Sunday, June 21, 2009

311: No more 'business as usual' (Eagle-Tribune)

311 has made its fans wait a long time for a new CD, with its most recent release, "Don't Tread On Me," having come out in 2005. But singer Nick Hexum said the long gap between albums was the best thing the group could have done for its music and its future.

"Having a significant break at the end of 2006 was vital, because a philosophy I really believe in is, if you want to become a better musician, become a better person," the singer/guitarist said during a recent phone interview. "I needed to go through a bit of personal growth.

"Sometimes the best way to make progress with music is to actually work on yourself, the way you communicate with people and your own personal issues that have nothing to do with music," Hexum said. "So it's been a definite period of growth for everybody."

In an interview last year, Hexum had explained that by the time touring behind "Don't Tread On Me" wrapped up, the group felt as if it had been on the album/tour, album/tour treadmill for too long and hadn't been able to step away from its work routine to experience everyday life.

So in 2006, the band decided to take a break. That break wound up stretching into 2007, when 311 regrouped for its Unity tour, which has become pretty much of an annual summer event. This year's Unity tour, with Ziggy Marley as the main supporting act, kicked off this month.

It was after that 2007 run of dates that 311 began work on its forthcoming CD, "Uplifter." By that time, it was clear that the group was coming into the project eager for musical exploration and willing to accept outside input.

"In retrospect, 'Don't Tread On Me' feels a little stagnant," Hexum said. "We realized that it was time to shake things up. We didn't want to just hurry and make another album. We wanted to really make sure we were taking a huge step forward, because it's about quality, not quantity."

Hexum said a key step in the process was choosing Bob Rock to produce the new CD.

Rock came into the project urging 311 to set aside any preconceived notions of its sound and how the group should write and record songs. Hexum said Rock was active in suggesting changes to song arrangements and in helping 311 discover new ways to approach its sound.

"Seeing as this is our ninth album, invariably, bands are going to get into certain sorts of ruts and grooves of ways that they're used to doing things," Hexum said. "And he (Rock) came in and it was like, 'I don't care how you guys used to do things. Let's try a new way.'"

To say that Hexum is excited about "Uplifter" would be an understatement.

He said that in some respects, it recalls the more rap-rock oriented sound of early 311 albums like "Music" (1993) and "Grassroots" (1994). But at the same time, it's a guitar-oriented album with a definite rock dimension and lots of melody.

"It's more danceable, but then there's more heavy, and then there are these shredding guitar solos," Hexum said. "Then there's some kind of reggae grooves, even a little bit of world beat, something that we haven't really messed around with much. But Bob turned us on to some North African guitar textures that make an interesting little appearance in the bridge of one song."

The reggae-ish grooves work their way into songs like "Hey You" (the CD's bouncy first single), while the band rocks out on "India Ink" and "Never Ending Summer." The band puts a little funk into the relaxed rocker, "It's Alright," while "Golden Sunlight" is one of several songs that finds 311 venturing into sweetly lit pop territory.

Hexum is also confident that 311 — which also includes SA Martinez (vocals/deejay), Chad Sexton (drums), Tim Mahoney (guitar) and P-Nut (bass) — did some of its best songwriting on "Uplifter."

"I think that we achieved, we had really 12 breakthroughs," he said. "We have 12 songs on the album, and all of those feel like breakthroughs to us, where in the past we might have a few breakthroughs on an album, and then the other songs, we'd be like, 'Well, that's just kind of like business as usual.' Well, now we're at a place where we don't accept business as usual."

Fans may very well hear a large chunk of the new material in 311's set on the Unity tour this summer, although Hexum also said the group will include familiar songs from its back catalog and perhaps a few rarities.

"We know that (the new) songs are really going to work live," he said. "We might end up playing the majority of it, which is very refreshing to have a record that we're that excited about."

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