Pepper (band)

Pepper
Pepper performing on the Vans Warped Tour, on August 3, 2007.
Background information
Origin	Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, United States
Genres	Reggae rock,alternative rock, ska, dub
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Pepper, LAW Records, Volcom Entertainment, Lava/Atlantic, Powerslave Records, Skunk Records
Associated acts	Sabotage Soundsystem, Slightly Stoopid
Website	http://www.pepperlive.com/
Members	Bret Bollinger Kaleo Wassman Yesod Williams

Pepper is a three-piece rock band originally from Hawaii, now based in San Diego. The band consists of vocalist/guitarist Kaleo Wassman, vocalist/bassist Bret Bollinger, and drummer Yesod Williams. Since the band's formation they have released five studio albums as well as one live album.

Pepper formed in 1996 with singer/guitarist Kaleo Wassman and bassist/singer Bret Bollinger, who had been friends since middle school. The duo was influenced by the Hawaiian artist Three Plus and popular mainland groups like Sublime. The group struggled to find a drummer to be in the band, with Wassman stating " we were going through drummers like a bottomless pit." Wassman and Bollinger heard about a drummer named Yesod Williams who had gained success around their small town, and later met Williams at a party. The two convinced Williams to join the band, and with the trio in place, Pepper left Hawaii for San Diego and went on to open shows by Burning Spear, Shaggy, and other major reggae artists. Pepper first entered the studio in 1997 and recorded a seven-song demo.

In 1999, after gathering a small local following on the Big Island, Pepper gained the interest of an independent, L.A.-based record company, Volcom Entertainment. Volcom produced and distributed the band's debut release, Give'n It, which combined dancehall, reggae, hip-hop, and pop genres and the band made it on the 2001 Warped Tour.