probably continue headlining or maybe hook up with either Slightly Stupid or Kottonmouth Kings. Do a double, co-headlining thing with them.
Phil: No chance of going commercial?
Jahred: Might go with Slipknot, but the festivals just cost us too much money. We got to make money!
Phil: Yea, definitely! Cost you a lot of bucks! So, no future tours coming up?
Jahred: We just keep headlining! There's a Slipknot rumor and...you know you have to wait!
Phil: Any European stuff coming up...or anything like that?
Jahred: Not too soon...maybe end, end of the year.
Phil: You'll need more cash involved!
Jahred: Well we can get there, but we're concentrating on the states, right now.
Phil: Ok. Well, thanks for taking the time out with closedcoffin.com, I appreciate it!
Jahred: Thanks bro! Thanks...you're cool man!
For more information on HED pe visit them online at...
http://hedrocks.com
or at their label...