Q&A with 311 (MuchMusic)

Bio Q&A With 311
Q: When did work start on the new record, and what was the mind set within the band at that time?

A: (Nick) My mind frame after the "Soundsystem" tour was that we had a lot of work to do. We were hungry, there was no shortage of enthusiasm and ambition, and we were doing two things at once; touring and writing the album.

A: (S.A) Our intention for our last tour was to basically write the record while on the road, and play the songs at sound check and during shows.

A: (Nick) It was good, because we were able to get the live energy and that feel that we had when we were on tour on this album, by going straight from the road to the studio. And that's something we want to keep doing more and more; multi-tasking with our time. Rather than having three months that's just for writing, and then three months that's just for recording, and then another three months that just for touring - we want to start blending it all together and just create more output, you know, be more productive.

A: (P-Nut): We really started, as soon as we finished making "Soundsystem". We just continued to write songs, because we had that spark. And since we're up to six albums, not including the live one, we've learned that whenever you're aware of that creative spark, listen to it and make sure that you get it down on paper, because you never know if it's going to come again or not.

Q: What kind of changes did you have in mind in approaching this new record? Were there some things you wanted to change or work on, in thinking back on the last record?

A: (Nick) Well, I think there was a shift of mission somewhere towards the middle of the album -- in my mind, anyway, because when we first started out, we wanted to make really hard-rocking songs that were really good for the mosh pit, and high energy. And then somewhere in the middle of the record, I realized that the whole heavy music thing is so saturated right now, and one of the things that I like about being in this band and that fans like about our band is the diversity and the ability to pull off a more melodic, more beautiful song that requires a lot of work on the singing and harmonies. We realized that we wanted to nurture the beautiful side of music as well as the hard-rocking side. So we started out with a mission to make a really hard album, and I would say the first half of our new album is some of -- if not the -- hardest stuff we've ever done, and then the second half is some really big steps forward, I think, as far as unique grooves with unique melodies and really good vocal performances. And it's funny, because some bands will rock really hard, and then when they figure out how to do a ballad, like the Chili Peppers, then that's what they're known for, and that's where they become more successful, when it's actually not the thing that they started out trying to do. So, who knows if that will be a similar situation for us -- our mission on this album was to make the hard stuff harder and the beautiful songs more beautiful.

A: (P-Nut): On "Soundsystem" I wrote two songs with Nick, so on this record I wanted to write two songs with Chad ("Full Ride and "Wake Your Mind Up"). I was really happy with the collaboration, because Chad and I kind of write stranger stuff, and Nick writes more melodic stuff. So, just to get a different feel for the writing cohesion, just to mix it up with a different member is something that I kind of put in my head before I started actually writing.

Q: Have you noticed that your vocals have changed over the years, the way you sing? Have you worked on different aspects of your vocal delivery, or is there anything that you tried on this record that's different?

A: (S.A) Yeah, I guess I'm now a little more conscious of how I'm recording some things as opposed to when we first started recording music. If I'm doing the same vocal track over and over, I'm conscious of trying it in different ways more so than in the past, and just trying to understand it more - understand a line more and what it means, and that will effect how I give a performance.

Q: Did you have ideas of things you wanted to try lyrically?

A: (S.A) For some songs, Nick and I sat down and focused on a theme -- maybe, let's make this song about this. And then sometimes it wasn't so regimented. Some of my lyrical ideas were inspired by, you know, a relationship or just how I look at things, or my take on some things. So, it was a little bit of both as far as executing lyrics.

Q: How was it different recording this time? Did you record a lot of the album live, and how did you end up re-connecting with Ron St. Germain?

A: (P-Nut) I think we always knew that we'd come back to Ron since we had so much fun working with him on the self-titled album. But we didn't really realize how much we missed him until we started working with him again, and having him here at our studio and having him stand in the room with us while we were rehearsing the new songs, and just having him physically going off. He just feels like a sixth member of the band. Just a great relationship. He did push us to get the live energy on the album, and I think that's what makes "From Chaos" and the self-titled album so great.

A: (S.A) He's cool. He's very enthusiastic, and really knows the technical side of recording -- how to get the best sounds, and he just has really good ideas, things you should try here and there. He has a very strong opinion, and he knows what he wants. I found more often than not that his opinion, even if I didn't like it, was probably more right than wrong, you know?

Q: Is there an emphasis on any kind of musical styles on this record, or any new types of music that appear, or maybe re-appear?

A: (P-Nut) We visited some drum and bass-style beats. We're having fun with that, just because a lot of the time, it's like a half-time feel, and it's really easy to rock to -- just a little bit different than some of the stuff we do all the time. But other than that, I think it's very signature 311. I think the record is a timeless piece of work -- everything included. Because it all compliments each other. The softer songs reflect off of the harder songs, and it's just a beautiful thing, I really like it.

Q: Did you have new ideas as far as things that you wanted to try whether it be vocals or music?

A: (Nick) Well, I think that there's so much angry angst music these days, so when we realized that we wanted to pull off a broad range of styles, we were thinking about what makes the great bands of our time and past generations great -- like, The Beatles, and Zeppelin, U2. When those bands all first started out, they were considered really hard-rocking, but then what really set them apart is that they were also sensitive human beings that were able to really be very forthright in talking about what emotions really matter to them and how they really feel about things. And so, you know, there's love songs on this new album, which there hasn't been for years. The lyrics on "Soundsystem" were very emotionally revealing, but it was more of a troubled time for me. And then now this new record was made during a really happy, fun time. Even though we had the chaos on the business side -- the label situation -- just, like, ideologically, we knew where we were headed, and it was just a real labor of love. There was no pulling teeth, it was just like letting it flow on paper.

Q: "From Chaos?" Why don't you give us some more background on that.

A: (Nick) Well, the song "From Chaos" is based on the lyric "from chaos comes clarity". It's about learning from the challenges that you go through in life. When a revelation results after some sort of trial and tribulation, then it really has an impact that you never forget. Originally, I wanted the title of the album to be "Brainstorm" because we feel like we had a real brainstorm when we were making this record. We knew what we wanted to do, it was like a revelation, or an epiphany. And "From Chaos" kind of conjures that image of a light at the end of the tunnel, or just, you know, getting out of a sticky situation. And philosophically, it's also about the situation we were in with the label. We were in a lawsuit with Capricorn and it was a chaotic time. But we decided to move forward and record an album, on our own, even though our label situation was sketchy. As a result, we didn't actually miss a beat. If we had stayed with Capricorn, our record would be coming out probably the same day, if not later. So to be able to sue a record company, get off the label and get on a new label without missing a step is something that I would not have considered possible. I'm glad it all worked out.

Q: Why don't we talk about specific lyrics on some of the songs. The first single, "You Wouldn't Believe"

A: (Nick) The song "You Wouldn't Believe" is about a good friend that is going through a break up and is basically feeling rejected, and has lost sight of his self-esteem. He's finding it really hard to move on and hard to stop thinking about the person. In the song, I'm saying to him, "Man, you got a head full of ideas that you wouldn't believe, heart made of pure gold" -- like, so many traits that you've just forgotten about because your whole outlook and self esteem is so weak. It's kind of like the movie "Swingers" when all of these guys are talking to the main character, going, "Man, you're so money and you don't even know it." It's like, you've just forgotten what you love about your life, and what's great about you, and you just got to get through this time, and get used to being alone. It's something that I think everyone's been through, seeing someone that's just really down in the dumps because of being rejected by someone. And it's kind of a universal theme, and was something that I was seeing around me at the time.

Q: I'll Be Here Awhile?

A: (Nick) That song talks about getting through really dark times and going through a time of self-destruction and saying, "I'm going to live through this. I'll be here awhile. I'm not going to let this stuff take me down." And it was actually something I wrote 10 years ago when I was 20 years old, as a message to my family, like, "I know I seem a little crazy right now, but I'll be here awhile. I'm going to stay around to see this through." And in the song, I talk about making it through to being 30. And then now, at age 30, it's appropriate that this song finally sees the light of day. It started out as a straight ballad, but then when I thought of the idea to make it sort of ska, with a break beat kind of drum feel, I realized I could put a pretty pumping groove underneath it and make it a very unique song that I don't really think can be compared to anything that we've done exactly , or that I hear from any other band. Because it's not like Orange County, really fast ska, it's more like early Bob Marley, like rock-steady ska, which is around 130-140 beats per minute. So it's a new feel and lyrically it means a lot to me.

Q: What about "Amber?"

A: (Nick): "Amber" is like a metaphor for saying something you like about a girl. "Amber is the color of your energy" -- amber is very soft light in the spectrum -- it's not like a harsh blue light, -- "amber is the color of your energy", -- is like the light of a candle. It's very soft and pleasurable to look at. It's sort of a compliment, saying amber is the color of your energy. Right now pop music isn't really coming from the heart, you know what I mean? Back in the day, artists were writing love songs that they were singing themselves and that were coming from the heart, and people have gotten so far away from all that with all the malcontent in rock right now. So, I always naturally find 311 to be bucking any kind of trends that are going on. Like, on "Soundsystem" when rap rock was huge and everyone was talking about it, then what did we do -- our two singles, one was like dancehall reggae and then the next one almost had a Brit pop feel. So, even when rap rock -- something that we helped usher in -- was huge at that time and we could have perhaps cashed in on that, we were off doing something totally different, you know? And just like back in the early '90s, when we were doing rap rock, radio was supporting grunge at the time. And so, I think we always kind of thrive on being the outsiders a little bit, and being the underdogs, and bucking any kind of trends -- which probably makes marketing our band difficult, because we're not fitting into any scene. I guess we fit into the Warped Tour, because that's a pretty open-minded festival, but we wouldn't really fit into the Ozfest, because there's not enough sort of darkness in our music to fit with that.

Q: "You Get Worked," the first song on the album.

A: (Nick): "You Get Worked" is something we would say to each other as a joke, like, "You get worked," you get messed up, you get beaten down. It's just talking about how everyone has setbacks, everybody gets worked now and then. Getting worked is like a surfing / skating term -- having a wipe out, and just something that we say a lot and turned into a song. But I guess the underlying message is to keep your head up and stay focused, stay positive, and don't let temporary setbacks grind you to a complete halt. Like the lyric "What gives? Are you after me? Breaking me down, won't you let me be? Won't be having none of your mind control, it ain't going to work on me no more." It's just like breaking loose of someone trying to control you. There's probably a lot of little messages in there. It's not specifically about one thing like "Amber".

Q: How about "I Told Myself"?

A: (Nick): Lyrically, one of my favorite songs on the new album is "I Told Myself," because, you know, that whole image of, "I told myself I wasn't going to call you again, and here I am doing it," - like, the inner struggle of someone saying they're not going to do something. And everyone's been through that, but in this song, it's about knowing you should resist calling a girl, but you feel really compelled to, and just that inner struggle of how many times am I going to let you do this to me.

Q: Are you anxious to return to touring, and playing live?

A: (Nick) I really am looking forward to getting back on the road, because that feeling when you look out and see a whole ocean of people rocking in unison is -- for me a spiritual moment - to have all these people connected through this energy, this pulse that's coming off the stage. We just feel so grateful that we're able to do this for a living, and to enjoy the feeling after a satisfying show when you know the crowd was really into it -- that feeling afterwards is just such an amazing natural high. And at certain points in your career, you can get burned out from touring too much, or working too hard, which I think maybe we did after the big two year tour of '95-'96, and I was kind of burned out on it. But I'm so far from that now. I'm so hungry and ready to get out there and just pretty much live on the road. And I'll miss my dogs, but they'll understand. I'm going out to earn them some dog food.

A: (P-Nut) Very much. Yeah, especially with this new group of songs, I can't wait to play as many as we can on the Warped Tour. It's going to be great.

A: (S.A) Yeah. Touring is a different state of mind, too. Once you're in it, then it just flows, but it's something that you have to approach with an open mind, because so much goes on, and you really have to be on your toes and be ready for anything. But once you're doing it, it's second nature. And we've been doing it for awhile, so it doesn't take much to get back in that frame of mind.

Q: The band clearly has achieved a lot over the years. Are there goals that are still in mind?

A: (P-Nut) Sure. I would like more people to hear us. I would like us to do our best to educate people through music, because it's such a great way of doing it and having a positive effect on people.