Jared Gomes Long Journey with (Hed)P.E.

Jared Gomes founded seminal Post Punk Californian band (Higher Education) Planet Earth (aka (Hed)P.E.) in 1994, with guitarist Wesley Geer. He is still going strong and feisty, being the sole original member.

He chatted to Red Raven recently about the long and strange trip and not having a proper job in 30 years.

Well, I’m sure there are harder ways to make a living, Gomes observes.

(Hed)P.E. arose amongst the Orange County and neighbouring Punk scene which included great bands like Social Distortion, Agent Orange and Adolescents.

They had the logical idea of combining the Gangsta Rap of seminal artists like Dogg and Dre, to fashion a hybrid which they called G-Punk.

Both musical genres, Punk and Hip-Hop were germinating and growing like weeds in New York City. Rap with the DJs and dance clubs. Punk around the CBGB bands.

They were rapidly spreading outside the influence of the mainstream corporate music industry.

Punk still retains some independence. Rap has become a monster juggernaut in the industry, fulfilling the jaundiced observation of the Who’s Pete Townsend.

Meet the new boss/ Same as the old boss. (Won’t Get Fooled Again).

This band is a new discovery for me. Strange, especially when both Punk and Hip-Hop broke when I was a teenage music obsessive, and some of us were mad for both.

They kicked off in 1994. It took a few years to get picked up by a label, in competition with the plethora of bands from the area.

Broke (2000) got attention. Back to Base X (2008) is possibly their best.

A fair amount of rage and venom, satirical black humour and it all keeps exploding like the best of both genres. Changes of pace with some white Reggae, Clash style.

Of course, the first item in their large discography I noticed was a cover of I Wanna Be Sedated.

Gomes tells me that goes way back to his time in a covers band. Then directs me to the first of two albums released in 2023, 70’s Hits From The Pit.

It is their Roots album. Gomes points out Uncontrollable Urge (Devo). There are covers of Bobby Fuller Four, Neil Young, James Taylor, even Paul Simon!

Later that year they released Detox, which debuted at number one on I-Tunes.

I asked him about the strong sociopolitical commentary which featured in their first flush of success. The Detox album was inspired by the covid viral madness and the global lockdowns.

Before all that, Gomes was associated with the 9-11 Truth Movement, and the commentary that informed the lyrics a lot of their first 15 years.

Stemming from the Zeitgeist series of three documentaries, which outline numerous conspiracy theories, the catalyst being the War on Terror resulting from the Twin Towers attack.

It is neither all wrong, nor all right. Somewhere in the middle.

I was interested in his take on the covid era. All artists faced the same suppression and loss of livelihood. Many have not been able to return to being working musicians, as the industry infrastructure is still having to rebuild itself.

I get the sense that he is a tough and seasoned fighter of his music.

Many band members have come and gone. Passion cannot keep everyone together in the real world.

He will bring a good posse here early next year. Kurt Blankenship, Nathan Javier, and Steven the drummer.

I get the sense that Gomes is an existentialist now. The political commentary is now on a personal level. He doesn’t hate the government. He doesn’t hate, or feel ashamed of his country, like too many ex-pat Americans do.

I had to at least acknowledge the elephant in the virtual interview room. The Presidential election of 2024. It will be over by the time many will read this. Or it may not.

We both understand this is the most fraught and tense US election in living memory. How is it there in Idaho with winter upon him?

Grand theatre Shakespeare Super Bowl. Everyone is a spectator, and everyone is worried.

Robert Christgau wrote that once about the only Sex Pistols album. There is history again, not repeating but it is rhyming.

The best artists do try and change the world, and work on the deep human subconscious level of the Id.

Jared Gomes and his longstanding (Hed)P.E project helps to call out the bullshit and keep us sane and dancing.

Rev. Orange Peel

(Hed)P.E  tour New Zealand on 13 to 15 February 2025, playing Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland.