Pepper
Pepper
Culver City, CA
Pop / Rock / Reggae
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The spirit of aloha is alive and well, and currently residing in sunny Southern California. Meet Pepper: Bret Bollinger (Vocals/Bass), Kaleo Wassman (Vocals/Guitar), and Yesod Williams (Drums) – the three innovative young minds from the Hawaiian Islands.
Perched on the cusp of national success since their relocation to Southern California in 1999, Pepper immediately caught the attention and support of the surf/skate/snow lifestyle subsidiary Volcom Entertainment, whose excitement and interest in the band lead to the production and distribution of the band’s first nationally distributed release Give’n It. By combining such influences as dancehall, reggae, punk, hip-hop and pop, the release sparked initial interest from Van’s Warped Tour founder and organizer Kevin Lyman, who featured Pepper on Volcom’s 2001 Warped Tour side stage.
Immediately following the widespread grassroots success of Give’n It and national exposure that resulted from the Van’s Warped Tour, Pepper immediately began recording their follow up release. Kona Town dropped in March 2002, catapulting them into the pop music charts – scanning over 50,000 copies to date, and giving them a #1 radio hit with “Give It Up” (aka the ‘Dirty Hot Sex’ song).
In support of Kona Town (over 125,000 units sold to date), Pepper continued to focus on their live performance as the bedrock of their success. The band toured throughout 2003 and 2004 including support dates with 311 and Snoop Dogg, appearances at the annual Bob Marley Birthday Celebration, San Diego’s premiere Street Scene Music Festival, and a national tour with Slightly Stoopid. As their fan base began to spread outside of the Southern California surf towns, Pepper started selling out shows in Phoenix, Orlando, Jacksonville, New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Seattle, Eugene, Santa Cruz and San Francisco.
In March 2004, Pepper headed back to the studio to record In With The Old, which debuted at #35 on the Billboard Heat Seeker Chart and #18 on the Billboard Independent Chart. Recorded at 311’s analog Hive Studios by legendary engineer and producer Ron St. Germain (Bad Brains, 311, Tool, Sonic Youth), the album showcases a broader range of influences including everything from country and heavy metal to 80’s influenced rock and pop to compliment their reggae-rock roots.
To date, Pepper has been celebrating the attention of their latest release, No Shame (October 2006), originally released on Atlantic/ILG Records, now on their own Law Records label. The 18-track collection is a triumphant culmination of months of hard work that began on the road in the summer of 2005. Featuring no less than 4 producers, the album was recorded over the better part of a year in a variety of SoCal studios. A bold artistic leap forward for the Island born-and-bred, California-based trio, Pepper credits the diverse stable of producers they recruited for much of the success of the project, including Nick Hexum of 311, No Doubt bass player Tony Kanal, and former Butthole Surfer turned producer Paul Leary (Meat Puppets, Sublime).
Upon it’s initial release, the album’s first single “No Control” climbed into the Top 20 of the BDS Modern Rock Charts and has scanned over 75,000 copies. In support of the release, Pepper co-headlined the Jagermeister Presents Tour w/ now label mates Slightly Stoopid in 2006, were featured on a number of dates with 311, headlined the entire Van’s Warped Tour in 2007, SOLD OUT their own club tour nationwide, and is gearing up for their highly-anticipated summer amphitheater tour with Slightly Stoopid.
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