Thursday, October 24, 1996

WB Interview With Nick Hexum (1996)

311 - Nick Hexum

WB: You guys have three albums. Why is the newest record, the self-titled one, producing hit single after hit single, while the other ones didn't?
NH: I have no idea. We've been making the same style of music-you know, blending dance hall reggae, hard rock, hip hop-it's been the same ingredients since we started back in 1990. I guess it just took a while for people to get used to our style.
WB: Is it any different for you now that you've sold so many records? Because you guys had a really loyal fan base even before you started selling into the hundreds of thousands of albums. Even with the first two albums, you had a lot of people who came to see every 311 show, even without all the radio and video airplay.
NH: I think the crowds have gotten a little younger now, because of MTV and whatnot, and I think that before, it was like, either you hadn't heard of 311, or you liked 311. Now it's like, you can find people who can't stand us because we're on MTV all the time.
WB: But I don't know where those people are who can't stand you. Maybe there are some who can't stand certain singles, but I've talked with a lot of fans and a lot of listeners, and I've never talked with one who's said that they don't like 311 at all.
NH: That's great to hear. But it has changed a little bit, just because we were, like, pretty much, strictly underground before and now it's like, we're keeping the exact same approach, but things around and now people kind of get real nervous when they talk to us. And it's like, hey, we're the same people we've always been. Don't sweat it, you know?
WB: What kind of crowd do you guys find yourself getting now? Is it more of a hard rock crowd, or a punk crowd, or a hip hop crowd? Or maybe it's a blend of all those?
NH: I think it's like, people such as ourselves, who will have all of those styles in their CD collection. They'll have, like a Public Enemy record next to the Smiths, next to Bob Marley, next to, you know, Minor Threat. Those are the prime ingredients that we grew up on and I think we have a lot of similar people come to our shows- a lot of suburban people like ourselves. But it's really mixed as far as gender and, racially, there is some diversity, but I guess it's predominantly white. But, it's like, we're just really into bringing all kinds of people together. "One nation under a groove" is still the motto.
WB: Well, you guys have played on tours with hip hop acts. For instance, you toured with Cypress Hill last year. How does, say, a Cypress Hill crowd react to 311? That's as opposed to a crowd who might see you play a show with someone like No Doubt?
NH: Those shows went off, because Cypress knew that we were going to be bringing a lot of people to those shows. We had a lot of our own people at those shows, and there was never any bad reaction. Cypress is kind of different, because they cater to a crossover moshing/stoner crowd. I don't think we could tour with someone like Wu Tang, you know what I'm saying? So Cypress is a little closer to our market than some other hip hop groups.
WB: Have you guys noticed that alternative music, as it's defined in the business, seems to be shifting into a sort of more rhythm-oriented sound, maybe even a more hip hop-oriented sound, than it was a year or so ago? Then, you had a lot of grunge, and straight-out punk on the radio, where now, you're getting things like the new Beck record, Rage Against The Machine, you guys, that are starting to take over.
NH: Totally, and I think that's great because I got kind of bored of straight, alternative pop/rock, and I think it's great that bands who are bringing new ingredients, like Goldfinger and No Doubt, fusing new, different styles together, and the ones you mentioned as well, that's the type of stuff that really excites me-stuff that's a new mixture. For us, we're just really into combining the hip hop and dance hall reggae rhythms that we hear, but with also a heavy arrangement, loud guitars, and stuff that rocks. To us, we kind of see the musical frontier as a clearly-defined place where we want to go on the next record. We want to continue what we're doing, and just keep going off into our own little area.
WB: Do you guys think about your place in influencing other bands that may be coming up now?
NH: That's really flattering if they do. It's hard to say how much influence that we do have, but at least knowing that we're getting songs like "Down", that have rapping in them, on alternative radio, that'll open the door for other groups. It just broadens the arena more, so hopefully that'll be our influence.
WB: Do you think that crossover music, like yours, has any effect on race relations, or at least on the way white kids think about black kids, or vice-versa?
NH: I do. I think that it can be a definite catalyst to bring people together. We do get an extra kick out of it when we see, you know, hardcore b-boys from the 'hood who are grooving out at our shows, just as much as anybody else. So yeah, for someone who's never listened to rap before, but does like 311, it might kind of open up their minds to reggae, and other things that are not necessarily straight-up white music.
WB: And on sort of a variation of the classic DJ "what's with the name" question, I read something that said that you guys have a name, 311, which is a veil for a KKK symbol. What was that all about?
NH: That was just an unfortunate coincidence, that since "K" was the eleventh letter of the alphabet, 311, 3 "K"s....I don't know, some dork just sat around and tried to figure out what our name meant, and I guess came up with that theory, and then, since it was sensational and juicy enough, it kind of spread, as a rumor. But the truth is that, part of the reason that happened is because we didn't define it. When people would ask how we came up with the name, we would just make up a bunch of different stories and change the subject, and say it was dictated to us by a higher intelligence, or just, whatever. And so, finally, when that rumor came up, we said, "Okay, 311 is the police code for indecent exposure in Omaha." One of our friends got arrested for skinny-dipping, and on the ticket it said "311." That's how we got the name. So now, the mystery is gone...we had to tell the story because we had to refute the ridiculous claims. I mean, overall, I really don't think that's hurt our band, because anybody who's familiar with our lyrics, or familiar with what we stand for, is going to know that that's directly the opposite of our mission in life.
WB: Were there any ripples from that at all? Did you guys get any mail or anything regarding the KKK rumor?
NH: We got mail from fans that said, "Man, that's such bullshit. I can't believe people believe that." But I can't really find anybody that still thinks it's true. It's kind of in the past. But actually, the first time we had gotten covered in Spin and on MTV, was when they covered that particular element of our story. We took something stupid and negative, and turned it into a positive, because it was like the first time our band had ever been mentioned. They even wrote about it in USA Today. It was ironic that it would be about something that was a mistake. But at least, at the end of the article, it did state that the band stands for racial unity and so forth. Like I said, we turned it into a positive.
WB: So you got to dispel it at the same time most people probably heard about it for the first time.
NH: Yeah, we're glad we got the chance to tell everybody it was completely false.
WB: You've been talking about Omaha. You're all from there. Where did you guys get this sort of musical background? Being from the Midwest, I really don't think of Omaha as having the image of a place where hip hop and rock are going to develop too much. But of course, now you're in L.A.
NH: Yeah. But before we moved to L.A., we had put out three little albums on our own label, which were only available in Nebraska. They were more like demo albums. But we had already defined our sound, and some of those songs we still play today. We were shaped, really not by L.A., but from Omaha. We are from there, and that has made us what we area today. And I guess it is kind of dispelling misconceptions that you need to be from wherever in order to be funky. The record stores in Omaha carried the Bob Marley, carried the Bad Brains record, and Prince, James Brown. I grew up listening to just as cool music as someone who lived on the coast. It really doesn't matter where you're from, it's just what you choose to do. But people, I guess, do think that Omaha is less culturally developed than it is. Omaha is cooler than people think.
WB: Why'd you leave for California?
NH: Because there's no labels in Omaha. And, you know, the weather in L.A. is great. I'm a real outdoors sort of person. It's like summer almost all year round there, and I like to go to the beach and stuff. But there is a certain truth that in the bigger cities, and on the coast, that culture kind of starts out there and kind of takes a while for smaller towns to catch up. I feel like I kind of need to be in the center of things. I wouldn't be happy living in a small town anymore. I definitely want to live in New York or L.A.
WB: Was there any sort of culture shock when the band did go to L.A.?
NH: We really stuck to ourselves for the first year. We didn't have jobs, we didn't have any money. We all shared this house. We just played a lot of basketball and practiced music every day, and we didn't really go out much. We just kind of started our own scene. Now we have tons of friends in L.A., but at first we just moved our little scene out of Omaha. There wasn't much of a culture shock. I had moved there originally when I was 17, by myself, for a couple years, then moved back to Omaha for a couple years to start 311. So, I already kind of knew the lay of the land, and knew that that's where we needed to be. But I'd been playing with the L.A. scene, playing with musicians that you'd hook up with through classified ads and all that, and just realized that the people that I'd been fortunate enough to know through high school-Chad Sexton and Tim Mahoney-were the most promising and talented musicians that I could find. Then we were lucky enough to hook up with P-Nut, who at the time had just turned 15 years old, but was already a bass virtuoso. That was when 311 was born, in 1990.
WB: And you guys played a free show for MTV in San Diego recently, during the Republican convention. Did you play there just because it was a free show on MTV, or was the political sidebar meaningful for you?
NH: We tried to make it really clear that we were there in support of liberal ideas, and that we were trying to have sort of the anti-Republican rally in the city. MTV really wanted it just to be about getting out there and voting, and they edited it down. The issue-oriented statements I made, they kind of edited them out.
WB: Even on the live broadcast?
NH: Well, there was the interview, and then there was the concert. And in a concert, I don't want to sit there and talk about politics, because that's not what I do. But, yeah, people were like, "Hey, what's up with you guys doing the Republican thing? Are you guys Republicans?" And it was like, "NO. No, no, no, no, no." We were there to get people to vote, we were there to play a show, promote our album, and it turned out to be a really great day. I spent the rest of the day waterskiing, and had a lot of fun until I tore my hamstring, and I've been limping around since.
WB: Oh no. It's not hampering your stage performance, is it?
NH: It is, a little bit. But the shows are still going off. I can't jump as much. I do still jump, but I'm hindering my healing, so I need to stop doing it. But I can't stop. The first song kicks in, and I'm like five feet off the floor.
WB: You can't help it. Is there a full-time 311 doctor traveling with you now?
NH: I need to. You know, we just got off the HORDE tour, and John Popper had a therapist with him because he broke his leg all up. But, no, I just wear a knee brace and try to get as much rest as possible. I'll be fine.
WB: That was kind of a weird fit for you guys, the HORDE tour, with all the so-called roots rockers on the bill.
NH: That was really cool. They said that once we got there, everybody kind of loosened up, and it turned into more of a festive vibe. They really welcomed us. We were the only band on that tour where people were like, moshing and stuff. So I don't know if maybe there were any people who thought we didn't really fit in, but they were real cool to us. The grand finale was when we had the all-star jam, doing "Superstition" by Stevie Wonder-me, Lenny Kravitz, John Popper, the whole Blues Traveler band, Lenny's band, the Rusted Root guys, all up on stage doing the song. It was so amazing.
WB: Whoa.
NH: Yeah.
WB: Hey thanks, and hey, bye.
NH: Later.

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