When 311's hallmark single "Down" hit the charts in September of 1996 and held radio captive for months, their self-titled debut album had been out for fourteen months by then. That is a perfect example of a band that continuously manages to buck the trends and stay ahead of the curve. And it works damn well for 311. Since their inception back in 1990 when they played their first gig opening up for Fugazi, 311 have forged their own path and never looked back. This past summer 311 released their sixth album "From Chaos" (Volcano/Jive Records) and scored an immediate radio hit with the first single "You Wouldn't Believe". 311, comprised of guitarist Tim Mahoney, vocalist S.A. Martinez, bassist P-Nut, drummer Chad Sexton, and vocalist and guitarist Nick Hexum, deliver an outstanding collection of their trademark blend of rock, reggae, hip hop and funk. Many bands have tried to duplicate the sound, but no one does it as effortlessly and brilliantly as 311.
Rag Magazine spoke to 311 vocalist S.A. Martinez by phone from his home in California just days before they embark on their latest headlining tour.
Rag: How do you feel about the new cd?
S.A.: it's my favorite 311 record that we've done to date. It's got a lot of our styles that we are known for, the rock, and hip hop, funk, and reggae. Also it's got a lot more of the melodic side to it, which I think is something that we'll be getting to more so in the future. It's something that we always have been involved with creatively, melodies and what not. I just think it's something that we want to do naturally more so. Something that I'm looking forward to doing.
Rag: This is your sixth album, and you guys have covered a tremendous amount of grounds musically, do you feel that you've ever over-stretched yourself musically?
S.A.: I don't feel that way, but I think that we tend to maybe-we try too much sometimes. It's good to pull the reigns in here and there. But it's also being creative too. It's just a fine line to walk down and to find that balance of what you want to do musically. We're just fortunate enough to be able to have a career at it and tour and what-not. I think if we wanted to we could take it more mainstream if we wanted to. It's not something that's in our hearts, but I think we can take our music to a broader fan base then we have before, with out jeopardizing what we've done. It's a delicate balance, but it's fun though, and it's challenging.
Rag: I think there are very few bands today that can pull off such a diversity of sounds, and then continue to do it for six albums.
S.A.: Yeah, we're definitely fortunate in the regard that we've established something that's been around with us for a while, you know, our fan base, and it's a blessing. We're just very fortunate to have it.
Rag: Twelve tracks on this album, did you have an abundance of material?
S.A.: Yeah, we had a lot of songs. We definitely had at least four or five tracks left over. It was a very creative period for us. We were just coming out of a record deal and going to another one. All at the same time basically as we were working on the record, we really didn't know if the record was going to be coming out any time soon. Luckily things went in our favor and we got a deal with Volcano and were able to put the record out. But yeah, it was a creative time, I really want to rekindle that magic again soon. I think everybody wants to start working on another record; we have a lot of ideas. As far as directions we'd like to take, we're really pleased with the album right now.
Rag: Why did you end up leaving Capricorn and going to Volcano Records? It seems as though you had quite a bit of success with Capricorn.
S.A.: Basically what happened with Capricorn, it's an unfortunate situation...we're really not supposed to talk about it, but I'll go into it a little bit. Pretty much what happened was we were uncomfortable with the distribution that was occurring with Capricorn. They were basically bouncing from distributor to distributor for almost every record of ours. That really didn't give us any leverage in the stores and a lot of areas that are key in promoting your material. Really it left is with no choice...it's something that happened and I think we're better off for it. We're with Volcano now, Zomba in the other territories in the world, and already we can see a difference. There's a label presence pretty much everywhere we go, and that's something that we were not accustomed to, so it's good. And we have three records with them, and this is the first ("From Chaos"), and hopefully the next two will see the benefits of a long relationship with someone.
Rag: Looking at your bio, it says that 311 has sold 5.4 million records. I had no idea.
S.A.: Most of it we sold, pretty much, almost 3 million with our third album, but all the other records combined have sold about 2 million, I guess. It's amazing [laughs]. It's something that we definitely have put in a lot of time and energy towards, on the road and promoting our record while we tour. And here and there we've been lucky with a single or two that's caught some fire and taken off. It's a combination of a lot of things that have propelled us to where we're at. Hopefully, we just released "Amber" [the third single], and it's doing fairly well for it's first few weeks of release. Maybe we'll have some luck with "Amber". We haven't really had a huge hit in some years, so it'd be nice to have one of those again. Although I'm not holding my breath or anything.
Rag: I hope it's not a case, for your instance with your third album featuring "Down", and for example Metallica, where the Black Album was such a monster that it's always lurking in the shadows.
S.A.: Yeah, you're always trying to top your commercial hits and you could go crazy [trying] to do it. We've definitely maintained a constant fan base, we pretty much go gold every time we release something, so that's good. A lot of acts can't say that, and there are a lot of acts that get released every week. We're lucky to be where we're at.
Rag: Of course this leads to why you went back with Ron St. Germain producing, who also did your self-titled album. What did he bring out of 311 that nobody else did?
S.A.: He's got such a great energy. He has so much enthusiasm, he's a great motivator, and he just lights a fire under us. We have a great chemistry working with him. He also has a lot of knowledge in the studio, that's just something that you can't put a price on. He's very well-rounded, and he definitely has a lot of constructive criticism towards road maps of songs. He is very influential, and again, he's great to have in the family, and maybe we will work with him again in the future. I think that we probably will. It's been a really good marriage of sorts for us.
Rag: Are you comfortable with your current level of success after six albums?
S.A.: We're comfortable with where we're at, but we're always striving to get elsewhere. You're always trying to sell more records, you're always trying to have a hit, but we're not going to kill ourselves trying to do it. If it comes-it comes, and a lot of times, it's a matter of timing, really, and luck. It's so hard to say what's going to hit and what's not going to hit, so you really never know. We're really happy where we're at, and we keep working at it, and we're very dedicated to what we do, we're pretty hard working. We've been out since June just touring on this record, with two months to go, and maybe more, depending on if our single takes off. This is what we chose to do, and I would to say we're taking two months off right now, but that's not the case [laughs]. When we're out, we get into a work mode and things just move right along.
Rag: You guys have been around for so long and pretty much created the melding of the rap and rock sounds and having two vocalists, and now we're swamped in it.
S.A.: When we came out, there wasn't a format on the radio for rock and rap. Now that's all there is, well a lot of it anyway. I Have no problem with it. There's a lot of really good music in that genre that's come out. For us, it's time to do something a little different, maybe buck the trend...I mean, we just released a reggae song [laughs]. You can't really buck the trend anymore than that. For 311 it's always trying to stay ahead of the curve a little bit, and not necessarily be what's in at the moment, just keep plugging away at something that's not being heard.
Rag: 311 has an amazing fan base, and for the fans to stick with somebody through six albums is phenomenal.
S.A.: Yeah. I think a lot of it is the message, the positive attitude that we have, is the number one thing that our fans grab onto it seems to me, because a lot of times they'll come up, and will be saying, 'Thanks for what you're doing, it means a lot to me, and it's got me through...whatever'. And music does that, it does it for everybody I think. I think having a positive message amplifies it even more, and it makes it a little more special perhaps...it's something that I think, we work at all the time, because we're just positive people. It's all about the struggle to be positive and to maintain that outlook. That's what it's about for us.
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