Before embarking on 311’s fall tour, Nick Hexum called from his home in Los Angeles and Chad Sexton from 311’s L.A. studio, The Hive, to answer our questions.
Q: You left for Los Angeles in 1992. Four months later, you had a record contract. It seems like it was pretty quick. What was it like then?
A: Nick Hexum: At the time it seemed like it was taking forever, but really, looking back, we had a meteoric rise, really. We moved out to L.A. and were signed very shortly after. But at the time we were like, “How much longer? I can’t believe this.” When we moved out there, we didn’t have jobs.
A: Chad Sexton: Some bands might take what you said and say, “Wow, we could move somewhere and get a deal in three or four months.”
On paper, it looks really nice and easy, but it probably took ... a couple years to get people to notice. It was very fortunate that it was as fast as it was in 1992 after we moved. We had a limited set of income. If that were to run out and we’d be really hurting, who knows where 311 would have been.
Q: You have a lot of music to select from now. Is it hard to pick songs?
A: Hexum: What’s funny is that our fans after a show sometimes are like, “I can’t believe you didn’t play this song.” I’ll be like, “Do you realize how many songs we have? We can’t please everybody.”
We really try to make it a cool overview that changes from tour to tour. We’ll play a lot of different songs this fall that we didn’t play for summer.
For this fall tour, which is theaters, our guess is it’s going to be more hard-core fans so we can dig deeper into the catalog and pull out some more rare cuts.
Q: A lot of your fans have seen you many times over. Why do you think they stick with you for so many shows?
A: Sexton: We try to keep them on their toes. This tour, we’re going to be playing a whole bunch of songs that we didn’t play on last tour. People that still come out to see us are going to get something different.
(In the early days) we were trying to make it really high-energy and enjoyable and more like a celebration. Then over the years that turns into more of wanting to make people feel good because of the rest of life around them can be monotonous, repetitive, troublesome, stressful. Our goal was to go play shows and pull people out of their lives for a second and make them have a great time.
It’s still under the umbrella of a celebratory show and that sort of energy. We’re glad people get what we do and we really appreciate the die-hard fans.
Q: What is it like to play at home in Omaha?
A: Hexum: It feels good to have family there and old friends from Westside. It’s kind of like a family reunion kind of vibe. Omaha crowds just give a lot back as far as energy. I’d say it’s harder to play a really jaded industry crowd in New York or L.A.
I talk to other touring bands and they’re like, “Omaha crowds go off.” I think part of why we made it is because we had been so encouraged by those first couple years in Omaha at the Ranch Bowl and stuff where people would give so much back. We took that momentum and confidence and turned it into what we are today. Each Omaha show is kind of a little nostalgia trip.
A: Sexton: We haven’t lived there in a long time. It’s nice to come back to see things and smell Omaha and to enjoy the food and see the people that are close to you, and that’s really about it.
Q: Is there anywhere you like to go or anything you like to do when you’re back in town?
A: Sexton: I like hitting the spots as a kid. Usually food because food brings you back. And obviously hang out with any of my friends and relatives that I can.
A: Hexum: I like to walk around the old neighborhood. Growing up in Omaha, I didn’t appreciate how beautiful it is with the rolling hills and the big trees. I just like to walk around and take the lay of the land. Chad and Tim like to go to La Casa pizza.
A: Sexton: I love that place. When you grow up on it and it doesn’t exist anywhere else, it’s great.
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