We recently caught up with the guys of (Hed)pe before their show at the Whisky A Go-Go on September 28th. DJ Product (tableist)and BC (drums) were kind enough to take some time off before the show to sit down with us for a couple of minutes to discuss the new record they are currently making and some of the highlights of this last year. Here's what they had to say.

Noize Pollution: In Metal Edge magazine, you were mentioned as #9 in the top 10 albums of 2000
DJ Product: Wow, flattering
NP: and they stated "unique and well-written songs make this the best rap/metal album ever!" Do you feel pressured with your next album and what goes through your mind when you hear something like that?
BC: No because we are changing. This new record is not going to be that same record, so we are not going to go out there and try to make the best rap/metal album of 2002. That's an amazing statement for that album (Broke), the next album will be totally different. It is a little nerve racking in the studio writing a new record, we are recording but at the end of the day we go home and say we like it. You know.
DJ Product: We are the ones who have to play it for the next 5 years, 10 years you know.

NP: We think that the last album (Broke), will last for a long time, at the office we play it over and over and have turned a lot of people onto you guys.
DJ Product: In this time we are in, there is a lot of over saturation within the bands so you just have to weed out and just figure out who's been doing it longer or whatever. We've been doing this for over 10 years, so we've been at this for quite awhile. Aw, the scene now, I can't even tell you how many bands are like this now.

NP: Are you happy with the success of "Broke"? Being on the road by gaining and earning fans the hard way instead of having it handed to you.
DJ Product: I am, I wouldn't trade it any other way. I like the pace of where we are at. This is like we have to pay our dues. Some of these guys have been in bands for over 20 years. I've only been in it for 10 years so maybe they are ready to get their break, but I love exactly where we are at. We are exactly where our fans want us to be at you know so we just want to keep everyone happy. You know, we don't have any fancy cars so we are exactly still right here.
NP: Still broke?
DJ Product: (laughs) Exactly, I only have $20 in my pocket so it speaks for itself.

NP: Some of your lyrics on "Broke" were so blunt towards women.
DJ Product: That's all Jahred, he would know, that's his experiences so he doesn't really speak for all of us. We just back him up.
BC: Plus when he wrote those lyrics, we would laugh at them you know, and laugh at the lyrics. On the record, his tone of voice is maybe angry because that was how it was going for that part of the song. Some people might take it like he is dissing women, but the fact is; when you are out on tour, you are going to hang with different girls in different cities and you have a good time. We are just telling a story about those encounters. I mean, I've heard much worse on hip-hop records.
NP: Have you been approached by women's groups or some really pissed off females?
DJ Product: No, it never ever got to those forces out there, you know, so that's how underground we still really are. We're not Eminem you know, we're not on every radio station.

NP: Do you know if Jahred is going to tone down his lyrics on the next album due to the recent tragic events and all?
DJ Product: Sure, but it was like that before though. He's been writing them for the last year or whatever. I know the lyrics are going to be more spiritual and they are toned down. It has nothing to do with what just happened in New York and DC. The working title of the new record is "Mya."
NP: What does "Mya" stand for or mean?
DJ Product: Illusion
BC: Yeah, it will probably change before the record comes out.
DJ Product: But that is our working title so far. We've been sticking with that for now.
NP: Do you know why Jahred is toning it down on the new album?
DJ Product: He just gets into books. He opens up his head a little bit and starts watching different movies or whatever. A lot of different influences appear while you are on the road, like listening to different kinds of music. This next record is going to be it.
BC: Plus it's time to tone shit down you know what I mean. I don't want my kids listening to the record. They do anyways, but all those cuss words aren't needed you know. Jahred knows that and the next album is going to be cleaned up a little. Plus if we did have a good song, radio would edit it and all you would get is "beep, beep, beep, beep."

NP: So you are in the studio writing your third album, how is that going so far?
DJ Product: Yeah, it's strictly pre-production right now. We got about 10 songs done with no vocals tracked yet. It's all going to happen within the next couple of weeks.
BC: Yeah, we'll make the song in the studio and then Jahred works in the studio with us. Once the song is done, we play it for him front to back a bunch of times. We record it and Jahred takes it home.

NP: Do you guys have any working song titles as of now?
DJ Product: No, nothing right now. The lyrics are going to change more than the song, so as of now, there aren't any titles. Just working titles.

NP: Okay, in the past you've brought in other artists to do collaborations with you on "Broke." For instance you had Serj from System of A Down and Morgan Landers from Kittie to do the song, "Feel Good." Are you planning on having more guests appear on your new album?
DJ Product: We can't really say because it hasn't been locked in yet. We are going to have some guests on our record that have nothing to do with this genre of music. We are going to have some hip-hop cats and some others. Last record we had Black Eyed Peas do a session with us on "Bartender" but it never made it onto the record and it turned out really good.
NP: Do you think it will appear on a hidden track, on an EP, or on the new album?
DJ Product: No, we lost it.
BC: No, it was deleted from a computer by accident.
DJ Product: Yeah, it sucks, we brought these guys and oh god dude it was rad. I was in on the session and it was cool.
NP: Are you guys eyeing anybody to appear on the new album?
DJ Product: Mystikal, but again, nothing has been locked in. We have people that we want to work with. Nothing is for sure yet. We don't have vocals yet, so we really can't do that step of the process.

NP: What will the PE stand for on your third album? First it was "Planetary Evolution" and then it was changed to "Planet Earth."
DJ Product: I hope we cut it out of there because it's just a trademark you know. It just keeps changing. It's a suffix to trademark our name.
BC: Well the label wouldn't let us keep (Hed). They said they couldn't copyright the name for the band so we either had to get rid of it or add something to it, so we threw on the PE; Planetary Evolution.
DJ Product: It originally started as "Planet Earth" then it was changed to "Planetary Evolution" and now back to "Planet Earth." Hopefully, it will still have a Planet theme to it. We just represent the world. The label was trying to make it say (Hed) OC (Orange County) but I'm wasn't from Orange County so I wasn't having that.

NP: Looking back at this year, what was your biggest highlight or accomplishment?
DJ Product: I met KRS-One in New Orleans, no but those European festivals where we got to play with Eminem, (Marilyn) Manson, Papa (Roach), System (of A Down), and Fear Factory. Oh yeah and Smoke Out last year, that was really cool.
BC: I had fun with the Linkin Park and Papa Roach tour. We all had a good time. It was cool because there wasn't any ego's running around. Dressing rooms weren't even labeled. You could go into anybody's dressing rooms, drink what you like, and had parties after the show. It was a fun tour.

NP: Now we heard a lot of stories about the P.O.D. tour? What happened at that?
DJ Product: The band is cool, I like those guys a lot. It was just their fans hated us. I'm not going to judge them because I don't judge everybody else. I'm just glad that tour ended. It didn't help us one bit. It was right around when "Broke" came out and we were hoping that it would take off with a tour to support it.
BC: Yeah, it was our crowd right up front "pitting" and it was their crowd in the back in a circle praying.
NP: Was that like that at every stop?
BC: Every stop man.
DJ Product: It was just a bad vibe man.
BC: We got "booed" basically off the stage in Dallas, TX. Yeah, between songs, you could hear the cheers right up front from our fans and the people in the middle and back were just booing away.
DJ Product: We've never had that happen to us anywhere we've been. I mean we have played with Slayer crowds and had to deal with them, but the P.O.D. was the worst man.

NP: I know you guys probably get asked this all the time, but is it tough being a rap/metal band on a label that is more known for its pop bands?
BC: No, because we were there first.
DJ Product: Before it was all a hip-hop label with KRS-One, Mystikal, Too Short, Tribe, and that's what we were down with you know. We thought it was pretty cool to be on that label, but then all of a sudden, Britney Spears and all the pop came in there but it made the label more wealthy so they could push this last record and get our name out there. So we thank Britney a lot. (laughs)

NP: That's funny�let's see. We noticed that you guys are re-releasing "Church of Realities" you first ever recording. Can you tell us a little bit more about that?
DJ Product: Yeah, we did all of that ourselves and sold it out of the trunk of our car.
NP: Is there a reason it's getting re-released? Were your fans demanding it or what?
BC: Yeah, what happened was that we had a different manager who financed that before we ever had a record deal. Just things weren't working out with him and we let him go, but he had the master copy and pretty much the rights to it, so he sued us for firing him and we worked things out in a deal. Just recently, we made amends. He's an old friend you know and it just didn't work out with him being manager. So he agreed to do this, so now we are selling them. Yeah, everyone is asking for them now.
NP: Do you know when they are going to be ready?
BC: We have them for sale at all of our shows and off our website. I saw some copies sell on Ebay for over a hundred dollars.
DJ Product: It's our best record and the fans favorite record.
NP: How much are you selling them for?
BC: $15 at our shows, $20 on the website.
DJ Product: It's all the original samples and everything.
BC: There is also a 13 minute long story about aliens that is different pieces. It's a trip.
NP: Is there two songs on "Church of Realities" that made it to the first album?
DJ Product: Yeah, but those are the original versions, which are unedited.

NP: Is there anything else you guys want to mention or something we didn't touch on?
DJ Product: The new album will probably be out in March or April of 2002 I think if everything goes well.
BC: Probably July, you know how that goes.