American alt-rockers 311 take a special interest in Japan. Dan Grunebaum reports.
Five regular guys from heartland USA pick up their bags upon graduating from high school, move to LA and start a rock band. A decade later and they’re on the rock A-list, releasing their sixth album and filling venues around the world.
Sounds like a classic success story? It is, but as 311 turntablist/vocalist SA Martinez explains in a telephone conversation from the Florida venue they’re playing tonight, it hasn’t all been cherry pie for this bunch of high school buddies from Omaha, Nebraska.
In 1991, 311 were flat broke and playing dives when, to add insult to injury, their touring RV caught fire and exploded, destroying their equipment, money and belongings. Hearing about the disaster on the news, friends and fans donated equipment, and 311 persevered, canceling only one show before continuing their tour.
“Everyone pays their dues and it’s all part of the process,” says a reflective Martinez. “We don’t want to skip any of that because it makes what’s above it sweeter.”
Fast-forward a decade. It’s the summer of 2001 and 311 are on the prestigious Warped tour, joining the cream of alternative rock for the summer’s biggest cross-country tour. They’ve also just released their new CD From Chaos (Volcano), an album that, as the title implies, came out of a turbulent period.
“We were not very happy with how they [previous label Capricorn] were marketing our last few records,” says Martinez. “The long and short of it is that we wanted something different. We took them to court and Volcano came to the rescue.”
Signing a three-record deal with independent label Volcano put 311 in good company. Volcano is owned by the same people who run Prime management, the home of Metallica, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and other alternative rock war-horses. Volcano also hooked them up with producer Ron Saint Germain (Tool, Soundgarden, etc.) for From Chaos, an album that exudes the band’s characteristic positive vibes, while pushing their amalgam of punk, rap and ska in harder directions.
Turning to their forthcoming tour, Martinez says that 311 have a special affinity for Japan. “We’re all looking forward to it and are excited about the Japanese run we have coming up,” he says. “It’s a whirlwind trip every time, and we always come away anticipating our next trip as it’s our best market outside of the States.”
Unlike many touring bands that never see anything of Japan beyond the interview room, 311 have established a strong bond with the country. “We go out whenever we have time,” Martinez says. “It’s pretty much mandatory that we have time off there because we really enjoy the culture and find it very unique. There are so many things that inspire us about Japan, and an endless amount of good things going on there.”
Martinez isn’t just uttering empty platitudes. 311 have toured with some of Japan’s leading alt-rock acts, and have even tried to bring them to the US. “We’ve played with Mad Capsule Market’s and Back Drop Bomb,” he says. “Both of them are really innovative [and] are poised for success in the States.”
As 311 enter a second decade and the members their fourth, the band is in a good position. While off the peak of their popularity in 1996 when the song “Down” off 311 went to Number One on the Billboard Modern Rock Chart, they still command a loyal fan base.
“There has been a big pop resurgence in the past few years,” says Martinez about the pop acts like ‘N Sync that have challenged alt-rockers like 311 and Limp Bizkit for chart dominance. “But we can still draw a few thousand kids to different venues every night, and there are a lot of bands that have been around for a while that don’t have that kind of support.”
311 have also managed to stay clear of the internal divisions that seem to bring a fractious end to all too many bands. “We are fortunate as far as the band is intact,” says Martinez. “We are all content with what we’ve got, there are no conflicts and never have been. It’s a good thing because there are a lot of bands that haven’t made it this far that have been destroyed by conflict.”
As the members of 311 enter their 30s, none of the usual solo projects, marriages or kids? “311 is a full time endeavor,” says Martinez. “If we’re not writing we’re touring, if we’re not touring were recording, if we’re not recording we’re writing. So it’s pretty much our lives and has been for 11 years.
“We are in a position that a lot of people would kill for,” he concludes. “Our ending has yet to be writ, we’ve still got quite a few years of making music together.”
311 play Akasaka Blitz on Nov 13.
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