For close to two decades, 311 has maintained a solid fan base and much of it is attributed to the great music they have been releasing since their beginning. Last year's Uplifter was their highest charted album to date, and they once again are hitting the road in support. Detroit Live had a chance to talk to bassist Aaron “P-Nut†Willis in preparation for their Summer Unity tour with The Offspring.
DL: How you doing today man?
PN: Great, great!
DL: Let's talk about the Summer Unity tour; this is the 4th one if I'm correct.
PN: It's hard to say because we've had the Unity tour in non-summer too. The summer tour is the coming together for us and another well established act to play together for the 1st time. 311 used to be a band called Unity and we have an album called the same. It's always been a theme throughout our history, and we did it before the religious group that call themselves Unity Tour! They need to find inspiration
and make up their own tour name.
DL: Why The Offspring this year?
PN: It's a perfect fit! We've always talked about touring together running into them at radio shows and such. It finally worked out and we're excited about going out with them.
DL: Uplifter debuted at #3, which is your best to date. After so many years, what does that say about your fan base?
PN: The fan base is solid. They're always excited about new music so we're kind of spoiled in that way. We're always looking to get more people to hear, understand, and appreciate what we're doing. When we started to work with Bob Rock (producer), we were thinking along the lines of how to expand our fan base and really connect with people while still making art that we are satisfied with. That's really the balance; I've been talking with a lot of musician and artist friends about how to balance being able to sleep at night, basically satisfying you, and at the same time trying to reach out and be accepted in a large capacity. Everyone has a different answer and it's a really fun question to ask. We could make a live jazz album that no one besides us may appreciate, so that's one of the things that motivate us. We've been around for 20 years so let's keep doing different things but not alienate the people who got us here.
DL: The origin of the name 311 has been somewhat of an urban legend. Can you clear up for the people of Detroit where the name came from?
PN: The name 311 came from the police code in Omaha, Nebraska for indecent exposure.
DL: So it doesn't mean KKK?
PN: (laughing) What's funny was when that was going around and our t-shirts were being banned in the high school that Tim, Chad, and Nick went to, it was the biggest press we ever had and it was because of a controversy. It's great because we preach peace, love, unity and understanding but we were tagged with this horrible outdated racial mindset. It was pretty easy to talk down but the fact it keeps coming out makes me chuckle.
DL: 311 Day was in Vegas this year. It's always been in New Orleans (other than 2006 due to Hurricane Katrina), why the switch?
PN: It was purely logistical. There was a surgeon's convention in New Orleans that same weekend. They swooped up tens of thousands of hotel rooms and we usually put together package deals with the airlines and
hotels that are relatively inexpensive. It was just impossible to do so we had to move cities to make it easy for people to travel to see the ultimate 311 spectacular.
DL: What's going on with Hollow's Follow? (P-Nut's side project)
PN: We're putting together new ideas all the time. Owen and Josh (singer and drummer) work a lot more without me than with me. It makes sense because of my day job with 311. I'm happy they are creative on
their own and I wish I could more into it. I'm a dad to be and they knew 311 would always trump anything else. They're really understanding.
DL: Is this your first child?
PN: Yes, we are expecting in August.
DL: Congratulations!
PN: Thank you! I love working with those guys, it couldn't be any different than working with the 311 characters. I could trip and fall down and they'd find a way to put it into the music, as opposed to being good natured scrutinized as I am with 311. Both versions of what is acceptable make me a better musician and I love the experience with both groups.
DL: During the summer there are a lot of big festival tours, how come 311 hasn't done any?
PN: We don't like going out with people unless we can play last! We can command that as much as we want for the most part. We've sold 8.5 million albums with very little airplay. We enjoy the freedom and ability to
command an audience and playing arange of songs from our career and not having to concentrate on what people are expecting to hear. We really focus on the whole span of what we've done and we get accolades from our fans for doing full albums or b-sides and allow for us to improve onstage. It's all about the live show; you should come see us sometime. Once anyone sees us they'll get a much higher definition of the band that they think they know.
DL: I actually saw you guys 2 times last year, at Freedom Hill and The Fillmore.
PN: That Fillmore show was perfect!
One of the best shows we've ever done. The audience was like vampires and our music was the blood that they wanted. It was like a feeding frenzy.
DL: Other than 4/20, I get the most Happy New Year messages on 3/11, seems like you have a cult type fan base, kind of like a Grateful Dead or ICP. What do you attest to that?
PN: (laughing) Yea, we're somewhere in between those. It goes to show that if you're focused on your art and it connects with the right amount of people, you don't need to adhere to popular culture, you can create
popular culture. That's what the future of music is, not this here today gone tomorrow. Longevity is sexy.
DL: What's next for 311?
PN: We have a bunch demos that we're shopping around to labels, but we're kicking around the idea of going totally independent. Thankfully since we do have such a good core following we can entertain different ideas and philosophies on how we can cut this cold cut sandwich that is our career.
DL: So a new album is in the works?
PN: Yes, but only at its earliest stages. We've rehearsed 7 songs over and over again but who knows if any of them will make onto the 10th album. We're always excited about the next step! Putting in the work is what it's all about. Id love to add more influence into the direction of the songs and the only way I can do that is to work hard. I've been sweating it out in the studio upstairs at my house a lot more than usual.
DL: You guys have played Detroit many times, any stories you want to share?
PN: Back in like 96, we were touring with No Doubt. I stayed up all night with our bus driver and as soon as we got to Detroit, we went to lunch and for some reason we got into a drinking contest. Of course the driver
had nothing to do but of course I had sound check and some rock show to play. We were playing at St Andrews and I was just hammered. I was in the worst shape professionally that I've ever been. It was funny at the time and even more so as time has passed, but I learned a good lesson that day. There's got to be a separation between being a professional and having a good time. Detroit taught me that lesson in a big, big way. I was completely out of control and there was nothing cool about it. Just me acting like an idiot and it was probably the only time I've lost total control. I played the show just fine but sound check was a train wreck.
DL: I've noticed with many bands, how before they used to party before the show, but now they don't till after the show.
PN: There's no rush, if you just want to enjoy yourself and “take the edge off, don't do it before the show. there's people expecting you to perform and there's no way to do that if you're not in control of yourself. That's one of the things that separates us from animals is that we do have control over our emotions and actions, and there's no reason to overdue it before you go on stage. You can do it afterwards and no one will be the wiser.
DL: Thanks a lot for your time, anything you want to say to the people of Detroit?
PN: There's nothing like a 311 show in the summer. That Fillmore show we did in Detroit is something that I will never forget and hopefully we can create the same energy in an outdoor arena. Enjoy yourself! For more info go to www.311.com and make sure you check them out on the Summer Unity Tour w/The Offspring coming to DTE July 7th.
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