70's rock a big influence on 311 (Deseret News, Salt Lake City)

The Nebraska-bred men of the hip-hop/reggae quintet 311 have had a heavy hand in modern radio over the past several years. So the last place you may expect them to find influence for their latest album is in classic rock.

But members of 311 had the Beatles in high rotation while making their latest release, and they say if you listen closely, it shows. "The goal was to expand what we did last record," 311 drummer Chad Sexton told the Deseret Morning News by phone during a recent tour stop near Dallas. "We wanted the rockers to be more rocking and the melodic stuff more melodic. We wanted to take the opportunity to improve it in all ways."

The influence can be seen in just the title of the band's seventh album, "Evolver," a play off the Beatles' "Revolver" album. The cover of the album was shot in the Ambassador Hotel lobby in Los Angeles where Robert Kennedy was assassinated in 1968. "We all grew up in the '70s. We were very inspired by the Beatles," Sexton said, noting that other mega-groups such as Led Zeppelin were also in rotation during the making of Evolver. "(The new record) is more melodic. There's more singing than on any other record we've ever done. There are more melodies throughout the entire record."

But "Evolver" isn't a record full of "Strawberry Fields"-type songs. That notion is quickly erased with the heavy guitar sound of the opening track "Creatures (For a While)."

The principle songwriters for 311 are the two vocalists, Nick Hexum and S.A. Martinez. Many of the lyrics, Sexton said, once again are of a personal nature to the band. "Beyond the Gray Sky," for example, was written following the suicide of a longtime friend. The idea has always been to write about issues that are close to the band, "then relate it to a mass level. Things everyone experiences at one point in life."

Playing in Salt Lake City is nothing new for 311, which played twice in the city within a few months in 2002. But Sexton described the current tour as the band's best ever, and said that it offers something new even for old-school fans. "This is better than any of our 'From Chaos' tours. Even if you've seen us play before, it's a different experience. From all standpoints, we feel like we've taken it up a notch. Not only is everyone having fun but all the bands are good."