NERD Interview

N*E*R*D are Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo (production duo The Neptunes) and Shae Haley.

They burst onto the music scene with their acclaimed debut In Search Of after making their names working with Kelis, Jay Z and other hip hop A listers. Six years on they release new album Seeing Sounds and single Everybody Nose- which introduces a techno and drum and bass influence to their music.

MTV: Was there a particular feeling you wanted to inspire on Seeing Sounds?

Pharrell: Well the intent on this record was to do two things- one it was a pre-cognitive effort to make music that would make sense for us on while were on a stage and to recapture that feeling we love so much. The second was to make something that was thought provoking and for people to listen to it and enjoy it on their own time. You know, if youve ever been in a car driving home and because a sequence of your favourite songs were playing you dont remember the route you took home. We wanted to make that kind of music. Sooner or Later is a great record to listen to and look at the clouds. All those things were kind of like the true criteria for trying to make this album and thats why we named it Seeing Sounds because we kind of wanted people to have the same mental experience as we do when were making music and were affected by music.

MTV: How would you describe Everybody Nose?

P " Its just like a schizophrenic musical pillage to the ears.

MTV: You talk about Sooner or Later being emotional, what about Spazz? Is that sort of like the other side of the coin?

P " Its been amazing for us- because its meant to release steam, that song. Id say for like, some 45 year old, you know, white woman with saggy titties who wants to work out, its a good song. Two listens to that and some squat thrusts and your titsll be perky like a 14 year old!

MTV: The album title is a reference to synthenesia (a condition when senses blur)- Do you have that kind of sense of pictures, ideas, like concepts for the tracks in that way?

P " Yeah I think theres been a consensus done and they said like 5% of people in the world experience that condition and its just basically when like electrical impulses come from one of your senses and goes to that receptor in the brain and goes to other places as well. For example- what you hear in your ear sends an electrical impulse to your ear, the auditory department of your brain, but sometimes it send electrical impulses to other places like the visual part as well. Thats why there are people who feel like they can picture smells or they can see sounds or hear a vision.

MTV: What can they expect from the live show?

P " Energy. A lot of redbull. Its like taking redbull shot to your ass.

MTV: And is there a big emphasis on

P " Cheek. Your ass cheek. You know when you get a like a shot, like a flu shot.

MTV- how important is the band and the live instruments?

P - Its a necessity for us. Because we want to give people a show, not just us up there standing with microphones. Chad (Hugo)" The band are amazing musicians and just to see the sound coming out of those instruments, in real time, is an amazing experience.

MTV: How about the Glow In The Dark tour? How did that go? Tell us a bit about that?

C " Crazy.

P- It was great, just a great experience to go across the country, then to Canada and just go for it.

MTV: What about the other artists on the bill- How did Rihanna do?

P " She was sweet and I think she had a genuine show and she definitely had her place on the bill. She did a very good job. There was great energy on that tour man. Everyone was good people Shae (Haley) " It was a great tour, it was a overall a great tour. You had a mixture of everything combined on one bill, just dope. It was the hottest tour of the summer by far. You can quote me on that.

MTV: Finally Is there anything on the album that has that kind of UK feel that you feel is particularly European?

P - Well theres drum and bass influence, obviously. And then people compare Sooner or Later to kind of like, not to Beatles music, but to say that its Beatle-esque and influenced by like, the Beatles stuff and its true, its definitely was trying to zone in and conjure that Lennon spirit. Trying.

MTV: Did it work?

P " We hope.