Dirty Heads
May 18, 2014

Dirty Heads are perhaps one of the most prominent groups in a sub-genre of reggae heavily influenced by the original incarnation of Sublime. The Huntington Beach, reggae band will be releasing their latest album, Sound Of Change on July 8th via Five Seven Music. Until then, the first single "My Sweet Summer" is out now. This summer jam is everything fans have loved about this band. With this new album, Dirty Heads have expanded their sound with tracks varying from club bangers to rap tracks and even to a pop hit, all while maintaining their reggae-rock feel good vibe. They even tapped into some of the best producers around to contribute to the album.
"We are taking reggae elements and mixing those with hip-hop & alternative, you know? We're putting like Trap, Hip-Hop beats over a Kings Of Leon style Guitar, but then there are skanks." When discussing the albums producers, Dirty Heads lead vocalist, Jared Watson informed everyone "If you want to do Reggae & Hip-Hop, you go to Supa Dupes!" and as for working with Rome Ramirez, "We banged out like 8 songs in 8 days and they just kept coming and the magic was there!"
Dirty Heads was founded in 1996 by Jared "Dirty J" Watson and vocalist/guitarist Dustin "Duddy B" Bushnell in Orange County, CA. The two first met at a party during their freshman year of high school. Upon hearing one of Bushnell's rap demo tapes, Watson became inspired to collaborate with him on a new project. In Bushnell's garage, the two began writing hip-hop songs with reggae and punk influences. The band's name stems from their older brothers and family calling them "dirty heads" when they were younger.
Their debut album, Any Port in a Storm, was released in 2008. Their most successful single to date, the RIAA certified gold track, "Lay Me Down", features vocalist/guitarist Rome Ramirez of Sublime With Rome. It spent nearly 3 months at #1 on the alternative chart. Their next album, Cabin By The Sea was released in 2012. The band played several music festivals during the Summer of 2012, including Catalpa Music Festival on Randalls Island in New York City. Dirty Heads quickly followed up with their first ever fully acoustic album titled Home - Phantoms of Summer: The Acoustic Sessions, which debuted Top 5 on the iTunes charts in the fall of 2013.
To promote Sound Of Change, Dirty Heads will be joining Pepper and Aer for a huge summer tour.
Back in February, Jared alluded to touring with Pepper, acknowledging, "We recently played some shows with the Pepper guys and we have never been out on tour with them and it was really fun and the crowd liked it, so it has been in the talks".