After a year of touring smaller nightclub venues, 311 has returned to the larger theater gigs.
"The smaller shows were so much fun," said 311 guitarist Tim Mahoney during a phone call from Kalamazoo, Mich. "The only problem we had was people not getting into the shows. The good thing was the energy everyone felt in those tight quarters."The Los Angeles-based 311 -- Mahoney, vocalist/guitarist; Nick Hexum, vocalist; SA Martinez, DJ; drummer Chad Sexton; and bassist P-Nut -- will return to the Salt Lake area and play at Saltair on Saturday, April 1. The show will begin at 7:30 p.m. with special guest Jimmie's Chicken Shack.
The last time 311 stopped in Salt Lake City was October, when the band cranked out a gig at Club DV8. "That was a fun show," Mahoney remembered. "And now we're coming back to play for more of our fans."
For almost 10 years, 311 has been giving young music listeners a taste of upbeat, optimistic tunes. And the band has always felt it needn't worry about sticking with one particular musical style.
"We always had the attitude that we could play anything as long as it sounded good," Mahoney said. "We're all fans of hip-hop, reggae and rock. We never thought much about the style. We just wanted to play music that we loved to play."
Mahoney -- who cited Kiss, Grateful Dead, Motley Crue, Santana and Van Halen as some of his major influences -- said that when the band recorded its new album, "Soundsystem," band members made it a point of learning how to use the equipment themselves.
"We moved all of our equipment into our recording studio (the band's own studio, known as The Hive)," said Mahoney. "We felt it would be beneficial for us and our music. It was a fun investment."
During this leg of the tour, 311 has been cranking it up with Jimmie's Chicken Shack.
"They've been fun," Mahoney said.
Jimi Haha, lead singer of Jimmie's Chicken Shack -- yes, the first names are spelled differently -- said the tour has been awesome.
"It's great to be on the road with 311," Haha said during a phone call from Wichita, Kan. "They're a bunch of cool guys."
Haha said Jimmie's Chicken Shack's philosophy is just play what feels good.
"We really didn't have a musical goal," said Haha, who cited the Beatles, the Beach Boys, Black Sabbath, Bad Brains, Bob Marley and the Grateful Dead as some of his influences. "We constantly go into things, and we don't know where we will emerge."
Haha said his band -- which consists of guitarist Double D, bassist Che Colovita Lemon and drummer Mark Stipple -- faced the usual challenges of being an up-and-coming group.
"Everything you could imagine," Haha said with a laugh. "We did survive the label switches and label mergers. I think we survived because we played our live shows to get through the thick of it."
That same grass-roots attitude is something that Haha doesn't want to lose, even when the band's single, "Do Right," has been buzzing around MTV.
"The success wasn't an overnight thing that changed our lives," Haha said. "We're just not at home as we were in the past. I mean, I'm still living with the same four roommates that I've lived with on-and-off for the last 10 years."
One nice trip for the band has been the TV gigs. Jimmie's Chicken Shack has been featured on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "The Donny & Marie Show."
"When we were on 'Donny & Marie,' it was cool," Haha said. "We grew up watching the first 'Donny & Marie Show.'
"Donny's a cool guy. He actually listened to the record and asked in-depth questions about the production of it. Man, he really is 'a little bit rock 'n' roll.'"
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