In the early ‘90s five Omaha highschoolers found each other and formed the sweet tunes of 311.
The group consists of Nick Hexum (guitar and vocals), SA Martinez (DJ and vocals), Tim Mahoney (lead guitarist), P-nut (bassist), and Chad Sexton (drummer). They moved to Los Angeles and have since sold millions of albums, including the hit singles “Down”, “Love Song” and “Amber.” When I spoke to Nick Hexum he elaborated on what initially inspired their sound, “We all liked rock but we were really excited about funky music back then. When we first started out around ’90 there was Red Hot Chili Peppers, hip-hop, Beastie boys– we loved funk, like Prince, and the energy of punk like Bad Brains and the Clash, which is probably my favorite band of all time. [We had] a collection of records we’d play over and over as we were driving around the country.” Regardless of their beginning influence, the humble Hexum admits, “There’re always new bands to be inspired by. I’m listening to Vampire Weekend right now, the new Paul Simon record is really cool, and we’re listening to some dubstep–we’re just kind of all over the place.”
The boys have been touring constantly for over twenty years now and have been supported by bands such as No Doubt, The Offspring, Snoop Dogg, and Matisyahu to name a few. Earlier this year, 311 hosted their first ever Carribbean Cruise traveling with thousands of fans from Miami to the Turks & Caicos Islands. But don’t you worry fellow festies, it turns out Hexum is a faithful Florida fan, “We had been looking for the right site to do our first ever weekend camping festival and the Suwannee Park was perfect for it! It’s going to be a total summer-time experience.” And so you have it, the first 311 Pow Wow Music and Camping Festival is set in our very own backyard. A short hour-drive from Tallahassee to Live Oak, Florida will bring you to the majestic Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park where you can camp, hike, build a bonfire, swing in a hammock, swim and tap your foot to the glorious beats of an incredible lineup. The festival takes place over three days and three nights, Thursday August 4th through Saturday August 6th. 311 will perform four different sets, including their most popular album, “Transistor” in its entirety. According to Hexum, “It’s something people had been asking for a long time, so it will be a big milestone for us. People are going to travel from all over the country, all over the world, so we’re really excited about it!”
As if this wasn’t enough, 311 is releasing their 10th studio album “Universal Pulse” just a few weeks before Pow Wow on Tuesday, July 19th, and, yes, they will be performing their new stuff on stage. Hexum spills the details on what to expect of the newest album, “It’s the best of what we do. A lot of up-tempo songs that will be a lot of fun to play live and get the crowd moving. Positive lyrics and strong melodies that are pretty catchy. We really place quality over quantity and if there was a song we weren’t sure about we didn’t do it. We wanted it to be the best of the best.” Alongside 311 will be: Sublime with Rome, The Deftones, G. Love, Reel Big Fish, The Dirty Heads, Ozomatli, SOJA, Streetlight Manifesto, The Supervillains, Ballyhoo and even more to be announced. Despite Pow Wow’s novelty, Hexum has great confidence in its success, “There’s always a lot of nervous excitement, but when we get on stage we sort of unleash all that energy and usually put on some of our best shows when it’s a new event!”
Tickets went on sale this past Friday, June 10th at 10 a.m. for $145.00 and are available online at: www.311powwowfestival.com/tickets
Get ‘em quick!
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