H2Z: Hi Jahred, Thanks for taking the time to speak with us today, we will get right to it. You are headed our way later in the month. What can the fans expect on this tour?JAHRED: I am really happy we are headed down, I have a really tight band full of great musicians, and we play a really tight set of f@#kin heavy music, we touch on reggae, hard rock, it’s just a really sweet set, about 70 minutes of good music and good vibes.
H2Z: That’s fantastic! Looking at your tour dates, you have toured quite extensively, this year and last year, do you find it hard to stay motivated on the road?
JAHRED: (laughing) Well 23 years later, its like, how do I put this tactfully? I am a provider, I have my 10 year old son, and I want to provide a certain life for him, so as a club band, it takes a lot of club shows to make a middle class living in America. That’s why I am out here so much. Its certainly not that I wouldn’t prefer to be home a lot f@#kin more, but I am trying to provide at a certain level. If it was just me, I could live in van by the river (laughs), but I have my wife and my son, and just trying to live a normal American life, then its going to take a few more club shows (laughs)
H2Z: Do you have a favourite live song in your current set?
JAHRED: Wow! Choosing your favourite song, is like choosing your favourite child, I couldn’t do that, I just couldn’t choose one. There are just too many good times and good vibes I am having with this set.
HZ2: Is there one that the crowds are gravitating towards when you play it?
JAHRED: There are quite a few in this set that the crowd really likes, “Bartender” the original song that put us on the map always gets a good response, and of course “Renegade” that was on the radio for a while. But its exciting to have underground hits such as “Raise Hell”, “Sophia” and “Let’s Ride”, while they are post our major label days, they get their own reaction, but its different.
H2Z: As you said, the band has been together over 20 years, and with major industry changes, do you think its been hard to get your music heard in 2018?
JAHRED: Oh yeah! It’s like a totally different world now, but also a more exciting world in my opinion, I think its great. As a fan of hip hop, its f@#kin amazing. Before social media and all that and before the internet became a vehicle for music, the decision makers would be like “We are only releasing 6 hip hop artists this year”. Now you are getting tonnes of people, who are getting millions of spins online, without record labels, who are able to then go on tour. So in that way, its very exciting. But, it’s a totally different world from when I got signed, in the nineties, when the internet was barely starting, so file sharing wasn’t even a thing, and now it’s a whole industry all to itself. But from an artist’s point of view, it is really exciting, as well as from a fans perspective.
H2Z: As we discussed you are headed our way soon. Do you have any pre show rituals, and how do they differ from 20 years ago?
JAHRED: (laughing) Oh man! That is the greatest question ever! Oh my god dude, when I first started, I was just a maniac. I would do a lot of crazy things, an hour before the show, a couple hours before the show (laughs). These days I am satisfied with just a glass of wine, or even some Kombucha, but times sure have changed, as they should, obviously after 20 years touring.
H2Z: With touring, (hed)p.e., has many different aspect as part of the blended sound. How do you chose your opening acts or what tour packages you want to be a part of?JAHRED: At this point we are kind of out on our own, so it makes it harder for us to get chosen as a band, for a good tour slot, because of how eclectic our sound is. We aren’t known as a roots reggae band, and we aren’t known as a metal band either, so we have to cut our own path.
H2Z: You released your last album “Forever” in 2016. Have you got any plans for new music as yet?
JAHRED: I am working on something new right now, that I hope will be out by the end of the year
H2Z: Before I let you go, lets try a few interesting questions.
JAHRED: Sure go for it.
H2Z: What music do you think your fans would be surprised was in your phone?JAHRED: Interesting, Give me one second to look at it real quick. Well Frank Sinatra would surprise a few people. I am a huge Sinatra fan. Frank makes me feel like an earner, like a bread winner, just like he was when I listen to him
H2Z: Well, he was a very powerful person
JAHRED: Oh yeah, he wasn’t called the Chairman Of The Board, for nothing dude. His music is so good and powerful
H2Z: What (hed)p.e. song would you play for someone to introduce them to the band for the first time?
JAHRED: You know what, I would look at them and ask what style of music they are into, and that would determine the song I would play for them. But I would probably start with “Bartender” as that was our most recognisable song, to see if they knew it, and then I would build from there.
H2Z: So Jahred, we will leave it at that for today, any final words ahead of the tour?JAHRED: Yeah, thanks so much for having me back out there again in 2018 and I cannot wait for them to come out and have a party with us real quick, its good vibes all night at a (hed)p.e. show.
H2Z: Thanks so much for your time Jahred, look forward to seeing you in Brisbane.
JAHRED: No thank you for taking the time to talk to me and look forward to meeting you when we get out there. See you buddy.
(hed)p.e. Australian Tour Dates:
Wednesday, March 21: The Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane
Kobrakai & Dirty Brew
Thursday, March 22: The Prince, Melbourne
Figures & Verona Lights
Friday, March 23: Fowlers Live, Adelaide (AA)
Surviving Sharks & Favour The Brave
Saturday, March 24: Manning Bar, Sydney
Segression, Red Bee & Squawk
Tickets onsale, now!
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