(h?d) p.e. (also known as
Hed PE or
(hed) Planet Earth) is a rapcore band from Huntington Beach, California.
They fuse punk energy with hip hop lyrics and instrumentation to form a sound they call "G-punk" (a combination of G-funk and punk). They have also been known to experiment with various other musical genres, such as reggae and funk.
History
(h?d) p.e. was formed in 1994 by African-American / Brazilian-American MC Jahred Shane (aka M.C.U.D.)(Mc Underdog) and lead guitarist Wesstyle, both of whom saw each other in attendance at many of the same shows in the Los Angeles and Southern Californian underground scene. They began writing songs together and teamed up with Mawk (bass guitar, who had previously been in a California-based funk band with Jahred), Chizad (guitar), B.C. (drums), and DJ Product 1969 (turntables) to form (h?d) pe on New Year's Day. The same year (1994), they released their first 8-track demo, containing Stitches (available only on this tape), Hill (the same version later released on
Church of Realities) and Epilogue (also released on the Serpent Boy single). Few copies were made, but on rare occasions fans put them up for auction; one copy was reportedly sold for $280.
The band's first album was the
Church of Realities EP, produced by Wesstyle & released independently in 1995. Upon signing to Jive Records they came out with their self-titled major label debut, which featured rerecorded versions of many of the
Church of Realities songs. These earliest recordings have a gritty, striking energy to them which members of the band have attributed to their use of amphetamines. Their biggest hit was the 2000 album
Broke, which saw them experimenting with a smoother hip-hop influence and arguably more focus to their music.
Broke featured guest appearances by Serj Tankian from System of a Down and Morgan Lander from Kittie on the track "Feel Good". The band released the first single of their second album, "Bartender" which got some air play on MTV.
It's been claimed that pressure from Jive led the band to pursue a more accessible, mainstream sound with 2003's
Blackout. Whatever the reason, it was not as successful as
Broke had been, and in its wake some of the original members of (h?d) p.e. went their separate ways. Sonny Mayo, formerly of Snot and Amen (currently of Sevendust), picked up guitar duties for touring after Chizad left the band. (h?d) p.e. also parted ways with Jive, their label of six years, at this time.
After signing with indie label Koch Records and adding guitarist Jaxon and drummer Moke (formerly of Otep), (h?d) pe frontman Jahred reworked some material he had originally written for a side project with Fenix Jones and released the album
Only in Amerika in 2005. (h?d) pe continued to pursue their energetic, profanity-laced rap-metal on this album as well.
In June 2005 the band appeared on the cover of Origivation Magazine. The article was titled "Under F_cking Rated".
Near the end of 2005, (h?d) p.e. signed with Suburban Noize Records, subsequently releasing
Back 2 Base X on June 6, 2006.
During 2006, they toured Western Europe and the United Kingdom alongside Anglo-Welsh band Weapons and labelmates OPM. They also played with Papa Roach and Eyes Set to Kill on the 2006 Zippo Hot Tour.
(h?d) p.e. was a guest performer on the Twiztid album
Independents Day which was released on July 3, 2007.
(h?d) p.e. released
Insomnia on Suburban Noize Records on July 17, 2007. They debuted the first new single, "Suffa", and joined Kottonmouth Kings, Tech N9ne and Blaze Ya Dead Homie for the Strange Noize Tour from July 6 to August 27, 2007.
(h?d) p.e. has now begun recording their next full-length album, which will feature a heavier sound from the band, similar to a mix between their first record and
Only in Amerika. It is unknown when the album will be released. The use of double bass drumming has been stated and the new album will also feature guest appearances from Dirtball and Mower.
Lead singer Jahred has publicly stated that the group plans to put out an album every year until at least 2012.
(h?d) p.e. is scheduled to appear on MTV2's Metal Mania on December 22nd, 2007
In a recent interview in Circus Magazine, frontman Jahred Shane discussed about touring and their seventh record. When asked about influences for the record Jahred stated that: "on our last album I was listening to a lot of stuff that came out in the seventies like punk, classic rock and some funk. On this record I am listening to more metal stuff like Slayer and Pantera. With Tiny aboard, I think as band we have grown in a sense heavier as far goes music." The interview also stated that the band has recorded demos while on tour. Jahred was quoted saying, "we have a small little work station in the back of our bus. Mostly its my bassist
[1] and guitarist
[2] coming up with ideas and bits and pieces for the next album. We do have some demo's for the next album recorded. But like I said, myself and the rest of the members still have to add our input." Jahred also said he hopes to finish the album by late spring.
Members
Current members:
- Jahred Shane aka M.C.U.D (Paolo Sergio Gomes) - vocals - Original member
- DJ Product © 1969 (Doug Boyce) - turntables/back vocals (e.g. screaming) - Original member
- Mawk (Mark Young) - bass guitar - Original member
- Jaxon (Jackson Benge) - guitar - Joined after Blackout tour
- Tiny Bubz (Anthony Biuso) - drums - Replaced Devin Lebsack
Ex-members:
- Devin Lebsack - drums /joined after signing to Suburban Noize Records, left after recording Insomnia/
- Moke (Mark Bistany) - drums /joined in 2004, left after Back 2 Base X
- Chizad (Chad Benekos) - guitar /since beginning, left after recording Blackout/(creative differences)
- B.C. (Ben Vaught) - drums /since beginning, left after Blackout release/(creative/personal differences but still has good relations with former bandmates)
- Wesstyle (Wes Geer) - guitar /since beginning, left after Blackout release (for a lifestyle change and claimed if he had not made that decision he would've died)/
- Sonny Mayo - guitar /joined only to support Blackout tour/
- The Finger (Ken Sachs) - keyboard /since beginning, left after Church Of Realities, but still has good relations with band/
- TiLo (Tim Murray) - back vocals /Hed's roadie, later joined Methods of Mayhem)/
- Christopher Hendrich - drums /played only on demo versions of "CBC", "Stepping Stone" and "War"; these versions were featured on hedrocks.com in early 2004.
Name
(h?d) p.e.'s name has evolved over time. Originally they went by the name h?d (with or without parentheses), but were forced to add the "pe" to differentiate themselves from another band called Head. At the time of their self-titled album, they went by (h?d) Planetary Evolution. Starting with the 2001 album
Broke they expressed interest in having the meaning of "pe" change with each album, and went by (h?d) Planet Earth for some time; they retained this name for the 2003 release of
Blackout as well. On 2005's
Only in Amerika, the logo changed again, losing both the parentheses and the upside-down 'e'., with "HED" in all uppercase letters.
For their 2006 and 2007 releases, (h?d) p.e. reverted to the name and logo which they used for their self-titled album, with the slight difference of using "p.e." (still meaning "planet earth") instead of "pe". The album cover for the prerelease version of "Insomnia" spelled the band's name without parentheses. This article uses "(h?d) p.e." to refer to the band because that is the most current version of their name/logo.
Band Evolution
During their formative years (h?d) p.e. was largely considered a touring band, devoting significant energy to performing in live shows and painstakingly spending years producing consecutive albums. It is rumored that throughout the band's stint with Jive Records, the label's producers were very pleased with the band's sound and saw potential in their rap rock fusion. Unfortunately, sales figures for (h?d) p.e.'s self-titled debut album and
Broke were reportedly below Jive's expectations. After
Broke (the band's most successful album) missed its sales mark, Jive purportedly asked the band to create a more marketable, "radio-friendly" sound which would sell better. However, by most accounts this plan backfired as their next album,
Blackout, sold even fewer copies.
Shortly after being dropped from the label, lead singer Jahred declared that it was "the best thing that's ever happened" to the band (though some critics respectfully disagreed)
[http://uk.music.yahoo.com/ar-270465-reviews--Hed-PE]. The band's sound evolved once again with the release of "Only in Amerika" on Koch Records, incorporating a stronger punk rock influence; this has continued on subsequent releases with Suburban Noize.
Discography
References
External links
Official
Other
Musical groups established in 1994American punk rock groupsRap metal groupsSuburban Noize Records artists
p.e. p.e. P.E.PE P.E P.E.Hed PE
