Out of Mankind, the full-length that Sikh rocker Hargo recorded in New York City back in 2009, finally drops today, February 28.

Hargo got his first taste of fame at the age of 16, when his tune “Giving” was selected as official theme song for the 1999 South Africa Peace Conference. “I wrote that when I was eight years old, in choir,” he says. “While performing in Oregon [years later], I got to do that song. A woman approached me and said they were looking for a theme song to kick off that event.”

A 2000 performance opening for Seal earned him a ringing endorsement from the headliner (“This young man’s music moved me deeply”). Hargo says “That was around 2000, in New Mexico, at the Peace Festival. I played him a few of my songs on a 12-string. He flipped it over, Hendrix style, and played a song from his new album. He asked me what I thought about another song he played, and I told him it had interesting chords. When he played the bridge, I told him I thought it was too chordy, and it took away from the strength of the melody.”

Seal isn't Hargo's only famous fan. “Shortly after I had decided to really make a move in the music scene in San Diego, Kate Pierson of the B-52s told me to stick with my nickname Hargo, as opposed to some stage name or something. She said ‘It’s one word, unique, and easy to remember...it just sounds cool.’ ”

Hargo's publicity photos include several shots by legendary rock photographer Mick Rock (including above). “His photos were being displayed at Morrison Hotel [in La Jolla],” says Hargo.

“We saw in the Reader that he was going to be there, but we missed it by a day. When my dad mentioned it to a yoga teacher in New York, the guy said ‘He’s one of my students.’ When I was there, I asked if I could meet him. He’s a really cool, laid back guy…I was one of only three people he's ever photographed that wasn't already famous. And he did it at a greatly reduced rate. Before he’d take pictures, he’d twirl around with his eyes closed. Then he’d open his eyes and just start shooting pictures. I’d hear him say ‘Okay, Hargo, we got a great shot, you motherf*cker!’ It was a lot of fun.”

In early April 2007, accused murderer Phil Spector produced Hargo's song “Crying for John Lennon,” intended for use in a documentary film called Strawberry Fields, for which Spector was being interviewed. Hargo first met the producer at the same castle-like home in Alhambra where victim Lana Clarkson was found in February 2003.

“We were all there,” says Hargo, “waiting for Phil. The film crew was there. Everybody involved in the production was there.” It was only three weeks before the start of the fated record producer’s re-trial for murder in 2009. Spector, out on bail, was knee-deep in preparing to defend against the accusation that he’d shot Clarkson. Still, he agreed to tape an interview segment for a documentary about John Lennon, as well as producing Hargo's "Crying For John Lennon" tune.

Hargo performed the Lennon song and was interviewed on Court TV on August 16, 2007, during the network’s daytime coverage of Spector’s murder trial. “[Spector] is actually really shy,” said Hargo. “He doesn’t always look people in the eye…. In fact, he had his back turned to me when I first played him the CD demo. When he turned around, he told me it reminded him of John [Lennon], especially the slap echo I used on my voice.”

In summer 2009, Hargo recorded new tracks in New York City with his newest band lineup (seen in above photo). He returned to San Diego in October to begin playing around town again. In 2010, he released The Faint Glow EP and toured India, during which he blogged (Hargo Goes to India) on the Reader website with self-shot “Turbancam” videos. A video for “Soul Survivor,” the first single from the Faint Glow EP, was released on his website.

Around the same time, he began a collaboration with rising Indian pop singer Himani Kapoor, to remake a classic Bollywood soundtrack song called “Dum Maro Dum.”

“It’s a famous tune from Hare Rama Hare Krishna, a 1971 Indian movie about drugs and hippies, and the song follows a similar theme. I put a contemporary spin on it.... One of the big labels over there, which owns the publishing to the original song, will be releasing the track and getting it placed in an upcoming movie. I’ll be working on the track in New York City with my producer and then flying to India to record female vocals and ethnic drums, and then I’ll mix and master it back here in the States.”

The Eastern pop singer joining him on the tune, Himani Kapoor, was a finalist in an Indian TV talent competition similar to American Idol. “Nobody from the West has tried to conquer India yet, nor have Indian singers made much headway in the U.S.,” says Hargo. “Given my unique perspective of East meets West as an American Sikh, I feel qualified to give it a go...maybe I’ll be the first to break through multiple markets with the Bollywood sound.”

The five-track Faint Glow EP was re-released in April 2011, after which he landed a weekly Wednesday night residency at Stage San Diego.

The "new" full-length Out of Mankind is riddled with hooks, layered guitars, and dense vocal harmonies, from the eerie, brooding "Soul Survivor" to the '90s rock-infused rocker "Regeneration X."

"Out of Mankind asks listeners to examine their lives differently," says Hargo. "It's about stepping outside of your culture and the things that we are spoon-fed in the world today-and about being a human being."

Here's the video for "Soul Survivor":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FjB0_UmxW4&feature=youtu.be