You know how 311's music sounds like it's made by a bunch of guys who really dig each other? Guys who just want to make the world, if only for an hour or so, a sweeter place to be? Good. Because that's the way these native Nebraskans want it. They want to bring their combustible rap-rock-reggae to cities and towns all over the globe, and maybe have a good time in the bargain. And -- miracle of miracles -- that's what they're doing.
Now, after years of gaining a rep as one of the best live acts around; after a couple of platinum records; after stepping back, kind of hiding out for a while, and taking the time to "relax enough to feel the turn of the Earth;" after making an album without feeling like they had to get back out on the road Right This Minute -- after all that... well, they're back out on the road, of course.
At the moment, the guys are touring behind their new album, "Soundsystem." Nick and P-Nut were kind enough to take a little time to talk with the MTV Radio Network's Meridith Gottlieb about some stuff that's been on their minds lately. Turns out, it's mostly music. Go figure.
MTV: Say "hi" to the folks at home.
P-Nut: Hi, I'm P-Nut. I play bass in 311. Welcome.
Nick: Hello, I'm Nick and I sing and play guitar and walk around like a zombie. [Laughs] [RealAudio]
MTV: Let's talk about the new album. Tell me about the approach you took to making "Soundsystem."
P: Well, we wanted to write an album that was really tight, and make it rock really hard,
N: After "Transistor" and all the years of touring, pretty much since '92, we were really just ready to take a break and sort of get settled in our homes and relax a little bit in '98. And then we started slowly working on the record and just doing it at a comfortable pace. We kind of had this slogan, and kept saying, "Life is not a race." If you're not enjoying ourselves now, you never will. And that turned into a song on the new record, "Life's Not A Race," which is just about chilling out and letting your heart rate relax enough to feel the turn of the Earth, which you can do sometimes.
And one of the main things that we did was build our own recording studio. We're really into producing and engineering our own stuff, to a certain extent. On this record, more than ever, we were in there working, turning the knobs ourselves rather than just going into a recording studio and pointing to something and saying, "Make this sound more trebly, or more low end," or whatever. This time we got in there and just made it happen ourselves, and we also bought all the gear and hooked it all up, which takes a while of what we call "sync-hell." Getting digital recorders to work in time with analog recorders is tough, because a lot of this is brand-new gear that hasn't really been around too long. So we were figuring it out for the manufacturers, in some cases.
MTV: What made you go with Hugh [Padgham] this time as producer?
N: We wanted someone who was not in our scene, someone who wasn't a rap-rock guy, or a California guy. We figured if we made a record that he really likes, then we're really going outside of ourselves and moving up to a higher level, rather than just sticking to a formula. We really liked his work with The Police and XTC, and he's known as a really thorough engineer, and we wanted to bring that level of technique into the group.
MTV: You've always had all kinds of elements working in your records, but in this one in particular I heard a very, very strong reggae influence.
P: We've been listening to reggae a lot. I'm a metalhead. I'm wearing my Iron Maiden shirt as we speak. So it's a new thing that I'm grasping onto, and I'm getting more and more situated with it.
N: We actually intended the record to come out as more of a rock record, but out of all the songs for the first batch, none turned out to be real rock-heavy. And then we took a trip down to Jamaica and saw the local sound systems. That's kind of what inspired the title. We wanted this to be a really hard-rocking album, but then we kind of felt like we missed playing reggae vibes. There's only one straight reggae song on the record; the rest of it is reggae elements, and more hard-rocking music.
MTV: Another thing I thought about when I was listening to this record is that it seems that lately we're hearing about a lot of violence in this country, and music is getting blamed for actions of certain individuals.
P: Entertainment is getting blamed all the way around. It's crazy, but there's also a certain amount of truth in it, for sure. I always ges trying to lean to the other side, 'cause it's my business. But just recently I'm starting to accept the truth in the argument. I don't think it really controls people, though. It does if you're weak in the head, I suppose, but that's gonna happen anyway. It's just sad that people rely on it so much that it does have a chance to seep in and control your thoughts and your destiny, in some cases.
N: We also realized there's a lot of tension and confusion associated with the millennium, and especially since we've sort of been away from the limelight for a while, it seems like there's a more hostile environment in popular music today. We see our tour as a mission to spread positivity and be an alternative for kids, more hopeful. I know that we're not gonna be able to single-handedly change the world, but we can be there for other people who want something a little more positive.
MTV: Do you have any thoughts individually about the new millennium?
P: I'm not all that affected by the odometer switching over, but everyone's feeling it. Everyone is excited about it. It's tense.
N: I've heard the paranoid theories of civil unrest because people don't have their money and stuff like that, but I find that to be all unrealistic. What I do think is gonna happen is that people will panic a bit, and there will be some slight freaking out, but it's gonna mostly be hysterical in nature. It won't be based in actual things happening. It'll just be out of fear.
P: I think I'd be scared to be in New York. [Laughs] If any mayhem is gonna happen, it's probably gonna be here.
MTV: Back to your tour. Is it good to be back on the road?
N: We're having a blast. I mean, we've just been laughing.
MTV: You must have missed it.
N: Taking a break, from a business standpoint, isn't the best idea, but we wanted to kind of fade from the scene. And then to just re-connect with your love of performing, and the whole feeling of seeing a whole mass of people all connected as one organism, rocking together up and down, is pretty awesome.
MTV: Was there any reluctance to come back? Dealing with videos and fans, and...?
N: I never really had that big of a problem with it, because our fans are so cool and the connection that we make with them is so deep. It's cool. I love the fans that we have, and the more the merrier.
P: Yeah!
N: I mean, we're not like "Entertainment Tonight" famous, and I really don't have any desire to get that famous, because, you know, we like to lead normal lives. Not famous where everyone knows you.
P: Whether they like you or not. All the people that know us like us, which makes it a lot easier. [Laughs] [RealAudio]
N: That's sweet. I never thought of it that way before.
MTV: What's the story behind the single, "Come Original"?
N: That song's about just really expressing whatever is in your heart and really being honest with your music and not just going with whatever trend is around. When we first started out in '93, there was a prevailing sort of attitude in grunge, sort of like, "I'm dumb, I'm ugly, nobody likes me." Which people should express in their music if they feel that way, but it seemed a lot of people were just going with the Nirvana attitude that had been set up, and we were this positive, rap-rock-reggae band that wasn't really fitting into any format. We just thought we'd stay with it and eventually, hopefully, maybe it would come back around to us, which is exactly what happened. [RealAudio]
MTV: Any feelings on pop music dominating the scene right now? At least, that's what people are buying.
N: Well, A&R people had a much bigger role in the old days, because A&R meant "artists and repertoire." You bring your singers songs to do -- not a lot of singers even wrote their own music -- and all those pop bands are sort of just a reoccurrence of that. But I think more critical listeners want to hear songs that artists wrote themselves, that they're singing, and songs where the artists are really making that emotional connection with the music.
I just don't think you can have that connection when you're singing a song for New Kids on the Block, a song written by someone else. It just won't ever have the same impact as Pearl Jam, or someone really speaking from the heart.
MTV: Who's moving you at the moment?
N: The new Incubus record is insane. It's gonna be huge, and they're the nicest group of guys and great musicians. And Roni Size's new project called Breakbeat Era. It's awesome. NOFX is a great rock and roll band. Black Eyed Peas, Outkast, great hip-hop like that.
P: Tom Waits' new album rules! You have to be in the right mood for it. You probably should start a fire, sit down, get greasy. Oh, yeah, and "Tougher Than Tough," a history of Jamaican music. Oh, it'll knock you down. It's fun to go back to the '70's and see what I missed and listen to all the Curtis Mayfield and all the roots reggae that I never got. I just love that, and the production style that goes into both of those styles. Mayfield really influenced a lot of reggae, and it's just so cool, and there's actually some reggae artists that cover some of his songs. It's just the perfect marriage. It's like Dread Zeppelin! [Laughs]
N: That's a weird association. It's like Dread Zeppelin?
P: Perfect.
MTV: I think we'll end on that note.
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