N.E.R.D.

There's a fine line between Neptunes and N.E.R.D., and yet there isn't. If you hear a track by one of them, chances are you know instantly who's behind it, and the two groups obviously inform each other. Yet there are enough differences to warrant the separation, and it's understandable Neptunes' Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams, along with non-Neptune Shay Haley, would operate under another moniker for their live band.

The three members came together at a Virginia Beach high school in the early ‘90s and have been collaborating ever since. Hugo and Williams, as Neptunes, are better known for their inventive, irresistibly catchy production for artists such as Kelis, Jay-Z, Britney Spears and Clipse and recently worked on a highly anticipated April release from Madonna. For a while there, the pair seemed to be responsible for a hit single every month or so. But as N.E.R.D. (an acronym for No One Ever Really Dies), the trio is a band that plays live instruments and dabbles in just about every popular music genre you can name (save maybe Country), and it's where they feel the musical ideas most close to their personalities shine through.

In a phone conversation with Williams and Haley, the two seemed particularly excited about being N.E.R.D.-oriented for the next few months, with an upcoming headlining series of dates, followed by an opening slot on Kanye West's tour.

“I did a lot of production last year, I spent a lot of time in the Batcave, preparing for our tour and on other people's projects,” says Williams. “But this is the most important thing, because it allows for self-expression that we haven't had in a long while.”

With their third album, Seeing Sounds, due in June, N.E.R.D. is expanding on their critically touted debut and 2006's lackluster take on rock music, Fly or Die. Haley says much of the album is influenced by a genre the group hasn't dabbled in as much on record until now.

“The production is more influenced by drum n' bass and electro,” he explains. “It kinda gives me the great feelings I used to have back in the day when I used to listen to it.”

The drum n' bass sound is readily apparent on the album's first single, “Everyone Nose,” a bouncing club banger with a smooth piano-tinkling breakdown that owes more to Neptunes' hip-hop/R&B production than N.E.R.D.'s more recent rockist tendencies. At the same time, the song's repetitive chant of “All the girls standing in line for the bathroom” seems to send up the simplicity and silliness found in a lot of club music.

Though the lead single is heavy on the synth, Williams says the live shows use live instruments, and most of the album tracks were performed live.

“Some tracks we played live, some we're synthesized, we did what we felt was appropriate for the song,” he explains, and begins to run down a list of the songs that are all live, and those that have synth. Haley chimes in to correct one of his assertions, and soon the two are going back and forth on how each song was recorded.

“I know this is funny, we're sitting here figuring out album shit on you're interview,” Williams says, “but as you can tell — it's not convoluted — but when you hear it, you'll understand that there are multilayers. It's like multilayered cake for the ears.”

This layered sound, and the album's title, is a result of the group exploration of synesthesia, a condition that results in one sense bleeding over into the other, allowing people to “see” sounds or “taste” colors. When asked if they've experienced this often, Williams replies: “You have to. I mean when you get in the shower don't you sing? It's because of the sensory deprivation, y'know the constant flow of water, the sound of water and that temperature causes your mind to wander. Some of us — when we hear music — it causes us to see sounds. Basically musicians with perfect pitch — they get additional stimulation when they play whatever they play. It's like the wires are kinda crossed.”

The spoken intro of “Everyone Nose” puts both the issues of self-expression and synesthesia up front, as a hushed voice intones: “Y'know it's been a minute since we expressed ourselves… It takes a lot of courage to say this, but, uh, I see sounds.”