Bret Bollinger, one-third of the Kona trio that started Pepper nearly two decades ago, is going solo.
Bret Bollinger, one-third of the Kona trio that started Pepper nearly two decades ago, is going solo.
It’s a decision the Honaunau native made after years of being asked, “When are you going to do this?” As the main songwriter (and bass player) for the three-piece band, he’s had the opportunity to hone his craft with not only practice — seven albums and touring the world over with bandmates guitarist/vocalist Kaleo Wassman and percussionist Yesod Williams under the moniker Pepper — but also the opportunity to work and write alongside some big names in the business.
“They’ve always put that pressure on me but it kind of worked out. Over the last 10 years, I’ve just been writing with a lot of different people” such as twin-sister-duo Nina Sky, and John Feldmann, lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for punk/ska band Goldfinger, he said. “I could go on and on of the producers that I’ve written with and just for different artists specifically.”
“It’s been a really fun adventure that really opened up the songwriting for me so that led to writing music outside the ballpark of the band I’ve been with for a long time.”
With songs he’s “just been sitting on” and the people and musicians he’s met over the years, he set out on the new project, “Bret Bollinger,” which he brings to Kailua-Kona tonight. It’s his first solo music endeavor and features just Bret, backed up by an “all-star” crew of musicians that “come in and out.”
“There’s no actual band — it’s more just me playing solo music and paying tribute to some cool Pepper songs and a lot of new music and also variations on covers old, old covers and new covers,” said Bollinger, going on to explain his current set includes an array of music including artists like Drake, David Bowie, Rage Against The Machine and Natural Vibrations. “It’s just the music that I want to hear, and want to play and share.”
“That’s what’s so cool about it, there’s no rules.”
There’s also a good amount of original music, too, such as his new song called, “Some Girls” and “Higher,” which he plans to be the lead single for his debut solo EP expected out sometime in spring-summer 2017.
But, not to worry — Pepper, formed by the trio of Konawaena High School alumni with their first legit gig being a graduation party in 1997, is still together. The group even runs its own label, Law Records, which recently signed up-and-coming Arizona band, Katastro, Bollinger said.
“Pepper is going stronger than ever,” he said. “The beautiful thing is after all this hard work we’ve been putting in, each guy gets to do something when the tour circuit is over. It’s kind of like you can go on vacation, a lot of times we go on surf trips, but this year, we’ve all been kind of grinding on different things, different projects.”
The three will be back on the Big Island later this year when they return to Hawaii for shows on three islands.
“Pepper is Kona. Pepper is coming back. We’re coming right back,” said Bollinger about the band’s winter plans.
Bollinger’s first solo Hawaii show is tonight at Daylight Mind Coffee Co. in downtown Kailua-Kona. Doors open at 8 p.m.; opening band Moni takes the stage about 8:30. Bollinger will rock the place starting around 10 p.m. Tickets are $25 and available online before the show at www.flavorus.com, keyword: Bret. Tickets will also be available at the door.
“It’s so fun, everything is different. I get to go out there and feel like I just started a band for the first time, except their really exceptional musicians — they kind of take the responsibility off of me,” he said. “It’s kind of like I just get to do like power party karaoke – super songs, brand new songs.”
“Bret Bollinger” debuted a couple weeks ago at the KROQ Beer Festival in California to much fanfare. In fact, he got so lost in the moment he did something he hasn’t done for years while performing with Pepper.
“I jumped off the speakers, at one point, into the crowd and I haven’t done that in a long time, like I didn’t even realize what was happening,” he said, noting this all occurred amid a David Bowie song. “That’s how much fun I am having. It’s like all the energy that is in Pepper, it’s like the same thing, but now I am kind of doing it but I am not so distracted by putting on the show I’ve been doing forever, so, it’s kind of like I get lost in a way because I am not sure what is going to happen.”
Attendees of tonight’s show can expect a good amount of throwback as Bollinger pays homage to the island nightlife. “I’m not trying to do a big rock show like you know for Pepper,” he said.
“The set I am getting going now has a lot of early, early Jawaiian flavor, which of course we grew up to listening to Hawaiian Homeboyz and Hoaikane and things like that. It’s going to have some little surprises, but at the same time, it’s going to have a real modern feel in that way even when you hear some of the Pepper songs, they’re going to be totally arranged differently, they’re going to be a little more upbeat, a little more dancing, a little bit more things that I remember from playing the little clubs in Kona and Maui and Honolulu as kids,” he explained.
In addition, the night’s performance will be part of a pilot travel/variety show called “Behind the Mic with Bret Bollinger” produced by Scott Rosenfelt, yes, the executive producer of the 1990s hit movie, “Home Alone.” The crew will be looking for “little excerpts, narrations and sound bites and seeing the personality of the people that I grew up with,” Bollinger said.
“I’m coming home and the first episode is me telling the story of where I am from. It’s kind of a unique thing. Not many people in the industry are from Hawaii, yet alone been doing it for 20 years,” he said. “It’s kind of interesting that so many people, as I go around the world, everybody loves and appreciates Hawaii, whether they’ve been there or never been there, it’s always their dream. So it’s just a fun thing to bring the music and the aloha spirit to them and let them see it and manifest it so they can get more excited if they haven’t been and if they have been it takes them back to there, because everyone has a great memory of Hawaii.
“So, I’m coming from that perspective — instead of a traveler that wants to go to cool places I was born in the coolest place, I was raised in the coolest place in the world, so when I go to other cool places it’s just a different perspective.”
“Behind the Mic with Bret Bollinger” is scheduled for release next year, and Bollinger, who also has his own clothing line, Bollinger Brand, hopes a network will pick it up. While here, he also plans to speak to music students at Konawaena High School for the pilot, as well.
And, of course, spend time with family and friends — because that’s where it all started.
“It takes a while, but as you mature and get older, you figure out what is the most important thing and for us it’s always been ohana and coming home,” he said. ■