Pepper * Shwayze * Pour Habit

Pepper is a reggae, ska band formed in 1996 originally from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, United States recently having moved to Southern California. They play a mix of reggae, dub, ska, and punk and are best known for their 2006 single "No Control" which was a Top 20 hit on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart.

Pepper's relocation was inspired by Volcom Entertainment's excitement and interest in producing and distributing the band's music. “Give 'N It” is the band's first official release combining dancehall, reggae, punk, hip-hop, and pop. It sparked some initial interest in Warped Tour promoter Kevin Lyman. With Kevin's interest and Volcom's involvement Pepper graced the premiere side stage at Warped Tour 2001.

Immediately following a whirlwind of shows, Pepper took to the studio with Steve Kravac (Less Than Jake, MXPX) to create ground swell album “Kona Town ”. Released in March of 2002, this album, with it's "signature sound" sold over 45,000 copies. This sophomore release by Pepper not only charted for several weeks on the DMA chart in their home state of Hawaii, but also yielded the #1 hit “Give It Up” (aka Dirty Hot Sex) on Clear Channel affiliate Star 101.9 KUCD in June of 2003. KEDJ in Phoenix added the track in September of 2003 which instantly jumped into the TOP 10 “call-out” (or most requested), and still receives recurrent airplay.

Concentrating on live performances and culminating rich and sincere relationships with each and every fan, Pepper continued to tour throughout 2003 and into 2004 which included dates with 311 and Snoop Dogg (with Pepper as main support) appearances at the annual Bob Marley Birthday celebration, San Diego's premiere Festival “Street Scene”, some scattered headline club dates and a complete US tour with Slightly Stoopid. This Dub/rock power trio's fan base is not limited, as one would assume, to Southern California surf towns. They have sold out shows in Phoenix, Orlando, Jacksonville, New York, New Jersey, Colorado, Seattle, Eugene, Santa Cruz, Sacramento, and San Francisco.

In March of 2004, Pepper released “In With The Old”, and it debuts at #35 on the Billboard Heat Seekers and #18 on the independent albums chart. The band relinquish their nostalgic sentiment in saying they named their album "In With The Old" as an ode to a time when music used to be collectively better, when bands such as Metallica, Cream, the Beatles, and Black Sabbath were still relevant. Recorded at 311's completely-analog Hive studios by legendary board master Ron St. Germain, the album showcases a broader range of influences shared by the trio. The new album contains everything from the countrified "Border Town", which features steel laptop playing from ex Doobie Brothers and Steely Dan alum, "Skunk" Baxter, the Heavy Metal leaning (and Andrew Blake porno inspired)"Keep Your Head Bangin", the 80's influenced first single "Ashes” evoking the likes of The Police and English Beat, and the solid reggae tinged rock of "Love Affair" and "Use Me" bringing back the spirit of both Bad Brains and Sublime.

Over the past few years Pepper has been able to hone their skills as songwriters and recording artists. As harder influences such as Nirvana, Black Sabbath, and Pantera are incorporated into their already well developed reggae-rock roots, Pepper is beginning to explore new ground stylistically. And as their fan base spreads, sales of “In With The Old”, as well as the two previous albums, continue to increase. Pepper also began a record label of their own, LAW Records as a vehicle to promote music they believe in and love. The first official release was a re-release of their first album entitled “Give-n- It”, a collaboration with CornerstoneRAS. The second is aptly named “Afta Party” and features tracks by a group of MC's from their hometown of Kailua-Kona , Hawaii as well as a few guest appearances by PEPPER. Be on the look out for future releases from LAW Records, as this is just the beginning!

September 24 and 25, 2004 Pepper performed back to back sold out nights at the famed Hollywood Troubadour. A live DVD of these performances is slated for release February 15, 2005. In December of 2004 Pepper will support the Kottonmouth Kings on a Midwestern city tour, which will end in Salt Lake City , Utah ; but not before a “Garage Session” at KTCL in Denver which the band has been invited on, and will perform for a select audience at the station on December 21, 2004 .

As the year draws to a close Pepper heads “Back Home” for a string of SOLD OUT shows on the Islands . Pepper will play their first headlining Arena performance on New Years Eve 2004 at the Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu , Hawaii .The year to come is already promising to be nothing less than amazing, with a National headlining tour in place for January running through March, including the 3rd annual Kona Town Music Festival on December 17th in Kaula-Kona,Hawaii,as well as many International endeavors on the rise!

Pepper has just taken to the road for yet another tour, with 311 and the orignal members of The Wailers (Bob Marley's band), that will last through the summer of 2006. The tour has started in California and will move throughout the states including stops scheduled for Nevada, Illinois, Oregon, Idaho and Florida.

The band is currently working on a new album to be released in 2006.

Please visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepper_%28band%29
for more info.

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Aaron Smith (born May 29 1986 in Malibu, California), better known by his stage name Shwayze, is an American alternative hip hop artist . In 2007 he met Cisco Adler, frontman of Whitestarr, at a Malibu nightclub. He jumped onstage during Whitestarr's performance and began freestyling. Cisco was impressed with his talent, and they immediately began making music together. Eventually they landed a deal with Suretone Records and released their debut self-titled album in 2008. Their second album, Let It Beat, was released on November 3, 2009, and features guest appearances from acts such as The Knux, and Snoop Dogg. Shwayze and Adler are also the focus of a reality television series on MTV titled Buzzin', which debuted on July 23, 2008. Shwayze attended high school with Cobra Starship keytarist Victoria Asher.

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Believe it or not, things used to be different. People used to start punk bands because they wanted to have fun, not because they needed a vehicle to get their faces on the covers of magazines. Artists used to tour to meet new people, not to sell products in various "markets." Above all, especially in the punk scene, bands in the past didn't believe in a division between themselves and their fans because at the end of the day they knew we were all the same. However just when things seem to be at their bleakest and most dismal Compton, California's Pour Habit have come along and remind us all about why we got interested in punk rock in the first place—and the fact that they have gained a reputation as "the band of the people" is no coincidence.

Initially started by Steve and Chuck as a trio in 2005 in Compton, California, the band underwent a series of member changes and instrument swaps before landing on the perfect lineup of Chuck (vocals), Colin (drums), his brother Eric (guitar/vocals), Shaun (guitar) and Steve (bass/vocals)—and they haven't looked back since. After gaining a local following performing with Authority Zero and Guttermouth and building an enthusiastic fanbase in California, the group entered the studio in 2007 to record their debut full-length, Suiticide. "We barely had enough money for a week in the studio and that album is pretty much a live CD," Colin explains, adding that his drum tracks were cut in one take. "It was a good learning experience and we're proud of it."

From there the band started playing even bigger shows with acts like Strung Out, the Adicts, the Expendables and Death By Stereo and before they knew it, they had sold more copies of Suiticide than they ever imagined they would. As luck would have it, Colin's father was a studio musician and friend of Strung Out's drummer Jordan Burns and eventually Colin convinced Strung Out to let Pour Habit open for them. Pour Habit's impressive arrangements, infectious energy and mind-boggling musicianship made Burns an instant fan/cheerleader and he passed the band's CD onto Fat Wreck Chords owner and NOFX frontman Fat Mike who signed the band in 2009 after watching them play a handful of dates opening for his own band.

"Fat Mike told us that he was expecting to like two or three songs but he said it was a great album that he could release as it was before he put us in the studio," Colin says sounding like he still can't quite believe the band's good fortune. "I'm still kind of overwhelmed by the whole thing." Listening to Suiticide, it's no surprise that Mike wanted to re-release the disc. In fact, from ultra-tight, metal-tinged melodic rock anthems like "Light The Torch," which recall SoCal acts like Ignite to frenzied thrash masterpieces like "Bad Luck Drunk" to sinister sounding hardcore tracks like "Hell Bent," Suiticide harkens back to the early days of the Fat Wreck Chords sound and manages to unify seemingly disparate punk subgenres into a unique amalgam of music that'll instantly get the lead of out today's subdued circle pits.

"When Suiticide came out you have to realize that we were just kind of getting our songs together and our members were into everything from Guttermouth to Pantera, so it was us trying to find that in-between," Colin responds when asked about the album's original sound. "Through that we realized, 'Let's just do whatever we want to do and if it's a simple three-chord Green Day pop song or a crazy Meshuggah wannabe song who cares? Let's do whatever we can do and if it rocks, it rocks.'" It certainly does rock—and the good news is that the band already have another collection songs written that they'll be recording this summer. However in the meantime you'll be able to catch them on tour spreading their brand of punk to the masses and continuing to win crowds over one fan at a time.

"Fat Mike ruined me and my brother's lives," Colin summarizes with a laugh. "If it wasn't for Fat Wreck Chords, I'd probably be working a steady job, but because of those bastards this is my life and there's no way I could ever quit or stop. None of us could and that's the thing—the five of us are so plugged into each other that we're really best friends and that's why we're so dedicated to making this work," he continues, adding that the band have never brought in outside management because they're happy to be involved in even the most mundane aspects of being in a band. "We're looking toward the future and we just want to keep growing and meeting good people and always moving forward."

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