When you’re a reggae-rock trio from Kona, Hawaii trying to climb the ranks of the industry, you don’t wait for opportunity—you manufacture it. That’s exactly what Pepper did back in the mid-2000s, as revealed in a recent episode of their candid new podcast The Pepper Chronicles, where drummer Yesod Williams recounts how they “tricked” 311 frontman Nick Hexum into taking them on tour.
“We were making the music, and we had a camcorder or something,” Williams recalls, setting the scene during the band’s recording sessions at The Hive, 311’s studio in North Hollywood. At the time, Hexum was producing Pepper’s fourth album, No Shame, their first release on major-label Atlantic Records. With cameras rolling, Williams saw a chance to corner the moment. “I remember saying to the boys, ‘Watch this.’ Hex was sitting at the table in the lounge of The Hive, and I go, ‘Hex, so you’re going to have to take us on tour after we finish this record, right?’”
Caught mid-conversation and mid-camera roll, Hexum’s response became instant folklore. “He turns around like, ‘I don’t—’ Then he saw I was filming and said, ‘Yeah, I guess so, man. We got you. We got you.’”
The story is as much about hustle as it is about heart. No Shame—released in 2006—saw Pepper team up not just with Hexum, but with production heavyweights like Tony Kanal of No Doubt and Paul Leary (Sublime). It marked a creative turning point, with the band finally having access to both time and resources that weren’t always available in their earlier DIY days.
Recording at The Hive gave Pepper more than just a technical edge—it gave them time to explore and evolve. “For the first time in our career,” the band reflects on the podcast, “we weren’t rushed. That changed everything.”
Since dropping their debut Give’n It in 1998 and relocating from the Big Island to Southern California the following year, Pepper has carved out a permanent place in the reggae-rock scene. But it’s tales like this—equal parts mischief and moxie—that show how they’ve always found a way to keep moving forward, one clever hustle at a time.
