Interview w/ MCUD from Hed PE




Hed(pe) is a very unique band. They're signed to Jive Records, which is a rap/hip-hop label, and they're the only real band on there. Even though they're on that label, it still doesn't stop them from playing with great bands such as Soulfly, Stuck Mojo, Snot, Sevendust, and Incubus. If you haven't heard of them right now, I'm sure you will sooner or later.

Hed(pe) is:
M.C.U.D.: Vocals
Wesstyle: Guitar
DJ Product: Turntables
B.C.: Drums
Mawk:Bass
Chizad:Guitar

MoM: When and how did the band start?
MC: We started 4 years ago on the West coast in Huntington Beach. We were just a couple of room mates and we all just knew each other from around the town. We just got together and started a band. We have one album out, which has been out for a year now.

MoM: What label is that album out on?
MC: It's out on Jive Records. It's a hip-hop and rap label. We're the only band on that label.

MoM: How do you feel about being the only band on that label?
MC: It's cool, but it also sucks at the same time because we have no afiliations with any other bands so sometimes it's hard for us to get on tour. We have to fight to get on tour. Other labels have tons of bands and they all tour together.

MoM: Didn't you do a tour with Stuck Mojo?
MC: Yeah, we got kicked off of that tour.

MoM: How did you get kicked off that tour?
MC: Oh man, I'm not going to talk trash on them, but they kicked us off the tour with them so I don't have any real good feeling for them. It was like- We go on tour, and we like to party. I'm sorry, we may drink a little, and have a good time, but they're not that way. They got mad over little shit. We just got a call in our hotel room that we were off the tour. The least they could do is just say that if we did something then they would kick us off the tour. Their tour manager came up to me one time right after I jumped off the stage and he put his finger in my chest and started yelling at me. This was the day before we got kicked off the tour and I just told him straight out "Don't even come up to me ever again. Don't even come within 5 feet of me cause I'm going to bomb on you." I'm not even a violent person, but this guy just came right up to me and said "You went five fucking minutes over your time" and he started putting his finger in my chest so I pushed him and said "get out of here". The next day we got the call and we had to go home. That was in St. Louis Missouri and we had to drive all the way back to California and sit for about 4 weeks.

MoM: That really sucks. Besides the Stuck Mojo tour, what other tours were you on?
MC: We toured with Suicidal Tendences, we already did another tour with Soulfly and Snot, but that's about it. We haven't had big tours. Like I was telling you before, our label isn't hooked up in that way so it's been hard for us. We jump on tours like this (Soulfly/Snot/Incubus), we did the Sevendust and Snot tour, but that's about it.

MoM: How exactly did you get on that label though?
MC: They're a New York label, but they heard about us blowing up in California and selling out thousand seaters and shit. They found us, flew us over to New York, and the rest is history. They also gave us a nice deal cause they knew we were the only band on there.

MoM: When that band first started, did you have the DJ?
MC: Yeah, we had a DJ before a lot of these bands had one. Incubus did not have a DJ when we had a one. Limp Bizkit didn't even exist. They would listen to our stuff before they hooked up with Korn and everything. We've been doing out stuff for a long time, but buisness is weird because no one is making money off of us. Korn, Limp Bizkit, Far, Incubus, they're all hooked up in the same thing so they make money off of each other. They do tours with each other and everything. As I was saying before, we're just outsiders. We're hoping to get Max's wife Gloria to be our new manager, so that should change a lot. We just fired our old manager. He wasn't connected at all. We should have fired him 10 months ago.

MoM: Are you guys friends with Korn?
MC: Hell yeah we're cool with them. Our first show was with Korn when they first released their first cd. They were already going out when we played our first show. We also know them from town because they live right down the block from us.

MoM: Oh, so I guess you know Coal Chamber too.
MC: Yeah, we know Coal Chamber (in a weary voice). We have had problems with them.

MoM: Yeah, I've heard that a lot of bands have problems with them.
MC: Yeah, Dez is a big shit talker. I heard about how he got his ass kicked when they played over here before. Some kid was telling me how he saw the whole thing.

MoM: Yeah, then the next time they came here, when he got off the bus, he had 10 security guards escort him into the club.
MC: One of our first tours was a Coal Chamber tour. We played at a place that could only hold about 20 people, and even after that, he had the security escort him into his bus. He bad mouthed us after that and we lost the US Ozzfest because of that. I don't have anything against him, but he talked shit about us so I just don't really like them too much anymore. I would never imagine them having the success that they do. More power to them, but we used to practice across the hall from them and we would come out and say "That sounds like shitty Korn". I saw Korn come up in this town, so if anyone played a lick close to them, I would just reject.

MoM: How long did it take you to get your hair in the dreds?
MC: This hair is five years in the making. My guitar player tried growing dreds, he waxed it and everything. Some white boys have it easy when growing dreds, but with him it was really hard.

MoM: Do you have any closing comments?
MC: Yeah, 9 out of 10 bands hate Hed-Pe and we don't give a fuck. I'm the punk-rock nigga