(hed) Planet Earth

Certainly, success has not left them behind due to any kind of lapse in their work ethic. Frontman Jahred told POLLSTAR that (hed) has basically been living on the road, trying to break for the last four years. But a stroke of bad luck and some decisions gone awry have slowed things.

However, with lessons learned, the band is finally on track, breaking out with the song “Bartender” off its sophomore release, Broke.

(hed) attracted label interest the old-fashioned way by doing a lot of the work itself. The band built a loyal following in its homebase of Southern California’s Orange County to the point where every show was a sellout and thousands of self-produced CDs were sold.

When it came time to sign a record deal, (hed) had a bright idea. “We, in all of our starry-eyed sense, wanted to be on a rap label because here we were like pioneers, we felt, of this punk-rock rap thing that we’re doing,” Jahred said. “Be careful what you wish for.”

The rap pros at Jive Records signed (hed) as their first rock band. While that seemed great on the surface, the band soon found the label’s lack of experience in hard rock detrimental to its career.

“If you don’t have a rock department to push your stuff to rock radio, then your stuff will not get played on rock radio,” Jahred said. “We almost had to sell [our first album] one by one, like door to door.”

To make matters worse, finding tour opportunities was difficult since Jive didn’t have other hardcore artists for (hed) to tour with. “We were just out there like a step child, or like orphans,” Jahred said.

Since the first album, Tool’s label, Volcano, has come on board to help.

“Now, it’s seeming like the tables might be turning a little bit,” the singer said. “It’s still a struggle for sure, but we’re getting a lot more attention from our label. They’re treating us a lot better and doing a lot more of what they need to, and the numbers reflect that for sure.”

Much of what got those tables turning was a management overhaul. (hed) had to take legal action against its first manager, according to Jahred, in order to get its career moving forward.

Luckily, Rick Sales joined the team and “helped save the game like a relief pitcher.”

Sales’ first order of business was to raise the band’s touring profile, sending the guys out with groups including System of a Down, Fear Factory, Monster Magnet, and Slipknot.

“Then, they never had anyone to help them set up the record with the record label on the street. I spent a great deal of time setting up Broke, the new album, with all the Internet presence and street team presence, and pretty aggressive marketing at the label,” Sales told POLLSTAR.

“My position with the label is that it needed to launch this record like Hollywood launches a movie. And they did. They spent all the money. We can’t really fault Jive. They’ve really put a tremendous amount of money and time and effort in this.”

As for touring opportunities, Jahred credited personal relationships for getting (hed) in front of audiences internationally.

“We have all these friends we’ve created, these bridges with like Slipknot and System (of a Down) and Papa Roach and Linkin Park, Orgy and on and on … who are successful and who love to take us on the road,” he said.

“We have been soldiers in trying to do it for awhile and other bands know that. And they also know that we haven’t really achieved a level of success that really goes along with [that]. So they kind of rally around us and want to help us out right now because they’re all doing good.”

The biggest hitch in touring so far was the Christian audiences (hed) faced when the band toured with P.O.D. Apparently, that contingency didn’t appreciate (hed)’s profanity-filled, reality-based lyrics.

Taking a deep breath, Jahred said, “It’s like these people hated us these Christians. … They were having prayer meetings and holding hands, and they would heckle me and chant ‘Jesus’ right while I’m playing.”

Used to audiences embracing its high-energy live performance, (hed) was caught completely off guard. “It was the most agonizing tour ever,” the frontman said. “We never felt so much hate, and from these people who are supposed to show love.”

Ironically, Jahred considers (hed) to have its own spiritual side in that the multicultural band promotes unity and positivity. For instance, you won’t see bully behavior in the band’s mosh pits.

“You’re not gonna want to look at me screaming at you for 50 minutes,” Jahred said, adding that (hed)’s pits are really like “love in the middle of a high level of intensity.”

Europe will get a taste of that high intensity as (hed) tours the Continent with Papa Roach through February. Sales said the plan is to get the band on European festivals in the spring followed by a U.S. festival tour this summer.