Pepper managed to turn the entire Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Irvine, California yesterday into an island-infused land of plenty.  The beachy-keen boys rocked a reggae vibe, serenading the crowd with sun-soaked songs, dressed in SPF and not much else.

True to the Hawaiian tropic form, I was ushered to a backstage bus-side BBQ complete with friends, family, food and no shortage of cocktails.  After a little let-loose action, the drummer was ready to go one-on-one for a little behind-the-scenes look at Pepper 2.0.  The following insanity ensued between the hours of 9 and 10 p.m.  Without further ado, meet drummer Yesod “the responsible one” Williams, with a special guest appearance by guitar and vocalist, Kaleo Wasman.

BNB:  So you grew up in Hawaii?
Y:  Yeah all three of us grew up on the Big Island

BNB:  How does the Mainland compare to the Island
Y:  There’s just a lot more stuff-  more people, more cars, but at the end of the day, there’s more stuff to do.

BNB:  Surf?
Y:  Yeah, I’ve lived up in San Fransisco the last couple of years.  It’s cold as s***, but…

BNB:  How’s the tour going with the band thus far?
Y:  It’s going handsomely

BNB:  Any on the bus behind the scenes drama?
Y:  No we’re good, we’re better than we’ve ever been after 12, 13 years.  It’s been worse in the past, we call it Pepper2.0 right now.  You know, we’ve updated our applications

BNB:  Well I’ll be sure to download that on my crackberry then
Y:  There IS a Pepper app actually!  But (awkward silence) it’s on iPhone.

BNB:  So you guys have a new CD coming out, eh?
Y:  Yeah, and we’ve released the single on iTunes where if you download that, you get a second song for free.  Kind of a two-for-one thing going down.  In the fall we’re doing a headlining tour too.

BNB:  Do you have a lot of crazy stuff that happens while on stage?  Give me the underground 411.
Y:  Fights break out, the malfunctions always kill me.  The craziest thing that’s gotten thrown on stage is probably just condoms & cocktails.  One time Brett actually caught a cocktail that was thrown on stage.  You know we’re big Pantera fans and they would do this thing, this beer toss, where they’d just choose someone out in the crowd and throw them a beer.  A couple times the fan actually caught it- barely spilt any.
BNB:  That would require an obscene amount of catlike reflexes.  I hope they drank it after that bit of manual labor.

BNB:  So I need to ask you a serious question.  What would you do for a Klondike bar?
Y:  I don’t do drugs.

BNB:  Any pre-show vices?  Pick your poison.
Y:  I’m going to go ahead and say Zinc-Oxide.

(DOOR SWINGS OPEN KALEO-CAUSED RUCKUS ENSUES)
Kaleo Wasman:  What is this, a f***ing intervention!?
BNB:  Hey there, come and join the group therapy!
K:  Actually I can’t right now because I’m WAY too busy getting wasted outside.  But how about this, how about this- after the interview is conducted with the “responsible” one, you come and hang out with the “irresponsible” one.
BNB:  That statement would be off the record I assume?
K:  This is all on the record!  You better put this in the interview, I need some face time.
(EXIT KALEO, TO CONTINUE HIS MISSION)

BNB:  So your necklace, dogtags, mean something special?
Y:  Nah my wife just gave it to me.
BNB:  So your wife gave it to you- but it’s not special.

BNB:  Favorite drink of choice?
Y:  That’s a tough one…

BNB:  Most importantly, what are you drinking right now?
Y:  A margarita our tour manager made me.  But as for favorite:  one’s called a “mongoose”- which is vodka and Gatorade.  There’s a red mongoose, which is red Gatorade- blue mongoose, blue Gatorade.  It all depends on the shade of ‘rade.  And there’s one called a “blueberry morning” which we made up.  It’s kind of like a pina colada, but instead of rum you use blueberry vodka.
BNB:  So you like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain?
Y:  No, not at all.  But I do like blueberry mornings.  Great for a hangover.

BNB:  Closing remarks for your fans, friends, and fiends?
Y:  Hey, we love you all, thanks for giving us the most awesome job in the world, and we’ll see you in the fall.  This tour is “The Lifeguard Tour” and the tour in fall is going to be the “Like A Surgeon Tour;” but you know- we’re still saving lives.  This time we’re lifeguards, next time were surgeons.

BNB:  And where can your fans cyber stalk you?
Y:  On our website that was just revamped- pepperlive.com!

 

 

You can catch up with Pepper again tonight in San Diego for a double dose of drinks, debauchery, and an overdose of zinc-oxide.  Those of you who can’t make it to the islands, you can get your recommended daily dose of tropicality when the boys turn the Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre into a Grade-A staycation destination.   Of course, feel free to cyber-stalk them for future tour dates at www.pepperlive.com- They’ll be saving lives “Like A Surgeon;” cut for the very first time.

Click it for ticket:  http://www.livenation.com/Cricket-Wireless-Amphitheatre-tickets-Chula-Vista/venue/82205

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