“If you’re taking us as a band and you’re taking our music that seriously, you’re taking us too seriously ’cause we want to have fun,” said Dirty Heads lead vocalist Jared Watson. “We want to be positive and entertain.”
The Huntington Beach-based Dirty Heads are a new band with a very unique, hard-to-classify sound and style. Their music is a mixture of hip-hop and reggae with a punk attitude and catchy lyrics.
The band is made up of Watson, guitarist/vocalist Dustin Bushnell, percussionist Jon Olazabal and DJ Rocky Rock. The group members have all known each other since childhood and get many ideas for their songs from personal experiences.
The songs are about “growing up in our neighborhood and our lifestyle,” Bushnell said. “Everyone in the band grew up together, went to the same school, and we’ve just been friends forever.”
Dirty Heads began when Bushnell and Watson were still back in high school. Watson heard a recording of Bushnell’s music and asked him to collaborate with him on some ideas. The pair began writing songs and soon they were performing locally and developing a fan base.
After performing as a duo for a short time, Bushnell and Watson connected with Olazabal, who they met through Bushnell’s older brother’s band H.B. Surround Sound. The trio went into the studio and began recording more seriously. Their longtime friend DJ Rocky Rock was later added to the group.
Dirty Heads then connected with producers Steve Fox and Stan Frazier, who helped the band “shop our stuff to labels and helped out with us actually getting signed,” Watson said. “They believed in us.”
After looking at many offers from different record labels, the band chose Warner Bros. Records. Bushnell said they chose Warner because “they were more into the music.” Watson adds, “We felt that they would give us the most creative freedom. They got the vibe, they got us the most.”
Under the direction of executive producer Rob Cavallo, the band began to record its major label debut, “Sails to the Wind.” “We worked 12 to 14 hours a day for 12 months straight,” Bushnell said. The recording studio was in Newport Beach, which Watson said was “a lot better that way because it was closer to home.”
Dirty Heads are currently on a small tour in Southern California to begin promoting “Sails to the Wind,” which will be released sometime this summer. The group also plans on touring nationally after the release of their album.
“We are trying to find a band similar to our style that is going on a big tour that we can kind of just piggyback with,” Bushnell said.
Dirty Heads are definitely an up-and-coming band that music fans should keep their eye on. The band’s song “Morning Light” is featured on a new Tony Hawk video game for Nintendo Wii, and you can catch the song “Stand Tall” on Indie 103.1 FM.
Keep your eyes and ears open for Dirty Heads’ major album release this summer, and if they come to a city near you, check out one of their shows to experience an electric new band. You won’t be disappointed.
