You could call the history of 311 a story in numbers. Six albums that made it into Billboard’s Top 10. More than 14,000 fans coming out to shows in major markets like Los Angeles, Atlanta, Boston and Washington, D.C. Sixty-three songs during a 5-hour performance in 2008 at the annual 3-11 Day.
Another important 311 numeral is 20, as in the number of years the hybrid alternative rock/reggae/hip-hop band has been recording and touring.
“It’s weird, because after 20 years, we’re kind of on our second wind,” says 311 lead guitarist Tim Mahoney, taking a break from the band’s sessions for a new album at its North Hollywood studio, The Hive. “Holy shit, we’ve been doing this so long. I think for me, personally, I always want to write better and play better and execute better. So it’s a challenge. I think everybody (in the band) has kind of had that approach.”
311 formed in Omaha, Nebraska, before exploding into the mainstream with its third album, the 1995 self-titled release that featured the hits “Down” and “All Mixed Up.” Despite the fading of alt rock’s glory days, 311 has managed to stay popular, turning a 2004 cover of The Cure’s “Love Song” into a radio mainstay and launching its well-attended Summer Unity tours in 2006.
On Wednesday, October 20, 311 — vocalist/guitarist Nick Hexum, vocalist/DJ S.A. Martinez, bassist P-Nut, drummer Chad Sexton and Mahoney — will perform at the Sherman Theater in Stroudsburg, the smallest venue on the band’s fall tour. After speaking with Mahoney, it seems like both diehard fans and more peripheral listeners only familiar with 311’s hits should be pleased with what they hear in Stroudsburg.
“Now, we soundcheck a couple songs, maybe songs that weren’t played in a while,” Mahoney says. “We try to incorporate variety. Some want to hear B tracks, some only know radio songs. A song like ‘Down,’ which is like a ‘thank you’ song anyway, we probably play that every night.”
311 is again working with Bob Rock, whose production resume includes Metallica’s self-titled “black” album and Motley Crue’s “Dr. Feelgood.” The band first worked with Rock on “Uplifter,” its most recent album which was released in 2009. With introductions out of the way and Rock and the band now accustomed to working with each other, both parties were able to get straight to business this time around. At the time of the interview, Mahoney said 311 and Rock were in the preproduction stage.
“He’s great,” says Mahoney. “I can’t say enough nice things about him, his work ethic. We just learned so much about him and had a great experience with him on ‘Uplifter.’”
The band has yet to set a release date for the new album.
The fact that 311 made its big early commercial mark while MTV was still playing music videos and record labels were thriving is not lost on Mahoney, who is grateful for the timing of the whole thing.
“Oh man, definitely,” he says, laughing. “The reason why I laugh is because we got in at the very tail end of it, when a band like us could sell three million records. The blue record (‘311’), had we not sold a bunch of records, I wouldn’t have been able to put a down payment on my house.”
311 considers a 1990 opening slot for Fugazi at Omaha’s Sokol Auditorium to be its first-ever show. Mahoney, who went to high school with Hexum and Sexton, wasn’t yet a member of the band, but he was at the show — to see Fugazi — and didn’t see 311’s set. After some lineup shifts, Mahoney, and later Martinez, who had been collaborating with the band, joined 311.
Pinning down the 311 sound is a difficult proposition. But the diverse influences Mahoney cites in his guitar playing might shed some light: Jimmy Page, Dr. Know from Bad Brains, John Scofield, Jeff Beck, John McLaughlin — “probably the best player on the planet,” Mahoney says — Dimebag Darrell, Jamaican reggae artist Ernest Ranglin, the band Nashville Pussy and Phish’s Trey Anastasio, whom Mahoney says he listens to every day.
Despite the continued chart success, 311 makes most of its money from touring, and the band spices up its schedule with special events, like 3-11 Day in New Orleans. About a week after the Sherman Theater show, 311 will play its “Music” album, a fan favorite from 1993, in its entirety during a show at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. It’s a way for 311 to further a relationship with its audience, a relationship that is as strong as it’s ever been.
“I think we’re fortunate that our fans will follow us as far as what we do and we write and come out and see us play,” says Mahoney. “That’s how we make our living.”
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