INTERVIEW WITH THE DIRTY HEADS
(Dirty Heads L to R: Matt, Siggy, Jon Jon, DJ Rocky Rock, Dirty J & Duddy B)
For a beautiful summer’s day in Portland the tension is surprisingly high. We are at the Edgefield Amphitheatre and it’s the Dirty Heads' last day on the 311 Unity Tour and it all comes down to this: the final in a best of three skateboard competition between Dirty Heads' vocalist Dirty J (Jared Watson) and Matisyahu guitarist, Aaron Dugan. To date, each has taken one a piece during the tour and each band’s pride is at stake.
The Dirty Heads has the home crowd advantage with all the Huntington Beach band members out in support. After watching them compete for 5 minutes, I have seen the sweaty die-hard competitors land… well not much. It certainly has been entertaining though. So I begin the interview with some of the other Dirty Heads' members who are standing by, slightly amused by the whole spectacle.
The Pier: So obvious first question how has the 311 tour been?
Jon Jon (percussionist): So far it has been amazing. Everyone’s been really cool and all the venues we have been to have been awesome. We are very lucky to be a part of this and we can’t thank everyone enough for bringing us along.
Besides some dates on the Rock the Bells tour last year, this has been the first major national tour this reggae and hip hop crew have been on. It has been great exposure for the Dirty Heads, with playing up to crowds of more than 5,000 every night and it has given them an opportunity to see more of the country and share the stage with some of its heroes.
The Pier: Are you bit a sad that today is the last day then?
Jon Jon: We are so bummed. Having to leave this and go back to what we were doing before is going to be rough.
(It’s Aaron's turn to attempt a trick so Jared jumps in)
Jared (vocalist): Hey, what we were doing before was awesome! Nah he is not knocking anybody but playing with 311 and Matisyahu you can’t get any better.
Jon Jon: Yeah as I said before, the stage and the crowd have been so great. We are very sad it’s coming to an end.
The Pier: I saw the tour update video that was posted on your MySpace page, Red Rocks in Colorado looked amazing. That must have been an unbelievable experience?
Duddy B (Dustin Bushnell - vocalist/guitar): Red Rocks was most definitely the most amazing spot we have ever played. The crowd was awesome and the scenery and everything about it was just a great experience.
DJ Rocky Rock (turntablist): Even when it was raining people just didn’t give a crap. People were like if it’s raining bring it on more. That was a really good crowd for sure.
The Pier: Any other highlights worth discussing from this tour then?
Duddy B: Chicago was absolutely insane.
Jon Jon: Yeah, the venue was in a really beautiful spot with Lake Michigan and everything. Another huge outdoor's crowd, so it really sticks out in our minds.
The Pier: You guys are well-known for having a good time. So have you been partying pretty hard for this tour or have you been pretty professional?
(Jared pops in briefly again)
Jared: Pretty professional I would say.
Jon Jon: Yeah we have been doing a lot of driving. We are still in a little van so we all got to cram in there and try to keep up with the 311 buses, as everyone is driving quick to the next venue. We have to be quick in packing everything up and keep moving to the next show.
The Pier: You have been signing autographs at the merchandise table after you play. What has the feedback been like? You would probably be new to a lot of these 311 fans.
Duddy B: It’s been great. We have been getting a lot of love from all the fans. For us as a new band it’s all very new to us and so to be getting that much love and people coming up to us it has been amazing.
There has been a definite evolution in the Dirty Heads' music. If you listen to the Dirty Demo, recorded a few years ago now, it features raw vocals with inventive rhymes simply over acoustic guitars and bongos. These elements are still a strong part of the Dirty Heads' sound, but the band has grown to include a DJ and a full live band that has certainly added a bit more kick to the band’s delivery.
The Pier: Is the recent addition of (Siggy) and a drummer (Matt) to your live show going to be a permanent fixture for the Dirty Heads?
Duddy B: Definitely, I mean we all started off playing with a live band and then when we started to doing bigger shows we switched to a DJ for a while. To get back to a live band now with a drummer and a bassist is way better.
Jon Jon: It just steps the energy up ten-fold and to feel everything a little better. It has been great.
The Pier: Speaking of when you started, do you remember why you guys put the band together to begin with?
Duddy B: A lot of us grew up together and we all started playing music when we were young. It just kind of happened. We always hung out anyway, so we just started doing this for fun or for a joke almost. Writing songs and performing in front of our friends in our backyard. Little by little it grew.
Jon Jon: Music is just what we know and what we have naturally gone to. It brought us all together and kept us semi out of trouble.
The Pier: So how did you come up with choosing to mix reggae and hip hop to create your original sound?
(Jared has popped in to answer a question or two, as he is clearly the current front runner in the skating contest)
Jared: I don’t think we really chose to do it, it just kind of came out that way. That’s our favorite types of music and when you start writing songs obviously you write what you like and copy bands that you listen to. So that’s what kind of came out when we first started writing.
The Pier: The song Stand Tall is featured on the Surf's Up Soundtrack. From what I have gathered it seems to have got a great response. You guys must be pleased with it?
Jared: Yeah definitely. We got on a soundtrack to a movie with a bunch of great bands and it’s a really good song that people know now, even if they don’t really know our band or have had the chance to have seen us a million times yet. Now that they have seen that movie, bought the soundtrack and come to a show. So now when we play that song it’s an awesome song to play live.
The Pier: I haven’t had the chance to see the movie. Where does the song pop up in it?
Jared: It’s right in the middle of the movie at a pretty climatic part. So it’s good. Wait…
(Jared notices Aaron doing multiple tricks)
Jared: Is he practicing???
(He jokingly screams and rushes off)
Originally signing with Warner Brothers, the band hit the studio to record its first full-length album with producers Steve Fox and Stan Frazier. The result of this recording is ‘Sails to the Wind’, an album yet to see the light of the day, due to major label complications. The Dirty Heads recently parted ways from Warner Brothers and are now in charge of its own destiny. A shortened version of Sails to the Wind (a seven track EP) was released in limited numbers in conjunction with the 311 Unity Tour in order to give the fans something to tide them over until the full-length release.
The Pier: Obviously there was some drama with releasing your debut album and we don’t have to go into it. However, the big question everyone wants to know is, ‘when’s the album coming out?’
Duddy B: We put out the EP as a somewhat compromise, hopefully we can sell this and get some funds to put the album out. So it’s still a question mark for sure. We are trying to get it out. We are working on a small budget at this point.
The Pier: Will it be this year?
Duddy B: Yes. This year hopefully.
Jon Jon: This tour has also been like a testing ground to see how it goes over and see how people like it and figure out how we are going to attack this.
The Pier: So what was it like recording Sails to the Wind? Did you write a lot of it in the studio?
Jon Jon: Well it took us a while. We spent about a year to a year and a half recording this. We got to work with some amazing people and producers. The whole experience was unbelievable, we all learnt so much. We ourselves came out 10 times better than when we went into it.
The Pier: Was that non-stop working on the album? That’s a hell of a long time.
(Jared overhears my surprise)
Jared: Oh yeah, it was 12 to 14 hours a day, six to seven days a week sometimes.
Jon Jon: We put in a lot of time into the album. A lot of blood, sweat and tears went into it that’s for sure.
The Pier: In terms of songwriting, you have always had some pretty creative rhymes, how long does it typically take for you to complete a song and is it something that comes naturally? For example, how long did the song Antelope take to complete?
Duddy B: Truly? Antelope took an hour. Some songs will take a month you know. It’s weird with that. Sometimes you will be in a room and be working day-in and day-out for a month trying to get the song right and sometimes it’s done in one second and you know it’s the shit. So it depends.
The Pier: So is writing an ongoing process for you? For example, have you started writing songs for the next album?
Jon Jon: Yeah, it’s one of those things you just can’t turn off. As you experience new things you get a new creative wealth to fill back up. There is a lot of new material we are working on that has been inspired by the last few months and this tour.
The Pier: A track on the Sails to the Wind EP and upcoming album is Insomnia. Do any of you guys actually suffer from sleeping disorders?
Duddy B: Yeah I did for a while. For about four to five months I couldn’t sleep and I was just having a real bad time. I had never experienced anything like that before. So I was like ‘holy shit, insomnia is real and some people can’t get to sleep.’ That was a definite real-life experience.
The Pier: So what are your touring plans for the future? I see you are doing a little California tour with The Expendables and The B Foundation. What about after that?
Jon Jon: Nothing major set in stone.
Duddy B: Hopefully there will be something cool, but for now we are just trying to get on anything we can.
The Pier: Ok, who would you like to tour with then?
Duddy B: Going on tour with 311 and Matisyahu has been insane and was one of our first choices. If we could go on tour with someone right now it would definitely be the Beastie Boys. Going and doing those shows with The Expendables and The B Foundation will be awesome as well.
The Pier: As with every interview I have to ask what is your favorite beach or summer hang out? No real surprises what yours will be though.
Duddy B: Yeah, Huntington Beach I love it and I haven’t got sick of it yet.
Jon Jon: It’s hard for us to top any other beach. There are great bars there and then there's the beach itself, it’s just a great little town we are really comfortable with.
Tomorrow the band heads back to its obviously well-loved hometown of Huntington Beach and it seems like the 311 Unity Tour has been not only great exposure for the Dirty Heads but an unforgettable personal experience as well. For those keeping score, Jared won the skateboard competition (he specifically told me I had to mention that, haha). Seems like it was the perfect tour all round.
The Pier would like to thank Mike, Turtle, Andrew, Jodi, Patrick and Christian for coordinating and assisting in the conduct of this interview and of course thanks to the Dirty Heads for spending time at The Pier.
To find out more about the Dirty Heads check out:
Shortly after this interview took place the Dirty Heads went and rocked an awesome set. Take a look below at some video footage and photos of the band in action.