Pepper is a three-piece

reggae rock Reggae rock is a subgenre of reggae fusion and rock music that primarily uses the genres reggae, rock, and ska. Typical lyrics of reggae rock songs incorporate love, personal awareness, and life challenges while incorporating music and beat el ...

band originally from

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

, now based in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist

Kaleo Wassman Kaleo Wassman (born January 6, 1978) is an American musician who serves as the lead singer and guitarist of reggae, dub bands Pepper and Sabotage Soundsystem. Biography Early life Wassman was born in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. ...

, vocalist/bassist Bret Bollinger, and drummer

Yesod Williams Pepper(s) may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper ** Long pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering plants in the nightshade family Solanaceae ** Bell pepper ** ...

. Since the band's formation they have released eight studio albums, as well as two live albums.

Band history

1996–2001: Formation

Pepper formed in 1996 with singer/guitarist

and bassist/singer Bret Bollinger, who had been friends since middle school. The duo was influenced by the Hawaiian artist

Three Plus 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * '' Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

and popular mainland groups like

Sublime Sublime may refer to: Entertainment * SuBLime, a comic imprint of Viz Media for BL manga * Sublime (band), an American ska punk band ** ''Sublime'' (album), 1996 * ''Sublime'' (film), a 2007 horror film * SubLime FM, a Dutch radio station dedic ...

. The group struggled to find a drummer to be in the band, with Wassman stating, "We were going through drummers like a bottomless pit." Wassman and Bollinger heard about a drummer named

who had gained success around their small town, and later met Williams at a party. The two convinced Williams to join the band, and they had to come up with a band name. In an interview with ''The Pier'', Wassman said "We are three kids in High School in

Kailua-Kona, Hawaii Kailua-Kona is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It is also known as Kailua (a name it shares with Kailua, Honolulu County, Hawaii, a community located o ...

. We're all waiters. We always use to get out of work around ten o'clock at night and then I would race home to watch ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serves a ...

''. This was back in the 90's when you had all of these All-stars. There was a skit that they kept re-doing and it was called 'The Pepper Boy'. And, basically its this Italian Restaurant and these 'Pepper Boys' come up to the table, usually to a couple on an exclusive date, and they would come over and OBSCENELY crack pepper all over the woman's plate. It was so funny to us watching the date get so angry and of course the lady just loving the Italian affection. It was one thing the three of us would talk about the next day in Bret's (Bollinger) garage when we were rehearsing and we would just lose it, so we said Pepper for short". With the trio and new name in place, Pepper left

for

and went on to open shows by Burning Spear,

Shaggy Shaggy may refer to: People *Shaggy (musician) (born 1968), Jamaican American reggae rapper and singer *Shaggy 2 Dope, half of the hip hop, horrorcore band Insane Clown Posse *Shaggy Flores (born 1973), Nuyorican poet, writer and African diaspora ...

, and other major

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

artists. Pepper first entered the studio in 1997 and recorded a seven-song demo. In 1999, after gathering a small local following on the Big Island, Pepper gained the interest of an independent,

L.A. Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

-based record company, Volcom Entertainment. Volcom produced and distributed the band's debut release, ''

Give'n It ''Give'n It'' was originally a demo released by the band Pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or pepper, a genus of flowering ...

'', which combined

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) "The Rou ...

, hip-hop, and

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' (G ...

genres and the band made it on the 2001

Vans Warped Tour The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...

2002–2005: ''Kona Town'', ''In With the Old'', and mainstream success

After years of extensive touring, Pepper took to the studio with Steve Kravac (

Less Than Jake Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Matt Yonker (drums), Buddy Schaub (trombone), and Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxoph ...

MXPX MxPx () is an American pop punk band from Bremerton, Washington, founded in 1992 as Magnified Plaid. As of 2016, current members include Mike Herrera on lead vocals and bass guitar, Yuri Ruley on drums and percussion, Tom Wisniewski on lead gui ...

) to record their second album entitled '' Kona Town'', released in March 2002. The track "Give It Up" was released as a single. The album peaked at #2 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart. Pepper continued to tour throughout 2003 and into 2004, including dates with

311 311 may refer to: * 311 (number), a natural number * AD 311, a year of the Julian calendar, in the fourth century AD * 311 BC, a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar * 311 (band), an American band ** ''311'' (album), band 311's self-titled album ...

and

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

, along with appearances at the annual

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

Birthday celebration,

's Festival "Street Scene", and a U.S. tour with

Slightly Stoopid Slightly Stoopid is an American band based in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego, California, who describe their music as "a fusion of folk, rock, reggae and blues with hip-hop, funk, metal and punk." As a band, they have released thirt ...

. In March 2004, Pepper released '' In With The Old'', and got to #34 on the Billboard Heat Seekers and #18 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart. The album was recorded at 311's completely analog Hive Studios by board master Ron St. Germain ( Bad Brains,

Living Colour Living Colour is an American rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. The band currently consists of guitarist Vernon Reid, lead vocalist Corey Glover, drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Doug Wimbish (who replaced Muzz Skillings in 1992). S ...

Tool A tool is an object that can extend an individual's ability to modify features of the surrounding environment or help them accomplish a particular task. Although many animals use simple tools, only human beings, whose use of stone tools dates ba ...

Sonic Youth Sonic Youth was an American rock band based in New York City, formed in 1981. Founding members Thurston Moore (guitar, vocals), Kim Gordon (bass, vocals, guitar) and Lee Ranaldo (guitar, vocals) remained together for the entire history of the b ...

Soundgarden Soundgarden was an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1984 by singer and drummer Chris Cornell, lead guitarist Kim Thayil (both of whom are the only members to appear in every incarnation of the band), and bassist Hiro Yamamo ...

), the album showcases a broader range of influences shared by the trio. The band added punk keyboardist/producer Ronnie King on the album as well.

2006–2009: ''No Shame'', ''Pink Crustaceans and Good Vibrations''

Beginning on July 20, 2006, Pepper supported 311 along with

The Wailers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

on their U.S. tour. In August 2006, Jägermeister announced that Pepper &

would headline the annual Jägermeister Musictour through December 2006. The band released their fourth album (and minor label debut) entitled '' No Shame'' on October 3, 2006. With Ronnie King on keyboard again, it features production from

Nick Hexum Nicholas Lofton Hexum (born April 12, 1970) is an American singer, songwriter and rapper, currently the vocalist and guitarist for the multi-platinum alternative rock band 311 and The Nick Hexum Quintet. Early life Born in Madison, Wisconsin, to ...

of 311, Tony Kanal of

No Doubt No Doubt is an American rock band from Anaheim, California, formed in 1986. For most of their career, the band has consisted of vocalist Gwen Stefani, guitarist Tom Dumont, bassist Tony Kanal, and drummer Adrian Young. Since the mid-1990s, they ...

, and

producer/

Butthole Surfers Butthole Surfers are an American rock band formed in San Antonio, Texas, by singer Gibby Haynes and guitarist Paul Leary in 1981. The band has had numerous personnel changes, but its core lineup of Haynes, Leary, and drummer King Coffey has been ...

member Paul Leary. A music video was shot for the single "No Control", which became their first commercial single. The album made it to #96 on the ''

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine and is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of art ...

'' chart. On March 20, 2007, Pepper released ''

To Da Max ''To Da Max - Mistakes and Outtakes (1997-2004)'' is a compilation album by the band Pepper Pepper or peppers may refer to: Food and spice * Piperaceae or the pepper family, a large family of flowering plant ** Black pepper * ''Capsicum'' or p ...

: Mistakes and Outtakes (1997–2004)'', their first compilation album containing rare and B-side tracks. Pepper appeared on all dates of the 2007

. They toured with The Expendables and Passafire, on their "That's Where I Wanna Be..." 42-stop tour from October to December 2007. Kaleowassman4

Pepper released their fifth album on July 22, 2008, titled ''

Pink Crustaceans and Good Vibrations ''Pink Crustaceans and Good Vibrations'' is the fifth studio album from Pepper released on July 22, 2008. The title is taken from a fictional album recorded by "Coconut Pete" in the Broken Lizard film ''Club Dread''. The album is produced by Paul ...

'' on their own label, LAW Records. The cover and title was a play on one of their favorite films

Broken Lizard's Club Dread Broken may refer to: Literature * ''Broken'' (Armstrong novel), a 2006 novel by Kelley Armstrong in the ''Women of the Otherworld'' series * ''Broken'' (Slaughter novel), a 2010 novel by Karin Slaughter Music Albums * ''Broken (And Oth ...

. The album peaked at #83 on the ''

'' chart. To promote this release, the band toured across the United States in 2008 from March through April with

Redeye Empire Redeye Empire was a reggae rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. History Formation and ''Redeye'' album (2006) Redeye Empire was formed in the spring of 2006, inspired by musical influences which include Sublime, Jack Johnson and ...

and Iration. A European tour in support of Flogging Molly followed, including shows in Germany, Sweden, France, Italy and more. From August 1, 2008 to September 6, 2008, the band toured the U.S. on the Tailgate 2008 Summer Tour. The band then toured with

and Sly & Robbie. The band also headlined the "LAW Records" tour in October 2008 along with Passafire, and

The Supervillains The Supervillains is a five-piece reggae, ska/punk band from St. Cloud, Florida. The band has released nine studio albums. History Formation and ''Self-Titled EP'' (1996–2000) During the summer of 1996, Floridian high school friends Scott " ...

. This was their first tour consisting of only LAW Records bands. After a UK tour with

Less than Jake Less Than Jake is an American ska punk band from Gainesville, Florida, formed in 1992. The band consists of Chris DeMakes (guitars, vocals), Roger Lima (bass, vocals), Matt Yonker (drums), Buddy Schaub (trombone), and Peter "JR" Wasilewski (saxoph ...

, and a break in December, Pepper, Passafire, and The Supervillains toured the Northwest to complete the first LAW Records tour. On April 21, 2009, the band released a greatest hits album called ''Kona Gold''. It featured 19-tracks of Pepper's most popular songs. The Spring 2009 line-up of the Jägermeister Music Tour featured Pepper with longtime staples on the punk scene, Pennywise. Pepper returned to the Jägermeister Music Tour after a 2006 outing with punk-reggae rockers

2010–2015: ''Stitches EP'' and self-titled album

Pepper released their new EP album titled ''Stitches'' on October 12, 2010. A single, "Wake Up", from the album was released June 28, 2010 along with "Mirror". The band toured with 311 to promote the album. The EP peaked at #40 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart. Pepper also toured on the "Like a Surgeon Tour" with

Shwayze Aaron Smith, better known as Shwayze (born May 29, 1985), is an American rapper. His first single " Buzzin'" peaked at No. 46 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second single "Corona and Lime," reached No. 23 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in th ...

Pour Habit Pour Habit are an American punk rock band from Long Beach, California, United States. Their first demo CD, "WTF!?" is long out of print. In 2007, the band released its breakthrough album, '' Suiticide''. After signing to Fat Wreck Chords in 2009 ...

, and Brother Ali in the Fall of 2010. They released ''Like A Surgeon Live'' on October 9, 2010 which featured 22 songs from their entire performance live during the tour. Pepper was one of the headliners for the 2011 Vans Warped Tour. During the summer and fall of 2012, they toured with Sublime with Rome and

Cypress Hill Cypress Hill is an American hip hop group from South Gate, California. They have sold over 20 million albums worldwide and have multi-platinum and platinum albums. They are considered to be among the main progenitors of West Coast and 1990 ...

. On September 3, 2013, Pepper released their self-titled sixth album on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

. It featured the singles, "Hunny Girl" and "F**K Around All Night", which the band shot two music videos for (a clean version and an explicit version with nudity). Following a co-headlining tour with the Dirty Heads in the summer of 2014 and another amphitheater summer run with Rebelution and Sublime With Rome in 2015.

2016–Present: ''Ohana'' and ''Local Motion''

On April 29, 2016, Pepper released their seventh studio album titled, ''Ohana''. The album peaked at #8 the Billboard Independent Albums chart and made it to #130 on the ''

''. The band released their eighth studio album ''Local Motion'' on June 28, 2019. It contained 10-tracks featuring top reggae artists like Stick Figure on single "Warning", E.N. Young (formally of Tribal Seeds), Micah Brown of Iration, Henry Fong, and Jinco. The album peaked at #1 on the Billboard Reggae Albums chart and made it to #13 on the Billboard Independent Albums chart. Pepper was featured as one of many reggae bands on

Collie Buddz Colin Patrick Harper (born August 21, 1981), better known by his stage name Collie Buddz, is a Bermudian reggae artist best known for his single "Come Around". Career Although Harper was born in New Dadyal Hospital, AJK. He studied audio enginee ...

riddim album, ''Cali Roots Riddim 2020'' with their single, "Change", which was produced by Buddz and mixed by Stick Figure's touring guitarist, producer Johnny Cosmic. On September 20, 2020, Pepper was one of several reggae and punk bands on ''The House That Bradley Built'', a charity compilation honoring

's lead singer

Bradley Nowell Bradley James Nowell (February 22, 1968 – May 25, 1996) was an American musician and the lead singer and guitarist of the ska punk band Sublime. Born and raised in Belmont Shore, Long Beach, California, Nowell developed an interest in mu ...

, helping musicians with substance abuse. They covered Sublime's songs, "Date Rape", and "Work That We Do", as well as, Brett Bollinger covering "Mary" on the Deluxe Edition which was released on Pepper's own record label, LAW Records on January 15, 2021.

Other projects

In 2016, Pepper tried their hands as

winemaking Winemaking or vinification is the production of wine, starting with the selection of the fruit, its fermentation into alcohol, and the bottling of the finished liquid. The history of wine-making stretches over millennia. The science of wine and ...

with their own wine collection based on their album titles and cover artwork. The first bottle they released was, "Kona Town Original Blend", which sold quickly. In 2017, Pepper partnered up with award-winning winemaker Thomas Booth, a.k.a. "The Wine Boss" of

Paso Robles, California Paso Robles ( ), officially El Paso de Robles (Spanish for "The Pass of Oaks"), is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Located on the Salinas River approximately north of San Luis Obispo, the city is known for its hot ...

. Their second bottle, "Blend 2" won Gold at the

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

Competition in 2019. They also have a 2017 "Skullconut Malbec", and a 2015

Cabernet Cabernet can refer to several different things: Wine grape varieties * Cabernet Sauvignon, a hybrid of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon blanc, and one of the most popular wine grapes in the world * Cabernet Franc, a parent of Cabernet Sauvignon and ...

called, "In With The Cab", which is a play off their album, ''In With The Old''. For two years in a row, they've won Gold, Silver and Bronze for all of their wines. Kaleo Wassman explains, "We didn't want to just license our name to the wine, we wanted to be active in the creation of it. And so it's really incredible for us to get these awards and accolades because we are being able to co-create this wine with Thomas." They look to add to their success with the release of "No Shame Chardonnay" with artwork based on their 2006 album, ''No Shame''.

Members

*Bret Bollinger - vocals, bass *

- vocals, guitar *Yesod Williams - drums, backing vocals *Jeff Nisen - guitar

Discography

Studio albums

Demos

*''Seven-song demo'' (1997), Pepper Records *''

'' (2000), Cornerstone R.A.S.

EPs

*''Limited Edition Warped Tour EP'' (2001), Volcom Entertainment *'' Stitches EP'' (2010), LAW Records (#40 on ''Billboard'' Independent Albums)

Live albums

*''Kona Gold'' (2009), Volcom Entertainment *''Live at the Belly Up'' (2015), LAW Records

DVDs

*''

Pepper LIVE DVD ''Pepper LIVE DVD'' is a DVD by Pepper that was filmed over the course of two sold-out 2004 performances at the L.A.'s Troubador A troubadour (, ; oc, trobador ) was a composer and performer of Old Occitan lyric poetry during the High Middle ...

'' (March 8, 2005), Volcom Entertainment *''Searching For The Haj'' (DVD Movie) (August 22, 2006), LAW Records

Compilations

*''The Early Poems of Volcom Entertainment'' (1999), Volcom Entertainment *''1999 Summer Sampler'' (1999), Volcom Entertainment *''Santa's Stuck in the Chimney'' (2000), Volcom Entertainment *''2002 Label Sampler'' (2002), Volcom Entertainment / 2 tracks: ("Sitting on the Curb", "Storm Trooper") *''

: Mistakes and Outakes 1997–2004'' (2007), Volcom Entertainment, LAW Records *'' Good Luck Chuck Soundtrack'' (2007), Lions Gate Records / 1 track: ("The Whistle Song") *''Spirits In The Material World: A Reggae Tribute To The Police'' (2008), Shanachie / 1 track: ("Can't Stand Losing You")

Singles

Songs

*Singles that did not chart/top tracks off each album

References

External links

Official SiteOfficial FacebookOfficial Twitter
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pepper (Band) Musical groups from Hawaii Musical groups established in 1997 Reggae rock groups American reggae musical groups