N.E.R.D., who consist of Chag Hugo and Pharrell Williams (better known as production duo the Neptunes) and rapper Shay, are breaking out of the studio for a spring/summer for a tour. Their twelve-city club tour behind their debut album, In Search of . . . , begins on May 30th in Norfolk, Virginia.

For Hugo, the switch from producers to performers is a natural one. "Even though me and Pharrell are producers we've always played our part as a band, as an extension of artists," he says. "N.E.R.D. formed as N.E.R.D., as our own band doing the same thing without anybody else, without any other artists, our own vision."

After spending the past couple years as a two-man hit factory for everyone from Mystikal to 'N Sync, Hugo and Williams decided to keep their beats to themselves for N.E.R.D. Along with Shay, they created an album that joins elements of funk, metal, rock and hip-hop. "Me and Pharell met when we were playing in improv bands in school," says Hugo. "We used to improvise to funk tunes and jazz tunes and stuff like that when we were studying music in school, so it wasn't anything new to us. There's much more to us than beats and programmed drums and stuff . . . When you listen to your favorite bands, you memorize the drum fills, you play it like air guitar, air drums, we wanted to capture that with this album."

The Neptunes have also launched their own label, StarTrak Entertainment, and plan to release albums by Spymob, Roscoe P. Goldchain and the Clips in the coming year.

"We want to take youth back to musicality," says Hugo. "I think record companies are looking for that fast-food hit. They go to producers the way they would go through a drive-through at a fast-food restaurant: 'I would like a Number Two with cheese, I would like one Neptunes beat with a phat super sub hook, a little bass.' It's not about that. Instead of going to a fast-food restaurant you should go to a tailor shop and get your suits made with your personal sizes fitted."

N.E.R.D. tour dates:

5/30: Norfolk, VA, The NorVa
5/31: Washington, D.C., 9:30 Club
6/1: Philadelphia, The Trocadero
6/3: Boston, Paradise Rock Club
6/4: New York, Irving Plaza
6/6: Detroit, St. Andrews Hall
6/7: Chicago, Metro/Smart Bar
6/8: Minneapolis, Quest Club
6/11: Portland, OR, Plan B
6/12: Seattle, Showbox
6/14: San Francisco, The Fillmore
6/15: West Hollywood, House of Blues

COLIN DEVENISH
(April 24, 2002)