I recently caught up with frontman Jahred of (hed)pe before their show in Hollywood. We discussed the new album "Blackout" which has been done and sitting on a shelf, his latest side project and the weirdest shit he's ever seen a groupie do.

Later that night the band busted out playing their new song "Suck it up" to start things off. Fans gave a huge welcome to Sonny (formerly of Snot) to the group and (hed)pe pleased the home crowd with favorites like "Bartender," "Ken 2012," "Swan Dive," "Killing Time," "Firsty," and the short intro to "Crazy Legs." I was actually hoping for more new tunes but alas, we'll have to wait until March. All in all, these guys are a great live band and will blow up with their next album.

Noize Pollution: Let's talk about the new album "Blackout." There have been so many name changes starting with "Maya" & "The Big Nothing." Why all the changes?
Jahred: Well "Blackout" was just the name of one of the songs that we all could agree on at the last minute. Let's put it at that.

NP: Fans have been waiting a long time to get their hands on the new CD. First it was supposed to be released March/April of 2002, then it was pushed back to July/August of 2002 and now we are looking at a March 2003 release. Can you fill us in on all the delays?
Jahred: Well, it's just a lot of industry bullshit you know. I really don't want to let people in on what really fucking kind of shit goes on to where they keep your album sitting there even though it's done. But it was out of our hands you know�(laughs)�it was just them fucking not ready to put it out yet man and they were looking for some other songs too. So we had to come with some more tunes, some crazy shit you know.

NP: Did pushing the record back have anything to do with Chad leaving the group?
Jahred: Not at all. Not at all.
NP: Did he leave on good terms?
Jahred: Yeah, he just quit. He just didn't want to be in the band anymore so what are you going to do?

NP: How did Sonny get into the band?
Jahred: We've known Sonny for a long time. We used to tour with Snot so it was just a perfect situation. When we knew Chad was bailing, we kind of knew we might be able to get Sonny.
NP: Did you guys call him or did he call you?
Jahred: I'm sure we called him.

NP: I read somewhere that you guys just got out of the studio again with Sonny laying down some guitar tracks for the album. Is that right?
Jahred: Sonny didn't lay down any guitar but we did go back into the studio.

NP: So tell us about the new album. What can fans expect?
Jahred: It's just got less rap and it's more metal�(laughs) That's what I think.
NP: Are there going to be any guest appearances on this album?
Jahred: No, no guests on this album. It's just more cut and dry than the last album. Where "Broke" had more fun shit, "Blackout" is going to be more depressing.
NP: Okay, any reason why?
Jahred: I was more depressed when I was writing all the lyrics. I was going through a lot of personal shit. So it all came out in the music.

NP: We all know that you guys just want to be known as (hed) without the pe and that the pe's have changed on every album. I'm sure you've been asked a lot on what the new pe will stand for on "Blackout."
Jahred: It's still always going to be known as "Planet Earth" though. It's like an address. We get asked that all the time�(laughs)

NP: In the last interview I did with you guys a year ago with BC and DJ Product, they said the new record was going to have toned down lyrics with a more spiritual side with less cursing? Is this still the case?
Jahred: It's not more spiritual. It has less cussing because it's kind of less street. It's more poetic and less street.

NP: What's your favorite song off "Blackout?"
Jahred: My favorite song?�I don't know. I can't even remember the songs that are on it anymore..(laughs) I honesty don't have one.

NP: Your song "Suck it up" appears on Madden football.
Jahred: Yeah.
NP: We know that you've been playing that song live recently, so just to clarify, is it "Suck it up?" or "Fuck it up?"
Jahred: Yeah, it's suck it up. You know like in sports. It's like "Suck it up, come on you fucker."
NP: Did you write that song specifically for the game?
Jahred: No I wrote that song and it was inspired by sports. It's a jock song you know to get pumped up and shit. Like before you go into the octagon for ultimate fighting and shit like that. I was kind of thinking of Tito Ortiz from Hunting Beach, CA when I wrote that song.

NP: You just got off the "Road to Voodoo Tour" with DJ Z-Trip. What was the fan response to some of your newer material?
Jahred: Well you know when they don't know your shit then they kind of like absorb it if they don't have it on CD. It's different when they got the shit already. They were cool though. They must of liked it because they didn't throw no nothing at us. (laughs)

NP: A few days ago, I e-mailed all of our street teamers that listed (hed)pe in their top ten and I had them send me a few questions they would like to ask you. So here we go:

Cara from Los Angeles, CA asks: Are you ever going to put out a DVD of their shows and is it true that you used to wear spandex biker shorts on stage?
Jahred: Who? Kara?
NP: You know her?
Jahred: With a K?
NP: Nope, with a C.
Jahred: Never�(laughs) never wore spandex biker shorts but probably did wear spandex though (laughs). The DVD though, that's out of our hands.