The band was founded in 1996 by Jared "Dirty J" Watson and vocalist/guitarist Dustin "Duddy B" Bushnell in Orange County, CA, drawing inspiration from the area's reggae and ska culture.[2] The two first met at a party during their first year of high school. Upon hearing one of Bushnell's rap demo tapes, Watson became inspired to collaborate with him on a new project. Bushnell was already in a punk rock band at the time, while Watson had no previous music experience.[3] In Bushnell's garage, the two began writing hip hop songs with reggae and punk influences. Before filling their current lineup, Watson and Bushnell would perform with Bushnell's older brother Jake Bushnell's band, HB Surround Sound.[4] The band's name stems from their older brothers and family calling them "dirty heads" when they were younger.[citation needed][5]
In 2007, the newly formed band recorded their first demo album, Dirty Demo. It included seven tracks, with an additional song "Gimmie The Mic", listed on the back cover as 'track number 77'.[6]
Any Port in a Storm (2008)
Percussionist Jon Olazabal and bassist David Foral were later added to the lineup. Record producer Rob Cavallo, the then-chief creative officer at Warner Bros., signed the band to Warner Music Group; however, artistic differences led them to leave the label. The band retained ownership of their master recordings, which make up the bulk of Any Port in a Storm,[7] through the separation.
The group first entered the rock/reggae scene when "Ring the Alarm" was chosen as a song on the first Pier Magazine Sampler.[9]
The band started touring heavily in California, Arizona, and some parts of Mexico before becoming a national touring act. They maintain close ties with groups such as Sublime with Rome.[10]
The band has also been featured in marketing campaigns for Etnies,[11] Rag Dynasty Shirts, and Vestal Watches. The Dirty Heads were among the first bands featured on YouTube's "RAWsession". The set included a cover of Coldplay's "Viva La Vida".[12]
Their most successful single to date is "Lay Me Down", featuring vocalist/guitarist Rome Ramirez of Sublime With Rome. Produced by Stan Frazier and Steve Fox, the song was originally written by Bushnell and Ramirez in about four hours. The video was directed by Thomas Mignone and premiered on MTV on June 24, 2010.[citation needed] The song became the #1 Alternative hit after its release and remained #1 for more than 10 weeks.
Cabin by the Sea (2012)
On March 9, 2012, the song "Spread Too Thin", from their album Cabin by the Sea, premiered on L.A.'s KROQ. On the origins of the song, Watson commented, "In the music industry, there are ups-and-downs, and it's probably more emotionally stressful than physically. So I was talking to my dad, just about some stuff. I was a little stressed, and he has this funny saying. 'You're like a little bit of butter on too much bread.'"[13]
Cabin by the Sea was released on June 19, 2012.[13] The band played several music festivals during Summer 2012, including Catalpa Music Festival on Randalls Island in New York City.[14]
On July 9, 2013, The Dirty Heads released an acoustic version of the song "Cabin by the Sea", recorded with Thepier.org, as a part of their acoustic series. The album debuted at #27 on the Billboard 200 charts.
On July 28, 2013, The Dirty Heads played their largest sold-out show to date in front of 8,500 hometown friends, family, and fans at the Orange County Fair's Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa, California. The emotional stop on their "Cabin by the Sea Tour" ended with a "thank you" from the band for Orange County's longtime support.
On May 6, 2014, they released the first single, "My Sweet Summer", from their album Sound of Change, which was released on July 8, 2014.[16] The album reached #2 on Top Rock Albums and reached #8 on the Billboard 200. The set also debuted at #1 on Alternative Albums, led by their single "My Sweet Summer".
On April 20, 2016, a date chosen for its 4/20 significance, the first single, "That's All I Need" from their upcoming 2016 album was released.[17] On July 15, 2016, the group released their self-titled album Dirty Heads.
Swim Team (2017)
On October 13, 2017, Dirty Heads released their sixth studio album, Swim Team. The album features The Unlikely Candidates on the song "Celebrate" and Nick Hexum of 311 on "So Glad You Made It".
Super Moon (2019)
On August 9, 2019, the band's seventh studio album Super Moon was released. It was produced by Dave Cobb. Jared "Dirty J" Watson describes as "a 70s sci-fi kung fu Western car chase soundtrack." Super Moon was recorded live in Studio A of the RCA building in Nashville, Tennessee, where Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley recorded much of their work. With the album release, they toured with 311 on the "2019 Unity Tour".
Dirty Heads recorded their eighth studio full-length album, titled, Midnight Control, which was released via Better Noise Music on August 26, 2022. It features cover art created by bassist David Foral and 2 singles; "Life's Been Good" (Joe Walsh cover) and "Heavy Water" with Grammy Award-nominated band Common Kings. "Heavy Water" is a song about empowerment", Jared Watson shared. "Being in the water constantly from a young age, we know the power of the ocean. There is nothing more powerful or uncontrollable. 'Heavy Water' is a metaphor for life because when life throws something at you that's unforeseen and uncontrollable, you will be ready for it and not let it overtake you."
Jared "Dirty J" Watson performing with the Dirty Heads on their Island Glow tour at Ovation Hall in Atlantic City, July 22, 2023.
Jared also spoke about the meaning behind and the making of Midnight Control. "The album is the culmination of almost twenty years of musical exploration, creativity, and our love for creating original impactful art and music. It's the best album we've ever written, and I think that's due to the fact we have been through so much, done so much, and are comfortable as songwriters, producers, players and human beings."[18]
Slightly Dirty Tour (2024)
Jared Watson performs with Dirty Heads at the Freedom Mortgage Pavilion in Camden as part of the Slightly Dirty Tour. Watson has taken to wearing shorts for the first time on tour on some nights.
In July of 2024, Dirty Heads and Slightly Stoopid co-headlined the Slightly Dirty Tour with support from The Elovaters, Common Kings, Passafire and Hirie. The highly anticipated tour began in Cleveland and runs through the Summer of 2024. Reviews of the tour were universally positive with crowd enthusiasm, a fantastic setlist and the energy of the bands being the driver behind the popular American Reggae bands' success.
Musical influences
In an interview, Nick Williams of The International Newsweekly of Music, Video and Home Entertainment asked whether the Dirty Heads' reggae-rock vibe is influenced by Sublime and if they considered the band an Influence. Jared "Dirty J" Watson replied: "I definitely do. We grew up listening to it. We came from the [Long Beach] area and knew a lot of the same people, but we're obviously much younger. We met [Sublime's] Eric [Wilson] and Brad [Nowell] a long time ago. Lewis Richards has produced our stuff. It's almost the same camp. But we are thinking forward. We're not trying to sound like a '90s band. We're still progressive in our music, even though we do have a vintage sound sometimes. The Black Keys inspire us to have warm sounds that have a lot of soul in it, but still be new and relevant."
Other projects
Starting in 2017, Dirty Heads collaborated with Four Sons Brewing, a micro-brewing company in Huntington Beach, California to create a limited-edition "Session Ale" in a specially designed container featuring album cover art. Named after the band's song "Vacation", the beer is brewed with real pineapple.[19]
Members
Current members
Jared "Dirty J" Watson – co-lead vocals (2006–present)
311 is an American rock band from Omaha, Nebraska. The band was formed in 1988 by vocalist and guitarist Nick Hexum, lead guitarist Jim Watson, bassist Aaron "P-Nut" Wills, and drummer Chad Sexton. Watson was replaced by Tim Mahoney in 1990. In 1992, Doug "SA" Martinez joined as a second vocalist and turntablist.
Bradley James Nowell was an American musician and the lead singer of the band Sublime.
The Long Beach Dub Allstars are an American dub/ska/reggae rock band formed in 1997 and disbanded in 2002, but reformed 10 years later.
Aimee Allen is an American singer-songwriter based in Los Angeles, California. She is currently the lead vocalist for the ska-punk band the Interrupters under the moniker Aimee Interrupter. As a singer-songwriter, she has collaborated with Mark Ronson, Sublime with Rome, Tim Armstrong of Rancid, Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day, Linda Perry, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Jimmy Cliff, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Travis Barker, Dirty Heads, and Tom Morello.
Reggae rock is a subgenre of reggae fusion and rock music that primarily uses the genres reggae, rock, and ska. Typical lyrics of reggae rock songs incorporate love, personal awareness, and life challenges while incorporating music and beat elements of rock, punk, and hip-hop. The term "reggae rock" has been used to categorize artists such as Eddy Grant, and bands like the Police, Men at Work, Sublime & Sublime with Rome, No Doubt, Pepper, Slightly Stoopid, the Expendables, Iration, Dirty Heads, Rebelution, 311, SOJA, Big Sugar, and, to some extent, heavier bands such as Bad Brains.
Redeye Empire was a reggae rock band from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The Supervillains is a five-piece reggae, ska/punk band from St. Cloud, Florida. The band has released nine studio albums.
Sublime is an American band from Long Beach, California that plays a mix of ska, punk, and reggae. Formed in 1988, the band's original lineup consisted of Bradley Nowell, Eric Wilson (bass), and Bud Gaugh (drums). Lou Dog, Nowell's dalmatian, was the mascot of the band. Nowell died of a heroin overdose in 1996, resulting in the band's breakup. In 1997, songs such as "What I Got", "Santeria", "Wrong Way", "Doin' Time", and "April 29, 1992 (Miami)" were released to U.S. radio.
Slightly Stoopid is an American rock band based in the Ocean Beach neighborhood of San Diego, California, who describe their music as "a fusion of folk, rock, reggae and blues with hip-hop, funk, metal and punk." As a band, they have released 13 albums. The band was originally signed by Bradley Nowell from the band Sublime to his label Skunk Records while still in high school.
Roman Rene Ramirez is an American singer and guitarist best known for playing with Eric Wilson from Sublime in the band Sublime with Rome.
Sublime with Rome is a band that began as a musical collaboration between former Sublime members Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh, and singer and guitarist Rome Ramirez. The group's name was not only a reference to the singer's first name, but to the fact that they chiefly performed songs by the original Sublime, which was fronted by Bradley Nowell until his death in 1996.
"Lay Me Down" is a 2010 single by reggae rock band Dirty Heads featuring Rome Ramirez of Sublime with Rome. The song appears as a bonus track on the band's album Any Port in a Storm, and has peaked at number one on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart.
Yours Truly is the debut studio album by American rock group Sublime with Rome, released on July 12, 2011 by Fueled by Ramen. It is the first album since the original Sublime disbanded in 1996 following lead singer and guitarist Bradley Nowell's death. According to the liner notes, the album is dedicated to him.
Cabin by the Sea is the second studio album released by American reggae band The Dirty Heads on June 19, 2012.
Ballyhoo! is an American reggae rock and punk band from Aberdeen, Maryland. The group has sold over 30,000 copies of its five albums and more than 200,000 digital tracks.
Fortunate Youth is an American reggae rock sextet from Hermosa Beach, California.
Swim Team is the sixth studio album by American reggae rock band Dirty Heads. Released on October 13, 2017, the album was published by Five Seven Music. The ensemble completed their tour for the album with Tyrone's Jacket and The Unlikely Candidates. The special edition of the album was released on October 19, 2018 to include a single "Visions".
Common Kings are an American, Hawaiian, and Samoan reggae rock/pop band from Orange County, California. The band's debut album, Lost in Paradise, was nominated for a Grammy Award.
HB Surround Sound was a Reggae rock band formed in 1999. Vocalist Jake Bushnell is the brother of Dirty Heads guitarist and singer Duddy B. In the early 2000s, Duddy B and Jared Watson of Dirty Heads would perform live alongside HB Surround Sound and showcase their music at HBSS shows.
Seranation is an American pop, reggae rock band from Treasure Island, St. Petersburg, Florida.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
