On The Road to the Top: The Black Eyed Peas Band

After wrapping the Justin Timberlake and Christina Aguilera Justified/Stripped tour, opening the MTV Video Music Awards, and having the single “Where is the Love?” top the charts, the fans of energetic hip-hop group The Black Eyed Peas can only wonder what’s next. But the Peas show no signs of slowing down their rise to the top. With the release of their second single, "Shut Up," plans to rejoin Aguilera's and Timberlake's respective tours, and a slew of individual side projects waiting in the wings, The Black Eyed Peas band keeps the creativity flowing with the help of M-Audio gear like the Oxygen8, Audiophile USB, Propellerhead Reason and Ableton Live.

Meet the Black Eyed Peas Band

The individual members of the band that backs the Black Eyed Peas all play an integral part in the group’s distinctive sound and performance style. The band consists of Printz Board (keys, bass, trumpet and music director), George Pajon, Jr. (lead guitar), Tim Izo Orindgreff (saxophone, flute, guitar and MPC) and Keith Harris (drums and percussion). Pajon co-wrote seven of the songs on the most recent release, "Elephunk," including Printz's brainchild, "Where is the Love?." Izo arranged all the horn parts on the album, and Harris—the newest addition to the group—plays drums in the live show.

Now one of M-Audio’s most vocal supporters, Pajon first discovered the company online. Around the same time, Printz began hearing about Reason from a variety of the producers he was working with. Though what he initially heard sounded to good to be true, Printz eventually decided to give the program a try—and soon he was hooked.

“People started talking about this program, Reason, and how real the sounds are,” Printz explains. “I heard that people were getting rid of their Rhodes and organs and just using Reason, and at first I didn’t really believe them. It took me probably about six months, and then I actually started checking out the program. Now I agree 100 percent with what all those producers have been saying.”

Making music on the move

In addition to touring with the Black Eyed Peas, Printz, Izo, Pajon and Harris actively pursue side projects as diverse as jazz ensembles and gospel acts. This kind of productivity was previously quite difficult to manage, but now with the help of M-Audio gear, the band members are free to write and record on tour buses, airplanes, and anywhere else life takes them.

“When we did our first really big tour Printz and I tried to write every day,” explains Pajon. “We would literally take the Rhodes out of the van and load it into the bus, but after two or three times of that, your productivity's done. And with 12 people on a bus you have to find a way to work and still respect each other’s space. My whole goal on this tour was to try to create the same kind of working environment on the road as I have in my studio at home. I didn't think it could be done, but M-Audio has made it possible. I personally use the Oxygen8 for everything, plus the Audiophile USB.”

“Those pictures that you took literally depict how we set up a lot of times on the bus,” affirms Printz. “It's really nice to be able to set up two, maybe even three to a table, and all be working on tracks, and then all be able to flip a laptop around, ask for each others’ opinions, and be able to mess with it or change it.”

“When you're on a plane, many software programs eat up your laptop battery—they’ll only give you a good 30 to 45 minutes, whereas Live does not eat it up at all,” attests Pajon. “We fly so much, so when I'm riding on the plane, I do everything in Reason and Live. We all just upgraded our laptop hard drives to 7200 RPM so all of our sounds are in the computer, so we don't even need the external hard drive.”

Sharing the love

These days everyone who’s anyone has their own show on MTV. But it takes someone special to create a concept for a show that actively promotes music education and stretches the limits of today’s top artists. The Black Eyed Peas are demonstrably committed to educating and empowering others to create as they do.

“[Peas frontman] Will called me when he originally got the idea,” explains Pajon. “He described a show where all the top artists would have to do things off the top of their head, so the kids could see their true talent, not something that was worked on and scripted for six months that you hear on the radio. So Will freestyles and then we freestyle behind him. Everything is written on the spot. To get to see talent and music happening in front of your face is not something that happens very often on major network shows.”

“The whole point of the show is to get kids and younger people more involved in live music and music education,” elaborates Printz. “The goal is to inspire kids to either keep playing or pick up something if they haven't already.”

To date, the show “Will.i.am: My Definition” has featured Pharell Williams of the Neptunes, Tobin Esperance of Papa Roach, Travis Barker of Blink 182 and others, and the ratings continue to climb. The Peas are currently filming episodes that will air in October and November (visit visit http://www.blackeyedpeas.com or http://www.mtv.com for more details).

Transition to fame

Though the band members stay grounded through relating to each other, they will readily admit that their rapid rise in popularity has been rather dizzying at times. While performing at the MTV Video Music Awards, the Peas band members were struck by how their recent success had placed them at eye level with today’s music giants.

“It was crazy,” attests Izo. “I'm 30 and not a kid anymore, but I felt like a little girl last night at points. Every time I looked around it was my peers and my idols all at the same time, which is a weird place to be in.”

“The VMAs were very, very special for me,” agrees Harris. “Just being around people that I've looked up to so long, and now to be in the same company as them—it was all the people that I've been watching over the years, taking secrets from, and studying. I really was in awe, this whole experience with the Peas has been very special for me.”

Special thanks to George, Printz, Keith and Tim for taking the time out of their busy schedule to talk to M-Audio while on tour in London. Check out the Black Eyed Peas' latest album, "Elephunk," in stores now.