Photos by: Helene Delillo

I recently took my first trip ever to New York and was stoked to see Pepper, my hometown heroes, perform on the Unity Tour at the Jones Beach amphitheater in New York, and at The PNC center in New Jersey.

The Unity Tour 2010 started on June 22nd in Pittsburg and will travel over 20,000 miles across our great nation making 25 stops and culminating in a grand finale in San Diego on July 25th.

A wailing siren breaks the relative calm. The bullhorn draped across the Coach’s shoulders brings the arena’s crowd to life as he announces that the lifeguards are now on duty.

The Boys from Pepper, Kaleo Wassman, Bret Bollinger and Yesod Williams strut out onto the stage with true Kona swagger. Bronzed, fit and donning red lifeguard boardshorts with an embroidered logo that reads Hawaiian Water and Punani patrol, they really do look like lifeguards right off any beach in Hawaii. Their zinced faces are slightly hidden beneath white sunglasses and straw hats. They take their spots amidst the lifeguard tower at stage right and stand in front of the yellow rescue board and buoy floats.

Kaleo busts out that familiar guitar riff, Bret comes in with the bass and Yesod raps on the drums. Soon the crowd is a moving ocean of outstretched arms, hands throwing up the infamous diamond, singing along to Point & Shoot. Although their set is far too short for diehard fan, the crowd is dancing in their seats and singing along with every lyric.

“The best part of the unity tour is that is opens up our fan base by exposing our music to a much broader audience. The set may be short but new fans are being made every day. I love it when some kid that has never heard of Pepper comes to the show….takes a look at us, listens to our music…either they don’t quite get us or they completely accept us,” says Kaleo (guitar & vocals).

Kaleo, Yesod and Bret created the Tailgate Karaoke contest as a really cool way to give fans an up close and personal experience. Fans submit a video of them singing along to their favorite Pepper tune through Facebook. The boys review the video submissions and vote on a winner for each stop on the tour. The winner gets to sing an acoustic set, talk story and hang out with the Pepper ohana. Each of them comes to the tour bus practiced and prepared…word for word, note for note, lick for lick, they sing their hearts out and leave having a unique experience that they will never forget.

“I’m so proud of Tailgate Karaoke,” drummer Yesod exclaims. “Growing up as a huge music fan, I wish I could have had an experience like this with my favorite bands. Now we can give that chance of a lifetime to our fans….it’s all about them anyway…..they take our shit seriously! The Unity Tour isn’t just a clever name,” Yesod emphasizes. “Every aspect of the tour is unifying, from the bands and tour staff all mingling at our backstage bbqs to the fans taking pictures and getting autographs at the merch booth. The Unity Tour is really living up to its name.”

Fantourage is another social networking program that Pepper has been exploring and their fans have rocketed them into the top 10 bands. The #1 Pepper fan at each stop on Unity Tour wins a meet and greet with the band.

Kaleo explains, “Music and the music industry is quickly changing with advances in technology…everyday there’s something new, but we have to keep in the loop and find ways to stay connected to existing fans and to make new ones.”

“I love that within three hours, we get to rock out on stage and make new fans, rock out with our musical peers, The Offspring and 311, have a killer barbeque, then end the evening with our own insane fireworks show,” says Bret Bollinger (bass & vocals). “It’s such a great feeling being on this tour after not touring for almost a year. Imagine not surfing for a year then finally paddling out to your favorite spot to find perfect surf….no crowds….It’s like welcome back to doing what we love. It’s exciting, refreshing a little scary but totally invigorating.”

Pepper’s newest tracks in the mix, “The Mirror” & “Wake up” have been getting rave reviews. Excited fans were so stoked to hear new music from the Kona Boys, they made “Wake Up” the #1 requested song on KROQ. The tracks are hot and are now available for download on iTunes.

Bret explains, “Our success is organic. We want to bring our listeners along for the ride. The first two tracks are out there. More tracks will follow leading up to the release of our 8th album in the spring. “

The Coach, Pepper’s Tour Manager, Tyler Craig is stoked on the epic response they’ve gotten while on this tour. “Touring with 311 is always awesome, but this is the first time we’ve toured with the Offspring,” says Coach. “ We’re really psyched to head out across the US on our headlining tour September 17th thru November 20th. Then we’ll be steaming back to our home state of Hawaii for the Volcom Volcanic Rock Out Tour in mid December.”

Volcom is also proud to be releasing an exclusive Pepper boardshort and tee in the spring of 2011.

Stay tuned to volcom.com and pepperlive.com for more details.

Mahalo to Pepper for the good times, for always repping the great state of Hawaii and for spreading your aloha wherever you go.